Can a Night Mayor Revive Downtown Portland?

City Cast Portland · Feb 18, 2026 · 22m

Earlier this week, we discussed ideas for bringing people back to our city center — including promoting Portland's nightlife. Many cities across the U.S. have hired night-time economy directors, or “night mayors,” to manage and boost late-night scenes, and it’s paying off. Today, we're revisiting a conversation host Claudia Meza had with Philadelphia's Night Time Economy Director, Raheem Manning, about how he keeps Philly running all night long and whether Portland could benefit from this type of leadership.

This episode originally aired on March 24, 2025.

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