EngineerScotty, thank you very much for this insightful, thought-out writeup. (You should probably thank Paul Johnson for the inspiration too!) First some full disclosure: I'm from Portland but live in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood now with my wife two kids in a 900 sq ft apartment near Cascade Playground. I mostly agree with your description of the Pearl District, but there are parks with playgrounds and numerous businesses that serve children (Powell's obviously has a huge kids section but also Green Frog and even Whole Foods sells kids stuff). There are also some 3bd units in the Pearl but they are typically gigantic (1800 sq ft) which means expensive. There's actually a great study "Market Assessment for Family-Oriented Condominiums in Portland, Oregon" you can get online: what families want is *small* well-designed units with multiple bedrooms. Personally speaking, I also like to see more semi-private shared community space on each floor, and no parking--due to decent transit and zipcar, we don't own a car at all. It's also worth pointing out the Pacific Northwest already has fertility rates slightly below population replacement rate... but that doesn't mean zero children! -joshuadf

Tim, While I would have preferred the project to follow all the guidelines in the draft SLU Urban Design Framework, thanks very much for voting for Sally Bagshaw's amendment to C.B. 116665 to require independent retail.

We have some retired friends who keep a list of Panera locations and meet friends and family across the country while traveling.