Portland’s public development commission–now rebranded as “Prosper Portland”–is building a 425-stall parking garage to support a 600-room Hyatt convention center hotel. The garage, which proponents insist will attract an NBA All-Star game to the city, will cost $24,000,000. Valet parking will run $39 a day at the hotel, but a Lyft to the airport is $20, and one of our light rail lines stops, literally, outside the lobby door. To keep that garage filled, Prosper Portland should work to bring some of these like-minded conventions to the Rose City: World of Asphaltfor the asphalt and pavement maintenance industry, Offshore Technology Conference for the Society of Petroleum Engineers, AAPEX, the premier global event for automotive aftermarket suppliers, International Rental Car Showand the Auto Rental Summit, for the rental car industry, and, of course, the National Parking Association Convention. After all, if attendees to those events aren’t willing to rent cars and pay for parking, who will be?

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