Skip to content
‘Your City Could Be Better’: How Portland Made Its River Cool episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 23, 2026 · 26 MIN

‘Your City Could Be Better’: How Portland Made Its River Cool

from City Cast Portland · host City Cast

Have you ever swam in the Willamette? Kayaked? Tiki toured? There are tons of opportunities to get in the river, yet lots of locals still avoid the water because of its (outdated) reputation of being polluted. The river is now safe and swimmable thanks to decades of work from advocates, journalists, and politicians to restore the ecosystem and cleanliness, and City Cast Portland host Claudia Meza joins Your City Could Be Better to talk about all the ways the Willamette can now be your urban playground. Mentioned on the show: Portland’s riverfront park, named after former Governor Tom McCall Swiss residents using river to swim home from work RFK Jr. swimming (in jeans) in Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. Is there something your city is doing that we should be talking about? Email David now! We’re also on Instagram: @yourcitycouldbebetter Looking to advertise on Your City Could Be Better? Check out our options.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 23, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

‘Your City Could Be Better’: How Portland Made Its River Cool

0:00 26:08

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of City Cast Portland?

This episode is 26 minutes long.

When was this City Cast Portland episode published?

This episode was published on August 23, 2026.

Can I download this City Cast Portland episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!