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

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/city-cast-portland-5822554/your-city-could-be-better-how-portland-made-its-river-cool
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/city-cast-portland-5822554/your-city-could-be-better-how-portland-made-its-river-cool.md
Podcast: [City Cast Portland](https://stenobird.com/podcast/city-cast-portland-5822554)
Published: 2026-08-23T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/CC4118017995.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/CC4118017995.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/city-cast-portland-5822554/episodes/your-city-could-be-better-how-portland-made-its-river-cool
Duration seconds: 1568

## Resource

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 There are tons of opportunities to get in the river, yet lots of locals still avoid the water because of its (outdated) reputation of being polluted.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.

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## Transcript

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