June 23

city services in focus: what matters most to portlanders?

If you ask Portlanders what they want from city government, the answers aren’t vague. Over and over again, residents highlight the same core priorities: safe streets, reliable emergency services, affordable housing, and better support services for homeless people. In the past year, Portland has been making quiet but measurable progress on many of the services people say matter most. This blogpost dives into what residents say they value, how those services have performed over time, and what the City’s latest 2025-26 budget is doing to support continued improvement.

Portlanders consistently share that the most essential city services are:

  1. Emergency fire and paramedic response;

  2. Streets, sidewalks, and transportation; and

  3. Emergency mental health and supportive care.

In surveys conducted by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center in both 2024 and 2025, these same three services topped the list. The surveys asked Portlanders to rate the importance of twelve city services. More than 4 out of every 5 respondents indicated that streets, sidewalks, and transportation; emergency fire and paramedic services; and emergency mental health care and supportive services were either essential or very important. Interestingly, Portlanders rated fire and paramedic services more important in 2025 than in 2024 with 90% of residents rating them either “essential” or “very important”, compared to 88% in 2024. Transportation and mental health services saw slight dips in total importance scores this year compared to last year, but still hold strong positions at the top of the list. These are the foundational services people rely on in emergencies, and on a daily basis to move around the city.

Service quality is trending in the right direction; especially where Portlanders care most.

In addition to sharing which services matter most, Portlanders also shared their thoughts on service quality. Survey data from 2024 and 2025 show growing public confidence in core service areas. The percent of residents who rated emergency fire and paramedic services as “excellent” or “good” increased from 43% in 2024 to 56% in 2025. Quality ratings for emergency mental health care and transportation infrastructure  also showed mild improvement, though remained comparatively low. Fewer than 1 in 10 Portlanders rated either excellent, but 61% of respondents gave transportation  “good” or “fair” marks in 2025, while 44% gave emergency mental health services “good” or “fair” marks. While not glowing, these ratings suggest that public perception may be improving.

Emergency services: polling on the quality aligns with operational data.

Other kinds of performance metrics for many of the services Portlanders rank as essential are also improving. For example, average 911 call wait times dropped from 50 seconds in April 2024 to 21 seconds in April 2025. During the same period, a greater share of Portland’s 911 dispatches met international best-practice standards. By May 2025, both Emergency Fire Dispatch (EFD) and Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) reached an 81% compliance rate with ACE accreditation—the gold standard for dispatch centers worldwide. This means 81% of 911 calls were handled using protocols that ensure dispatchers ask the right questions, follow medically approved scripts, and send the appropriate help quickly. In contrast, improvements in metrics for Portland Street Response —the city’s mental health crisis team—have been less consistent. Turnout time and total response time have fluctuated from month to month, and while crews are now spending less time on scene with patients, it's not clear what impact this has on quality of care or patient outcomes.

Portland streets: still in need of repair, but outperforming other cities.

Streets, sidewalks, and transportation remain one of the most essential city services, according to Portlanders. But based on the City’s 2023 and 2024 asset reports, over 70% of Portland’s local and arterial streets were rated fair, poor, or very poor. Sidewalks show similar patterns, with a majority of the network falling into the bottom three condition categories. Between 2023 and 2024 the share of assets in “good” or “very good” condition stayed flat, while the replacement cost of Portland’s street infrastructure continued to rise.

Still, Portland compares relatively well to other cities. According to a recent national survey, Portland drivers pay among the lowest extra vehicle repair costs in the country due to road quality, and over half the city’s roads are considered “good.” But local residents know there’s more work to do. That’s why the City’s Fixing Our Streets program has continued to focus investment on street repair, sidewalks, and traffic signal upgrades especially in high-crash corridors.

Looking ahead: How does the 2025–26 Budget Reflect Community Priorities

Portland’s adopted $8.6 billion budget for 2025–26 includes targeted investments in the city services that residents consistently rank as most important: emergency response, mental health care, and transportation.

  • Portland Street Response (PSR) will grow its capacity this year, with funding for 14 new positions. This supports PSR’s expanded hours and increased call volume, especially for behavioral health crises that don’t require police.

  • Emergency fire and medical services are also receiving a boost. The budget includes 10 new firefighter positions to help reduce response times and support consistently high performance at the 911 dispatch level.

  • The Portland Bureau of Transportation will receive an estimated $10 million from increased fees on rideshare services like Uber and Lyft.

At the same time, the budget includes significant cuts to several city programs. Many bureaus are adjusting staffing levels and delaying non-urgent projects. As the final adopted budget is published and more details become available, this blog will be updated to reflect any changes that could impact the services Portlanders rely on most.