In some alternate universe, there exists a metropolitan area in which government is trusted and does good things. In this place, the citizens actually voted in a metro government, which facilitates coordination between multiple county and city governments. The citizens enjoy one of the most highly-utilized, clean and efficient transportation systems in the country, an urban growth plan that enforces a barrier of open space and agricultural land around the city and, therefore, causes redevelopment of derelict properties and a livable urban density that approaches European standards.
That place is Portland. And I got a postcard from there today. The news: the city’s light rail extension project will finish under budget and ahead of schedule.
Of course, the job market there sucks, but there’s still something to be said for a government that is overwhelmingly pro-people as opposed to one hundred percent pro-business.
My real estate developer aquaintances: “that’s a hard town to do business in.”
People who live there: “Should I go to Trader Joe’s, New Seasons, Nature’s, the co-op, Whole Foods, or Zupan’s to get my freshly caught wild salmon for my backyard cookout? And should I walk, bike, drive or take the Max?”
5 responses so far ↓
1 Elliott // Sep 18, 2003 at 2:34 pm
Absolutely. My wife and I went to Portland last September to visit some friends from our days there, and had a great time. It was beautiful, with sunny skies, warm days, gentle breezes, &c.
After a pint of beer, a twenty ounce imperial pint of the freshest, bitterest, brewed in the housest pale ale I have come across, in a brewpub with a play space for toddlers, we decided that if we ever lived in a city, it would be Portland.
The rain, however, will get to you if you move to Portland; it will get to you sometime. The sound that defines a Portland winter is rain getting louder. The rain comes in sheets both large and small: coming at fifteen foot intervals on soft wind, swirling eddies of drops too small to fall, blowing on to you, in to you, then thudding drops for a while, driven by gravity, then the eddies again, and sometimes in fifteen minute intervals, visible against the hills across the river as grey bands against dull green, pouring sound and water louder and louder and when it is loudest it is not getting any louder, so it can be ignored then the next wave, louder again. The rain comes as great whopping drops spread every five feet through the air, falling fast, with little beady floating drops in every space between. Ghostly clouds scud low, dropping sheets of falling fog, and it goes on and on and on. It’s not a lot of water, New York City averages about the Portland rainfal record, but it’s a lot of rain, and it will get to you.
Portland, Oregon is the beer capital of the world. At any dive bar, there will be a fresh keg of beautiful locally brewed beer.
The urban pacific northwest is the geographic center of the radical left in America.
2 pdx dood // Sep 22, 2003 at 11:26 am
i love living here. the rain isn’t as bad as people thing, but i grew up here, so I’m used to it.
i walk to everything, rarely drive, enjoy excellent food year-round, and the economy in portland is far better than anyone believes.
don’t move here. you’ll hate it
3 john guy vivian // Mar 20, 2004 at 6:36 am
never been there – enjoyed reading about it.
4 Sam (SW 14th) // Nov 4, 2004 at 10:31 am
I miss Portland!!! I’m in the military and I’m forced to live in Virginia now. Out of all the places I’ve been only Iceland has even come close to Portland. The people who live in Portland know what they have and that it part of what makes it so amazing. People actually want to live there. Smiles abound… even in the rain.
5 Jalpuna! // Oct 4, 2005 at 2:06 am
Were you in the Mosaic building before it opened? I see lots of great shots from in there. What a stunning building that is… such a fun neighborhood too. I was doing a search for Mosaic pics, and that led me to your site – which I greatly enjoyed.
Cheers!
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