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Aug 10first impressions, portland
So, we’re here in Portland, a “refreshingly unneurotic city that marches to its own cosmopolitan beat.”
The day after we arrived, we had our first houseguests! Navid and Tara spent a couple days of their Seattle-Portland adventure with us in the little garden cottage (welcome to being part of a Persian family!). Surprisingly enough, even sleeping four people the 364-foot house felt spacious. We have a loft that could easily sleep 3 or 4 extra people, as well as a sitting area in the front room that can accommodate someone else. With them, we spent time in famous Powell’s bookstore (it’s an entire city block both ways), the Portland Museum of Art, the downtown farmers’ market, and took a four-minute ride on the sky tram. Of course we tasted some good local brews and menus.
Since dropping our guests at PDX yesterday, we have been exploring our city. We went to a cool art event last night featuring paintings by Jeremy Okai Davis, photographs by Liz Devine, and drawings by Michelle Erickson, with singer-songwriter Katrina Skalland sharing some songs and four poets reading their work (Zach Schomburg, Paul Maziar, Jamalieh Haley, and ____). Like many cities, Portland does a “first thursdays” when galleries and studios stay open late and give special shows. Surrounding areas have a “first wednesday” and “first fridays” program and another has a “second fridays” program. You get the idea. Always a reason to celebrate!
We live on a street lined with sap-dripping trees, and little Giorgio has been asking for a bath since the roadtrip. Today we found an eco-friendly carwash that reuses water for the pre-rinse and initial scrubbing, and it also uses environmentally friendly soap and products. Portland is an extremely environment-conscious city, so that kind of responsible business can thrive.
One thing I noticed is that people are more likely to carpool here. Today when we got stuck in the start of rush hour, we thought we could make progress by using the special HOV lane, but alas this was as busy as the other lanes. This is a stark contrast to the highways around Silicon Valley – you simply zoom by everyone else when you use the carpool lane, because people do not share in San Jose.
When you look around Portland, you will notice the bikers. This is an extremely bike-friendly city and I have to be aware of bikers at all times – monitoring the bike lane before I turn from any street. (Surprisingly, I haven’t seen that many scooters.) [NYT piece on biking around portland]
Beer is a big deal here! Local breweries abound, apparently this is the microbrew capital of America. Most cities I know have a few brewhouses that everyone loves… yelp reviews are typically “yeah, this place has the best beer selection in the city of Chicago but the food is terrible.” Here, there is a different brewhouse on every street serving up 10+ local beers on tap. I am slowly starting to branch into beer appreciation and plan to get the samplers [small servings of every flavor on tap] from each brewery we visit. I might get a beer belly if we stay here in Portland!
Similar to my feelings in Austin, Texas I’m charmed by Portland’s local DIY restaurant and boutique atmosphere. Anyone who knows me for more than five minutes knows that I am not a fan of chain stores and restaurants, and would almost always choose to eat someplace unique and unknown instead of a chain where I can eat the same exact dish as someone in Lansing, Michigan.
(Full disclosure: notable exceptions to this chain distaste certainly exist, as I am fiercely loyal to brands like Target, Jimmy Johns, and Trader Joe’s)
Back to the point: numerous local venues give shows, serve local beers and farm fresh dishes, and promote local artists. Our music scene attracts big name performers whose style slides more independent than pop (recently, Catherine Feeny played two blocks away, and last night Joanna Newsom’s show was of course sold out). Unique mom-and-pop restaurants thrive. People go out with friends, and can take advantage of the great happy hours to get great food without dropping bank [NYT article about Portland happy hours here].
There are two things that I don’t like about Portland. One is the weather, the other is the homogeneity.
In 2008 the New York Times did a piece about gentrification and class tension [here] which then led to being featured on the website “Stuff White People Like” [here]. Our own newspaper did a story in 2009 titled “In a changing world, Portland remains overwhelmingly white” [here]. It’s just not very culturally diverse here. Aside from ethnicity which is probably the easiest to finger-point, it seems like most of the people you see on the streets tend to be very similar in their “we ride bikes and grow our own vegetables and drink beer from the brewery down the street” — ALL THINGS ALI AND I LOVE. It disturbs me a little that we would fall into the joke cliché of moving somewhere thinking it’s so indie rock and interesting, but only because there are a bunch of people like us here. Can you tell we watched “Cult of Sincerity” the other day?
Word on the street about the weather in Portland is that July-August-September is the best time of year to be in the Pacific Northwest. The summers are lovely and temperate, and while the good people in other places have to water the front lawn to prevent it from turning brown, our gardens are blooming and lush forests cooling us down on our summer hikes. The stereotype is that it is always gray and rainy here. Luckily for me and my SAD (seasonal affective disorder) the afternoons have generally featured a few hours of sun. If we are able to stay long term, I’m concerned about the cold and gray and LONG winter. I seem drawn to these rainy places — Scotland, Hawaii, Portland. (Ok, Hawaii is rainy and sunny but the UK can count twice in the gray and wet camp). I think it’s the deep green and rolling hills that make me so happy about these places that are traditionally kind of depressing. There’s just something about a lush landscape and not having to water your garden constantly… and the velvety saturated colors of the world after a good rain.
Thinking about a visit? Here’s some info about Portland, Oregon.
NYT tag: Portland
NYT: Frugal Portland
Portland Monthly Magazine: The People’s Guide to Portland
independent: restaurants and coffee shops
So what’s stopping you? Come on over for a visit! We’re here for at least a month and welcome houseguests.
August 8th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I think Portland might be more gray than even Seattle! Have you guys visited Seattle yet? There are a lot of similar things to Portland, but there is a lot more diversity. There is something really quaint & unique about Portland though (I don’t think even Seattle can compare to that). I miss those rolling green hills & a little bit of that depressing gray & drizzle. I think rain in the Pacific Northwest is different from rain out here though. There is something open & refreshing about rain there… Here, it just feels quite oppressive & dreary. Miss you guys.
August 8th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
bring on the samplers!
i admit i was going to snag some jj’s for you, but saw you now have one.
indie: it’s the new universal!
August 8th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Maria, you have to watch Cult of Sincerity. You would appreciate everything about it, I think. But especially his opening speech. Maybe I can find it on the internet. Oh look, I did. Also see: postmodernism clip. You can watch the full movie on youtube.
August 9th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
you need to get a bicycle!
August 9th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Gwyn, we’re borrowing the neighbor’s! Apparently he is on an international tour right now in Europe doing sound tech for a rock star.
August 10th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
finally watched the clip. might have to check out the rest of it.
August 11th, 2010 at 10:08 am
yes.