Impressions from a recent trip to Oregon

[Lydia Leftcoast]

As some of you know, I lived in Portland for 10 years between 1993 and 2003, and this was my first time back. I intended to do a lot more during the week I was in Portland, but I got a bad cold, which slowed me down considerably. Anyway, here are my impressions.

1. Portland is a very YOUNG city. Was it this young when I left?

2. The scenery is still gorgeous, and when I went to visit friends in the Willamette Valley, the sight of misty clouds over the Coast Range was breathtaking. One day was so clear to the north that I was able to see not only Mount St. Helen's but Mount Rainier in quite a bit of detail (not just a triangular shadow peaking out from behind St. Helen's).

3. The changes to Tri-Met were confusing at first--I came out of Union Station looking for the bus shelters with the raindrops so I could go to my lodgings in Northeast Portland. The southern streetcar extension is astonishing--and serves an area that used to be underserved. It didn't take me long to get used to the changes, and I appreciated the 7-day pass, which was perfect for my needs.

4. The flowers, oh my goodness. The rhododendrons, azaleas, hawthornes, magnolias, and dogwoods. I came back here to find plum blossoms and lilacs. Period.

5. Where did all those new buildings come from?

6. While Oregon seems as secular as ever, the churches that do exist seem to be of the fundamentalist/Pentecostal variety (as opposed to Minnesota, where the majority are mainline Lutherans, Methodists, UCCs, etc.) And there seem to be more of them. Scary.

7. What is there left to cut in the school systems?

8. My favorite restaurants were still there, but my mental map of Portland turned out to be faulty. For example, I remembered NW 23rd and 21st quite well, despite the changes, but even though I lived nearby, I had completely blanked out the shops on 24th and 25th.

9. I still know an awful lot of people in Oregon and didn't get to see all of them.

10. The Minneapolis YWCA has a better pool than the Portland YWCA.

11. MSP and ORD could take lessons in efficiency, courtesy, and hassle minimization from PDX.

[mackerel]

1. I heart Portland almost as much as San Francisco.

Good read.

[LWolf]

2. I'm sorry I missed you.

I'm not in Portland, but I would have tried to get across the mountains if I'd known!

:hi:

[grasswire]

3. Portland has gotten much younger.

In fact, the young creative class has pretty much come to dominate. This is both good and bad. Very bad for schools, because the double income no kids households vote down school bonds. Bad for minorities and low-income people because neighborhoods that once had affordable housing have been gentrified. Good because the restaurant scene is thriving (especially the food carts).