Greetings from PDX. For this week's edition of plf515's DKos Travel Board diary series, I'll play tour guide as we take a walk around my city: Portland, Oregon. This is the city of great coffee and beer, and even better food. One of the most walkable cities in America, with a model public transit system prominently featuring an expanding light rail and modern streetcar system. A welcoming streetlife culture reminiscent of some of the best European cities; and a city with a deserved reputation as one of the best planned, greenest and most sustainable-minded cities in the world.
Come on along for a quick tour of my city...
An Introduction: The City of Roses
We're a city of about 580,000 people, straddling the Willamette River where it meets the Columbia; about 70 miles inland from the Pacific Coast, and 50 miles west of Mount Hood.
Our city is divided into five sections - the Willamette River divides East from West, and Burnside Street divides North from South. North Portland is divided from Northeast Portland at Williams Avenue, from where North Portland runs until the Willamette. It's easy to figure out where any given location is located in our city based upon the address - numbered Avenues run north-south, while named Streets run east-west. Numbered avenues begin at the Willamette River, and increase outward from there. SE 12th Avenue is 12 blocks east of the river, SW 10th Avenue is 10 blocks west of the river, etc...
The section of the city any given address lies in can be deduced from the address. For example, 500 SW 4th Avenue is in SW Portland. 900 NE Broadway, in NE Portland. 1400 SE Clinton is in SE Portland, and etc...
Southeast Portland
Let's start with the best part of the city, the section I live in...
:)
SE Portland encompasses the neighborhoods east of the Willamette River, and south of East Burnside Street. Major business districts include SE Hawthorne Boulevard, SE Milwaukie Avenue and SE Division Street, amongst others. During most of the year we're home to a number of farmers markets, including Portland's only weekly year-round farmers market, held a few blocks from my apartment every Wednesday afternoon out in front of my food co-op, People's.
Besides admiring the endless blocks full of beautiful early 20th-century craftsman-style bungalows, and block-after-block of independent locally-owned businesses, other things to do here in SE include:
Taking a walk along the Eastbank Esplanade
Stopping in for a local craft brew and a great meal at one of our many excellent brewpubs (Hopworks, Roots, the Lucky Lab, Clinton Street Brewing, Philadelphia's, and etc...). You can even take in a revival film in one of our theaters with a craft beer brewed on the premises! I just caught a showing of The Warriors with a Clinton Street IPA at the Clinton Street Theater not too long ago...
Antique shopping in Sellwood / Moreland
Dinner at The Farm Cafe
But this is just supposed to be an introduction for right now - I can go on for weeks about the greatness of SE Portland, so I'll stop here for right now and move on...
Northeast Portland
NE Portland encompasses the neighborhoods east of the Willamette River and Williams Avenue, and north of East Burnside Street; and is home to PDX, the coolest airport in America. NE Portland is also home to the Oregon Convention Center, the largest convention center in the Pacific Northwest and one of the largest on the West Coast.
Major neighborhoods and business districts in NE Portland include Irvington, Hollywood, and the Alberta Arts District.
Things to do in NE include:
Admiring the beauty of, and catching an independent film at, the absolutely beautiful Hollywood Theatre
Doing dinner at my favorite Portland brewer, the very family-friendly Laurelwood Brew House on NE Sandy Boulevard. Don't forget to try the Organic Free Range Red, a.k.a. The Greatest Beer In The World. Laurelwood's garlic fries are also not to be missed, and if it's on the menu I also highly recommend the jicama veggie wrap...
An awesome place to stay, if you can do it - the Kennedy School, a decommisioned elementary school which was turned into a hotel / brewpub / restaurant by the local McMenamins' brewpub chain. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a huge fan of their Ruby grapefruit ale...
North Portland
North Portland encompasses the neighborhoods west of Williams Avenue, north of the Rose Quarter and east of the Willamette River.
North Portland is home to the St. Johns neighborhood, and one of the most beautiful bridges in the world, the St. Johns Bridge.
Things to do in North Portland include:
Dinner at Widmer Brothers, brewers of America's first (and one of our best) Hefeweizens, in a beautiful old industrial building a block from the MAX Yellow Line Albina / Mississippi light rail station.
A game, show or a concert at the Rose Garden or Memorial Coliseum - home of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team, the Portland Winter Hawks hockey team, the Portland LumberJax professional indoor lacrosse team; and an endless array of concerts, shows, etc...
Northwest Portland
NW Portland includes the neighborhoods west of the Willamette River, and north of West Burnside Street.
Major neighborhoods in NW Portland include Nob Hill, Old Town / Chinatown and the Pearl District.
NW is where you'll find some of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in Portland, and is the site of the original city from our frontier settlement days. Straddling the border of Old Town and the Pearl District is our historic rail depot and current Amtrak station, Union Station.
Things to do in NW Portland include:
Powell's City of Books!!! The largest independent new-and-used bookstore in the world, one entire city block and 4 levels of books, books, and more books! Need I say more? They actually have maps available to help you navigate the store, and I understand that there are people still there who've been lost inside the store since 1994. Now, whether that's by choice or not, I'll leave that to you to judge...
First Thursday art walks in the Pearl, where many galleries are open to the public for art, wine and music
Many fantastic (if $$$$ pricey...) restaurants in the Pearl and on NW 21st and 23rd; including (of course!) a couple excellent brewpubs in Laurelwood NW, Deschutes' Portland brewpub, and the Rogue Distillery.
A couple blocks over from Union Station, the Ecotrust Building / Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center. While there, be sure to stop for a slice or two and a local craft brew or a microbrewed real Oregon fruit soda at Hot Lips Pizza on the ground floor, a locally-owned independent pizzeria that sources their produce, meats and cheeses from local, sustainable family farms. And fwiw, this NJ native also gives Hot Lips Pizza two very enthusiastic thumbs up in coming as close to real Newark-style thin crust pizza as any place I've ever eaten at since moving here...
Southwest Portland
SW Portland encompasses the neighborhoods west of the Willamette River, and south of West Burnside Street.
SW Portland is the home of Downtown Portland, home our Food Cart Blocks, Portland State University and the gigantic Saturday PSU Portland Farmers Market; and way too much other cool stuff to ever even begin to possibly include in any one diary...
Things to do in SW Portland / Downtown include:
Saturdays at the main Portland Farmers Market, in the South Park Blocks from early April to late December
Hanging out in Portland's Living Room, Pioneer Courthouse Square
Strolling along the Willamette River in one of America's most beautiful downtown riverfront parks, Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Getting Around Portland
Our public transit system is one of the best in America, and is run by TriMet. That website, or their phone number (503) 238.7433, will come in handy during your visit.
One of the best things about our city is how pedestrian-friendly we are; and for that matter, a car is actually more of a hindrance than anything if you plan to stay here in the inner urban neighborhoods. TriMet sells daily all-zone passes good on our buses, trains and streetcars for $4.75; and a 7-day all-zone pass for $22.50. A 7-day 2 zone pass, which will get you anywhere throughout the inner areas is only $19.50. I live here without a car myself, and I personally stick with a monthly Zone 1 & 2 pass...I've been known to go months at a time without needing to buy an upgrade to head out into Zone 3.
Further Reading and Looking
Closing this out, here are a few links to other Portland photo essays I've done previously:
Saturday PSU Portland Farmers Market - Eating Oregon: Will Walk For (Real) Food
Breakfast and a walk down Alberta - Eating Portland: Breakfast At Vita Cafe
Last Wednesday's Farmers Market - Eating Oregon: People's Farmers Market
If you're interested in doing a diary or adding your name to this list, please contact plf515:
Volunteer hosts, by country and state (in the USA). If you are traveling to a city, please contact the person listed to see what they can do for you.
They may be able to host a person, or have a meal, or just offer advice. Note they are not obligated to anything these are just people who have told me what cities or areas they live in. Also, any arrangements you make are between you and the person you write to.
USA:
Alabama - left my heart
Arizona
Phoenix - Leftcandid
California
Northern CA - SallyCat
Northern Orange County - Seneca Doane
Sacramento - tgypsy
San Diego - SDChelle (can offer advice)
Southern - Jbeaudill
Colorado
Lakewood/Denver - carver
DC area
lulu57
Florida - ObamOcala
Oceanview
Panhandle area - panicbean
Hawaii
Purple Priestess (can give information)
jlms qkw
Indiana
Southern part of state - kathryn1812
Maine - Cartoon Messiah
Coastal Islands - ksingh
Massachusetts
oceanview
Boston - tnichlsn
Minnesota
Minneapolis - parryander
New Jersey - Blue Jersey Mom
New Mexico - linc
Santa Fe and north - claude
Albuquerque - votingformydaughtersfuture
New York
New York City - plf515, LarryinNYC, DrSteveB
North Carolina
Charlotte - eeff
Chapel Hill - chunyang
Oklahoma - karesse
Oregon
Portland - arenosa, Hardhat Democrat
coastal - Jbeaudill
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh - Pandora's Box, housesella
Lancaster - spedwybabs
Central PA, Harrisburg - wishingwell
South Carolina
Charleston – CamillesDad1
Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains – RantNRaven
Nashville – fiddlegirl
Chattanooga – Sandy on Signal
Texas
Dallas-Fort Worth – drchelo
Utah
Salt Lake City – jlms qkw
Vermont
North-central - 4freedom
Virgin Islands Caneel
Washington
Leavenworth - marlakay
I-90, WI-MN border - 1864 House
Other countries:
Belgium - Cartoon Messiah
Canada
Alberta – TexMex
Montreal - dragOn
Thunder Bay - Howth of Murth
Vacounver - Purple Priestess (can give information)
China
Shanghai - mweens
Colombia
Bogata - bogbud
Costa Rica - Alice Olson
Croatia - seenos
England
London – shazzbot
North England – Cartoon Messiah
France
Lyon - melanchthon
Germany - lizah
Italy
Rome - lizah
Mexico
Cancun, playa del Carmen, Tulum - davidseth
Colonial Mexico - TKWow
Jalisco (SW Mexico) – mango
Scotland - linc
Edinburgh - SDChelle
Spain - Cartoon Messiah
Thailand - anniesamui
Bangkok – Shunpike
Wales - linc