Portland is an eminently walkable city. It’s pretty compact, and even without light rail I was able to walk from the outskirts of the city to downtown in a half-hour.
Portland’s Pearl District is the swank-yet-hip warehouses-to-loft-condo district. Plenty of folks on bicycles, real and faux hipsters in abudance and at the same time, women dressed to the nines in Audi A3s.
The standard uniform for the average “man in the coffeeshop window” is a dark gray mock turtleneck and funky reading glasses, with a North Face or Patagonia soft shell over the back of the barstool, usually hunched over a Powerbook. I hate to make stereotypes, but it’s true. If I get the guts I’ll document it, but I still have a problem sticking cameras in people’s faces.
If you have the time, be sure to check out Clever Cycles –
http://clevercycles.com/
Would the Fredin family be at home in Portland? It’s still on our “maybe we’ll live there” list.
I think you’d love Portland, Carrie. I’m looking at it with different eyes (like how it would be cool to live downtown in a loft with no kids). But it’s still a totally livable city.
You are completely right about Portland. Great food, nice city. Powell’s.
Unless you’re talking about Portland, Maine, in which case, well, I’ll just shut up.