I took an online quiz last month to see which cities I should park myself. Seattle, Portland, and Honolulu came in top 3. Strangely enough, New York City didn’t even crack my top 50. Now that I’ve dropped in on both Seattle and Portland, I can’t agree more. Seattle was fun, but I’m in love with Portland. Tony Bennett crooned about leaving his heart in San Francisco, but I’ll be blogging about leaving mine behind in Portland, Oregon.
Portland isn’t one of those velvet ropes and limos type of places. It’s a pretty sleepy, laid back town. With the exception of the gardens, there are absolutely no sights of interest within city limits. There are pockets of gems all over town and you will just have to go and find them. There wasn’t that feeling of local versus out of towner. The general feeling I got in the half a week here is to come as you are. That’s not to say that there aren’t total douchebags lurking around town and I’m pretty sure there are a few hardcore residents who are against the gentrification and overall hipster-ization of Portland. The atmosphere is similar to mid-90s Williamsburg before the influx of trust fund babies, and the ungentrified parts of 5th Avenue in Park Slope towards Sunset Park. Small shops lined the post-industrial streets. Tattooed kids on bikes share the coffee shop with older residents. Folks drink and be merry while chowing down a burger at the local McMenamins joint. The Manolo Blahniks and designer handbags set are probably somewhere around town, but they’re probably just visiting from out of town anyway.
