Going To: Portland, Ore.
I like reading travel info about whatever city I’m living in. I can usually discover new places, or at least laugh at how ‘off’ a writer can be. The New York Times gave Portland its time in the…errr, clouds….recently:
At first glance, late fall does not recommend Portland. The sky turns the color of old oysters. Clouds obscure the inspiring Dairy Queen dollop of volcanic Mount Hood until May. Rain drools from eaves.
Just because winter is fitfully settling in, however, doesn’t mean the residents are doing the same. The Rose City, so frequently dismissed by Seattleites and San Franciscans by a lethal compliment (“I hear it’s a great place to raise a family”) fairly crackles with energy. Yes, the well-known hippie Portlandia – the town of telemark skiers and dreadlocks and the Earth Liberation Front – still exists. But PDX (as some locals call home, after the airport’s code) also continues to show a surprising vigor in the arts and nightlife and fashion, as well as a strong design sensibility – thanks perhaps to having the headquarters of Nike and Adidas’ North American operations nearby. As one local online commentator put it, the land of Birkenstocks now has Fashion Week.