That is a cool building. And it appears to be made out of cement.
"timberridge is terminally vapid" -- a fortune cookie in Yueyang
It’s hard to pigeon hole what happened in Portland. Working class bohemian city gets gentrified so dramatically and quickly and a city that always had a lot of homeless gets that much worse.
Economy shifted from manufacturing, esp. forest products, to Intel and software in the 90s. High paying jobs for HS grads disappeared.
Homeless population shifted from alcoholic loggers to meth and heroin junkies.
Land use laws restricted both sprawl and buildable land, driving home prices up.
Add to that people moving up from CA for tech jobs and using their equity to pay cash at inflated house prices, thinking they were getting a steal.
Portland's year over year Case Shiller home price increase in July was 19.2%. Chicago? 0.3%, below their 2006 peak. So obviously most people still think Portland isn't a bad place to live.
I was talking to my friend the other day about this. He and I both grew up in Portland, and he now lives next to Grant High School, in the heart of the city. He confirmed the scene was bad, but thinks the national media relishes in picking on Portland. Portland is where the gentle souls reside. It's liberal, artistic, and compassionate. They don't fight back so it's an easy target.
And all those factors TBS claims are ruining Portland are actually doing the opposite. Median quality of life in Portland has risen dramatically. Unfortunately, there is a small percentage of persons left in the dust, and you are seeing them camped out on the side of the road and shooting up.
portland was a city in the old (maybe even euro) model: people were active in the city, and it didn't shut down after 7p or on weekends. It wasn't a series of banal strips or empty office buildings, but localities with individuality and purpose.
the idealized bubble has burst, and the bits are spewed all over
how to clean up & make a revitalized city is the current question
the parts aren't gone, but they need to be re-connected in meaningful ways
I would add it was all so fragile to begin with. And that's why it all changed so quickly. Turns out, an industry built around concept restaurants and dining experiences isn't that durable when ish hits the fans.
Growing up here, Portland was durable. The cool, neat, and nice parts of town remained that way through the years because it was underpinned by stable industries. That's no longer the case and it's all gone to shit at an alarming rate.
Yeah, original meme was kind of hard to interpret because who doesn't like strip clubs or urban livestock? They named a whole damn development after the goat herd that used to live in inner SE. The "anarchists" are a mixed bag and 82nd is...actually I have no idea what the issue with 82nd is. Used car lots and Asian supermarkets?
Re: my list, some people who move here from bigger / more expensive cities think they're moving to the countryside, and are sometimes surprised when they see what's actually going on here.
Also, Pinolo Gelato>Salt & Straw
Acrop or Sassys?
I still call it The Jake.
[QUOTE=BmillsSkier;6434426]Acrop or Sassys?
WTF ? Porsche or Lancia ?
Years ago when I went to a lot of bachelor parties, I became aware that the dancers generally work at multiple clubs, so the real difference was the Acrop kitchen. They had a takeout window, f'crissake. It's not so much that the food was great, but it was amazing for what it cost. So yeah, Acrop hands down.
Mary’s Club burgers used to be great, but haven’t been in a long time
Casa Diablo for vegan (*)
In the early aughts we used to see a soul band that played regularly at Dante’s. There was a strip club next door. The ladies would come over to dance & relax when they were done next door. Fun to hang with when they weren’t on the hustle & just chillin’
(*) I have no fucking idea what a vegan strip club is, I’m still struggling with the concept of vegan leather.
At the intersection of strip clubs and gentrification, the building Mary’s are in got sold and it’s closing or maybe moving. US Outdoor is gone right there as well as Santeria and the beer joint. Used to be a very cool block that’s going to end up a fucking hotel or something
[QUOTE=fatnslow;6434492] Well, Porsche for sure so yeah, Acrop. But Sassys had pretty good cheese sticks and Art Alexakis there just by himself eating and tossing bills.
Pretty much all of this.
Mmmmm, goat milk gose.
Tastes like, depression.
I still call it The Jake.
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