Sep
26
2009
Why We Live in Portland
By Charles TurnerWhen it’s dark at 4:30 in the afternoon and raining, this video will be a great reminder as to why we choose to live in Portland. Trying to decide what to do this weekend? Your answer may be right here. From the Pacific Ocean to Mt. Hood and most things in between.
© 2009 Travel Portland
This pretty compilation clashes with at least three things which strike someone arriving from almost anywhere else in the US:
- Despite the frequent repetition of fashionable opinions on ‘racism issues’, Portland is astoundingly, breathtakingly white. It’s ironic that, underneath the posturing, that’s likely a substantial part of what many new arrivals and current residents like about living here.
- Despite openly expressed smugness regarding public transportation issues, the average number of trips accounted for by said public transportation in the Portland metro area is slightly above 1.5%: no more than average for a US metro area. In other words, smugness is all there is to the image.
- Despite the sunny scenes of the coast, when you get there you find that in reality most of the time the sky at the coast is leaden gray.
I like it here. I can even find the endless self-congratulation amusing. The posing which is its cause however is, let’s face it, pretty sophomoric and silly.
All good buyer due diligence points, Ted.