[Pavlov's Dog]

Great post. Portland needs to be viewed as a work in progress. So much positive change has happened the past 20 years that if you hadn't been there previously you wouldn't know how dramatic the tranformation has been.

I agree that what Portland is really lacking is a vibrant street scene in the core of the city. While it's central city is certainly more lively than most similarly sized American cities it still has a ways to go on this front. Some things the city still is lacking are a public market and a vibrant nightlife district.

The movers and shakers as well as planers seem to have a shared vision that any city could envy. For the most part they are on the same page and realize that for everyone to prosper you have to have a safe, pedestrian oriented, human scaled environment. The all too numerous surface parking lots are slowly being developed.

Portland isn't quite "there" yet in my mind but given all these factors probably will be before too long. I look forward being able to visit the city in the future and follow it's transformation.