Portland and Oregon Visitor Information|Questions

[pdxf]

Originally Posted by Urbanpdx

lso drive around any other large city in the US (such as Seattle) that has increased their road capacity and not added alternative transportation and amazingly enough, you'll see that they still have traffic problems. At least in Portland you have options, and a hope that in the future we will build more responsibly (unless a certain segment of the population manages to stop the progress).

Houston is the only one I know of that actually has increased it enough.

What is enough? Is 100 lanes too much or just right? if you continually have to add lanes as our populations increase, does this solve the problem?

I wouldn't mind continuing this discussion, but I think we should let this thread go back to what is beneficial for bailey.

[roner]

^^^ yeah, come on urbanpdx just concide. Seattle has 6 lanes each way in some parts of their system and it's done NOTHING to help the awful traffic up there. They can't even add any more without moving neigborhoods. The same could be said of Atlanta and LA. Portland's traffic problem is not that bad compared to most other cities anyways.

Why do live in PDX anyways? Why not give Houston a shot?

[Urbanpdx]

The latest TTI report on Seattle concluded:

All 2003 congestion and reliability measures remained stable as compared to 2002 and 2001
levels. Delay in 2003 shows a 4-7% improvement over 2002 and 2001 levels, respectively.
• The data indicate that peak period and daily vehicle travel has significantly increased – the cause of this increase is not known.

[Drmyeyes]

urbanpdx certainly is lavished with attention on this site. By the way, urbanpdx, your answer to Chicago3rd did not correctly list things to see that were architectural in nature. What you listed were examples of growth related urban planning issues. Dwelling on those things sound like work to me. He might actually like to have some fun instead.

If the visitor, Bailey, wanted to seriously hit some of the architectural points of interest outside of downtown, those of recent years, such as the architectural changes occurring in Portland's older neighborhoods that include newer mixed use condos, he'd be well advised to get a map and maybe a guide knowledgeble with the area to take him around to those places.

Barring that, the simple plan would be to take your bike or a car from downtown across the bridges to the following streets: Hawthorne Blvd up to 39th. Belmont St. same, Division St. same. Also hit Mississippi St in North. You might want to drive out Hwy 30 so you can see the St. John's Bridge. It's beautiful. Not sure St. John's itself has anything noteworthy enough for an out of towner to be interested in. If I was sightseeing, I wouldn't want to take the bus for these things.

Portland's had some nice neighborhood libraries built in recent years. And fire stations. One library is in Hillsdale. Worth looking at. You might want to visit Reed College and even Lewis and Clark College for classic architecture, and the remains of a former grand estate in the latter case.

I wish I could be specific about particular buildings to see, but I'm not sure that's neccessary. I have a feeling you, Baily will see them if you hit those areas. Downtown, the Pearl, NW 23 and 21st, Riverplace and the very new and as of yet relatively unoccupied SoWa ought to easily keep you busy for a couple days and more. All in walking distance from downtown.

[cab]

The streetcar loops is great for tourists. It gives you a great feel for 3 (make that 4 now with the new extension) different areas of Portland. I'd hop on and off every few blocks and explore. Don't miss out on all the urban pocket parks. Portland doesn't have world class buildings, but we have some of the best urban parks in the country.

[Urbanpdx]

Hi agree Drmyeyes, I just wanted to make sure that when visiting the "fabled" Portland he didn't just walk away with the fairy tale. Assuming that planning was a part of his interest and not just architecture.

[PDX City-State]

Please list recommended architectural things he needs a car to see:

Well, there is one--the Aalto Library in Mt. Angel. But it's hardly in the suburbs.

[tworivers]

Yeah... please don't walk away with our "fairy tail".

[seaskyfan]

Hey Bailey-

I'm a frequent Portland visitor and I never take the car with me (I take Amtrak down from Seattle). The transit is great and the City's really walkable.

Have a great visit!

[Urbanpdx]

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-...ck=1&cset=true

[InlandEmpire]

Bailey- I make it down to Portland fairly often as well, and while I do drive from Seattle I never need a car once I'm there. I usually stay downtown in the vicinity of Pioneer Square and that allows me to easily hop on the MAX to get around. It is extremely easy to walk around there also with the small block sizes. Don't rent a car. No need. Just use your hotel's complimentary shuttle from the airport to downtown and you'll be good to go.

[WonderlandPark]

I'm no libertaria, but I have to agree with some of UrbanPDX's points about the woeful infrastructure of Oregon, but I digress. Go see:

Orenco Station, the planned community that got so much press and most of it well deserved.

Ride the Tram, should be open soon, it is free on the 17th (I think)

Eat, Portland has an amazing selection of restaurants for a city its size

It isn't the best time to do nature-oriented things, but you may still enjoy a drive up the Gorge and a couple of short, weather permitting hikes/walks. There is a waterfall every mile, or so it seems, and it starts only a half-hour out of town.

The Pearl is where much of the building activity is, worth a streetcar ride and a walk around.

The Portland Art Musuem is now bigger and better than ever, not a bad rainy-day thing to do.

[bvpcvm]

you guys are forgetting the most obvious tourist attraction: powell's!!!!

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by InlandEmpire

Bailey- I make it down to Portland fairly often as well, and while I do drive from Seattle I never need a car once I'm there. I usually stay downtown in the vicinity of Pioneer Square and that allows me to easily hop on the MAX to get around. It is extremely easy to walk around there also with the small block sizes. Don't rent a car. No need. Just use your hotel's complimentary shuttle from the airport to downtown and you'll be good to go.

Do you have any recommendations on hotels that I should stay at. Maybe some options I could consider. Should I take the shuttle to the hotel downtown or could I take transit. Which is best?

[MarkDaMan]

For hotels in the affodable range you might look to the Lloyd District:

DoubleTree Portland
Holiday Inn (convention center)
Red Lion (convention center)

or downtown:

Hotel Delux
Days Inn Center City
Four Points by Sheraton
Mark Spencer Hotel

For a little more, but worth it if you can afford it, downtown I'd suggest:

Heathman
Hotel Lucia
Vintage Plaza
Benson
5th Avenue Suites (is nice but is converting to Hotel Monaco, not sure when construction starts)

Taking the MAX light rail from the airport is your easiest bet if you are staying in the Lloyd or downtown. The MAX station is right off the main lobby at the airport, and runs a train directly to downtown. The fare is just under $2 per person and is as quick as those shuttle companies that offer you a trip downtown for $15 a person.

You also are able to ride TriMet's buses and MAX free in the downtown area.

[PDX City-State]

ACE Hotel opens in February. I would stay there. You'll eat as well in Portland as any place.

[Bailey]

Thanks for all the valuable info- I can't wait to visit Portland!

[Bailey]

Does anyone have any information on where I can get the visitor's pass, what it includes, and how much it is?

Thanks again

[65MAX]

Visitor's Pass for what?

[InlandEmpire]

I checked out Tri-Met's website- doesn't look like they offer a specific visitor's pass, but I didn't dig in too deep. As far as hotels go, I usually stay at the Paramount.