Let's start with the Pearl. It's a better urban neighborhood than any American city this size has a normal right to have. It's fully contiguous with downtown, and has clearly grown around its famous streetcar. Normally I'd try to reserve pictures of the streetcar for the dedicated transportation thread that's coming up next, but it's all so integrated that keeping those pictures out is pretty much impossible.
Little urbanites, eh. This is the kind of indoctrination I can get behind.
What's the story with this? Lovejoy columns? Seems interesting.
My wife has a
small stationery business, selling city-themed paper goods. Some of her stuff is available in this store, called "Cargo". Naturally we had to stop there. It's a neat store. Basically like an indoor bazaar.
I like this building. Have you ever seen old vintage photos of commercial streets before WW2? I imagine the awnings that are always in those photos looked a lot like this.
The Pearl has a famous building with a "go by streetcar" sign. I had to find it.
Suppose I ought to wait for one to come by.
Last picture from the Pearl - a pano. Click it for the full-size version. I forget the name of this park.
The next set are from the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood, on the other side of downtown. Starting with another pan. Clicking this one enlarges it too.
They seem to be starting from scratch to build this neighborhood. It must have been a totally blank slate.
Next neighborhood is Northwest Portland. Follow the streetcar through the Pearl and into the outer bungalow neighborhoods, and this is where it finally terminates.
This scares me.
Urban renewal laser center? Is *this* Portland's secret to good urbanism? Lasers?
I like the umbrellas.
I think this next neighborhood is called Mississippi, although I'm not really sure. It's along Mississippi Avenue, on the other side of the Willamette from downtown. We went there because wife had heard about some interesting shops there and wanted to see them.
DC is a very well-kept city. There are strengths to that, but also weaknesses. I miss the scruffiness of light poles covered in bills, like the one in this photo. We don't have too much of this.
Also please take note of the giant heads.
Let's wrap this thread up by heading back across the river, to the Chinatown / Old Town area. I suppose some people might call this part of downtown, but I'm putting it here and there's nothing those people can do about it.
Obligatory arch picture. You saw Seattle's. You'll see Vancouver's.
This, I have to say, is a great idea. I read about homeless camps being broken up by the police and hate it. Nice to see a city giving its homeless population a place to take care of itself.
Clever.
This is a nice little square. Needs more activity around it though. A bit quiet. I understand there's a big market on the weekend. Should have been there then.
And that's that. Transportation comes next.
Linear Mode
