This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Portland What Is Portland Flavor?
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Sam Adams mentioned on Tuesday that he's going to aim to infuse the Rose Quarter redevelopment with "Portland flavor." But what does that even mean?
1
MMMMM....Portland tastes like organic locally roasted coffee served in the City Hall men's restroom with and extra dash of smugness.
6
Portland flavor has nothing to do with food taste perceptions.
It is, rather, a gated and LEED platinum certified "Sustainability Village of Excellence," patrolled along its perimeter by rent-a-cops, to keep out battling gangs of food rioters and white supremacists.
It is, rather, a gated and LEED platinum certified "Sustainability Village of Excellence," patrolled along its perimeter by rent-a-cops, to keep out battling gangs of food rioters and white supremacists.
7
It tastes like City Hall spending taxpayer dollars to prevent the private sector from developing on it's own. Instead of letting developers use private dollars to create a flashy (though bland and generic) night life district, to revitalize the blighted Rose Quarter; City Hall will block any development that doesn't meet the strict standards of Sam and his cronies. I'm guessing 4 years of "visioning" and community outreach, that results in a few local, "green," "sustainable" developers taking millions of public dollars to build a unique Portland experience.
And what will the end result be? Snobby coffee shops, vacant art galleries, a Whole Foods grocery store, a few public plazas/fountains, some affordable housing units, and some restaurants serving "authentic" Northwest cuisine (whatever that is).
Not the end of the world, but not necessarily a good use of public dollars.
And what will the end result be? Snobby coffee shops, vacant art galleries, a Whole Foods grocery store, a few public plazas/fountains, some affordable housing units, and some restaurants serving "authentic" Northwest cuisine (whatever that is).
Not the end of the world, but not necessarily a good use of public dollars.
8
Snobby coffee shops,
[which survive amazingly through customer demand.]
vacant art galleries,
[Are you new to how art galleries work? Most of their revenue is based on invite/public shows that last a few hours]
a Whole Foods grocery store,
[wait this is a public business that pays taxes. Isn't this what you want?]
a few public plazas/fountains,
[ever seen a city without them?]
some affordable housing units,
[craziness, I know.]
and some restaurants serving "authentic" Northwest cuisine (whatever that is).
[The same marketing tripe you see for every restaurant. Get over it.]
[which survive amazingly through customer demand.]
vacant art galleries,
[Are you new to how art galleries work? Most of their revenue is based on invite/public shows that last a few hours]
a Whole Foods grocery store,
[wait this is a public business that pays taxes. Isn't this what you want?]
a few public plazas/fountains,
[ever seen a city without them?]
some affordable housing units,
[craziness, I know.]
and some restaurants serving "authentic" Northwest cuisine (whatever that is).
[The same marketing tripe you see for every restaurant. Get over it.]
13
Let's see....stream of consciousness on Portland....
Vanilla.
Lethargy.
Fatalism.
Fucking commission form of government.
Last commission government of any big US city
Dinosaurs.
Unions.
Trigger-happy cops.
Terrible schools.
75,000 people who will come out to see Obama.
Fabulous tango dancers.
Sexy Ukrainian women.
Anarchists.
Love-inspiring.
Did I cover everything?
Vanilla.
Lethargy.
Fatalism.
Fucking commission form of government.
Last commission government of any big US city
Dinosaurs.
Unions.
Trigger-happy cops.
Terrible schools.
75,000 people who will come out to see Obama.
Fabulous tango dancers.
Sexy Ukrainian women.
Anarchists.
Love-inspiring.
Did I cover everything?
14
Coffee and weed. the Portland Speedball.
Very good coffee. Very good weed. Lots of both.
In Portland people will interrupt you in mid sentence then forget what they wanted to say. caffeine & thc at work. Thats portland.
Culturally its bluecollar-beatnik-hippie-MBA gumbo. Noisy hipster poseurs and introverted poets manque dodging the rain at the same bus stop. smug neihghborhoods harboring friendly literate harmless homeless. Mcmenamins and the Heathman. Civic Stadium and The Beavers.
Portland is the Portland Timbers. minor league but classy in a scruffy way.
Very good coffee. Very good weed. Lots of both.
In Portland people will interrupt you in mid sentence then forget what they wanted to say. caffeine & thc at work. Thats portland.
Culturally its bluecollar-beatnik-hippie-MBA gumbo. Noisy hipster poseurs and introverted poets manque dodging the rain at the same bus stop. smug neihghborhoods harboring friendly literate harmless homeless. Mcmenamins and the Heathman. Civic Stadium and The Beavers.
Portland is the Portland Timbers. minor league but classy in a scruffy way.
15
I grow tired of Portland at times.
The way you get tired of a lover you will never ever leave because in reality you are besotted, entwined, and permanently CLAIMED.
Even the outrageous fiasco at city hall will probably not be enough to drive me away from this city that I love. The spirit of Portland lies in its mixture of straights and its kooks, and guess what, fancy riverside developments and soccer stadiums bring in vapid and passionless crowds.
"Beware of an enterprise that requires one to wear new clothes." Or new stadiums. Pox on Randy Leonard, for calling his stadium idea "taking Portland to the next level." I would sure like to take Portland to the next level and ABOLISH commission government, after we get done booting the asshole-in-chief.
The way you get tired of a lover you will never ever leave because in reality you are besotted, entwined, and permanently CLAIMED.
Even the outrageous fiasco at city hall will probably not be enough to drive me away from this city that I love. The spirit of Portland lies in its mixture of straights and its kooks, and guess what, fancy riverside developments and soccer stadiums bring in vapid and passionless crowds.
"Beware of an enterprise that requires one to wear new clothes." Or new stadiums. Pox on Randy Leonard, for calling his stadium idea "taking Portland to the next level." I would sure like to take Portland to the next level and ABOLISH commission government, after we get done booting the asshole-in-chief.
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