Portlanders aren’t miserable. Our city truly offers the best of everything. So, it struck us as odd when the Wall Street Journal came out this morning with a survey that showed Portland was the second-most miserable city in the U.S.
Portland’s always been renowned for strange bikes whether it be the high-flying double-deckers or the laid-back almost-pedestrian-because-they’re-everywhere recumbent bikes. When it comes to cars, Portlanders love Volkswagen, Subaru and anything hybrid. Well, what happens when Volkswagen’s luxury brand, Audi, gets together with Portland’s hardwood-bicycle manufacturer, Renovo? Oh, yeah, baby – hardwood performance bikes!
When news came out today that the ever-popular, property-value-setting, super-gourmet New Seasons Market decided to open a location in Portland’s nearest Washingtonian metropolis, Vancouver, it made us think fondly on all of Portland’s neighboring cities, towns and suburbs.
Portland loves bicycles… and it shows. A recent research report prepared for the Department of Transportation, Bicycling Trends and Policies in Large North American Cities, revealed that Portland hits first place among nine different cities in North America (U.S. and Canada).
Recently, Portland Community College banned smoking of any kind on its campuses. The problem? Attaining the image of a brooding emo kid deep in thought is much easier to pull off with gentle clouds of lusty lady tobacco softly puffing from the end of the cowboy killer delicately placed between your lips. If you can’t smoke on campus, why not stroll to one of the nearby residential areas right off campus?
You knew it. We knew it. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein knew it. Portlandia is not an accurate portrayal of Portland. So, why was it that when a recent poll revealed that Portland residents care about topics like the economy, people were shocked?
Did you know that Pioneer Square Mall is not at all retrofitted against a rampage of rabid rhinoceros? Or how about Voodoo Donuts possibly collapsing at the prospect of not having the capacity to handle a convention of Oprah fans with a mad-on craving for No Name donuts? How about the Portlandia statue being able to resist the vicious attacks from a pack of crazed flying monkeys fresh from Oz?! Whenever there’s a disaster somewhere in the world, there will inevitably be comparisons regarding the unpreparedness of other cities to that disaster. In this case, Portland’s public schools are not prepared for a 9.0 magnitude earthquake like the one that hit Japan.
One of the many great things about Portland is that it’s big enough (without being too big) and techie enough that we tend to be a test city for lots of new technologies. Unfortunately, AT&T doesn’t feel we’re ready for the next generation of cell speeds (4G/LTE).
Remember how in the movie Ghostbusters, ghosts started appearing right before the Ghostbusters actually formed their team? In light of the recent string of really bizarre burglars, we’re starting to wonder if Portland’s going to get its own superhero soon.