City Of Split Personalities
Sun Herald
Sunday November 9, 2008
Elegance and eccentricity are part of Portland's charm, writes Adrian Nisbett.
There can be few more dramatic approaches to an airport than that of Portland. In the distance loom Mount St Helens, which erupted so spectacularly in 1980, and Mount Rainier. Impressive, you think, until suddenly, seemingly sitting on the left wing tip, is the snow-covered peak of the 3400-metre-high Mount Hood. It is an astonishing sight and a momentarily discomforting one: just how much closer can we get? As we descend more rapidly we cross the Columbia River, just above Columbia Gorge where Lewis and Clark emerged on their epic journey of exploration in 1805. It is an unusually spectacular introduction but the first sign that Portland is not your ordinary small city comes as you walk through the attractive airport terminal: the live music, which passengers actually stop for, listen to and applaud. While my cab ride downtown is less enjoyable - mad Russian driver in a clapped-out Ford Crown Victoria, constantly chewing and spitting sunflower seeds while shouting in Russian into his mobile phone - I have seen enough to intrigue me. This place is different.Portland, like Vancouver and Seattle, has location, location, location. It is surrounded by stunning natural wonders that provide for most outdoor pursuits: a 2000-hectare urban forest with over 100 kilometres of hiking trails, mountains with year-round skiing an hour's drive away and the beaches. Then there is the Columbia River, with all of its attractions. Could Portland be more a gateway to outdoor pursuits than a destination in its own right?First impressions seem to confirm this. Despite the sparkle of the airport, the city appears to have seen better days. Elderly and tatty-looking bridges, crumbling tarmac, vacant warehouses, narrow streets - it all points to yet another small US city that has long since farewelled its heyday. Walking around the downtown area, however, I began to see signs of individuality. This is a low-rise city, with many well-preserved and elegant old buildings. The block-long Macy's department store is in the middle of a shopping area that could be right out of the early 1900s. Those narrow streets keep traffic at bay and the wide footpaths, which house a large number of eccentrics and homeless people, encourage leisurely strolling.It gets better. An easy place to start is centrally located Pioneer Courthouse Square, known locally as "Portland's living room" for the number and variety of its entertainment offerings, which range from live shows to movies. The city is well laid-out in a grid, with areas identified by the quadrant they are in - north-west and so on. It provides a simple and effective way of navigating, with all street names incorporating the appropriate two-letter quadrant designation. This is a city made for walking and cycling. The blocks are small and managed easily, though an efficient light rail network (free in the central downtown area) is available. There are bike and walking trails along the Willamette River and the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and other parks are dotted in each quadrant.Perhaps the most attractive of the block parks is in the south-west quadrant. Surrounded by historic buildings and laid out in the classic US small-town style of statues (Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt), walks, shade trees and formal gardens, this park provides the perfect precursor to visiting the Oregon Historical Society Museum. A visit here is essential for an understanding of the city and the state; tableaux and exhibits illustrate many aspects of Portland's past, with an emphasis on the earliest Indian inhabitants.Fronting the same square are an art gallery and a grand old theatre and nearby is the library, known for its marble staircase.Walking around in extreme heat is a thirsty business and the brewery blocks of the north-west quadrant soon beckon. Portland has become something of a microbrewery hotspot and within a very small area it is possible to taste a wide variety of (mostly) fine beers. As with each section of the city, the atmosphere in this area is quite different from that of downtown. This is also true of the university and historic waterfront districts. In fact, these distinct personalities are very much a part of Portland's character. The city has a liberal, laid-back feel and each area provides for diverse lifestyles, which for visitors mean a variety of experiences.The city's other attractions illustrate its multi-sided character. At the edge of the south-west quarter is Washington Park, home of the Oregon Zoo, but it also houses a must-visit destination for rose-lovers, the International Rose Test Garden. If roses don't do it for you, the park houses the World Forestry Centre and Discovery Museum and the Portland Children's Museum. Alongside the brewery blocks sits the world's largest independent bookstore, Powell's. It is certainly vast but also very relaxed and friendly.Theatre of all kinds thrives in Portland, as do music and the visual arts. And, while the shops are no different to those in other US cities, there is a welcome bonus with each purchase: no sales tax.With a strong civic spirit, Portland has managed to avoid the economic decline so evident in many mid-size US cities. While visitors may see it as a gateway to the wonderful scenic attractions Oregon offers, Portland's diversity, size (a population of 560,000 within the city limits), well-preserved downtown and unexpectedly varied places of interest make it well worth a stopover. This is a city of character and charm, qualities often absent in larger US metropolises.TRIP NOTES* Getting there Portland is in northern Oregon, close to the border with Washington. It is served by major airlines such as American, United, Continental and Alaskan and can be reached easily from all large cities in the US. The flight from San Francisco takes just over one hour.* Staying there Major hotel chains are represented in the downtown area and prices are reasonable.* Further information See travelportland.com.
© 2008 Sun Herald
Share This