Portland, Episode 1

I knew a bit about Portland prior to arriving, as the hub of sustainability in the States, and as a case study for what can be achieved through considered city planning - integrating a public and bike centric approach to transport planning with defined urban design guidelines and the setting and enforcement of an urban growth boundary. Perhaps just as poignantly I also knew Portland as the hipster capital of the US.  

Driving into Portland on the eve of the Memorial Day long weekend I felt very much to be heading the wrong direction as locals flooded out to the areas I'd just driven through.  Wishing to throw myself into the experience I'd indulged and booked myself into the Ace Hotel (that's me with the small dog in my satchel) for 2 nights. The hotel is a converted factory, sparsely appointed, with a sustainability theme running through its offering, from the snacks in the room, the continental breakfast (all local Oregon produce of course), to the free cruiser bike hire and sign in the lift indicating you'd already be at your floor if you'd taken the stairs.  This is great except the hotel exudes a cool aloofness that if I'd flown in for a fashion shoot for the weekend (as often occurs) would be fine, but as a solo traveller trying to work out a new city it wasn't overly helpful.

What was helpful however was the free bike, if there's a way to see Portland it's by bike and the hotel had provided a finely tuned cruiser. The prominence, or pre-eminence given to biking is clear in the numerous dedicated bike lanes (including dual bike lanes, with the slower lane indicated by a more upright cyclist) and the way drivers give way to you as you pedal along.


Prior to heading out I'd consulted my source of obscure city events, Couch Surfing, and happened on the City Repair Village Building Convergence, a 10 day period occurring while I was in town, where close to 40 community projects across the city are undertaken.  The projects range from public art and community gardening and permaculture to de-paving activities, and are run in conduction with lectures and workshops on a range of practical sustainability skills. 


Heading across the Willamette River into the Hawthorne and Belmont areas I was interested in checking out at least one of the projects. These areas had a similar feel to inner north Melbourne and the sights ranged from ballerinas dancing to a tuba band outside a cinema in the afternoon sun, a blocked off street with a street vendor selling local Portland brews to a fence made entirely of bike frames, although I sense this is just a normal Portland afternoon.  On my way back to the city I stumbled across one of the City Repair Projects, a neighbourhood community gathered to paint their intersection with a giant sunflower.  

There were at least 30 people of all ages all painting away from the neighbourhood as music played from one of the houses, a great community feel. What impressed me about the projects is that they were right across the city, not confined to specific areas that are more likely to undertake such projects, the variance in the projects being undertaken and the desire of the community to use the these physical projects as a means of building community spirit, both within the local area, but also across Portland.


While I did a bit of riding that day, in general I'm not really doing much exercise on holiday, so the next morning I rose early on a Sunday, feeling a bit worse for wear having seen the very well supported Portland Timbers FC play the night before (who knew soccer was the popular in the US), and headed to Washington Park, an inner city park of extensive remnant forest to undertake hiking yoga.  Yes, hiking, and yoga, all in one. At first I was keen to do what read like an only in America experience. But it's actually a great way for someone who is out of town to see an area of the city they don't know, while undertaking yoga at set clearings in the morning sun along the way. I certainly felt significantly better an hour and a half later once I'd finished.