PORTLAND MAN: PAST AND FUTURE OF A CITY ON THE EDGE

Portland man met another man and flipped a coin to name this place. We know who won since it’s not called Boston.

From a distance it’s easy to see why people fall in love with a city growing in the woods. It’s a terrific strip of urban life in the western wilderness.

You don’t have far to go to find nature, but human nature is a different beast. Dig into the city for a closer look.

Portland man was once Lewis or Clark. Then it was an Astor fur man before it was Pioneer man on the Oregon Trail.

If you moved here from somewhere else, you have a claim, too.

I’m one of them with extras. I’m a Portland State man, an Oregon History man, and a former Portland citizen, but not too far away.

I’m close enough to feel the heat of the protests downtown, close enough to know I’d be a poor member of the protest. So, I went down to take a look in daylight.

Portland Protest Site

This is the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Building. It’s fenced and blocked with guys inside the perimeter looking out.

I circled, looked at boarded up buildings, then crossed the Hawthorne to the other side of Willamette. I got on Water Ave. for a closer look. It wasn’t a Mad Max movie set, or a refugee camp, but there was a certain look.

Portland man could be a homeless guy living in the tent city? He sure could. Who else is in tent city? Protest guy? It’s a short walk over and back.

If Portland gives homeless people tents, sleeping bags, and fenced property to live a more secure life, why would they risk getting caught up in the gas, clubs, and arrests?

I choose to believe the new Portland man feels a connection to the city, that they are not transients passing through to the next camp. If people have the sort of support they can’t provide for themselves, Portland gives them a chance to rise above their circumstances.

And isn’t that a societal goal, giving people a chance to rise?

If Portland Man Is A Portland Woman

During a monthly Willamette Writers meeting on the Park Blocks, Rene Denfeld told her story. It was gritty.

Her Portland story had all the hallmarks of why some people give up, and why others find their way up.

I was struck by her story because I was a constant on the Park Blocks when she was a homeless kid. I saw the parade of the 80’s come and go from the doors of the Oregon Historical Society next to the church she spoke in that night.

Rene was the Chief Investigator at a public defender’s office and has worked hundreds of cases, including death row exonerations and helping rape trafficking victims escape their captors. In addition to her advocacy work, Rene has been a foster adoptive parent for twenty years. She was awarded the Break The Silence Award in Washington, DC for her social justice work, and was named a 2017 hero of the year by the New York Times. 

If Portland Man Was A Trail Blazer

Damian Lillard talked about the grind. Oregon is part of his grind, Portland the center of his grind. He’s a sports guy, and he embraces the grind.

He mentioned the grind after he got heckled by a couple of opponents for missing free throws.

Professional athletes change teams for different reasons. Sometimes money, sometimes conflict, sometimes for a championship opportunity.

Past players who chased NBA titles unsuccessfully are guys like Charles Barkley. One who changed teams often was Shaq, but he won titles along the way.

Paul George is on the Barkley trail. He was the target of Dame’s tweet about running from the grind.

“The grass ain’t always greener. I feel like we can build something and get it done in Portland. I really believe that.”

Getting it done in Portland. We can get anything worth doing done in Portland. That’s what a Portland Man says.

What do you say?