PORTLAND CROSSROADS: SW 3rd AND ALDER

The Portland crossroads are the same at every intersection.

North, East, South, and West. It’s the same where you live if you don’t live in Portland.

Pick a side and proceed with caution.

Why SW 3rd and Alder?

Why not. What’s your favorite? Burnside and Broadway? Too easy. Burnside and the Willamette?

Here’s the deal: We’re all at some crossroads in life.

What comes next tells you which way things are headed in Portland, and who you are.

Head east and you’ll need a bridge to cross the Willamette River. Afraid of crossing bridges?

I knew someone from Washington who never came to Oregon because of crossing that bridge.

My passenger once had a panic attack on the Marquam Bridge. Too high.

They couldn’t look out over Portland from the top, instead looking at their shoes.

If you head east and don’t stop you’ll end up in Idaho eventually.

I hear Idaho is nice this time of year, but I hear a lot of things.

Looking South From Portland Crossroads

You won’t see California from 3rd and Alder, but it’s down there if you keep going.

The first town you’ll find once you clear Portland’s city limits is Tigard.

Tigard had some national news this week. Not the good kind.

In his letter, provided to Newsweek, the principal said: “This situation in no way represents our districts’ values or our commitment to ensuring every student that walks through our doors feels welcome, respected, and safe. Additionally, it goes against everything Tigard High School (THS) stands for.”

It was racial.

Show of hands for parents who teach their kids racial slurs at home? No one? Then where does it come from? From hate and fear and ignorance?

Show of hands of those who live in hate, fear, and ignorance. No one?

While no one says check the closet for a sheet and a hood, there’s something going on there. It’s not all ‘Big City’ cesspool action.

If you think you can run away from problems by moving to the suburbs, keep thinking.

Going West To The Hills

Portland’s West Hills are a destination unto themselves.

The Old Timers used to build their big houses on the flat before the city sprung up. Then they headed for the hills.

Life in the countryside was nearby.

Lewis and Clark College had once been a rich man’s ‘country home.’

Today people show up with money and buy membership in Portland life with a house in the West Hills and golf club memberships before they move on to bigger markets.

Others come in from major markets and consider Portland a cute little backwater burg, while small towners see it as ‘big city nasty.’

“I never go to Portland,” comes out of small town mouths worried about crossing the street as well as big timers looking at the territorial views from their West Hills windows.

Maybe it’s the homeless tents on sidewalks, the trash, the graffiti, the protests that turn into riots, that keep them locked in. Besides, it all looks better in an overview.

Cities are like that. You can turn a corner and find yourself in a new world. It’s exciting and terrifying and you need to be equipped for changes, like turning around and going a different direction at any Portland crossroads.

Looking North

Have you noticed a similarity in these big city pictures?

It’s the sky; you can see the real sky instead of the slot you see in the architectural canyons of New York City when you look up. (PS: don’t look up like a tourist.)

New Yorkers see Portland as ‘the country.’

Ask some in their Brooklyn neighborhood where Oregon is and try to not be surprised at the confused answers.

What would you tell a New Yorker if they asked you the same question about their town?

And try not to say, “I don’t care.” That ruins the fun. Caring is fun, or can be.

Was it fun at the Portland crossroads? And why this particular one?

Look, the place is working through some things. When it turns out we can all feel the relief.

Portland may not be the ‘Big Time’ for the movers and shakers used to moving and shaking the ground under their feet, but they eventually learn that the ‘Big Time’ is big enough here.

Not every kid on a JV football team dreams of playing at Autzen or Parker Stadium. They are happy where they are and realize that the 5’6″ overweight slow kid playing on the line may not be destined for the Rose Bowl, but they commit to the game just like everyone else.

Their Big Time is right where they are, and they prove it by giving the best they’ve got in practice, games, school, and family.

They absorb the lessons of sports and apply them the rest of their lives.

Their crossroads may not be Portland crossroads, but they belong there as much as anyone else. And they bring more context, more understanding and compassion, to the street.

Instead of fear and loathing, they walk their walk in pride and inclusion.

How about you. What’s your walk? Where are your crossroads?