PORTLAND SUMMER CHEER FROM HERE

How far is a carefree summer walk in the park from the pressure packed navigation through the urban sprawl for Portland summer cheer?

One moment you’re walking a forest trail along the mighty Tualatin River counting birds and snakes and turkey vultures.

Look, two snakes.

Take the bridge for a good look at the river recreation action.

It’s an Oregon dream, an American dream, played out in every corner of the country.

Most important, it’s our shared dream.

 

 

The Mighty Tualatin drains into the Mighty Willamette, which drains into the Mighty Columbia, and onto the Pacific Ocean.

This is the Hawthorne Bridge, the most crossed bridge of my life, replacing the North Bend Bridge.

I lived on the west side and worked on the east side; then lived on the east side and worked on the west side.

I watched it evolve from a rotten wooden walkway to what it is now.

In a show of athletic prowess and stupidity we walked out to the middle for a view recently and crossed to the other side instead of following the safe route. Lot’s of barriers to step over, trip over, but not too much.

 

 

This run dumped off I-5 North to Front Avenue.

Instead of a right turn for the Hawthorne we went straight a couple of blocks and started circling and reading instructions and circling again.

There was an ambulance outside the front of the tower we were eventually going to after dropping the car in the public lot of the KOIN tower.

The KOIN Tower has a public parking? Yes, it does.

 

Portland Summer Cheer

If you don’t drive a car, parking is a non-issue.

No car means you don’t have a target on your back for opportunistic parking sharks.

If you do drive a car in the city, the last thing you want is to get towed.

Where’s my car? Either stolen or towed. No one wants that.

I took the entry to underground parking in the KOIN Tower on the third or fourth pass.

The directions from our pals downtown said take the left side of the entrance.

So I did, and it went down, sharply down, the kind of steep downward angle that comes from those deep urban holes you see construction crews with cranes digging.

 

By the time we made it back to the sidewalk, taking an elevator up from maybe four stories down with no buttons to push, just get in, the door close and off you go, the ambulance was still on the street with lights flashing.

We pushed in the apartment code and got buzzed in, but mistimed the door.

Luckily a food delivery person was coming out and held the door.

Me: So much for security.

Lady: Welcome to Portland.

Me: Thank you.

 

We looped around the lobby to the elevator just as the doors opened to show a man on a gurney surrounded by the ambulance crew.

I leaned in close enough for eye contact and said, “You’re gonna be fine. This is a good team.”

Another guy got on the elevator.

 

Me: If you see someone looking like that, pump them up a little. It makes a difference.

 

He smiled and got off before us.

 

Me: Remember to make a difference.

Guy: I will.

 

Ice For Gin And Tonic

What do you do if you can’t find any ice in a tower because you just moved in?

Check the club floor. Still no ice?

Eight of us were trooping along the hallways and elevators.

Another couple got in the elevator after we’d given up with warm gin and tonic to look forward to.

 

Me: Excuse me, but do you have any ice we could borrow?

Them: Do we have ice. Yes, we have ice. Come with us.

 

Half of us left, the other half held the elevator until it started making that emergency sounding noice.

The door closed just as the others came with a bag of ice.

Let the Portland cheer begin.

 

It Is Possible To Cheer For Portland

If you live in Oregon, Portland is our example to the rest of the world on how to build an urban landscape.

Is it perfect? Nooooo.

Will it be perfect? Nooooooo.

Was it ever? Noooooooo.

But why not make those small efforts along the way?

Add unexpected cheer to the guy headed for the ambulance; ask for an easy help, like ice, from new neighbors.

Charles Erskine Scott Wood said, “Good citizens are the riches of a city.”

 

 

Portland earns a cheer with every new good citizen.

I can vouch for two new citizens determined to make Portland a better city the same way they’ve made every place they live better.

When you see new people, be friendly. That’s my friendly Portland face saying hello.

It’s different than the menacing parking desk guy’s face for the KOIN Tower.

That’s what he wore after he watched me try four locked glass doors.

Bigger than two doors and wearing a white shirt and tie, he explained the mechanics of door censors like I was an inquiring engineer.

It might have been city sarcasm from a sassy doorman.

 

 

I cheer for Portland unwinding the communication channels between city hall and big business.

 

Major Healthcare and Education

• Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU): ~20,880 employees

• Providence Health & Services: ~19,220 employees

• Legacy Health: ~14,000 employees

• Kaiser Permanente: ~13,300 employees 

Technology and Manufacturing

• Intel (Hillsboro): ~17,600 employees

• Lam Research: ~4,000 employees

• Daimler Trucks North America: ~3,000 employees

• Precision Castparts: ~2,800 employees

Athletic Apparel and Retail

• Nike (Beaverton): ~10,500 employees

• Fred Meyer Stores: ~9,000 employees

• Columbia Sportswear: ~2,800 employees

• adidas America: ~1,580 employees

The thousands of people living in the towers south of downtown want a city to walk into with open arms.

They want a hug from the river, a bouncing step in the park.

You have to teach a city how to treat its citizens.

 

PS:

You’ll find the same hard-assed people here as you’d find in Philadelphia and New York, so if that’s a comfort you can relax.

You’ll find more hard-assed people from other cities who want a different urban experience in Portland.

They may live in towers, but it’s not their first place.

 

PSS:

All urban-life veterans follow a similar pattern. They find local spots to break up time in the apartment.

Where they once roamed a domain of open land, they find smaller territory with equal beauty and freedom.

From the right vantage point you can see the lanes of commerce that made Portland what it is.

From the river, to highways and bridges, to the air, it’s all in one historical frame to enjoy.