[PeterSmith]

Hey everyone. I'm back from my trip to Portland and I want to share some of the photos.

I had high expectations of Portland, and the city met and exceeded just about every one of them.

The most impressive aspects of Portland were the friendliness and politeness of the people, the natural beauty, and the food (every meal I had in Portland was noticeably better than all but a few choice meals I've had here in Miami. I guess it stems from the freshness of the ingredients).

After a few days in the city, it became quite obvious to me that Portland is the product of years of meticulous urban planning combined with the spontaneity of the city's artistry and creativity.

There were really no downsides to the entire trip that I can really speak of. It was one of those trips where everything really fell into place perfectly, even if it did rain most of the time. I guess if I did have one complaint about Portland it is that it loses much of its clean, friendly image when the sun goes down. There were quite a few people downtown after dark who were noticeably stoned out of their minds. I saw one guy ripping plants out of a flower bed and throwing them all over the sidewalk. I saw another guy engaging in a fist fight with a MAX ticket machine. And I saw a white lady screaming her head off about how she can't get a job because she's black. Obviously, this is common in just about every American city, but it sort of surprised me in Portland because I only saw it at night, and the culprits were not older, homeless people (as they typically are in Miami and Baltimore), but rather teens and young people who seemingly otherwise had their act together. Anyhow, it's not important.

Portland was awesome and I can't wait to go back. Here are my photos. My girlfriend had control of the camera most of the trip, so these are mostly her photos. We also took photos of the countryside out in Hillsboro when we went wine tasting. I'll add those photos to these later on.

Anyway, enjoy.

Some shots of the Chinese Garden

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/4783/portland002lv1.jpg

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/8132/portland005dl1.jpg

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/8429/portland010eq7.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/1367/portland015yi2.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1590/portland023ft3.jpg

Energy-efficient light bulbs in an ancient Chinese lantern? How very Portland of you...
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/2308/portland027mv6.jpg

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2505/portland040qh7.jpg

A few of Chinatown and what I think was Old Town

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6264/portland044yx3.jpg

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6531/portland045ww2.jpg

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/8786/portland046zs4.jpg

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4890/portland047qq1.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/1747/portland048sm4.jpg

Waterfront Park and one of the bridges

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/7408/portland053kv3.jpg

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5076/portland054vx1.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5003/portland055sx8.jpg

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/2269/portland056jm7.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/6606/portland057we0.jpg

Washington Park

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7540/portland070dv1.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4047/portland082dl4.jpg

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/2987/portland083wh8.jpg

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/4818/portland090ox1.jpg

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/8448/portland093gc6.jpg

I question the accuracy of the timelines in Portland.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9846/portland098fz4.jpg

Portland on St. Patrick's Day - Kells Bar in Skidmore(?)

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3386/portland099tx1.jpg

A bunch of Portlanders having a good time...
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3746/portland108sl5.jpg

and two Baltimoreans having a GREAT time!
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/9587/portland103wa6.jpg

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/2918/portland116jh1.jpg

Multnomah Falls

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7378/portland118ts4.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7919/portland119mp6.jpg

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/6367/portland124qq5.jpg

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6107/portland137te4.jpg

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/4823/portland127ma7.jpg

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8506/portland155sv8.jpg

More Chinatown and the Pearl

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/2773/portland192il1.jpg

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/5093/portland194ur6.jpg

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/963/portland195eq1.jpg

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/9578/portland197dm9.jpg

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/2932/portland199rd5.jpg

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/3056/portland200yq4.jpg

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/4176/portland201gd9.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/6828/portland202sm1.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9945/portland203hg8.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1927/portland204fe6.jpg

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7104/portland205xn6.jpg

Did an overpass used to run through here?
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7919/portland208hs0.jpg

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5918/portland209ok7.jpg

Northwest Portland - We sort of stumbled upon this neighborhood by chance, and it turned out to be the most surprising part of the trip. Are most of these homes broken up into apartments? I thought the streets were much too vibrant for a neighborhood of single-family homes.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1237/portland223ji1.jpg

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/4103/portland221jg4.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9663/portland222hj4.jpg

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/1889/portland226sz8.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5659/portland233wv0.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5724/portland236if0.jpg

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/690/portland237dw8.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/927/portland243uj9.jpg

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1358/portland244yo5.jpg

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8374/portland257op4.jpg

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8176/portland264pl4.jpg

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4331/portland268ca3.jpg

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9831/portland269bt7.jpg

A few downtown photos

I thought this one turned out pretty cool...
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6022/portland270zn6.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9100/portland271lb4.jpg

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/911/portland272po8.jpg

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1300/portland347zb6.jpg

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/1862/portland348hz0.jpg

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2217/portland349wc7.jpg

This building had leasing signs all over it. Why is such a beautiful building mostly empty? Did it just get renovated?
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/959/portland350sy8.jpg

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/3586/portland354xz6.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8637/portland357kk3.jpg

It's hard to tell from this picture, but the brickwork on this building is fantastic.
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5170/portland362pg6.jpg

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/184/portland363mz9.jpg

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/1952/portland364tm0.jpg

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/134/portland365ry2.jpg

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1062/portland366uy9.jpg

[brandonpdx]

thanks for sharing

[PacificNW]

Nice...glad you enjoyed your visit.

[twofiftyfive]

Did an overpass used to run through here?

Those are the Lovejoy Columns. They were moved from their original location as part of the (since removed) Lovejoy St. ramp to the Broadway Bridge. You can read more about them here (http://www.pdc.us/new/releases/2005/1004.asp).

[sopdx]

Glad you had a great time and it was really nice of you to share your photos and your observations. cheers.

[Sekkle]

Great photos. Thanks!

PS - Looking forward to the pics of the countryside, too. I live in hillsboro... inside the UGB, though.

[MarkDaMan]

you guys got around! thanks for the pics, glad you liked Portland...and yes, many of the houses in NW are broken into multiple apts. Lots of single family, beautiful big homes too.

[StevenW]

Very nice tour!! :yes:
Beautiful city. :)
Thanks for posting these, Peter. :yes: :)

[jamie_hunt]

... There were quite a few people downtown after dark who were noticeably stoned out of their minds. I saw one guy ripping plants out of a flower bed and throwing them all over the sidewalk. I saw another guy engaging in a fist fight with a MAX ticket machine. And I saw a white lady screaming her head off about how she can't get a job because she's black. ...

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/1747/portland048sm4.jpg

Sorry about that, mate ... my family reunion got a little out of hand. Great pics, though. Gorgeous town: spectacular elms & other trees. Especially like that the streets are relatively empty and the bars were packed. Portlanders clearly have their priorities straight.

One thing, though: the sharp angle of that building pointing straight into Chinatown is some bad honkin' feng shui. Just sayin'.

[Rive85]

wow... portland has some very beatiful buildings..

[Castillonis]

Northwest Portland - We sort of stumbled upon this neighborhood by chance, and it turned out to be the most surprising part of the trip. Are most of these homes broken up into apartments? I thought the streets were much too vibrant for a neighborhood of single-family homes.

An older couple that sold there house on NW 25th ave near the large home with the columns told my wife and I that they purchased their home in the early 70s for 20-30k. The homes were dilapidated and the local government {city, county, ???} was planning on bulldozing the homes in that area for an industrial area. I mentioned it to the current owner who was gardening. She didn't seem to be interested :)

It reminds me of a fellow who was in his 80s that I spoke to in the mid 1990s as I was walking by the Courthouse building pictured in the post above. He said that he used to sit on the grass of the court house building and watch baseball games where the Mier and Frank building (Macy's) was. He said that the sidewalks were made out of wood. I love nostalgia like that :)

[Preservationist]

I think your old guy was hallucinating - the first part of the M&F building was built in 1909 and replaced an earlier M&F building on the site; over the next 20 years they demolished the other buildings on the block and completed the structure that's there now.

[MOPIdaho]

Portland's sidewalks have been concrete for 100 plus years. Maybe he was talking about PGE park?:shrug:
I guess they might have played baseball at Pioneer Courthouse Square after the Portland Hotel was razed.

[tworivers]

Cool photos, enjoyed the architectural focus.

I lived in the Fountain Place Apts in 1996... that courtyard is nice on hot days.

[Castillonis]

Well so much for the Mier and Frank story. Though I am certian of the NW 23rd neighborhood's predicament.

[CouvScott]

Portland's sidewalks have been concrete for 100 plus years. Maybe he was talking about PGE park?:shrug:
I guess they might have played baseball at Pioneer Courthouse Square after the Portland Hotel was razed.

The Beaver's played in NW Portland, right where ESCO is now (the factory just east of Montgomery Park).

from Wikipedia...

The original Portland Beavers began play in the PCL in 1903, being known variously as the Browns, Giants, Ducks, and Webfooters (Oregon is associated with ducks due to the state's significant annual rainfall)[1] before deciding on the name Beavers in 1906. (Oregon is the "Beaver State".) At the end of the 1917 season, the original franchise was relocated to Sacramento, California. The Beavers played at 12,000-seat Vaughn Street Park, at NW Vaughn Street and NW 24th Avenue. They won their first PCL pennant in 1906, finishing 19½ games over runner-up Seattle. Portland also won pennants in 1910, 1911, 1913, and 1914.
After the 1914 season, the team went into a tailspin that lasted over a decade. With America’s entry into World War I, restrictions were placed on travel, such that the Beavers even withdrew from the PCL for the 1918 season, playing instead in the Class B Pacific Coast International League.

There is more, but it's too long to put in here. Basically, they played at Vaughn street until they finally moved to Civic Stadium. I believe there is a plaque on the outside wall somewhere over on Vaughn to commemerate the park.

[sad face]

I have gone to Portland and it ain't anything like this desert.

[ue]

Great photos. Portland is a beautiful city I hope to visit there this summer. Did you check out the Oregon Convention Centre...that is such a cool building.

[Rainier Meadows]

cool pics man!