@tworivers, thanks for not being rude. Oh, wait.
The problem with your argument is that you're trying to quantify emotion and intuition, hopes and dreams. A young hipster leaves Sacramento with his styled to look ratty hair and oversized glasses in hopes of a dream life in the hipster haven of Portlandia. He is more than likely going to feel frustrated when he gets here in the same way many unrealistic NYC newcomers are when the reality of the place sets in. The same could be said of newcomers to just about any city when they experience the difference between the reputation as seen from the outside and the reality of actually living there. The grass is always greener on the other side. And it always will be. I've seen plenty of people move to Portland only to return to where they're from a few years later, partly becuase they had unrealistic expectations of what life here would be like, but again, that's going to happen in any city. And it was happening here during any era one might refer to as Portland's glory days. More importantly, look at the number of those who have come here and stayed. That number is growing.
For a proper view of what's happening in Portland in terms of its mystique or mythology, you should try to travel whenever you can. It's easy to get so used to Portland that one loses proper perspective on what most other cities are like. Too many of us take our city for granted.
I'm not suggesting Portland is perfect nor am I suggesting our city could not be improved. I'm also not suggesting our city's leadership is anywhere near being optimal. I didn't even vote for a mayoral candidate this time because there wasn't a candidate I deemed worthy of voting for. Instead, I wrote in None Of The Above.
Yes, we need stronger leaders, but that has always been true and it always will be. I look back on the time of Vera Katz and I wish we had a mayor like here now. But I remind myself that even when she was mayor, I wanted stronger leadership - not because she didn't do what I thought was an excellent job. It's just that I, and I would guess you as well, always want better. It's human nature.
But to judge Portland's "mojo" during a global recession without factoring in the effect of the recession is ridiculous. The fact that Portland wasn't crippled by the recession speaks to our city's strength, not its weakness.
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My point is that a certain mythology has indeed been built up over time, and especially the last 10 years or so, about Portland: how "green" we are, how great our transit system is, how we are at the vanguard of bicycle infrastructure, how we're a shining example of the power of the "creative class", how visionary our urban planning is, etc. I would argue that the reality has never quite lived up to the mythology
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Reality cannot possibly ever live up to a
mythology.
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Our politicians and bureaucrats are hiding behind glories past. Enrique Penalosa, the former mayor of Bogota, said as much during his talk here last summer.
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That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. As a generic statement, I might agree, but I don't think that's it, especially not in Portland. Great things are still happening here. Our mass transit is expanding, though I wish it were happening faster. We're creating more public parks, though I wish we created more of them. We're planning more public spaces in Portland, such as the Beard Market (er, whatever that's going to be called) at the Morrison bridgehead. We're in the process of connecting downtown to South Waterfront. PSU is growing in ways that make for a world class university, and it's happening in ways that make PSU part of the city rather than by creating boundaries to remove it from the city. So many great things are happening, though of course I wish for more of them and more urgency for them.
I don't think Portland politicians are hiding behind past glories. I think too many of them lack vision and allow themselves to sacrifice their values for the sake of
what they consider to be political realities. That's how we end up with candidates like Hales who prioritize potholes. We need leaders with the courage and strength to change political realities rather than succumb to them. We need leaders who lead their constituents rather than follow polls. But what we need even more than that is a better way to cultivate future generations of the leaders we hope for, and that has to happen at the local level.
What Enrique Penalosa actually said can be seen here (to anyone who hasn't seen it, it's worth watching).
Bottom line: The more any mythology grows, the greater the divide will be between the mythology and the reality, but that does not suggest a declining reality. It often suggests the opposite, which is the reason the mythology grows in the first place.
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And yes, I think perceptions are important.
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I don't discount the value of perception. But reality matters far more.
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