I have been to a lot of perfectly good cities, mark's boston, cory's new york, mom's denver, the navy's san diego and chicago and a bunch of others-some in other countries. and they were all wonderful and exciting and memorable, but i never really said, "wow, this is where i belong, i get it, and its people" until i spent 3 days in portland, oregon.
it is beautiful, and green (in both senses), and friendly. its like a rainy san diego, as meg likes to say. first of all let me tell you of the bikes. i am used to a cyclist element, living in orange county, doctory-lawyery types who get all spandexed out on the weekends and go for 50 mile rides in herds that resemble gazelles with nascar advertisement stickers all over their bodies. but lets face it, i am not that guy (i may have flirted with it in high school, but it didn't work out), i like to ride my bike to do stuff and go places, the ride should be enjoyable, but in no way resemble exercise.
everywhere you went in the city were people on bikes, bike locks, and bike parking. and not like new york where the skeletons of bikes are chained to lampposts stripped like carrion of anything that can be removed. and the bikes weren't carbon-fiber-aerodynamic-clip-in-pedals-speed-machines, they were either fixies (converted ten speeds, and actual fixies) or they were mountain/cruising bikes like mine with racks and baskets and panniers, milk crates, bumper stickers and every one had fenders. these are people who ride their bikes to the grocery store, (and they probably do it in the rain too).
i would probably have to wear fake mutton chops or a amkeshift goatee to look like i belong there, but that is a small price to pay. (and can you say "no sales tax", i knew you could). wonder of all wonders, meg feels the same way about the city (albeit for non-bicycle related reasons) and it is our serious hope to move there. the university hospital (OHSU) is excellent, and there is a lot of cross-pollenation between uci and ohsu, so meg knows people there and here that can put in a good word.
we took the train to get there, but that will be tomorrow's post, its a whole other bag of gummi worms.
oh, i brought my camera, but forgot it as we wandered the city. sorry no pictures. in particular, there was a bike with a bumper sticker that said "this machine kills hipsters" which was hilarious and thought provoking.
here's hoping your machine kills hipsters too...
it is beautiful, and green (in both senses), and friendly. its like a rainy san diego, as meg likes to say. first of all let me tell you of the bikes. i am used to a cyclist element, living in orange county, doctory-lawyery types who get all spandexed out on the weekends and go for 50 mile rides in herds that resemble gazelles with nascar advertisement stickers all over their bodies. but lets face it, i am not that guy (i may have flirted with it in high school, but it didn't work out), i like to ride my bike to do stuff and go places, the ride should be enjoyable, but in no way resemble exercise.
everywhere you went in the city were people on bikes, bike locks, and bike parking. and not like new york where the skeletons of bikes are chained to lampposts stripped like carrion of anything that can be removed. and the bikes weren't carbon-fiber-aerodynamic-clip-in-pedals-speed-machines, they were either fixies (converted ten speeds, and actual fixies) or they were mountain/cruising bikes like mine with racks and baskets and panniers, milk crates, bumper stickers and every one had fenders. these are people who ride their bikes to the grocery store, (and they probably do it in the rain too).
i would probably have to wear fake mutton chops or a amkeshift goatee to look like i belong there, but that is a small price to pay. (and can you say "no sales tax", i knew you could). wonder of all wonders, meg feels the same way about the city (albeit for non-bicycle related reasons) and it is our serious hope to move there. the university hospital (OHSU) is excellent, and there is a lot of cross-pollenation between uci and ohsu, so meg knows people there and here that can put in a good word.
we took the train to get there, but that will be tomorrow's post, its a whole other bag of gummi worms.
oh, i brought my camera, but forgot it as we wandered the city. sorry no pictures. in particular, there was a bike with a bumper sticker that said "this machine kills hipsters" which was hilarious and thought provoking.
here's hoping your machine kills hipsters too...
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