Since Peter and I got to Portland and hit the ground house hunting, we have seen 30-40 homes. They have been every different style but we have noticed a few features in Portland houses that we don’t have in St. Louis.

Creepy Crawlspaces
Lots of houses have unfinished basements. Portland interprets unfinished a lot more literally, and they neglect to wall off half the underside of a house. They call them crawlspaces but what they are are exposed dirt piles. Some of them are out in the open, others are visible behind an opening, all of them are creepy.

Creepy Crawlspace © Susan Lawson

Potbelly Furnaces/stoves/heaters
They’re chubby and cute and period-looking. I see the appeal. But I see a huge thing taking up space in every room, which removes walking space or furniture arrangements.

© steveyb

Garages not meant to hold cars
You could chalk it up to older garages built in a time when we didn’t have such massive vehicles on the road, but we’ve seen many that were built this decade. They’re houses with a one-car garage, according to the real estate listing. But in reality there is no way these things could house a car. They’re too small, and more shed-like.

Also we see a lot of garages that, if cleaned out, could fit a car.. but seems Portlanders like their storage space more. I think the lack of need for car shelter can be explained by the lack of snowfall here. These folks don’t know what it is to dig out your car every morning.

Peter and I are night owls. The temporary dwelling we’re at while we house hunt has a bizarre cable package… only like 20 channels and nothing good ever seems to be on. We’ve been watching some public access and old sitcom reruns.. there are some interesting things on TV here.

Here was some..thing on public access recently:

Local commercials are a treat too.. check out this one from Outrageous Audio:

There are countless dateline commercials and local college commercials that drive me to hit mute whenever they’re on… specifically one for Anthem College that pretends to be a telethon with awful actors. The premise is fine aside from the nonstop ringing telephone sound track they added on. It’s obviously not a live telethon, I have seen the same commercial for weeks straight. Jig is up.

There was bizarre television in St. Louis.  Becky Queen of Carpets & Dirt Cheap Beer comes to mind. But I rarely watched TV. And based on this short time with cable television here, Peter and I have decided not to get cable at the new house. TV on DVD and internet is the way to go.

I found this link today: Guide to Food Carts in Portland

This may seem silly but I am really excited about food carts in Portland. There, I said it.  It’s just that nowhere I’ve lived had food carts. Saint Louis for example only has ten food vendor permits for the city. PERIOD. Like, that’s all. And they don’t work near each other and there’s not really a selection. From the few I’ve happened to spot they were just hot dogs.

When we visited Portland last October we were in SE (I forget which neighborhood) and happened upon a parking lot with 4 or 5 trucks selling tacos, gyros, and I think one even had Chinese food. Aside from a cheap and fast meal, I think there’s something so wonderful about the EXPERIENCE of it all. I’ve been to other large cities with abundance of street vendors – New York, Paris.. it creates activity and urban camaraderie.

And if I am over-romanticizing the experience of buying food from a small room on wheels, whatever. The whole point of this entry comes down to poutine.

Poutine.

Pronounced poo-teen, it’s a popular junk food in some parts of Canada. It’s french fries covered with cheese curds covered with spiced gravy. I have never had real Canadian poutine, but ever since I learned of it I have been in awe of such a concept of culinary perfection. I have tried to make it myself, but I’m sure it’s not right. For one, cheese curds are difficult to impossible to come by where I live. Chese curds aren’t like curdled cheese (gross), they are just bite-size pieces of cheese that look and taste kind of like mozzarella. They make squeaky sounds in your mouth when you chew on them.

Apparently cheese curds have a very short shelf-life so unless you live somewhere with a demand for them, good luck finding them because it’s not worth it to the vendors to stock them. Luckily I have a connection in Wisconsin, cheese capital of the US, who comes to Saint Louis occasionally bearing curds.

But the other ingredient, spiced gravy, is the part I can’t nail. From my thorough research (haha) I have learned that there is a certain Canadian brand of gravy that makes the poutine. Any ol’ gravy won’t do.

So anyway, you can only imagine my reaction when I learned a couple of months ago that… brace yourself… Portland has a Poutine Truck. A food vendor selling Poutine. Holy Hell.

I don’t know if it will be “real” poutine but I feel so validated just knowing it exists for purchase there. And within arm’s reach until I can make a pilgrimage to Canada.

Potato Champion
Located at the NE corner of SE 12th and Hawthorne Blvd
wed – sat > 8pm – 3am – LATE NIGHT POUTINE YOU GUYS
sun/mon/tues > closed

Official web site featuring picture of awesome trophy exploding with fries.

Poutine Goodness © zorbs

Poutinegasm © LexnGer

When Peter and I made the decision last fall that we would move to Portland and started spreading the word, we got various reactions. One I did not expect was “I’m moving to Portland too!”

Not that we heard this a lot, but I was surprised to learn some of my friends had been thinking of Portland as a destination too. It’s not really that surprising when you think about it – it’s a popular city for many reasons and to the chagrin of some of its residents, I think, it is growing very fast. According to our tour guide the city is anticipated to triple in population in the next 25 years. The people of Portland resenting this growth aren’t without good reason. Many of the unique defining characteristics of the city are possible and fostered because of its size and careful city planning. Fast sprawl and growth can be to its detriment.

Two of my friends from Chicago were a couple planning to move to Portland later this year. They visited last week, so excited to scope out the city they had been reading about. They didn’t like it. They have decided to stay in Chicago. Portland did not amount to what they had in their minds.

I am, of course, selfishly disappointed. But I want them to find their place, and if Portland isn’t it, they shouldn’t be there. What didn’t they like about it? Sluggish, smug, not diverse enough. And, I think those are fair  remarks. I mean it’s a first impression, and it’s honest.

Going from Chicago (population 3 million) to Portland (population 1/2 million), it’s not surprising it’s less bustling. The smug factor? It’s a west coast liberal city, I too got the impression that there are homogeneous values and ideals, moreso than my Midwest swing state background. Lack of diversity was something Peter and I noticed right away when we got to Portland.  Portland is 18% non-white. By comparison, Saint Louis is 56% non-white and Memphis is 67% non-white. And those are the two cities I grew up in. I know diversity comes in many flavors beyond ethnicity, but it does make a difference.

My friends not loving Portland reminded me that what’s best for me is not best for everyone. When I was in college I loved my college so much, I raved about it. Based in part on my accolades not one but two of my friends from high school, unhappy at their current colleges, decided to transfer to my college. Both of them hated it and left within a year. I know it wasn’t totally my fault but I felt responsible. Ever since then I’ve always been a little wary of recommending something that might impact a big decision for someone. “But check it out yourself! Don’t take my word for it!” I warn. And it’s true.

I believe: You get out of a place (and life) what you put into it. You create the life you want to live.

The Broadway Street Steel Bridge © Jan Tik

Portland Downtown at Dawn © jikido-san

Japanese Garden © ahp_ibanez