Portland is one of those towns where
East meets West in a disarmingly friendly metropolitan town. East in the sense
that it's close to Asia. The large Asian population and the people from states
east of Oregon flock to this town of 1.7 million people for its quality living
features. I learned a lot about Portland while there on this quick trip. First,
it's pronounced "or-gon" and if you say "or-e-gon," as I
did, Oregonians will quickly, but kindly, correct you. The town is nestled
between two rivers, the Columbia and Willamette, which Portland-ites will
quickly correct as Will-AM-ette, not Will-iam-ette. Manhattan-ites with their
distinction of Houston Street being pronounced Hew-ston will appreciate that
Couch Street Fish is not pronounced like the sofa we sit on but like
"kooch." My pal Augi Garred (more on this fine chap later) pointed
out that Matt Groenig, creator of The Simpsons and a Portland native, named
characters after city streets. There is Burnside for Mr. Burns and a Flanders
street.
The city's layout is a marvel of
urban design. Divided into quadrants (NE, NW, SE, SW), the avenues are numbered
and the streets are alphabetically named after Portland's founders and other
key figures. Although I only took taxis and a pedestrian ricksaw, MAX, their
public transportation is a marvel, with free service in the inner city and a
bang-for-your-buck fare to the outer burbs. I thought this advanced city's
Smart Parks were technology centers, but found out it's just their park and
ride system. In addition to a glorious outdoors and an efficient transportation
system, Portland is headquarters to major firms with vast "campuses"
-- Intel has eight, Hewlett-Packard has 12 satellite offices, and Nike offers
soccer fields and running tracks.
