Portlandia

Portland Streetcar envy of Indianapolis

Did you know that Portland's public transportation system is lauded by the nation as one of the most cutting edge? This article from the Business Journal of Indianapolis is just one example of how another city envies the success of our public rail systems.

I've heard numerous arguments over the years that Portland will never recoup the massive investment in its light rail system. Yet every time I see an article like the one below, I wonder if the fame alone over time will allow us to comp the costs. It is national press like this that is bringing about the massive emmigration Portland is experiencing. Good for real estate, good for entrepreneurs, not so good for the competitive labor market...unless, a new type of labor market emerges to replace the old. Can this be? If so, it's seeds would be rooted in Portland.

Desirable?

Portland makes it work, but viability here uncertain; obstacles include timing, money, getting public on board

If the introduction of modern streetcars to one West Coast city can be replicated here, Indianapolis would see new, higher-density housing and related retail and restaurants shadowing the line. Fallow areas crossed by the tracks would become fertile for new investment.

At least that was the case in Portland, Ore., a city mesmerizing to Indianapolis civic leaders, who last month formed Downtown Indianapolis Streetcar Corp.

They risk being run out of town on a rail: a streetcar line will cost at least tens of millions of dollars amid city fiscal woes and the current property tax outrage.

Yet the economic development potential-and the practical value of being able to better move people in one of the nation's leading convention and sporting event cities-is an intoxicating risk.

Portland's streetcars have forged a "linear" community-one with housing, shops, dining and places to work all up and down the line, said Bose McKinney & Evans attorney Steve DeVoe.

DeVoe, also president of Streetcar Corp., has been busy riding Portland's rails and consulting with officials in the city of 600,000. In 2001, Portland was the first U.S. city to introduce a modern streetcar line. "Portland," said Devoe, "has a whole new lifestyle."

Indianapolis developers could be forgiven for being cynical.

They still remember the early 1990s "trolley" that was a thinly disguised bus. It was to circulate visitors to new attractions and woo office workers on the periphery to come down for lunch. It didn't last.

But the "permanence" of rail may be another thing.

"A downtown transit system getting people around can induce development," said Michael Wells, president of REI Real Estate Services, whose projects include a 34-story, 1,000-room J.W. Marriott hotel near West and Washington streets.

"You'd want to be adjacent to [a streetcar line] if you could."

Back to future

The proposal to return streetcars to Indianapolis seemed to come out of nowhere this month. Despite the ill timing, this group can't be dismissed out-of-hand, with board members ranging from Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce President Roland Dorson to Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association CEO Bob Bedell. Add to that representation from most of the big, downtown-area institutions, from museums to Indianapolis Zoo to IUPUI.

Yet, according to one insider, the idea of a streetcar system has been quietly simmering since the final days of former Mayor Steve Goldsmith's administration in the 1990s. Since then, cities such as Portland; Kenosha, Wis.; Little Rock, Ark.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Tampa, Fla.; have moved ahead with the nostalgic transit vehicles.

In Indianapolis, streetcars haven't run since the 1950s. The popularity of the automobile and exodus of workers to the suburbs was the final blow.

But decades later, downtown has rebounded. Streetcar Corp. board member and zoo President Michael Crowther sees streetcars as a way to maximize the downtown area's assets and to improve the environment and livability of the city.

"Indianapolis, I once said, if you put a fence around it and put it in Florida, you could charge $60 a head and call it 'Indy World,'" Crowther said.

"We have a huge number of assets, but we need to package them better," said the former head of the New Jersey State Aquarium.

Portland officials say that city's 8-mile streetcar system maximized assets and then some.

The Portland model

Since a streetcar route was chosen in 1997, more than $2.3 billion has been invested within two blocks of the tracks, according to that city's office of transportation and Portland Streetcar Inc. The latter is a not-for-profit group responsible for constructing and operating the system.

The investment includes more than 7,200 housing units and 4.6 million square feet of office, retail, institutional and hotel construction.

Before 1997, buildings in Portland's central business district were built to less than half of allowable density--growing to an average of 90 percent since then, according to a study by Vancouver, Wash. -based E.D. Hovee & Co.

Also, about 55 percent of all development in the business district occurred within one block of the streetcar route after 1997--versus 19 percent prior.

"The streetcar investment has become the centerpiece of a significant shift in the density and location of new development within Portland's central business district," the city report said.

In particular, there was a frenzy of condominium developments in Portland's River District/Pearl District, previously an old rail yard. Developers made the nearby streetcar line a key part of their marketing.

"We never anticipated such fast development," said Kay Dannen, of Portland Streetcar.

Part of that build-out was the result of the nation's housing boom-now bust. But Portland officials also credit risk-sharing agreements to entice developers. For example, Portland struck a deal with the developer who owned a 40-acre brownfield site in the River District. The city agreed not to ratchet up its minimum required densities until it made public improvements, such as parks, in the area.

"The city's obligation has been to provide a stable source of funding to build public improvements. The developers' obligation has been to contribute to the infrastructure costs and commit to build high-density, mixed-income housing meeting the city's housing targets," the city report said.

Keep it simple

Public-private partnerships aren't something Indianapolis needs lessons on, having earned a national reputation for partnerships resulting in such triumphs as Circle Centre mall.

But one thing DeVoe found particularly instructive from Portland was advice to keep ambitions simple. Portland's first phase, at a cost of $55 million, ran less than five miles.

Most other cities that added systems, such as Kenosha and Little Rock, have started in the two- to four-mile range.

The city needs to think of the streetcar as a "downtown circulator"-nothing more, nothing less-one that moves small numbers of people on a continuous basis throughout the day, DeVoe stresses.

The same goes for budgets. If an architect and builder can't meet the budget then "fire them . You cannot let this thing get carried away," DeVoe was told.

"Keep it simple means keep the costs down," Dannen said.

Portland didn't have to dig very deep or relocate many utilities. In a trench less than one-foot deep, contractors dropped in a long, 9-inch-tall basket weave of reinforcing rods-with streetcar rails attached. They poured in concrete and leveled it with the street.

Contractors worked in an 8-foot wide area, minimizing traffic disruption. "We did three blocks in three weeks," Dannen said.

Portland also resisted the temptation to fabricate pieces of rolling art that beckon the streetcars of old. If anything, the cars made by Skoda-Inekon, in the Czech Republic, evoke images of riders in babushkas.

But Portland's cars are modern-with air conditioning and accommodations for the handicapped. They're powered by a single wire hung overhead that can be disguised as a fancy streetlamp, DeVoe said.

Steep grade ahead

The infrastructure may be relatively simple, but it won't be easy to decide where to run the line and how to pay for it.

So far, the not-for-profit Streetcar Corp. has only a general idea of a route. Most agree that it would almost certainly run to the west of downtown, to or near key destinations such as IUPUI, the zoo, White River State Park, Indiana State Museum and Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, for example.

Roger Schmenner, IUPUI's chief of staff to the chancellor, said a streetcar could also be of value to visitors and patients to hospitals on campus.

And what of other areas-such as to the former Market Square arena site, where high-rise condo proposals have repeatedly withered?

DeVoe would like to launch public meetings as to a possible route, although first the group wants to huddle with planners to see how a streetcar system would fit with longer-range plans for the city. Among considerations is how a streetcar system might be integrated with a proposed light rail or monorail-type system between downtown and Fishers.

Schmenner said it's worth exploring whether streetcars could even connect with the existing People Mover that runs between Methodist Hospital and hospitals at IUPUI.

Financing may be more challenging.

The cost of Portland's starter system-plus subsequent extensions that brought it to 8 miles-totaled $88.7 million.

The biggest chunk--$27 million, came from issuing bonds backed by revenues from a 20-cent-per-hour rate increase in city-owned parking garages.

Another $20 million came from tax increment financing, with $15 million generated by raising property taxes in a "streetcar local-improvement district." The theory behind it was to target those who stand to reap the biggest benefit from the system.

And then there's the matter of paying for operating costs.

All transit systems require public subsidy, with fares generally accounting for less than 20 percent operating income-even in Portland, where standard fare is $1.75 a day. There, about 60 percent, or $2.4 million, of streetcar operating revenue comes from TriMet-a regional transportation district that gets most of its income from taxes and grants.

The payoff?

But if you build it, will they ride?

It's a particularly difficult case to make in Indianapolis. The city's mass-transit system, IndyGo buses, is about as popular as a picnic at Chernobyl. And IndyGo's efforts with a downtown circulator have met with mixed success, with one discontinued last month after a federal operating grant expired.

Dannen contends that streetcars have a universal appeal, with their manageable size, large windows and nostalgic feel. "We had projected 3,500 riders a day when we opened. We're now at 11,000 per day."

Streetcars, agrees Crowther, are not viewed as utilitarian devices, a "necessary evil" to be tolerated. "People smile just getting on them."

Better linking cultural amenities would, like the cultural trail being built downtown, further improve quality of life, said Brian Payne, president of Central Indiana Community Foundation.

Quality of life-and the economy, Crowther says.

Five years ago, only 15 percent of visitors to the Indianapolis Zoo came from outside the metro area. Now, more than 20 percent of the zoo's 1.2 million visitors originate from outside of the state.

What if those 50,000 visitors, instead of visiting the zoo and getting back on the interstate, boarded a streetcar and went downtown to visit other attractions in the downtown area? Crowther asks.

There is sufficient evidence that rail can spur economic development, said Lee Alig, chairman of Mansur Real Estate Services. "The models are there, there's no question about it. The question is can we as a community see the need for this?" .

IBJ staff

Chris O'Malley

Sat. February 23 - 2008

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Portland Top 10 for Pet Friendliness

As a pet owner myself, it's always nice to know the place you live is considered pet-friendly. Here's a national rating that includes Portland on the top 10 list of most pet-friendly cities. My favorite places to hike with my dog include Mt. Tabor Park, Tryon Creek State Park, Forest Park, and Powell Butte.

Forbes Best Places America's Most Pet-Friendly Cities Tom Van Riper and Robert Malone 10.10.07, 7:15 PM ET

Americans love their pets, shelling out more for food, supplies and veterinary care than they do on consumer staples like beer, ice cream, cosmetics and golf--some $36 billion annually. The combined total of cats and dogs in the U.S. is estimated at 163 million, or more than one for every two people.

But how many owners factor in Fido's or Fluffy's happiness when it comes to choosing a place to live?

In Pictures: America's Most Pet-Friendly Cities

For those who do, some cities measure up better than others. And Colorado Springs, Colo., tops our list of America's Most Pet-Friendly Cities. Generous public space, ample veterinary care and wealth of pet-friendly retailers all added up to heaven on earth for this small metropolis of just under 400,000 people and their estimated 61,000 dogs and 54,000 cats.

To find out where pets and their owners are most welcome, we measured the country's 50 largest cites to see which had the most public park acreage, including those parks tailored specifically for dogs (the second most common pet after cats and the ones that require the most outdoor facilities), the most pet supply and service businesses, and the most veterinary facilities. We also looked at which cities typically charge the least for veterinary care. We measured the statistics on both a per capita basis, or against each city's human population, and on a "pet capita" basis--against the city's estimated pet population. Those cities with the most vets, public parks, dog parks and pet businesses, both per person and per animal, shot to the top of the list.

Colorado Springs ranked in the top 20 in all the categories. The city has more than 10,000 acres of public park space, or almost a tenth of an acre for every pet. It also features seven dog parks and 113 veterinarians.

Colorado Springs fits a profile common to the top 10, a list of small- to medium-sized cites with a median population of 507,000 people. The list includes Portland, Ore., Albuquerque, N.M. and Charlotte, N.C., cities with a sought after sweet spot: They're large enough to draw lots of pet shops, vets and public parks, but small enough not to drown out such amenities with overly dense populations.

While large cities like New York and Los Angeles rank very high in total park space, for example, both are near the bottom on a per capita (and "pet capita") basis. New York is also the most expensive city in which to care for a pet, followed by major metros Boston and San Francisco.

The most pet-friendly among cities with populations of over a million is San Diego, which ranks 13th overall and sixth in public park space per capita/pet capita.

One factor that was considered but ultimately not included in the rankings was air quality. While cleaner air would seem inherently healthier for cats, dogs and birds, their relatively short life spans and their ability to make do in most any climate makes the issue moot, according to experts.

"Animals can generally adapt to anything humans can," says New York City veterinarian Richard Green.

And while no official statistics exist that track the number of pet-friendly rental dwellings in various cities, those in the apartment business say the trend is going the pet owners' way. The roots go back to the last real estate slump of the early 1990s, when building owners fought off low occupancy rates by allowing pets.

"People were almost desperate to fill their apartments, so they decided to either take pets or to relax their restrictions somewhat," says Lisa Trosien of Apartmentexpert.com.

No doubt, the relative lack of high-rise buildings in smaller cities also plays to pet owners wishes, since smaller, lower-to-the-ground units usually have more lenient rules. Throw in a nearby park and a pet store on the corner, and life is good for small city pet lovers and their furry friends.

In Portland, a Golden Age

Lately, we've been hearing a lot of concerns about price declines in the national real estate market, with speculations that it is only a matter of time before Portland's market begins to swing downward. True, things have slowed down in Portland's market, and our median price has leveled off. But Portland continues to gain national headlines for livability, such as the following NY Times article about our food and drink industry.

We're still seeing lots in immigration to Portland from people who visit or hear about our lifestyle. As my clients from San Francisco put it, global warming is and will continue to cause migration from southern regions of our country to the north. California happens to be one of the states with the highest price declines in the nation.

New York Times September 26, 2007

In Portland, a Golden Age of Dining and Drinking

By ERIC ASIMOV

PORTLAND, Ore.

THEY come but they don’t go.

In the way New York drew artists in the ’50s, this city at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers seems to exert a magnetic lure on talented chefs who come from almost anywhere else and decide to stay right here. About the hardest thing to find in Portland these days is a homegrown chef.

Portland may seem an unlikely place for such status, a city destined to play second string on the West Coast to San Francisco and Seattle. But in the last five years or so Portland has grown and evolved.

At first it was a sort of underground stop for food and wine lovers who had heard word of small, fascinating restaurants run by young, talented chefs serving a bounty of local produce. It’s underground no more. Portland has emerged from its chrysalis as a full-fledged dining destination.

This is a golden age of dining and drinking in a city that 15 years ago was about as cutting edge as a tomato in January. Every little neighborhood in this city of funky neighborhoods now seems to be exploding with restaurants, food shops and markets, all benefiting from a critical mass of passion, skill and experience, and all constructed according to the gospel of locally grown ingredients.

In close proximity is a cadre of farmers committed to growing environmentally responsible produce with maximum flavor, delivered to restaurants and to the gorgeous farmers’ markets that dot the city. There are local fisheries and small beef, lamb and pork producers. Not far away is the Hood River Valley, with its myriad fruit growers who supply glistening, fragile berries and stonefruits of every stripe and color.

World-class wine is produced in the Willamette Valley, the center of the Oregon wine industry, just a half hour’s drive away. Portland has six micro-distilleries making any kind of spirits you can name and, if you’d like a chaser, more breweries than any other city on earth. Just as important is a receptive populace, demanding yet eager to be wowed.

Portland also has what anybody in the restaurant business will tell you is most important of all: affordable real estate. Just as young, passionate chefs flocked to the East Village and Brooklyn in the 1990s, chefs have gravitated to Portland because it lets them have a vision and take risks without lining up corporate backers and lawyers.

“This is one of the very few places on the West Coast that has been an affordable place to live,” said Andy Ricker, who in 2005 opened Pok Pok, which started under his obsessive eye as a ramshackle Thai takeout shack and now has a hip little dining room as well. “There are a ton of people here who are going at it in sort of an indie rock way, mostly because they can.”

Mr. Ricker is a perfect example. Originally from Vermont, he spent years cooking around the world before following a girl to Portland in the early 1990s. He got a job at Zefiro, an Italian restaurant that set a standard for Portland cooking back then. Restless, he left the business and became a house painter, saving money and traveling to southeast Asia for three or four months at a time. He also bought two houses and sold them, taking advantage of a rising real estate market so he could finance his vision of a southeast Asian restaurant without having to satisfy financial backers.

Now, he’s won acclaim for dishes like juicy game hens roasted over charcoal and stuffed with lemon grass, garlic, pepper and cilantro, and local pork loin marinated in coconut milk and turmeric, and served with peanut sauce.

“You could never open a place that was completely a shot in the dark in San Francisco or New York because the costs are so prohibitive,” he said.

Costs were a major concern to Vitaly and Kimberly Paley, who arrived with an earlier wave of restaurant immigrants in 1994. Eager for a fresh start after working in some of Manhattan’s most illustrious restaurants, they toured the West Coast, finally settling on Portland.

“We sold our 500-square-foot New York apartment, and with the money, we bought a house with a swimming pool, two cars, and had enough left to open a restaurant,” Mr. Paley said.

Today, Paley’s Place, a warm and intimate dining room on the first floor of a Victorian house in northwest Portland, is recognized as one of the top restaurants in the Northwest, if not the country, and Mr. Paley has been celebrated for applying French techniques to the Northwestern palette of ingredients. Just as important, Paley’s Place, along with other seminal restaurants like Zefiro, Wildwood, Higgins and Genoa, has served as an incubator for much of the talent that is making its mark today.

Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon, a kind of new-wave bistro, learned the basics of making stocks and working the grill during two years at Paley’s after he arrived here from his hometown, Napa, Calif. He passed through a few other kitchens, then last year he was given an opportunity to take over one of his own. He transformed a little storefront restaurant into Le Pigeon, an informal, slightly manic spot with seasonally changing, nonconformist dishes like braised pork belly with creamed corn and butter-poached prawns, sweetbreads with pickled watermelon, and just about anything that can possibly involve tongue. His signature dessert is apricot cornbread with bacon, topped with maple ice cream.

“I used to think of Portland as a stepping stone, but I fell in love with the city,” said Mr. Rucker, who’s all of 26. “Rather than going somewhere with a really established food scene, I felt as a young chef that I could really have a lot of possibilities.”

Like many of Portland’s top chefs, he has established firm relationships with the local farmers. “I can call and have loads of chanterelles or huckleberries delivered right to my door,” he said. “When you have people as passionate about growing a watermelon as I am to use it, it’s great.”

Passion is an important word here in Portland, and so is politics, especially when applied to agriculture. Many of the older farmers came from the Bay Area in the 1970s with a vision of sustainable agriculture, and they have continued to adhere to those principles. Chefs around the country pay lip service to the philosophy of seasonal cooking, but in Portland they seem to take this idea especially seriously, following the examples of influential chefs like Mr. Paley, Greg Higgins (from upstate New York) of Higgins, Dave Machado (Massachusetts) of Lauro Kitchen and Vindalho, and Cory Schreiber of Wildwood — that rare Oregon native, though he’s now retired.

“They did a great job establishing the expectation among Portland’s dining community that restaurants were going to be using local and seasonal ingredients,” said Ken Forkish, who, inspired by the French baker Lionel Poilâne, came from Maryland in 2000 to open Ken’s Artisan Bakery and, last year, Ken’s Artisan Pizza.

He found Portland tough going at first. Even standard fare — rustic fruit tarts and croissants — was not that familiar here six years ago, Mr. Forkish said, but he believes the population has quickly become more worldly.

“Partly it’s because of all the new places that opened,” he said, “but there’s also been a steady influx of new people who expect these things.”

One recent arrival is Tony Soter, a longtime Napa Valley winemaker who last year moved here with his family. They are living in Portland as they build a house on their property in the Willamette Valley. The Soters have 200 acres on an east-west ridge with orchards, herds of sheep and goats, and 10 head of cattle.

“Napa is country only in name,” he said. “This is the real deal out here.”

Mr. Soter and his wife, Michelle, come from the Portland area originally. And though Mr. Soter spent most of the last 20 years in California, working with Spottswoode, Shafer and Araujo, along with his own winery, Etude, the Soters grew tired of the gloss of Napa. They longed for an environment more in tune with their own values and a place where Mr. Soter felt he could make more balanced European-style wines than he could in California.

The local wine industry has played a crucial role in the rise of Portland’s food culture. Visiting wine celebrities are drawn into the gravitational pull of Portland’s restaurants, but, aside from that, wine regions naturally inspire a surrounding culture that is highly sensitive to cuisine.

Pascal Sauton grew up in Paris and had cooked in Philadelphia, New York and Colorado before he visited Portland 11 years ago with his wife, Julie Hunter, and decided he never wanted to leave. “I loved the fact that there were four distinct seasons, and the wine valley was a big factor,” he said. “The climate, and the whole feel, was European.”

After cooking at several different places, the couple opened Carafe in 2003, a joyful, informal bistro that is half French — Mr. Sauton’s wide, friendly face is as unmistakably French as a bottle of Beaujolais — and all northwestern. To walk through a farmer’s market on a summer morning and to see beautiful golden chanterelles and organic cipollini onions, sweet cherry tomatoes, pattypan squash and bell peppers in purple, ivory and orange, is to have some idea of what you might find on Mr. Sauton’s lunch menu. You’ll even find glorious local corn on the menu, something you would never see in France.

“Well, we bend the rules a little,” he said.

In the winter, he gets tarbais beans from local farmers for his cassoulet along with leeks, celery root and winter squash. Winter is serious business for a chef dedicated to seasonal cooking, yet Portland chefs have worked closely with farmers to assure a steady supply of produce through the dark months. Brussels sprouts, broccoli, greens and cauliflower are in the winter pipeline; seasonal cooking also forces creativity.

“It’s a time to slow down and really make some focused dishes that will stay on the menu for a while, maybe do a braise or a confit or dumplings,” said Jason Barwikowski (Michigan), the chef at Clyde Common, a bustling restaurant that opened this year in the Ace Hotel. Mr. Barwikowski arrived in Portland after working in Wyoming, where he was able to combine cooking with a love of snowboarding, rock climbing and fly- fishing. Things haven’t changed all that much except that the level of cooking is higher.

“I still snowboard and fly-fish and rock climb and ride bikes,” he said. “Half an hour in any direction and you’re in the mountains or woods.”

These other attributes of Portland — the outdoor life, and its deliberately casual, relaxed atmosphere — may in some ways limit what its restaurants can accomplish.

“Portland may be over-hyped in some ways,” said Dave Machado, who after 16 years in Portland is a respected old guard chef. “A big city with an international component is always going to have crisper service. We have a regional class of service here.”

At the same time, Portland’s population is growing and real estate prices are climbing, leading some to fear that the city will lose its cherished renegade spirit. But Mr. Paley, for one, scoffs at that notion.

“I think Portland innately will make sure that people always have opportunities,” he said. “Portland is a free spirit.”

Portland: indie rock Mecca?

That's what I've heard.  If you're an indie music fan, then you're sure to be a fan of such greats as the Shins, Decemberists, etc.  So many young people are moving in from out of state, they aren't even aware of the slow, inconspicuous claiming of Portland by many popular indie artists.  Here's a great article that illustrates this. 

I actually walked by the gals of Sleater-Kinney outside the Zupans on Belmont.  But in my effort to be "cool", and respect their privacy, I just smiled and kept on my way.  I can see why musicians like Portland so much - they can just be regular people, and hang out as they please like the rest of us....Kris

The Indie City
Why Portland is America's indie rock Mecca.
By Taylor Clark
Posted Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, at 12:57 PM ET

I never paid much attention to the band-rehearsal squawk that used to waft through the open windows of my house in the early evenings. The leafy, artsy neighborhood where I live on the east side of Portland, Ore., is home to many a band, after all, and this squawk—though unusually loud and yelpy—sounded like a typical Pabst- and angst-fueled racket. But one day, as I was running in a park adjacent to the squawk-producing home, I realized how mistaken I'd been: That noise actually belonged to Modest Mouse, the hugely popular indie rock group whose latest album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March. This was where band frontman Isaac Brock lived. I shrugged, and kept running—not because I dislike Modest Mouse, but because here in Portland, this sort of thing happens all the time. Our drizzly city is home to so many of these celebrated rockers that it's sometimes difficult to breathe, what with all of the indie cred saturating the air. Somehow, Portland has become America's indie rock theme park.

Allow me to illustrate. From Brock's house, drive—or bike, if you want to avoid hipster scorn—up Southeast Belmont Street for a bit and hang a left and you'll run into the residence of James Mercer, lead man of the Shins. Go about six blocks north of there and you'll see the palatial home of Stephen Malkmus, whose former band, Pavement, created today's incarnation of indie rock with 1992's Slanted and Enchanted. A few blocks west stands Beulahland, a bar where for years a team made up of Malkmus and the members of the all-girl punk group Sleater-Kinney thoroughly (and irritatingly) dominated the weekly trivia challenge. Follow East Burnside Street for a mile or so and you'll land at the Doug Fir, the club where newly minted Portlander Britt Daniel of Spoon recently unveiled his critically lauded new album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, at a secret show. Or, alternatively, you could follow Northeast 28^th Avenue up toward the Alberta Arts District, where Death Cab for Cutie guitarist and producer Chris Walla lives. His place is just a few short blocks from the lovely home of singer-songwriter Laura Veirs, where I attended a party a few months back and met her boyfriend, Tucker Martine, who—aside from being responsible for the sound clip you hear every time you start up Windows Vista—produces records for Portland favorite sons the Decemberists.

And so on. This mini-tour doesn't even cover the entire highlight package. Portland also plays home to lesser-known acts like Viva Voce, the Thermals, Quasi, and M. Ward as well as more mainstream acts, such as Pink Martini, Everclear, and local punching bags the Dandy Warhols. What's more, the city may already be in danger of jumping the musical shark: There's been talk recently of bona fide rock stars relocating to town, like Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (recently spotted hunting real estate with his supermodel girlfriend and, according to scurrilous local gossip, driving a very un-Portland gold Hummer), and Gerard Way of the pop-goth group My Chemical Romance, who's been talking with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr about moving here. Marr, naturally, is another new Portland resident. (We're done listing the local rock heroes now, I promise.)

Why, you might ask, haven't you really noticed Portland's incredible concentration of musical talent before? Because unlike, say, Seattle's grunge boom in the '90s or the Bay Area's recent hyphy movement, Portland has neither a distinctive "sound" nor a "scene" to speak of. Sonically, there's not a whole lot that the twisty pop of the Shins has in common with the "hyper-literate prog-rock" (to borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert) of the Decemberists. And virtually none of these groups can be considered "Portland bands" since, with very few exceptions, they all moved to town after gaining some level of fame. (Generally speaking, it's rare to meet a young, creative Portlander who's from Portland.) You might see Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss parking her Volvo station wagon in front of Stumptown Coffee Roasters, for instance, but you seldom feel these luminaries exerting any influence on the local musical landscape. They all just kind of live here. Which is why it's often quipped that Portland is the place where hipsters go to retire.

So what's luring them here? The rockers themselves have somewhat confusingly praised Portland as a city "entrenched in juvenilia" (Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein), a place with a sense of "calm longevity" (chief Decemberist Colin Meloy), and a home of "really great public transportation" (the Shins' Mercer, who, it's safe to assume, didn't come here for the bus routes). If there's any alluring indie mystique to Portland, it's most likely due to the late Elliott Smith, who attended high school on the west side of town and recorded his most-loved work here. (Mercer even owns Smith's old house.) Before Smith, Portland's primary musical contribution to the universe was the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie." But Smith, on albums like Roman Candle and Either/Or, sketched a virtual map of the city with his whispery voice, and he went so far as to adopt a local street name, Elliott Street, as his first name—his birth name was Steven. For fans like myself, Smith's music made Portland seem infinitely more romantic than it ever could be in real life. (Case in point: 45 consecutive days of rain = not actually romantic.)

After Smith came the deluge: first Sleater-Kinney and Malkmus in the late '90s, then Meloy, Mercer, et al. For a long time, my working theory on the indie influx was that these people wanted to live in a place where they could walk like gods among mortals. The city overflows with hipsters, artists, and independent-minded do-it-yourselfers, to whom someone like Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker is nothing less than a living legend. When I saw Spoon's Daniel at a local club with his girlfriend recently, people in the same room were playing it cool—but the next room over, the tightly jeaned scenesters were clearly psyched about the star in their midst. Would that happen in New York or Los Angeles? Probably not. I mean, Stephen Malkmus lives in a house that looks—quite literally—like a castle, complete with a crenellated tower. What kind of message is that supposed to send?

One could easily view the walrus mustache, short-shorts, and calf-high socks Malkmus was sporting last summer as evidence for such decadent, regal motivations—"I'm Stephen Malkmus, and I lengthen my shorts for no one"—but really, it's probably just proof that musicians like him moved to Portland for the same reason as the rest of us: It's easy to live here. In the words of a friend of mine who used to be the music editor at the local alt-weekly, Portland is like a resort community for indie rockers who spend half the year working themselves ragged on tour. You can venture into public dressed like a convicted sex offender or a homeless person, and no one looks at you askew. It's lush and green. Housing is affordable, especially compared with Seattle or San Francisco. The people are nice. The food is good. Creativity is the highest law. For young, hip Portlanders, financial success is a barista job that subsidizes your Romanian-space-folk band or your collages of cartoon unicorns.

And, crucially, indie groups always have good experiences here, because the city produces very enthusiastic rock crowds. Ask a musician why they relocated to Portland and, from Britt Daniel on down, the most common response is: "We came through on tour and I thought it was awesome." It might not be enough to lure the glitterati, but Portland's combination of affordability, natural beauty, and laid-back weirdness is an independent artist's dream.
Plus, I hear the public transportation is incredible.

Taylor Clark is a writer based in Portland. His first book, Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture, will be published in November.

In Portland, the zen, and zany happily co-exist

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Traveler reviews like this continue to keep Portland's real estate market afloat while other markets begin a steady decline. The writer makes a good point here when she points out what an Oregon pioneer said about lazy people not belonging in Oregon - so let's get off our deriers and explore. If you haven't been to the Japanese Garden - GO RIGHT NOW. This is one of the first places I explored when I moved here 8 years ago - the most peaceful place I have ever tread so lightly upon. Off we go!

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Festival of the Birds

Speaking last month about bird watching, this looks like a great way to learn more about our avian ecology. Sellwood is fun to hang around anyhow, so take some time to check out the antique stores or stop in for lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants nearby.

Festival of the Birds Saturday, May 12th 10am - 4pm Sellwood Park & Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge off SE Tacoma on 7th Ave in Sellwood

Join the City of Portland, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon Society of Portland and other partner organizations for a Celebration of Migratory Birds.

Oaks Bottom and other natural areas in the Portland area are important to migrating birds for nesting, wintering, resting and re-fueling. See birds traveling from as far away as Argentina in Portland's Migratory Bird Park.

This is a free festival for the whole family to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day. No registration is required. Contact Portland Parks City Nature at 503-823-3601 for more information.

. Guided Bird Walks from 9 am - 3 pm. Come enjoy bird walks lead by local naturalist through Portland's first Migratory Bird Park. You will see the large variety of migratory birds that use Oaks Bottom and other Portland natural areas during their migratory route.

. Children's Activities including Bird Feeder Construction, Bird face-painting, Beak crafts, and numerous other projects for children aged 3 - 11.

. Storytelling about migratory birds in the Portland area and other bird and nature stories from around the world.

. Birds of Prey from Audubon Society of Portland's Wildlife Care Center. Meet Finnegan the Peregrine Falcon, Julio the Great Horned Owl, Hazel the Northern Spotted Owl, and Jack Sparrowhawk, the American Kestrel.

. Visit with local partners of the Migratory Bird Treaty Program. Including interactive displays to highlight what is happening locally to protect and enhance bird populations.

Bird watching in Portland

This morning after gushing rains, the sky opened up to warm sunshine.  I have a gingko tree in my backyard that is just starting to blossom, and its branches are popular for birds.  I spotted two cuties this morning - I got this photo a House Finch: 

I also spotted a small yellow bird that I think is the American Goldfinch.  I regularly get robins, and I've spotted a hummingbird buzzing around a great purple bush by my fence.  I love to hear the variety of bird calls all around. 

I've noticed many more birds this year than last.  Could it be the black oil sunflower feeder I've installed?  Or perhaps the new suet feeder installed?

This morning reminded me that it is Spring, the time of year for all of us Portlanders who've hibernated all winter to get outside, stretch our legs, and partake of the unfurling of new life.

It reminded me that its time to revisit Sauvie's Island, ride my bike around the loop, and bring my camera for the gorgeous countryside just a short drive Northwest of Portland.  To get there, take Highway 30 and cross the Sauvie Island Bridge.  If you visit, be sure to stop by the Pumpkin Patch and the lavendar farm.

If you'd like to start learning more about local avians, check out The Bird Guide.  Or, share your resources with the rest of us! 

Vollyball League Chooses Portland

Portland has been chosen as one of three U.S. cities to host the 2007 World League Volleyball matches.

The U.S. men's national team, ranked eighth in the world, will square off twice against No. 7 France at 7 p.m. May 26 and 5 p.m. May 27 at the University of Portland's Chiles Center Arena, which seats 4,700. The tournament is billed as a "major, annual international volleyball event."

The two other U.S. host cities have not yet been announced.

Bank of the West will sponsor the event. Supporting sponsors are The Courts of Beaverton, Oregon Sports Authority, Oregon Olympians, Z100 and Clear Channel Radio stations, and the University of Portland.

Portland ranks high for independent filmmakers

Once again, Portland makes another top cities list. "Best unkept secret" is fast becoming an under-statement. Besides the venues mentioned here, check out the Cinema 21 Theater (www.cinema21.com) in Northwest for some good indie films there as well.

Portland Business Journal - 10:05 AM PST Tuesday

Portland is in the Top 10 cities for independent filmmakers in the 2007 listing of MovieMaker Magazine.

Each year the magazine lists what it considers to be the Top 10 cities based on benefits offered to filmmakers and on feedback from writers, directors, crew people and film office representatives. This is the fifth year in a row Portland has made the list, beginning in 2003 when the city was first submitted as a contender.

For 2007, Portland ranked No. 9. In 2006 the city ranked No. 3 as the "best unkept secret."

The 2007 article mentions that the abundance of film festivals -- there are more than 34 offered throughout the state -- and the strong support from organizations such as Film Action Oregon and the NW Film Center make Portland a city that doesn't "just cater to its independent moviemakers, it is a city that is built upon its artistic community."

Highlighted in the article is Portland's variety of "filmic" locations and many indie-friendly screening venues such as The Know, The Clinton Street Theatre and Edgefield, which allow filmmakers a variety of opportunities to screen their work. Also considered a factor in Portland's selection as a Top 10 city are the incentive programs offered through the state including the Oregon Production Investment Fund and the Greenlight Labor Rebate.

The Shins change their life

You may have heard that Portland is becoming a sort of alternative music mecca of the decade, resembling that of Seattle in the 1990's. In fact, I read an interesting article about the fact that many musicians from Seattle are moving to Portland, due to its greater affordability and its magnetic draw of young creatives and intellectuals. Below is an article published on AZ Central about how The Shins made their move to Portland, with mention of other Portland notable bands. Myself, I have both Shins albums, and I'm quickly falling in love with The Decemberists.

Douglas Wolk Billboard Jan. 30, 2007 12:00 AM

When Natalie Portman told Zach Braff in the 2004 movie "Garden State" that the Shins song "New Slang" would change his life, it changed the shape of the Portland, Ore., indie-pop band's career, too. Two years later, the Shins' Seattle-based label, Sub Pop, is facing one of the biggest and most nerve-wracking opportunities it's ever had - the Jan. 23 launch of the band's third album, "Wincing the Night Away," that's easily the largest in the label's history and the challenge of playing by independent, relatively low-budget rules as the Shins try to grow from a college-mixtape staple into full-on alternative rock stars.

For the first few years, the Shins, originally formed in Albuquerque, N.M., by frontman/songwriter James Mercer, built their audience slowly but consistently. The band's first two Sub Pop albums, 2001's "Oh, Inverted World" and 2003's "Chutes Too Narrow," respectively sold about 1,000 and 16,000 copies in their first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. And the albums kept moving steadily since then, thanks to solid word-of-mouth, college-radio play and steady touring. Along the way, Mercer moved to Portland and the rest of the band gradually followed him to the Pacific Northwest.

"Albuquerque's nice," keyboardist/guitarist Martin Crandall says, "but there's not much going on musically, unless you want to watch some ska bands." Portland was a more congenial atmosphere for a group like the Shins. It's home to such indie notables as the Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney and Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, as well as innumerable smallish music venues.

Then the Shins endorsement in "Garden State" came along, and the movie's Grammy Award-winning soundtrack (assembled by Braff) included two tracks from "Oh, Inverted World." "New Slang" (which also appeared in a McDonald's commercial) belatedly became an alternative radio hit. As Mercer jokes, having toured for a year to support its second album, the band went back to touring behind its first album. At the time of the film's peak in late 2004 and early 2005, both Shins albums sold several thousand copies every week.

Even now, "World" moves about 1,000 copies weekly, and "Chutes Too Narrow," a little fewer than that.

Mercer started recording the gentle, varied, lushly produced "Wincing the Night Away" about a year ago, and some songs have been around even longer.

"I'm just so eager to have the thing out," Mercer says backstage at the band's final gig of 2006, a hometown show at Portland's Crystal Ballroom, as the other Shins run around snapping Polaroids that will be included with a British 7-inch vinyl single. "My life right now is just this anticipation."

The 1,500-capacity Crystal is on the west side of Portland, in the downtown area with most of the city's bigger rock clubs. It's not too close to the bohemian neighborhoods on the northeast side of town (where Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval live - the band still rehearses in Crandall's basement) or on the southeast side (where Mercer lives in a house that he recently discovered was where Elliott Smith wrote his first album). But the Shins sold out the Crystal show long in advance. Their audience is much too big for any of the east-side clubs now.

Meanwhile, in the uncertain post-Tower environment, Sub Pop is preparing to sell "Wincing" on a scale it's never attempted before for a new release.

"The most we've had to lay out on street date for any of our releases before is 40,000 for Sunny Day Real Estate," label GM Megan Jasper says. "For this record, we're hoping to do a minimum of 200,000, and I suspect we'll end up somewhere around 220,000 or 230,000. It's always a little bit scary when you're laying out that many records, because you're thinking about returns and oversaturation - that's what we need to avoid."

"I'm taking stuff I learned from going fairly big with the Postal Service 1/8whose album "Give Up" went gold3/8 and applying it," Sub Pop head of retail Andy Kotowicz says. "In its first week, the Death Cab for Cutie record that came out on Atlantic did close to 100,000, so we hope to be in that kind of range."

The first line of attack for the new album is indie stores, the band's initial fan base. "One of the things we did that was unusual for us," Jasper says, "was that in order to make a gesture to the independent stores who've supported the Shins for so many years and so strongly, we offered the Phantom Limb' single only to independent stores from its release, Nov. 21, through the end of the year. It's kind of a big deal for us, because you really don't want to exclude anybody, but we felt it was important to us to make that gesture for independent retailers." The single has scanned about 9,000 copies, as well as another 27,000 copies as a digital download.

Beyond the single, "Wincing" builds on the lacy, dreamy guitar-pop of the Shins' first two albums, expanding the band's range to encompass subtle funk and even a bit of twinkling electronics. Mercer's lyrics are even more elliptical than before - the first line of the album is "Go without, till the need seeps in/You low animal/Collect your novel petals for the stem" - but he still delivers mixtape zingers. (The best is in the chiming kiss-off "Turn on Me": "You had to know that I was fond of you/Fond of Y-O-U").

"We think the album is going to be huge, and I think it's a great record," says Don Van Cleave, president of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores.

The group is gearing up for an extended world tour beginning in February, with their live lineup newly expanded to include Eric Johnson of Sub Pop labelmates the Fruit Bats.

Still, the Shins will be taking a few months off in the spring, since Mercer and his wife are expecting a baby in May. "Our booking agent wants us to continue touring forever," he says. "I've found it a challenge to focus on the big picture." As for the signs that the Shins will have made it to the next career milestone, Mercer says, "There's always the cover of Rolling Stone. Or having a video on MTV that they're actually playing and not just at 3:30 in the morning."