I haven't lived in Portland for over a decade.....aside from visiting for a week. So I'm curious....for those that live in PDX, what's daily life like? Parents live out in the burbs' so most of the time we're running to costco, washington square or eating at some chinese restaurant or something. that was how i rolled in HS...basically hung out at washington square, hit up Tower Records @ Beaverton Mall or head down to 185th area and kick it out there. Weekends we'd go downtown or 23rd and hang but didn't really feel like it was our hood or anything. Sometimes I go downtown...never seem to make it out to the eastside other than to hit up a blazers game...dunno, even when I lived in PDX I never really hung out there that much....... it seems interesting though...like hawthorne area and shit. do any of you live that lifestyle? do you hang out in dingy dive bars? the east side is foreign to me, despite having grown up in PDX most of my life.
I spend most of my time in the Hawthorne area. I pretty much just go back and forth between my home and my home away from home, Free Geek, not too far away. The Hawthorne area is nice, some nice little shops and not really any dingy dive bars that I recall, even Claudia's was better than I expected the last time I was there. Check it out, Free Geek in particular, the next time you are in Portland.
Sweet. yeah, i actually had a good friend that lived in Hawthorne area back in HS and we would always go there, chill....there was some comic book store...maybe around the 20s or 30s?
I work, live and play in southeast. I actually work just a couple of blocks from Free Geek on SE 7th, and live around Clinton Street, not too far from Clinton St Theater and Pub and Dots and the like. I spend most of my time either in the Clinton area or the Hawthorne area, which is just a short bike ride or walk away. I have lived here for two years now and have yet to go to a suburb, or even really the outskirts of Portland. I hope it stays that way. I kind of do hang out in dive bars, and especially the Clinton St. Pub and also spend a lot of time at coffee shops like Stumptown and such. Good times.
i too live in and love the se. in fact, one time i had to venture out and go to the Washington Square mall and i nearly had a breakdown. i live just off belmont and there really arent too many "dingy" dive bars. i mean they're there and i hang at a few, but it's certainly not what se is about. hawthorne is a bit too busy with a lot of crappy shops, but i find myself there quite a bit running an errand or hitting up powells. aside from maybe 3 places, the food on hawthorne is horrendous: Apizza Scholls = the best pizza in town (and the best ive ever had, including grimaldis in NYC) Por Que No? = the best cheapish/quickish Mexian food in town from a restaurant. Cafe Castagna = the best burger and fries in town (also a great wine list to boot).
yeah, its hard to love the 'burbs....but in a family environment its pretty convienient and chill. east side just seems so dirty and depressing....
The eastside dirty and depressing? Strange thought. If you go waaaay east, yes it gets bad. And there a few areas of Northeast that aren't all that great. But the inner southeast is awesome. Not dirty. Not depressing. Full of awesome shops, food, people, houses, parks, bars, music venues, oddities and greenery? Yes.
yeah, all the houses are older looking, the grass and landscaping isn't as nice as the burbs and the streets are dingy. dunno.
I'm seriously LOLing at this thread right now. "The houses are SO dirty" Christ on a BIKE! I didn't realize Barbara Bush was a Blazer fan.
plus, on the east side you have to paralell park and park on the streets. no parking lots or anything.
but seriously, i hate fucking parallel parking or parking on the streets. same shit here in LA...glad for the valets. I hate going with people who just wanna save 5 bucks, drive around for 10 extra minutes looking for a spot...worry about quarters in the meters...park a few blocks away, then walk all the way somewhere instead of the convieneince of the valets. sometimes I'll do it if the valets are too busy.
I live in SW, love it, and work in the Pearl. Hey Agent DP: Where in L.A. are you? That's my old stomping grounds.
Playa Del Rey is great - and I agree, kinda sleepy feeling especially considering where it is. I grew up in Fullerton and lived in West L.A. for many years. Still miss it - headed down with the kids for spring break actually. My bro lives in Belmont Shore.
