Portland-isms?

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

I remember it as Guild's Lake. Long-lost Guild's Lake was once Portland's water wonderland | Offbeat Oregon History | #Orhistory

Not the same lake.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZC54GtUoAEJip4.jpg

“Buried Streams and Lakes
Open streams once flowed across downtown Portland and the NW industrial area. Tanner Creek once flowed into a low, swampy area called Couch Lake, which once extended from just south of the Steel Bridge to the Fremont Bridge but was*filled between 1896 and 1919.”

The whole article here: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/article/231478

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Right.....

Plus to be a true local you have to whine about all the stuff that isn't there anymore.

Like the Weinhard brewery downtown that would waft the smell of hops across the NW industrial district on summer evenings. Remember those ads? "Well now....Where you fellas going with all that beer?"

I can miss the Organ Grinder out loud, and I remember Schludwiller commercials. But I'm not trying to pretend anything, just make sure that if I pronounce something at variance with the local custom, I do it for a reason and not out of ignorance.

[Nell Plotts]

Interesting. Evidently Couch Lake wasn't anywhere near Vanport.

FWIW Balch Creek (the creek in Forest Park) flows underground from about 30th & Thurman to ????

[SETabor]

I'm not sure where Balch Creek is but Tanner Creek makes a brief plein air showing at Tanner Creek Park at NW 10th and Marshall

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Right.....

Plus to be a true local you have to whine about all the stuff that isn't there anymore.

Like the Weinhard brewery downtown that would waft the smell of hops across the NW industrial district on summer evenings. Remember those ads? "Well now....Where you fellas going with all that beer?"

Corno's Grocery
Meyer and Frank
Django's Records
Satyricon

And so forth.

To be a true local you gotta talk about all the stuff that's no longer there.

That only applies to people that are trying to hard to validate themselves.


I grew up in Portland (born here in the forties), but I guess I didn't really ever care about that kind of stuff.
My family was an "outdoorsman" type of family.
To me Portland was a "base" to explore the "wild country" around it.

I really didn't care about was going down in town.
(Personally I always thought Corno's sucked, but they had a cool building façade, and that gave it celebrity)
If you and I can swap hunting and fishing stories, I can pretty much tell when you showed up here or whether you grew up here.

I know this is a city forum, but if you learn a little Portland history, talk the kind of Portland talk, and it's easy to convince newer people that you have been around Portland forever.

But if you are talking to a true Portlander/Oregonian, little things like who you knew, where and when you went, how you talk about it, will trip up up every time, however.
To me it's a lot more than about whether you can pronounce Couch, or Flavel correctly, or what nightclub you hung out in.
Just sayin', that little details matter.

But in the bigger picture, the past is the past, so welcome to Portland.
I am not an exclusionist.

I am glad that you feel so strongly about being part of the community that you are trying to learn those little details.
If you can figure things out financially, and don't let the present local culture and it's intricacies and annoyances (and weather) bother you, it's an amazing place to live.

Take the time to study and learn Oregon's history.
Believe me it's strange enough that you will find that "Keep Portland Weird" doesn't apply to only Portland.

[Dwayne Lassiter]

Oh, c'mon folks.

Oregon = Or-y-gun not Or-eh-gone.
Willamette = Will-AM-ette not Will-amette

There are the standard tests for at least Portlanders.

[ajams22]

I think one of the most important things you should know as a new resident of Portland is that Portland =/= Oregon

Too many people and editorials equate what they think living in Oregon is like to strictly Portland.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Thank you!


I live miles east of Portland in a very rural area, but I still own two houses in the Woodstock neighborhood, one of which is a "home" to one of my nieces, a daughter and her disabled daughter.

I visit Portland about two or three times a week, and keep up with what's going on in my old neighborhood.

I have to tell you, it's two totally different worlds.

I have to be honest, I have about totally had it with Portland and all it's issues.
I pray that Portland's next Mayor is a strong individual that can straighten things out in this town.
Portland is "Free-Falling" right now.
No Leadership, no Direction, no Hope, unless you are lucky enough to be involved in real estate business...

But I guess if you live in inner Portland (west and east), have a beard, like to drink crappy over hopped IPAs, wear "skinny" clothes, and have a strong socialist attitude, Portland will work for you until it implodes in a few years.
If you are not one of the stereotypical Portland "hipsters" and are even slightly conservative, I feel sorry for you, that's a tough row to hoe in this town lately.

Lifestyle-wise, Portland and the rest of Oregon are like night and day.