When I tell people where I live, they always have a comment on my neighborhood. "St. Johns," they say, "It's an up and coming area." My response, though not shared vocally, is I wish it would already get there. It's been "up and coming" ever since I moved to Portland over a decade ago. So why does this label stick? Probably because, like so many other places, the time for gentrification has arrived. But up here, in this far NW corner of the city, where the Willamette River meets the Columbia, change is coming slowly. Maybe that's the best way. I'm coming to believe that it gives us time to savor the old before everything gets replaced by the new.
Here's the kind of thing I'm talking about. I know an old guy named Charlie who used to work on the railroad. Charlie knows the Pacific Northwest as well as anyone and used to frequent a mercantile business in St. John's to buy his overalls and hats. Jowers was run by an elderly Chinese man who Charlie liked to visit with and swap stories. Today the "Jowers Building" has been refurbished and is now a Beer pub. In fact, we have about 5 of them in our little neck of the woods. Afterall, it is Portland.
Live/work spaces are all the rage and my neighborhood is getting a fairly diverse group of them. Whether it be the apartments over retail spaces or artist's studios or even condos, we have them all in place and soon to be in place.
My city (Portland) is growing by about 50,000 people a year. With that comes traffic and a dearth of parking spots and an entirely different vibe. That's why it is important right now to take note of what is and let it register before the what it has become sets in. So take a little walk with me and let's see what it looks like today.
On the main drag, sit a quartet of small dive bars. Only one is iconic enough to attract everybody of barflies to hipsters, Boomers to Millenials. And, the food is good. That place is Slims. Live music every week and a very welcoming atmosphere help the aesthetic. The other places have names, regulars, and reputations, but nothing compares to Slims.
Then we have boutiques. About 4 in all. Each with different taste and merchandise makes St.Johns the place to go should you need to buy a gift for someone you care about or need to kill some time.
My favorite is a place called Therapy. Here you can find everything for your home, your oldest friend or yourself.
We have restaurants too. A Vegan BBQ, a vegetarian Indian restaurant, some Tap Rooms with adequate pizza and a wonderful Italian Restaurant with the best-handcrafted pasta around. Two movie theaters, a Mexican market-restaurant, and of course a handful of coffee places. The other occupants of the "downtown" section include a fencing studio (that's right, swords) a couple of optometrists, two-day-care centers, one for dogs one for babies, and what is trying to be a wine bar. Off to the side are a new bagel shop, a barber shop,* and a high-end shoe store.
*note* Not your father's barbershop. That one died with its owner a few months ago. Wayne was stationed by his window chair for decades.
Here's the kind of thing I'm talking about. I know an old guy named Charlie who used to work on the railroad. Charlie knows the Pacific Northwest as well as anyone and used to frequent a mercantile business in St. John's to buy his overalls and hats. Jowers was run by an elderly Chinese man who Charlie liked to visit with and swap stories. Today the "Jowers Building" has been refurbished and is now a Beer pub. In fact, we have about 5 of them in our little neck of the woods. Afterall, it is Portland.
Live/work spaces are all the rage and my neighborhood is getting a fairly diverse group of them. Whether it be the apartments over retail spaces or artist's studios or even condos, we have them all in place and soon to be in place.
My city (Portland) is growing by about 50,000 people a year. With that comes traffic and a dearth of parking spots and an entirely different vibe. That's why it is important right now to take note of what is and let it register before the what it has become sets in. So take a little walk with me and let's see what it looks like today.
On the main drag, sit a quartet of small dive bars. Only one is iconic enough to attract everybody of barflies to hipsters, Boomers to Millenials. And, the food is good. That place is Slims. Live music every week and a very welcoming atmosphere help the aesthetic. The other places have names, regulars, and reputations, but nothing compares to Slims.
Then we have boutiques. About 4 in all. Each with different taste and merchandise makes St.Johns the place to go should you need to buy a gift for someone you care about or need to kill some time.
My favorite is a place called Therapy. Here you can find everything for your home, your oldest friend or yourself.
We have restaurants too. A Vegan BBQ, a vegetarian Indian restaurant, some Tap Rooms with adequate pizza and a wonderful Italian Restaurant with the best-handcrafted pasta around. Two movie theaters, a Mexican market-restaurant, and of course a handful of coffee places. The other occupants of the "downtown" section include a fencing studio (that's right, swords) a couple of optometrists, two-day-care centers, one for dogs one for babies, and what is trying to be a wine bar. Off to the side are a new bagel shop, a barber shop,* and a high-end shoe store.
*note* Not your father's barbershop. That one died with its owner a few months ago. Wayne was stationed by his window chair for decades.
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