a week in stumptown (or, a visit to the bizarro bible belt)

M posted some pics here, so I won't bother...

Portland--my hometown that I've never actually lived in. It's a beautiful place: cool architecture (both old and new), flowers everywhere, ten billion shades of green everywhere you look, tons of walkable neighborhoods, bridges, and parks. Even the people are more colorful in Portland--you stand out if you don't have at least one visible tattoo. Public transit is plentiful and clean (even the buses). You're never more than a short walk from 1) great coffee, 2) great food, and 3) great beer. I don't know--what else do you need?

The Portland politic I find fascinating. I'm reminded of the joke about Unitarianism: that it's church for people who don't believe in God, but who really like to get together and talk about how they don't believe in God. Portlanders are seemingly obsessed with displaying just how much they hate Bush/love the environment/are tolerant of everyone at every possible opportunity. Bumper stickers, bathroom grafiti, T-shirts, posters, etc., etc. I figure the most popular person in Portland would have to be a gay abortionist here illegally from Mexico who just converted to Islam.

The thing is--and I know some people are going to hate it when I point this out--it is almost exactly like the Bible Belt. Or more precisely, a Bizarro Bible Belt. It's a big echo chamber; people are surrounded by others that (at least outwardly) share their values, and it just resonates through every aspect of life. Visit any small town in the south or midwest, or the suburbs of places like Atlanta and Dallas, and you will see T-shirts and bumperstickers proclaiming affection for George Bush, guns, and Jesus in roughly the same proportion as their opposites in Portland. Talk to people, and you will get the same insular, self-assured sense of "everyone around me thinks like I do".

Whether this phenomenon is a net positive or not, I'm not completely sure. On the one hand, I think it greatly facilitates peaceful coexistance. On the other hand, I think it engenders a very provincial outlook, one that is becoming increasingly less sustainable in a rapidly globalizing society. As the world gets smaller, the folks in Portland will find themselves challenged not just by the values of Dallas, but of Beijing and Riyad as well. And vice-versa.

Regardless, I do hope that they will be able to keep their city the urban paradise that it is.