go to mobile version »

Portland

Crosscut most recent

What would Jane Jacobs do about the Viaduct?

Posted Fri, Oct 2, 6 a.m.

The patron saint of livable, walkable cities is being invoked on both sides of the debate over Seattle's Viaduct solution. Would Jacobs be a tunnel supporter, or a surface option fan?

READ MORE 28 COMMENTS

A big week for the cottage cult

Posted Mon, Sep 21, 6 a.m.

Backyard cottage housing is a benefit, not a threat, to single family neighborhoods, and in keeping with the values that shaped Seattle. Let's have more.

READ MORE 17 COMMENTS

Six key lessons from Portland's urbanism

Posted Sun, Sep 20, 5:36 p.m.

An expert on cities distills the Portland DNA. Most of all, it's a city that is comfortable with being an urban place.

READ MORE 10 COMMENTS

How to craft a better Seattle

Posted Tue, Sep 15, 6 a.m.

The Future Shack awards suggest some design principles that could help us shape the city and region for the better.

READ MORE 8 COMMENTS

Utopia: Are we there yet?

Posted Wed, Sep 9, 9:24 p.m.

An art exhibit in Port Angeles displays creative responses to the Cascadia dream.

READ MORE 4 COMMENTS

Portland Cong. Earl Blumenauer 'stunned' by reaction to his end-of-life-counseling provision

Posted Fri, Aug 14, 6 a.m.

His compassionate proposal passed a House committee without Republican opposition. Then came the political whirlwind, with 'outright lying' that the respected Congressman calls the worst in his 37 years in public life.

READ MORE 2 COMMENTS

Ah, Cappella!

Posted Mon, Aug 10, 11:39 a.m.

Portland's remarkable choral group, Cappella Romana, performs an otherworldly concert of music by Arvo Pärt

READ MORE COMMENT NOW

Light rail does not a 'grown-up' city make

Posted Mon, Jul 20, 6 a.m.

Seattle has acquired light rail and a strongman mayor, but that doesn't put us in the big leagues. In fact, we were more mature a few decades ago. And Seattle's civic DNA is about not imitating other cities.

READ MORE 23 COMMENTS

Future Shack or Future Schlock?

Posted Tue, Jul 14, 6 a.m.

Two panels wrestle with the future of Washington's residential architecture, and especially the fabric of a growing Seattle. An overriding question: How much can good design solve the problems of density?

READ MORE 3 COMMENTS

Newest local airline survives a tough first year

Posted Wed, Jul 1, 6 a.m.

SeaPort flies small planes from Boeing Field to Portland, saving lots of time and security hassles. But a recession hasn't been the best time to get off the runway with a new approach.

READ MORE COMMENT NOW

6,000 things you can't say in Seattle (or Portland)

Posted Tue, Jun 16, 6 a.m.

The list grows longer once the public weighs in on local taboos.

READ MORE 11 COMMENTS

Jobless in paradise

Posted Tue, May 26, 6 a.m.

So far, Portland and Seattle are still magnets to young, educated, restless people. But couch-surfing and microbrews will only last so long. Here's a look at the demographic realities in the two cities.

READ MORE 1 COMMENTS

The Cascadian Dream

Posted Thu, Apr 9, 6 a.m.

Can a Pacific Northwest utopia be shaped on the shared belief that nature is sacred? This latest installment in a series on regional identity looks at the patron saint of the environmental movement, John Muir, and how his thinking informs the desire for a new, greener, and elusive entity some call Cascadia.

READ MORE 8 COMMENTS

Peter Donnelly and the Seattle way of arts

Posted Fri, Apr 3, 6 a.m.

We've followed the have-it-all mode for building the arts rapidly, with many gains and tradeoffs. What will it be like After Donnelly (A.D.)?

READ MORE 2 COMMENTS

Will a bad economy wipe out Oregon history? Maybe.

Posted Thu, Mar 19, 6 a.m.

As the state celebrates its 150th birthday, an institution full of its historic documents goes on life-support.

READ MORE 4 COMMENTS

Are we happier in the West?

Posted Sat, Mar 14, 6 a.m.

A new poll suggests Western states report a better sense of well-being, but neither prosperity not recession seem to be making most Americans happier.

READ MORE 5 COMMENTS

For whom the 'freeway' tolls

Posted Fri, Mar 6, 6 a.m.

Get used to it: Dilapidated infrastructure now requires tolls. For I-5, tolling will probably start with the new Columbia River bridge.

READ MORE 3 COMMENTS

One-upping the Choppaduct

Posted Tue, Dec 30, 10:02 a.m.

A Portland architect concocts a Godzilladuct for the new bridge over the Columbia.

READ MORE 4 COMMENTS

Can Seattle be a Slow City?

Posted Wed, Dec 24, 6 a.m.

An international movement to change the ethic of growing cities seems right for the Northwest. But we'd have to check the boom-town impulses embedded both in our growth economy and our frontier DNA.

READ MORE 14 COMMENTS

A Portland Japanese Garden calls to mind the art of Andy Goldsworthy

Posted Thu, Nov 6, midnight

Our Zen gardener gets a nudge to visit the Portland Japanese Garden and finds five gardens in one.

READ MORE 1 COMMENTS

Other media

80 cities have proposals for expanded streetcars They sniff stimulus money, but they are also part of an intense revival of this nostalgic mode of urban transportation.

Portland adopts one of world's toughest anti-greenhouse programs An example: "Design neighborhoods so 80 percent of county residents, and 90 percent of city residents, can easily walk or bicycle to meet all basic, non-work needs, and have safe pedestrian or bicycle access to transit."

Feds give Portland $75 million for streetcar expansion The money had been blocked by the Bush Administration. Portland will use the money for a $150 million extension of the TriMet tram system, part of a 58-mile network of streetcars planned for the city.

Portland's liberal congressman grows frustrated with Obama For Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who campaigned hard for the president and thought a new progressive era was in the offing, this year has been a test of faith.

How do Seattle and Portland rate as culture cities? (Fair) Travel and Leisure ranks Seattle 14th in theater and classical music, 19th in museums and galleries. For Portland the respective rankings are 19, 16, and 23. Minneapolis provides a pace-setting score for mid-sized cities: 3, 9, 10.

Blog posts

Settling the 'which Vancouver?' question

Posted Tue, Nov 3, 6 p.m.

Washington state's Vancouver is considering a slight but significant name change

MORE

Seattle and Portland: 'cities of the first move'

Posted Wed, Sep 30, 11:36 a.m.

It's official: Seattle is a powerful magnet for young people, tied with D.C. at the top

MORE

The ticklish task of recalling Portland's mayor

Posted Thu, Jul 9, 1:52 p.m.

The city prizes its tolerance of gays, so those trying to recall Mayor Sam Adams will have to walk a fine line

MORE

The skinny house scourge

Posted Tue, Jun 23, 8:57 a.m.

And what it tells us about local design problems

MORE

Ink City

Posted Mon, Jun 22, 8:56 a.m.

Portland's tattoo culture gets artful treatment

MORE

Mossback of the Week!

Posted Wed, Apr 29, 5 p.m.

A story about old growth on a young man. Portland claims to be the beardiest city in the Northwest, so how come the World Beard Champion is from Olympia?

MORE

Huskies: Talk about a win-win

Posted Thu, Mar 19, 4:18 p.m.

Cheap tix. U-Dub wins.

MORE

Portland: Where 'bird' is a verb

Posted Fri, Mar 20, 12:35 p.m.

With 200-plus species flapping around, it's birdwatcher paradise

MORE

Portland: Let them eat stadiums

Posted Sat, Mar 14, 6 a.m.

That $88 million would buy a lot of beer, 'Blazer's tickets and police hours

MORE

Jonathan Raban on the Northwest desolation

Posted Fri, Mar 6, 6 a.m.

Raban reviews the unsparing realism of Portland writer Jon Raymond, whose story inspires the film Wendy and Lucy

MORE

Join Crosscut now! Subscribe to Newsletter About Crosscut Advertise Web Feeds