We went on the Portland downtown walking tour today which started in Pioneer Courthouse Square.
As our guide said, Portland, the city of roses, is not very innovative in naming its places so, Pioneer Courthouse Square was in front of, you’ve guessed it, the Pioneer Courthouse.
The Square has been a controversial issue in Portland and had only finally been built in the 1980s with the help of public donations. Those donating had their names immortalised on the floor of the square in the bricks.
Unlike most cities in the United States, the blocks of Portland are small so walking from 1st to 10th is not too arduous. The centre of the downtown area was moved from beside the Willamette River, further south and at that time the sidewalks were altered so that they were wider. This gives Portland a feeling of not being crowded even though there were many locals and tourist in the downtown area. Compared to London, it was pleasant not having to dodge around people.
As part of a regeneration plan for the city, builders are charged a 2% levy to support the arts, which has resulted in many sculptures being erected on buildings and along the streets.
We visited the Portland Centre for performing arts, the Oregon Historical Society and the City Hall. In the middle of the downtown area near City Hall are park areas which were originally separated so that the women had a park and the men had a park for recreational purposes. The reason for this was that in 1800 there were 12 men to each woman so this gave the women a bit of breathing space from male harassment.
Around the downtown area are themed litter bins with even a litter bin that has a solar panel to help recycle the trash that is put in it. There were charging points for electric and hybrid cars which were free to charge if you paid to park there.
The area by the river is now the Tom McCall Waterfront Park with the original buildings (that were occupied when the river was used for commerce) having been knocked down. Between 1st Avenue and the waterfront park is Portland’s, and probably the world’s, smallest official National Park which is literally a few feet across called the Mill Ends Park.
Portland downtown is nice and worth visiting although it does seem to have a very high number of homeless people on the streets. The city also stretches across the river and the total population is circa 650,000.
For those who saw the recent BBC show by Louis Theroux about polyamory, our walking tour guide was surprised that Portland was such a hotspot and thought that this was more likely to be practiced down the coast in Los Angeles or San Francisco. We were kept well away from the strip clubs, mentioned yesterday, on this tour. In fact the town has a very pleasant look and feel about it. There is also quite a lot to do on the outskirts, but we must move on. Tomorrow we are on the road again on our way to Depoe Bay on the Pacific Coast.