Portland is Awesome

There is a trend across America, perhaps the Western world, in returning to artisanal values. This is nothing new; it started happening years ago. But in Portland, artisanal values are part of the city’s DNA and have flourished, along with self-expression and creativity. Look at all the hand designed and sewn fashion boutiques, crafted bikes, microbrews, distilleries, and farmer’s markets to cite just a few examples

Take this pizza. Just a few years ago it was impossible to find a decent pizza almost anywhere in the U.S. in my view. Today, with wood fired ovens sprouting up on Portland’s east side, such as Ken’s Artisan Pizza and the Tastebud food cart (soon to be a sit down eatery near the Aladdin), no one has to opt for the ersatz any longer. It has become unthinkable to open up a new restaurant that is not locally, seasonally and sustainably sourced. As far as artisanal values authentic appeal, you could say they also support the local start up culture, with its emphasis on community, grass roots organizing and love of all things open source (transparency = authenticity). Perhaps open source developers harken back to ancient guilds, the era in which craft and micro enterprises spread

And in craft, the making of things of value, lies another Portland attribute. Richard Sennett in his new book “The Craftsman” writes about the role of craft in creating mental space, in fine tuning the ability to be thoughtful and to solve engineering problems. As some people have noted, being in Portland, surrounded by lots of busy and creative anthills, there is less herd-like thinking. My theory is that this is reason people in Portland are so nice. They have that weightless happiness that comes from doing your own thing with pride and passion.