PNCA : studentlife : portland

Portland and Beyond

Portlanders drive but they also commute on foot, bicycle, and Tri-met, Portland’s excellent public transportation

Portland's seven bridges cross the Willamette River which divides the city east to west; Burnside Street divides the city north to south. All streets north of Burnside are listed alphabetically: Burnside, Couch (rhymes with pooch), Davis, Everett, Flanders, Glisan, Hoyt, Irving, Johnson (PNCA's address), and so on.

Looming over the west hills of Portland and spanning five thousand acres, Forest Park, one of the largest city parks in the world, features a circuit of connecting parks that loop around the city. This urban forest was designed by the Olmstead brothers at the turn of the century and may well be Portland’s greatest treasure. Urban planners look to Portland as a model city since it protects the urban growth boundary and keeps the city densely populated with innovative living and commercial spaces, great old neighborhoods filled with trees and sidewalks, and projects such as the conversion of the Pearl District's warehouses to a lively art district.

Portlanders drive but they also commute on foot, bicycle, and Tri-met, Portland’s excellent public transportation that includes a trolley connecting downtown with the Pearl District and the NW 23rd shopping district as well as the Multnomah County Library, Portland Art Museum, and Portland State University.

Generally speaking, Portlanders recycle, will give you directions on the street and hold an opinion about who makes the best cup of coffee in town. The rain rarely inhibits a hike, a bike ride or a run. It also inspires many leisure activities: movies, hanging out in coffee shops and long afternoons wandering the stacks at Powellís (one city block, three stories, filled with new and used books). The weather is also conducive to productive studio work.

Artists and writers who have lived in the city include Beverly Cleary (remember your childhood Ramona books) and Chuck Palahniuk of "Fight Club" fame. Mark Rothko and Matt Groening attended Lincoln High School-- years apart of course. Groening named many Simpsonís characters after Portland streets (think Lovejoy, Flanders, and Quimby).