Is there anything to see in downtown Portland Oregon?

Another PDX person wrote:

Then don't let the door hit your a$$ on the way out. We don't need you here.

LOL! Hey, I complimented your fine city on its public transport and nice weather...

Do you disagree that the downtown is loaded with bums? I mean, have you been down there lately? I can see them from my hotel room window..

sdadfs wrote:

If you have some free time and are interested in history, consider taking a tour of the Portland Underground.

http://www.portlandwalkingtours.com/tours/underground-portland-shanghai-tunnels-tour/

As previously mentioned, Powell's Books is cool if you're into that stuff.

Also, Voodoo Donuts.

Voodoo sells a mediocre doughnut covered in stale breakfast cereal.

Once a restaurant/store has chains in other cities, it kind of loses it's whole cachet, right?

People on this thread don't realize that particular donut place is a franchise now. They have stores in Colorado.

It's like saying, "You have to try that coffee place with the mermaid" when you go to Seattle.

http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/994606-voodoo-doughnut-brings-hype-sugar-highs-denver

Ole Timer,

I can't believe some of the bad recommendations on here:

Read the reviews online of the underground tours if you plan that. Seriously. Read them.

If you don't read the reviews, well, enjoy the dusty basements of Portland according to the reviews.

Go to Hood River and catch some wind.

Ole Timer wrote:

the weather is nice

very lucky for the end of march.

Things to do in Portland:

Drink coffee, beer, eat donuts. Wallow in misery.

Only thing even halfway interesting:

Timbers game

PDX is extremely overrated. At least Austin has (usually) decent weather and crazy tech parties.

Go tot the corner of 10th and Stark.

In a one block radius you have Powell's Books, Union Way high-end retail and architecture, Stumptown Roasters, Ace Hotel lobby, Living Room theaters, and Clyde Common.

You can spend the entire evening on this block.

Ole Timer wrote:

So I'm here and I honestly can't see why so many people love this place. I mean, it's a nice enough downtown, but the buildings and such and the riverwalk aren't any better than a dozen other places I've been. I was recently in Dubuque Iowa of all places and frankly the downtown architecture and river there were far more interesting.

And then, the place is absolutely loaded down with homeless people. You can't walk down a block without tripping all over them. They're everywhere, they're really rough, and they all want money.

There seems to be some decent shopping, the weather is nice, love the mass transit.

But in all honesty, I can't see why people make such a big deal about this place. I must be missing something.

I could have written this review of Portland (except I have never been to Dubuque and did not try mass transit in Portland). One time I went for an early AM run along the river and saw some police/media activity. I found out later (watching the local news while eating breakfast) that I missed a homeless guy/meth addict killing another homeless guy/meth addict by about 90 minutes.

yuck wrote:

sdadfs wrote:

If you have some free time and are interested in history, consider taking a tour of the Portland Underground.

http://www.portlandwalkingtours.com/tours/underground-portland-shanghai-tunnels-tour/

As previously mentioned, Powell's Books is cool if you're into that stuff.

Also, Voodoo Donuts.

Voodoo sells a mediocre doughnut covered in stale breakfast cereal.

Truest statement ever.. Voodoo Doughnuts is average, but extremely overrated.

I'm not a fan of downtown Portland or downtown anywhere for that matter, but it's there when I need it and Portland has a good public transportation system to get me there from the burbs and back. The great thing about Portland in general is that you have everything in close proximity. You have a busy city with a variety of people and things to do, but you don't have to go far at all to get to trails, quiet countryside, the ocean or mountains.

The street culture of Portland is great. For the price of a few cappucinos I'd say just find a decent cafe and hang out there all day. Talk to random people. Outside seating if possible, or just sit on the sidewalk against the wall. Weird people will approach you and talk to you and/or you'll be one of them. Maybe smoke some pot. A good 5-10% of people hanging around downtown are doing pretty much the same thing.

There's a documentary series called "Portlandia" which answers exactly this question. Though I think they took a some creative liberties, like the real Adult Hide-and-Seek League in Portland is not as old as the 35+ years implied on TV.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

You have a busy city with a variety of people

A "variety" of white people.