I know I’ve mentioned the “pervading pessimism” that’s been palpable in Portland as of late. But I don’t know that I’ve done a good job of highlighting projects and programs that are injecting some good old fashioned Portland optimism into the mix. You know, the “Portland is big enough to be statistically relevant, but small enough that one person can make a difference” sort of vibe. And a recent piece by Portland Monthly on Reimagine Portland does just that.
A key, unspoken understanding permeates the room: Portland became a widely envied city partially because its residents didn’t care at all about what outsiders thought. They just rolled up their sleeves. Through the ’90s and ’00s, residents grew their gardens and built their curbside library boxes and brewed kombucha. It was a myopically inward-looking city, where pursuits came from the heart, and funding followed sometime later. “Portland used to do stuff that no one else does. Bold, inspiring stuff,” says Reimagining Portland chair and cofounder Mike Thelin, who also co-created and oversaw the Feast international food festival, which ran for a dozen years. “And it all grew out of a sense of abundance that there was enough to go around.” Portlanders had a unique knack for building companies around their passions for sneakers or savory ice cream. But now? “No one really knows what we do anymore.”
For more, read “Fixing Portland? They’re on it.“
[Hat tip Jason LaPier on Portland Startups Slack]
