Portland, Oregon – More boards than glass. But spring is near.

Downtown Portland – February 28, 2021

Portland, OR 2021.

I hadn’t been back in my hometown of Portland for almost a year. Walking around downtown was a mix of familiar settings and surreal scenes. Walking from deep in the Pearl District, past Powell’s Bookstore, through the heart of downtown and to the Hatfield Courthouse, there was block after block of boarded first floor windows. Businesses were closed on every block and yet kids were riding their bikes in the parks and the streets felt wonderfully calm.

It was a tough 2020.

Portland suffered 2020 as acutely as any place – the storm of political tensions, the fear and frustration of the pandemic shut-downs and the passions of racial unrest and protests. As a liberal stronghold and proudly activist city, Portland experienced years of political marches and tensions leading to the November election. The political tensions were only escalated by the protests relating to the George Floyd death. The federal government’s response and the local Portland leadership’s mixed messages only fed the outrage related to racial tensions which sadly still exist in the US. Oregon is amazingly progressive and yet, also one of the whitest cities in America. The combination, making it all the more important for those willing to speak out, to be loud and clear. And then came COVID. Gov. Kate Brown continues to take a science based, cautious approach to pandemic prevention. People proudly and consistently wear masks in public and maintain their social distancing. But there is also no doubting the crippling economic impacts.

Portland’s Pioneer Square 2021

Strange Days Indeed.

The night before we explored downtown, there were again protests in the streets and windows broken at trendy places in the Pearl District. Starbucks and The Fields Bar and Grill had just had numerous windows broken out in that protest. I watched reporters arrive on site. Part of me wanted to go listen, but I figured it would be a story I had heard before. The news coverage I did hear didn’t mention the point of the protest. I fear that no one in town seems to know what people are even protesting anymore. Plywood sales must be strong. Banks seemed to be steady targets and I couldn’t find a bank in downtown without ground floor windows and doors boarded.

The Fields Bar and Grill – February 28, 2021

Wells Fargo Bank – Pear District Portland OR

Businesses downtown are hibernating. It felt like a massive city-sized construction zone – where a shop might be open but it is hard to tell. All around there is a bit of chaos, but there are still people on the streets and the sidewalks are generally tidy (except for the homeless camps in Old Town – but that is another story). Many stores, local and national brands, had COVID restrictions in place requiring a shopper to wait for staff to let them in. The Apple Store was clearly open and had a line of responsibly spaced customers but it also had massive security barriers; it felt like approaching a bank in a third world big city.

Spring is Coming

Balancing the surreal, is the fact that there were people out in the parks and on the streets. Families played and business people wandered around looking for lunch. It certainly was not as crowded as I recall, but neither did it feel deserted or dangerous. Pioneer Square had as many people out as I would expect for a wintery day in Portland. There was a musician playing and food carts serving.

Powell’s City of Books had a steady stream of patrons lining up to get inside and you could see dozens of shoppers through the huge plate glass windows (either never broken or replaced, I don’t know). It seemed business as usual with the snaking line of visitors outside Voodoo Doughnuts. Just seeing these classic institutions still functioning made it feel like Portland is still Portland.

Across from the barricades outside of the Hatfield Federal Courthouse, the scene of constant clashes between police and protestors, the park is damaged, statutes vandalized and grass trampled into mud. A small homeless camp, complete with large open fire, was buzzing with people in the middle of the park. But amidst it all, one rough looking character was taking the time to inspect the buds poking up through he mud. In Portland, spring is coming. And I can’t wait.