The City of Roses, Where Livability Works

[Joke #1: What are two days of rain in Portland called? A weekend.]

My favorite City of Portland description comes from "Des Moines Register" journalist Donald Kaul as quoted by Jonathan Nicholas in "The Oregonian," November 15, 1999: "Portland is San Francisco run by Canadians."

What does this mean? What does this mean to me? Much the same thing, I think.

Think of San Francisco. What comes to mind? Progressive politics, big parks, bridges, food, Chinatown, architecture, museums, music, laid-back health-conscious people, hills, waterfront, streetcars, Californians?
--Check, CHECK (37,000-acres), … yes, all of that and more.

[Joke #2: Oregon is where Californians go when they die.]

What about Canadians? Polite, patient, with a quirky sense of humor? A favorable exchange rate?
--By reputation a place of friendly, patient, polite and honest people. And Oregon has NO sales tax. The quirky sense of humor should be evident.

[Joke #3: What's downtown Portland’s most popular sight? An empty parking space.]

Named on a coin toss Portland is eclectic, often hard to define, quirky. The phrase "the city of beer, books and coffee" recurs.
--Birthplace of the microbrewery phenomenon and more breweries than any city worldwide. Nationally, craft beer market share averages 10%, Oregon’s is 22%.
--Claiming more bookstores per capita and the largest independent bookstore in the country. A great library too.
--Buy more pounds of gourmet coffee beans per capita. First Caffeine Anonymous support group in 1994.

Livability matters. With short blocks, Portland is a walking-friendly town. Oregon ranks high in the percentage of people who actually walk (and do other activities too) and Portland has been rated a "Fit City." With over 230 miles of bike lanes, it’s easy to see why Bicycling Magazine ranks Portland #1 for usability. Portland also has a great mass transit system: bus, light rail, streetcar and a vintage trolley. Frequent delegations arrive to study how something is done with hopes of implementing it elsewhere. The city’s motto "The city that works" is no joke.

A metropolitan area of about 2 million peppered with interesting neighborhoods and all the urban amusement choices you‘d expect. Yet within a few hours' drive you can explore the coast, participate in year-round skiing or other mountain sport, soak in a hot-spring, wind-surf in the gorge, or any number of other recreations or relaxations.

Quick Tips:

--Oregon uses overlays in phone numbers, so when making a call dial all 10 digits.
--Portland’s rainfall average of 37.39 inches per year is seasonal, coming almost entirely during the winter.
--There is no self-serve gas in Oregon.
--Most public places restrict or prohibit smoking.
--All McMenamins brewpubs are family friendly, allowing children (except at the bar) until 10pm. I highly recommend these. I especially like Edgefield (in Troutdale), Ringler’s Annex, and the Grand Lodge (in Forest Grove).
--The best views across the city are from the West Hills, especially the bluff by Pittock Mansion, the hillside of the Rose Garden and behind the Pavilion in the Japanese Garden. But my favorite is as you come out of the tunnel on the Sunset Highway while traveling west to east.
--Don’t miss parks: the Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the South Park Blocks, and Pioneer Courthouse Square.
--Also don’t miss: OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) with its decommissioned submarine, Portlandia (world’s second largest hand-beaten copper statue), Powell's City of Books and Pearson Air Field in Vancouver.
--The Portland Oregon Visitor Association is in Pioneer Courthouse Square. 503-275-8355 or 1-87-PORTLAND toll free.

Best Way To Get Around:

Portland is easy to navigate. Any address east of the Willamette River is East whatever. And west is West. Burnside separates north and south. So, north of Burnside and east of the Willamette is Northeast, etc. Starting from the river, in both directions, the streets running north/south are numbered, and the cross streets are alphabetical: Burnside, Couch, Davis, etc. Simple. Most of Portland is quite easy to access using mass transit through an extensive bus system, the Max light rail, which now runs out to the airport, and a more limited Streetcar and Trolley system. Day passes are available. Downtown has the Fareless Square where mass transit is free, but is also easily walked. Fareless Square is bounded by I-5 on the south, I-405 to the west, the river on the east and Johnson Street to the north. Since parking in some areas is at a premium you’ll probably only want to use a car for day trips.

The International Rose Test Garden with more than 8,000 rosebushes, representing more than 400 varieties spreads across a hillside in Washington Park in terraced rows for easy access. Teas, miniatures, floribundas, and hybrid teas are separated by sculptural fountains and grouped by hue and even by theme; the Shakespeare Garden with roses from William’s works. A full sensory experience, sight and smell, thorns and all, the scent so strong you can taste it. 8000 plus bushes! Standing in the midst of that is like being part of a huge bouquet.

Consisting of 5.12-acres this is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the US. Established in 1917, an early goal was to provide protected space from the violence of W.W.I for roses developed in Europe. "City of Roses," is an official nickname without a city resolution as the appellation is so identified with the city it was decided that none was required. The garden was a natural outgrowth of that nickname, acquired during the first of the Portland Rose Society’s rose shows, held in a tent behind Pittock Mansion in 1888. Later 200-miles of rose lined streets, planted for the 1905 World’s Fair, reinforced the image.

The garden still receives roses from abroad for test, judged on a two-year cycle for shape of both bud and flower, color through out, scent, disease resistance, and novelty. Finalists are submitted to the All-American Rose Selections as candidates for Rose of the Year. The Gold Medal portion of the garden was established in 1969 to display these winners. While there are 24 test gardens nationally, Portland is the only North American city that can present global awards of merit.

Although the growing season in Portland is much longer, being in Plant Hardiness Map Zone 7/8, the best viewing is still during summer. Come in June and combine the visit with the month long Rose Festival.

And if the rose gardens themselves aren’t enough it may interest you to know that the most common postcard views of the city with Mt. Hood in the background are taken from this hillside.

The Park:
400 SW Kingston, 503-227-7033
Open: dawn to dark.
Admission: There is no fee to use this park.
Other Contacts: 503-823-PLAY or 503-823-2223v/tt, pkweb@ci.portland.or.us

Associated Features:
Washington Park Rose Garden Store is south of the parking area. A good source for all things rosy.
Open: 10am-6pm

Rose Garden Children‘s Park, a large Children’s play area.

Other Resources
Found in the fossil record as far back as 35 million years ago, and cultivated in China as long ago as 5000 years, the rose remains one of world‘s most popular plants.
Upcoming Rose Shows
The Rose Reference Database is a fully searchable database of over 7000 varieties.
Old Rose History & Synopsis is an in depth rose history.

Oregon City, now a southeastern Portland suburb, was the first incorporated city west of the Mississippi River, established as a lumber mill in 1829 by Dr. John McLoughlin, who would become known as the "Father of Oregon." The geographical situation of the town was advantageous, on the Willamette River near its confluence with the Columbia River. There were only two problems with having a town here. First was the waterfall in the Willamette where the land broke and fell some 40-feet. The falls would be conquered with the addition of the Willamette Falls Locks.

This only left the other problem …

Part of Oregon City is at the foot of a cliff, part of it is not. The part that is not is at the top of the cliff, hence the need for a quick and easy way to travel between the two sections. Initially the only option was to follow an old trail used by the local tribal peoples, which was both time-consuming as well as an act of physical endurance. The trail became a set of steps in the mid-1860s, more direct and therefore faster, but still arduous. What was needed was a vertical street, and so the steps become a water-powered elevator in 1915. The trip had been shortened to a physically relaxed three minutes. After a switch to electricity, in 1924, the trip was shortened to one of merely thirty seconds.

The current "plain as possible without adornment" (the city's request during the bidding process) elevator went up in 1954. The over-all height of the structure is 130 feet, with travel of 90 feet between levels. There is in fact adornment: a series of murals have been added to the inside walls of the observation deck depicting the history of the area.

I‘d say this qualifies as an example of Googie Architecture, which was popular at the time of construction. Googie was very "space age" in design and the "saucer-like" appearance of the observation deck evokes images of the Space Needle in Seattle which is definitely Googie. However, there is nothing in any of the materials I‘ve seen about the elevator which draws attention to this.

The elevator is one of the few remaining run manually by a human operator. It's one of the very few municipal elevators to ever have existed. It’s currently the only exterior municipal elevator in the world. The trip is free. The view is great. The experience is certainly unique.

Hours of Operation: 6.45am-7pm Monday-Saturday, 11am-7pm Sunday
Historic Oregon City Map showing the location of the elevator as well as other historic places within Oregon City.

The Portland Classical Chinese Garden is a city owned garden at 40,000-square-feet, including a lake of 8,000-square-feet, is the largest of its kind outside of China. Courtyards, bridges, trees and other plants, a teahouse -- it's a very authentic 16th-century Suzhou-style garden. Suzhou, Jiangsu, called the "Garden City of China" is one of Portland’s Sister Cities. The Sister City concept was born in Portland.

Some structures are complete buildings with internal rooms, some are open-air pavilions for viewing plants, water features, and koi. Within the enclosing outer wall a planting-strip further separates the garden’s interior from the outside modern world, with the occasional section of internal wall and gateways defining smaller, more intimate spaces. The paths, paved with varied-color pebbles arranged to form geometric patterns, twist through the garden, first obscuring, then revealing, so that each moment brings a new surprise. You might turn a corner to discover people you hadn’t known were there. It's very easy to imagine yourself elsewhere or even elsewhen.

The wonderful carved panels and furniture scattered throughout were especially made for the garden, which opened in 2000, so, despite the fact that everything looks antique, it’s relatively recent. Some of the carvings are geometric in form, inter-lacings like knot-work. Some are representational, plants and animals -- I love the bats in the boathouse. The Chinese words for luck and bat are both pronounced fu and so bats are considered good luck.

The tearoom, housed in the garden’s only two-story building, smells absolutely wonderful, and if you don't know how to use that teacup’s lid they'll instruct you. You have a choice of 35 tea blends and the food served is appropriate to the venue, if a bit on the spendy side.

Outside the garden, at the entrance, is a small plaza. The giftshop is here, accessible without entering the garden. The plaza is also bounded by a gateway with Foo dogs. Traditionally Foo Dogs, mythological lions, are placed as a pair: The male with foot resting upon a sphere, symbolizes the heavens and the divine heavenly law of Buddha; the female rests her paw upon a cub, which symbolizes the earth, and since she has a nipple on her foot (don't ask me where that idea comes from) she is suckling the cub but provides nourishment to the planet as a whole. In essence they are guardians, not only of the specific locality in which they are placed, but also of heaven and earth, which just about covers it all.

A few blocks to the south, at NW 4th and W. Burnside, at the entrance to Chinatown, is the largest gate outside of China, with enormous Foo Dogs, which can be visited anytime.

Open: 10am-5pm (Nov. 1-Mar. 31), 9am-6pm (Apr. 1-Oct. 31)
Free tours daily at 12 & 1pm.
Admission: Adults $7, Seniors $6, Students $5.50, under 5 free.
Contact: 503-228-8131
Chinese Classical Garden Society

Hoyt Arboretum comprised of 214-acres within Washington Park has about 1000 species of trees collected from around the world, with 10-miles of winding trails. Their ambition is to have the widest possible representation of the world’s plants. Currently there are nearly 10,000 individual plants within the park, grouped by family, with an aim to having something in season year round. Because of that variety this is a good place to come and learn with actual three-dimensional visual aids. A complete listing of the plant Collection is online or available as a RTF file.

Environmental Tours of the Arboretum are given at 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays, from April through October, starting from the Hoyt Arboretum Visitor Center. The Visitor Center also has information brochures you can pick up so you can do your own tour any time the park is open. And dogs on leashes are actually welcomed so you can bring a friend.

The Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial is situated in a bowl-shaped hollow within the arboretum. The trail spirals out past granite walls inscribed with the names of those from Oregon who died in that war, with a timeline to put it into context. Viewing the names is always a sobering experience. The Memorial, designed by the landscape architecture firm of Walker Macy, is obviously inspired by the one in D.C. where Maya Lin chose black granite for her design because the carving of the names stands out whitely and doesn‘t fade out when wetted by the elements. The starkness of the design is meant to focus your attention on those for whom the monument is erected without distraction. It‘s strange to think that that was once considered a controversial idea.

PDF Map Downloads
- Park & Trail Map.
- Northwest Portland & Washington Park Map from Portland Oregon Visitor Association.

There is parking at the visitor center and the Memorial, but Hoyt Arboretum is easy to get to by public transit. The Max station is close to the Vietnam Memorial. Buses stop there too. You can walk from the Memorial into the Arboretum or visa versa. Or you can catch the shuttle, running only through the summer, and ride between the Visitor Center coming or going. You can ride the shuttle all day and it costs nothing additional with a valid transfer or day pass.
- #63 Washington Park, Tri-Met bus (Schedule & Maps).
- The Max Blue Line.
- The #73 Washington Park Shuttle runs every day Memorial Day (end of May) through Labor Day (start of September), every 15 minutes from 10am-7pm.

Open: (grounds) 6am-10pm, (Visitor Center) 9am-4pm
Contact: 503-228-TREE, (fax) 503-823-4213, Feedback

Pearson Air Museum is in Vancouver, which lies directly across the Columbia River from Portland, in Washington State. It is the oldest continuously operated US airfield in the West with the first landing by the dirigible Gelatine in 1905, is actually one of the oldest in the country. The field was named in 1925 for local Alexander Pearson, who did the first aerial survey of the Grand Canyon and won the first cross-country aerial race in 489 hours, 14 minutes and 8 seconds in 1919. He died preparing for another race in 1924 when one of his plane‘s wings collasped.

There aren’t a large number of planes exhibited, but the history of the field and northwest aviation in general are outlined through a series of displays. There’s a learning area for children, gift shop, computer resource center, and a viewer-activated theater.

A Few Things Not to Miss:
--An example of a rather rare Everel propeller, notable for being a single blade prop, is in the Restoration Center, which itself is in the country‘s oldest (1918) wooden hangar. Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers listed one in December 2003 expected to bring $5000-7000.

--An exhibit and collection of objects (donated by the families) from the first nonstop trans-polar flight in 1937, which made an unscheduled maintenance stop at Pearson. Developing trouble with the ANT-25, Valeri Chkalov, Georgiy Baidukov, and Alexander Belyakov first thought to land elsewhere but mindful of the terrifying crush Lindbergh experienced in Paris they opted for the military field as a safer choice. There is also an exterior monument commemorating this event.

--The best of all, for me, and totally unexpected, on that sliver of a mezzanine level: a bit battered -- understandably -- and keeping a low profile, is the only surviving bit of the Hindenberg. When the Kaiser ordered all the parts returned to Germany (with the intention of destroying everything) a bench (seats two) from the Lounge was held back, hidden away. That this was rather covert and arguably disrespectful may well be why the existence of the seat hasn't received more publicity and it’s barely mentioned on the website. This is the only place the seat has been publicly displayed.

The airfield is within Vancouver National Historic Reserve ((360)696-7655), which includes the ongoing reconstruction of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, founded by John McLoughlin, known as the Father of Oregon, for the Hudson's Bay Company. One last note; although scaled back in 2003, Fort Vancouver hosts the largest Fourth of July Fireworks display in the West, with a big party beforehand.

The airfield is slowly undergoing restoration to return its vintage 1920s appearance.

Open: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm.
Admission: Adult $5, seniors $4, (13-18) $3, (6-12) $3, under 6 free.
Contact: 360/694-7026, (fax) 360/694-0824
Map and directions.
Reflections: Pearson Field, a series of articles from the Columbian newspaper.
Reflections: Pearson Field, a more indepth history.

Oregon Museum of Science & Industry‘s regular Exhibit Halls and Labs let visitors explore science and technology with hands-on activities and demonstrations, lectures and events.
--Experience being a TV-weatherman using the Chroma-Key lab.
--Watch holograms being made from scratch.
--Visit Bubba, a 13-foot Python, and other creatures.
--Discovery Space (closes at 5pm) and Busytown are special sections dedicated to younger explorers.

OMSI frequently hosts touring exhibits of interest. Currently it’s a murder mystery -- T-Rex on Trial, a twist to the usual Dinosaur diorama show, exploring whether T-Rex was predator or scavenger. Previous highlights have been: skulls from Olduvai Gorge (early ancestors), giant dinosaur skeletons, and Star Trek: Federation Science, which began (was constructed -- Hi K!) and ended its travels here.

Added Attractions
--The Omni-Max Theater has one of only (about) 80 IMAX projection systems worldwide. Among the current features is Jane Goodall‘s Wild Chimpanzees.
--Dive into active volcanoes or speed round a Grand Prix raceway track in the high definition, surround-sound, Motion Simulator ride.
--Kendall Planetarium shows.
--Special musically themed laser light shows.
--A self-service café.
--A giftshop, with a wide variety of museum and science related items, including blueprints of the Blueback.

And for many the most memorable part of a visit to OMSI is a tour aboard the …
U.S.S. Blueback

While not filmed in Oregon the submarine appearing as the Dallas in The Hunt For Red October resides here, berthed next to OMSI in the Willamette River. This, the US Navy's last non-nuclear, fast attack submarine, launched 1959 and decommissioned 1990, was acquired by OMSI in 1994. [Blueback is the common name for Sockeye Salmon.]

As there’s much ducking and ladder climbing you must pass unassisted through a hatchway mock-up inside OMSI before being permitted aboard. And carrying children isn’t allowed. On the way to the pier you’ll pass the US Submarine Memorial; comprised of the Blueback’s propeller, a plaque and bricks listing names and dates for 67 lost US subs.

During the tour you’ll see all sections of the vessel and have the opportunity to peer through the periscope. Learn what it was like to serve aboard. Hearing a sailor bunked immediately adjacent to a torpedo I thought: talk about your cold comfort. He thought: privacy and space! Both at a premium here. A Q&A period concludes the tour. If you’ve been watching for signs reading "Think Nay" and "Everyday is a Nay day" now it’s time to ask their meaning. Your observational skills and curiosity will please the guide.

Periodically special events are held: sleepovers for kids and in October, in the spirit of things, it becomes a haunted sub.
[Tours: 10am-4.30pm. Tech tours (1st Sunday of each month, call for times): $15]

Hours & Location: See below for maps, directions, hours, and admissions not covered above. Closed Mondays.
Show Schedules: Omni-Max, and Planetarium.
Contacts: 503-797-OMSI (6674), 800-955-OMSI, (shop) 503-797-4626, Online form
Transport: Tri-Met 83-OMSI Shuttle Map/Schedule