Portland’s Turn to Bike Share

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Wet wet wet December and Portland is drowning in moisture, non stop blowing sideways in the face mist. I love the rain since it means that it is snowing at higher elevations on Mt Hood and my freshly waxed skis are itchy to hit the slopes, but at 60F degrees my hopes are dashed. No […]

Neighborhood Walks

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The thrust of real estate in Portland Oregon is all about being close to services, parks and transportation, in short a walkable neighborhood with a high score. Walk Score  shows any address in over 3,0000 cities in US, Canada and Australia showing Transit, Bike and Walkable scores. Public transit, better commutes and proximity to the […]

Walking the WALK

Jeff Speck

Suburbs and Walking When I saw that Tigard, Oregon had a long term vision to be – “the most walkable community in the Pacific Northwest where people of all ages and abilities enjoy healthy and interconnected lives”, I was impressed with what moxie a suburban bedroom community of Portland had. Jeff Speck, a city planner […]

Shelter or Sculpture?

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Often my posts are about the newest, smartest way too live small or how to downsize and stay sane. Since summer is here everyone is trying to find the best beach rental cottage, camp ground to pitch a tent or the latest boutique hotel to land and relax at the Oregon Coast. This month I […]

Trashy Art

Manzanita Beach

One of my favorite places to visit is Manzanita on the Oregon coast only two hours from Portland. There is a recycling center CartM which is creating a zero waste community at the coast. One of the best events is the Trash Art show located in the Trash Gallery – inside the Refinery Resale store. […]

The Movement

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A couple of weeks ago I went to a movie at the renovated Bagdad Theater, to see the Movement film, you know how I can not resist old architecture. It was raining hard, dumping snow on the mountains, I was in the mood to hit the slopes dust off the skis and get together with friends to support my dear friend Fred Noble who has ALS […]

Pdx Love: Kask Bar

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Hello friends! You know I’m a total sucker for re-used, re-cycled and re-purposed when it comes to building so when I found this fabulous bar in Portland it was love at first sip! Meet one of the newest, hippest and greenest bars in Pdx – KASK! This intimate cocktail lounge serves up delicious concoctions on […]

Seattle Weekend by Train

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Hello friends! Hope you had a fantastic holiday weekend. We went on my favorite quick getaway and caught the train up to Seattle. I absolutely love the train ride – reading magazines, sipping wine and just relaxing. By the time I arrive, I have unwound and I’m ready to enjoy the city! Traffic and parking […]

Planning for The Next Great Migration

GailAchterman

Heavy title, I know…but it’s something cities like Portland, has to consider. I’m biased but the fact is our city is incredibly beautiful, rich in resources and available land. We can count on an influx of our population in the future and people will continue to flock to the Great Northwest  – SO – how […]

Poetic Downsizing

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It’s been a whirlwind of activity with four pending sales in one week, which is fantastic but also exhausting. A trip to my beach house was exactly what I needed. Some downtime. A day or two to rest. Thinking that my weekend would be a rainy one, I had plans to do some creative projects […]