Whenever Portland makes national news, it always seems to be for things like this. On the other hand, the New York Times runs the occasional write-up in its Travel section praising the city's livability and willingness to take the time to a move historic home a few blocks. Plus, the Blazers draft pick slot is nothing to sneer at (unless Oden's health problems turn him into Sam Bowie: The Sequel).

Still, it leaves me to wonder: what's the first thing that comes to mind when someone in, say, Brooklyn thinks of Portland, Oregon? Is it a mental image of a utopistic Ewok village populated by streetcar-riding citizens who never leave their condos without a pair of Birkenstocks? Or do they picture a backwoods burg filled with flag-burning anarchists and intolerant bus drivers- a place where Tonya Harding is still lauded as icon.

Or maybe they still think we live in log cabins and hunt for beaver pelts when we're not chopping down old growth trees with rusty axes.

Labels: Portland