This website is about real life in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District. If you are unfamiliar, the Pearl District is a newly developed area in downtown Portland. It used to be a train yard with nothing but railroad tracks and warehouses. In the late seventies artists moved into the area for the low rent and large spaces.
Years later, the Hoyt development company (used to be Hoyt Street Yards) has been busy erecting high-rise condominium projects. When I visited Portland years ago, my friend took me through the Pearl and said, "This is the Pearl. It's Portland's up and coming neighborhood." Charmed by the sidewalk cafes and brick buildings, I replied, "This is where I'd live."
Today, the Pearl District is a gentrified network of streets, services, and living spaces. Prices have skyrocketed and the whole area has been a much debated and easy to talk about topic of conversation.
I moved here in the spring of 2006. It's already changed quite a bit since then. I am fascinated with and enjoy watching the changes. Portland is growing at an incredibly fast rate and I wonder what that means for the greater city. Still, I find myself more fascinated with this small area called the Pearl District more so than the entire city.
The image of the Pearl is: Rich, clean, modern, green, family-friendly, ritzy, artsy, cultured, livable. Much of the Pearl's modern image comes for strong propaganda from both the city and the real estate giants who are making money from keeping up the image.
When the real estate people sell the final unit in the last of the "new" buildings, what will happen? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I'm excited to watch from the inside as this urban metropolis unfolds.