Stuff White People Like? Apparently, Portland...

There was a front page article in the Times a few days ago about gentrification in Portland, specifically on Alberta St. The accompanying photo was sort of chilling in it's accuracy. That's going to be Mr. and Mrs. Best in a year. I was thinking about writing on it, but I didn't want to be annoying with another "hey, the New York Times wrote an article about Portland again" post.

But then I noticed the folks at Stuff White People Like picked up the story. That's an amusing site, but reading the comments pretty much takes the humor out of it. Apparently white racists aren't in on the joke. I hate it when dumb people ruin funny stuff.

We're about 15 blocks north of Alberta, and it's where we go to eat and hang out. In fact, I had dinner last night with friends at the Tin Shed. I'm not sure why people are worried about gentrifying Alberta St. I got news for you, folks - it's too late. That place was fully taken over by the hipster pod people about 2 years ago. For me, the turning point was when Joe's Place, the last "black" bar on the street was sold and re-opened as a hipster hangout called the Nest. It's the other neighborhoods directly to the north of Alberta that are really starting to get gentrified, including our home base of Woodlawn. I guess we are classic gentrifiers. But, hell, we're not trying to displace anyone. We just needed to find a cheap place to live. We actually chose Northeast over other sections of the city because we wanted diversity. Sigh. There is really no way to defend yourself without sounding like some sort of cliche. Now, excuse me while I put on my Birkenstocks, selet some Modest Mouse on my iPod and go out and wash my Prius.