(50 posts)

Portlanders Are Riding Public Transit Less Often. Is More Housing the Fix?

(📸: Hector Chacon) “How can we get more people to ride public transit?” Reader Judy Welles submitted that question for our series on what Portland can learn from the Bay Area about managing growth — and it’s interesting timing. TriMet just announced that ridership has dipped nearly two percent since last year, continuing a downward […]

Politics / June 4, 2019

Think Local Government Is Gridlocked in Portland? Try Living in San Francisco

“How should the Portland metro area govern itself?” That’s the question that reader John Sieling sent me before my trip to the San Francisco Bay Area — and it’s one many Portlanders have been asking lately. In February, City Club released a 35-page report about Portland’s unusual form of government and proposed a series of […]

Politics / May 22, 2019

Is Congestion Pricing the Solution to Portland’s Traffic Woes?

(📸: Pix For our latest Real Talk series, we’re digging into what Portland can learn from the Bay Area’s successes and struggles with growth, starting with a reader’s question about tolling: Does the Bay Area have toll roads and how’s that working out? I hate the idea of toll roads because I’ve seen them abused […]

Real Talk / May 15, 2019

Neighborhood Spotlight on St. Johns

St. Johns might be a Portland neighborhood on paper, but to our friends on the peninsula, it’s really a town of its own. Located deep in the “fifth quadrant,” St. Johns hasn’t lost the blue-collar identity it gained as a hub for lumber and manufacturing jobs in the early 1900s. Dive bars like Slim’s are […]

Neighborhoods / May 9, 2019

How Gentrification is Changing St. Johns

📸: Phil Desveaux “What population(s) originally lived in St. Johns, and are those communities suffering now as a result of gentrification?” —Leah Drew That’s the winning question from our latest PDXplained voting round. Here’s what we learned, starting from the very beginning: The area now known as St. Johns was originally inhabited by members of […]

Neighborhoods / May 7, 2019

Why the Student Success Act Is Only Half the Battle

We wrote last week that rising pension costs could “gobble up” much of the Student Success Act’s new revenue, but that’s not quite right. If passed, HB 3427 will invest $1 billion a year in public education. What it won’t do is solve the bigger fiscal crisis that’s threatening all public services, from filling potholes […]

Education / May 6, 2019

We’re Reading ‘The Child Finder’ For Book Club (And You Can, Too)

Our next book club read is a real thriller. (📸: Harper Books) We’re keeping the Bridgeliner book club rolling this spring with another local read — “The Child Finder” by Rene Denfeld. The book is a thrilling mystery novel about the search for a missing five-year-old girl, and it’s inspired by Rene’s day job as […]

Books / April 10, 2019

How to Get Started as a Volunteer in Portland

In honor of National Volunteer Week (April 7-13), here are a few ways you can give back around Portland this spring and summer. 🎸 Rock on at a music camp. The Rock ‘N’ Roll Camp for Girls is hosting four week-long camp sessions this summer, and they’re looking for volunteers to help with everything from […]

Community / April 1, 2019

How to Train for a Marathon: Portland Edition

Eric Dettman coaches cross country and track & field at Lincoln High School, and he recently answered Bridgeliner member Meaghan Vehlies’ call for advice on how to prepare for a marathon. Here’s what Eric told us: What’s your favorite trail or running route in Portland? The Leif Erickson Trail in Forest Park for a long […]

Health + Fitness / March 1, 2019

Swiping Your Way to Love Is Hard. Here’s Some Advice from a Portland Pro.

(📸: Jet Cat Studio | Haley Weaver) Online dating is one of the top ways people find romance these days, but getting started isn’t always easy. Luckily, we have a pro here in Portland to help out. Ladan Radafshar is the founder and CEO of FernDate, a local branding service focused on online dating, and […]

People / February 12, 2019