Uneasy Rhetoric

I just posted a lengthy screed over at My Urban Vista taking on an editorial in the Sunday Oregonian that, as I put it, “takes Portland’s near mythic urbanism and reduces it to narcissism.”

I realize sometimes it must seem as if I love Portland more than Sacramento and if so, why the heck did I leave PDX? I think Kiera Knightley is hot but I still love my wife. You know what I mean?

You see, Sacramento is home. There’s good memories here. A good vibe. I came back as often as I could to watch it grow and change. Sure, there’s a lot of problems here, and I’ve been highly critical of some of the city’s faults. But I believe this is an attractive city with more character than people give it credit for and a heck of a lot of potential for true greatness.

And it isn’t as though Portland is a highly functional family either. The city is incredibly narcissistic. It exudes a kind of “holier than thou,” often uninformed and closed-minded liberalism that puts San Francisco’s own brand to shame (remember, this is coming from someone who is quite liberal himself). I might even go so far as to agree that it is this closed-mindedness that has caused Portland to open its doors to high-priced developments only because they increase “density.” Right goal, wrong implementation.

On the other hand, this kind of liberalism also means that, when the state legislature says “screw you Portland, if you want good schools, pay for them yourself,” the city (county, actually) steps up to the plate and says, “okay.”