March 17, 2006
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Today I went to see a friend’s condo in the Pearl. Located in the newest, most heavily planned part of Portland, I was anxious to see how it turned out. They had moved their mother in but were going to retire there once she was older and needed to go to a place which provided meals and nursing. Today was that day, four years too soon. They still have a kid in high school and will need to stay in the district so it’s going on the market.
Most of the furniture was gone, which helped me imagine living there. I’ve always wondered how it would feel to look out on the city, just a few floors up from where I shopped. This was a corner unit with a deck overlooking the park. In the summer you would look down at the outdoor tables of the cool new Mediterranean restaurant that’s on the main floor. For those of you who know Lovejoy and 11th, in the Pearl, you know what kind of planning I’m talking about. It’s a new kind of city with a trolley, so you don’t need a car. But if you had one you could park it underneath. The idea of owning a parking spot in the Pearl was too good to be true.
My friend was heartbroken as we peered through the window of the restaurant’s bar. “This was going to be my place,” she said, and it did look cozy. Starbucks was across the street and I think Whole Foods was a couple blocks up. Everywhere you looked it was beautifully landscaped and clean, clean, clean. As we were leaving I noticed a man leading two standard poodles into the building. His hair was fluffed out like his white dog’s. “Everyone here has dogs,” she said.
I could almost imagine it, maybe if I were 70. Standing up on the deck I’d felt like it was my city, my neighborhood. After a while you’d come to recognize all the neighbors and their dogs. I liked it. I don’t need any condo with immaculate grounds. I’d rather be in some funky place with some real street action. But I could see myself, sitting on a deck with one of those container gardens, waving to people.
Comments (10)
Interesting forward views. The whole “planned” things drive me crazy yet I can see the attraction at some level. My folks are in their 80′s living on 2 manicured acres and, currently, doing all the yard work. I think on some level we envision ourselves following in our parents’ footsteps. I don’t see the condo but I do see a single story home. And I see fewer neighbors not more. More land, not less. Suburbs are nice for the kids to get around in and more social than rural areas, or more casually social perhaps. I’m not sure about more deep social, which is always what I crave.
Hot Rod Man used to work at Riverstone Condos, just south of your friend’s place. It is a nice area, if a bit spendy. I am often torn between the appeal of living where almost all the amenities are within easy walking distance and the appeal of some acreage where I can watch wildlife come through my yard. It’d be nice if your friends could have rented the place until they’re ready to move in.
I have always wanted to live smack dab in the city, but only if I had a counrty estate to run off to. Therefore, you may deduce, I live in the suburbs.
Looks fun. There’s something to be said for wild unplanned Stuff, but the trolley and the proximity to Starbucks and Whole Foods sounds ideal. I’d be such a good yuppie – or 70 year old
this sounds totally appealing to me! don’t you wish you could afford both- a winter home and a summer home… a city home and a country home!
I wouldn’t last 12 seconds boxed in like that. I have to have my space, the more the better. I will drive to those places, visit, shop but go home to my space…..marilyn
Hey, thanks for complimenting my writing (although our ideas are quite different).
And regarding your previous entry on Thursday, if only I was a bit older…
I can just see you sitting there content, for about five minutes and then you would get bored out of your mind, and go off and talk to all the people that you’ve been waving at, and signing up at the local community centre for this class and that. Maybe less driving than where you are now, but i think you would really miss your connection to the land.
Prudy, I swear, I did get some important legal work done this afternoon and I am quite proud of myself. I didn’t play with dork. Mr. Chetness is at home watching television with Mrs. Chetness nagging him. Randy.
I love a place with character as well, but there is something to be said for the environments that are free of worries such as snow shoveling and leave raking, especially when the body aches.
Too often character means things like having to resart my furnace because ovr night the pilot light went out. Brrrrr. It was slightly less thatn 40 degrees in here when I came home for lunch. I doubt that would ever happen in a condo. And if it did, I would not have tot be the one to throw the breaker or get into the crawl space. Hmmmmm.