It's been very nice here all week.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Grid Schmid
Tuesday around lunchtime I was coming back from buying coffee and overheard this exchange from a couple of high school boys as they walked past our house.
"Which way is 42nd? It's this way, right?" He pointed from 37th (our street) to the east, which is indeed where 42nd Avenue is.
"Naw, man, it's THIS WAY. You gotta go down this way, THEN over that way." He pointed down 37th, then indicated a turn left that would, indeed, take you to 42nd. They were both right, but they stood there and argued for a couple of minutes about which way to go.
I did NOT think those kids were dumb for their puzzlement, because I know how screwy some of these streets are around here. In this case they wouldn't have run into any confusion, but if they were a few blocks over, it would make a difference if they went a block down before heading east.
One thing you hear in this town is how it's laid out on "a grid," and so it's relatively easy to find your way around. Much easier than, say, Boston.
But of course Portland is full of spots that don't quite fit the grid concept, so when you're new here you drive around and get lost and wonder what the hell everyone was thinking, boasting about this stupid grid that, near as you can tell, is a fantasy.
Near our house is a wacky intersection at 39th and Broadway and Sandy. I have two theories as to how they came up with this complicated design, which I am including here in comic form, comics being the "last great American art form," as someone has once said perhaps.
THEORY 1
THEORY B
"Which way is 42nd? It's this way, right?" He pointed from 37th (our street) to the east, which is indeed where 42nd Avenue is.
"Naw, man, it's THIS WAY. You gotta go down this way, THEN over that way." He pointed down 37th, then indicated a turn left that would, indeed, take you to 42nd. They were both right, but they stood there and argued for a couple of minutes about which way to go.
I did NOT think those kids were dumb for their puzzlement, because I know how screwy some of these streets are around here. In this case they wouldn't have run into any confusion, but if they were a few blocks over, it would make a difference if they went a block down before heading east.
One thing you hear in this town is how it's laid out on "a grid," and so it's relatively easy to find your way around. Much easier than, say, Boston.
But of course Portland is full of spots that don't quite fit the grid concept, so when you're new here you drive around and get lost and wonder what the hell everyone was thinking, boasting about this stupid grid that, near as you can tell, is a fantasy.
Near our house is a wacky intersection at 39th and Broadway and Sandy. I have two theories as to how they came up with this complicated design, which I am including here in comic form, comics being the "last great American art form," as someone has once said perhaps.
THEORY 1
THEORY B
Monday, February 25, 2008
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