We Make Portland Portland

Imagine Portland without food carts.  

I myself don't need to imagine it - I remember it.  In the early 2000's, if you wanted to enjoy the city's culinary bounty (which was abundant), you'd go to Wildwood, Paley's, Saucebox or the VQ.  They were great.

Did they employ every gifted chef living here?  No. Were they affordable to most people?  No. Were they representative of the city's full diversity of tastes and talent?  Were new restaurants easy to open?  No and no again. 

The 2008 Recession threw a lot of chefs and food entrepreneurs out of work.  They, along with a bunch of vacant downtown lots and favorable city policies, became the ingredients that bestowed Portland with the ridiculous array of interesting, democratic, bespoke, ethnic and affordable eating and drinking experiences we enjoy today.

It occurred to me recently how HERE is analogous to a Portland food cart pod -- or maybe all of them.  HERE freelancers and independent consultants are small, talented and hidden among the big trees of Portland's well established agencies and firms.  But there is power in smallness, especially when it's pulled into the collective.  Everyone in HERE is a part of a Portland community of creators and problem-solvers -- but until now, it's been an invisible community. 

No longer.  Just like our food cart operators, Portland's professional service solopreneurs are discovering strength in numbers and how working independently doesn't mean going it alone.  By making space, making time, and making a commitment -- we make ourselves easier to find.  We make ourselves large and resilient by flocking and schooling like the ducks and salmon who know how to thrive in this place better than we do. And we make Portland Portland. 

By the way, if you want to learn more about Portland's foodcart revolution, check out Cartopia by HERE member and PCXN founder Kelley Roy and another old friend of mine from the urban planning world, Kelly Rodgers.