The car battery was dead this morning. Of course, we were parked on the street-cleaning side of the street, and the weather was blustery, cold and rainy. Normally, being late to work is not something I worry too much about, but I had a 9am meeting I needed to make. Luckily, one of the cross-town buses stops right in front of our apartment, so I was able to scramble on while leaving Nick to deal with the car.
Taking the bus was kind of fun. I got to people watch, look out the windows, see what was going on in town. A mildly disabled man got on the bus and scolded the driver, who was apparently named Ronnie, for being late. He kept up a loud running commentary:
"Ronnie, you're late."
"Ronnie, I've been studying the Ft. Lauderdale phone book."
"Ho-hum."
Last night I walked home from work, and that was fun, too. I think what I really miss the most about New York is the street life. Just getting from one place to another is, in itself, something to do. There are people out on the street in Portland, but most of the people I saw last night (on Congress St., pretty much the business artery of town), were generally unkempt middle-aged males or young art school kids-- people who seemed to not have access to a car. Even though Portland does a great job with its urban planning/renewal projects, and is by any measure an extremely walkable city, the reality is that once the weather turns, most people who have the means are probably driving (save the hard-core bikers, who I admire greatly, but who I will just never be). My sense is that I'm seeing only a narrow cross-section of the population when I'm out on the street, and that makes me feel like it will take me that much longer to really get to know this city.
A friend from L.A. was visiting me in New York once after a 2-year hiatus, and he was stunned at how many "hot" girls he saw walking around. I was surprised, because I figured there were tons of good-looking women in L.A., but his response was that he just didn't see anybody in L.A., because EVERYbody there drives EVERYwhere. Depressing. And yet, I'm becoming one of them....
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Bussing it
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2 comments:
We enjoy your NYC/Portland posts. The bus system is one of the reasons we purchased a house in Portland and it covers Portland pretty well.
As for meeting people on the street, try Back Cove. We always run into dozens of people of all ages on our walks. Also, off the peninsula, try Stevens Avenue from the corner of Pleasant up to the corner of Arbor. You will see students, dog-walkers, seniors, hikers and young mothers with strollers out for a walk. This part of Stevens also has many nice stores and interesting recreational activities eg. Baxter Woods Park, Evergreen Cemetery and the University of New England, Westbrook Campus.
You don't have to be a 'hard-core biker', you just need to be Reeve...on a bike! What you describe sounds like lovely riding territory.
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