Places
    
 
 


Pioneer Square

How many city blocks get their own website? This one does. It's Portland's Ground Zero, the heart of it all. The city calls it Portland's "Living Room." Maybe, but my living room isn't a magnet for bums, wackos, panhandlers, street rats and 26,000 visitors a day. Still, that's not a reason to stay away. The Square is located between the 5th and 6th Avenue transit malls and Yamhill and Morrison Streets in downtown Portland. The Square hosts over 300 events each year that range from large-scale concerts to cultural festivals.

Why should you be visitor number 26,001? Even if there's no event taking place, this is a great spot for people watching. Grab a coffee at Starbucks, sit back and enjoy. Here are a few photos I took one summer:

Pioneer Square

There was a floral show of some kind that day.


Pioneer Square

Watch guys playing hacky sack.

preacher preacher

Hear a sidewalk preacher spread the word of God.


girl

Or take pictures of pretty girls.

photographer

See?

Meier and Frank Fox tower

You can never get enough water in Oregon. This is the Pioneer Square waterfall.

The building in the background at right used to be Meier and Frank, a Portland-based department store. Macy's bought them and stupidly changed the name to Macy's, destroying another local institution. I think they also raised prices, but since I won't shop there now, I can't be sure.

The glazed terra cotta building was the Meier and Frank headquarters, designed by architect A.E.Doyle in 1909. Read the Wiki.

The Fox tower. Some people wanted to put another park there, but it probably would have become another magnet for street people.

This multiplanar and set-back design is meant to prevent as much of the building's shadow as possible from falling upon Pioneer Courthouse Square.

I like the tower.