Portland Archives - SkyBlue Portland

Walking Portland: Pearl District-Northwest Hills Loop

One of the best ways to become familiar with any one of Portland’s unique neighborhoods is to walk it. Walk it up one side and down the other. Walk it in early morning, at mid-afternoon, and in the evening. That’s what we do, nearly every day. And we see something new on every walk. Walking and photographing Portland has become one of our favorite activities. We walk 5-10 miles across Portland nearly every day. If you'd like to join us for our monthly walking tour across Portland Metro, check out PDX Women Who Walk on Meetup and hop onboard. This wide Urban Loop … Continue reading...

Northeast Portland Coffee Shops

Northwest Portland Coffee Shops | SkyBlue Portland

If you love coffee like we do (wildly), you know that Portland, Oregon is Coffee Nirvana—a mind-blowing playground of meticulously sourced, mindfully roasted, small-batched, artisan coffee. And Northeast Portland coffee shops are among the best in our fair city. It’s no wonder that coffee cognoscenti, food writers and entrepreneurial seekers of the distinctive brew make regular pilgrimages to the City of Roses for insight and inspiration. Or that Portland is a hotbed of barista superstars for whom coffee-crafting is part art, part religion, and part … Continue reading...

75+ Quirky, Cool, Perfectly Weird Reasons We LOVE Portland

Every year, a slew of articles pop up, local and national, that include all the weird and wonderful reasons we Portlanders love Portland. Cool Factor All the cool kids live here. Linus Torvalds lives here. We live here. Everyone’s moving here. Seattle envies us. Portlandia! Duh… Culture Weird is the local mantra and mindset. Tango dancing capital of the universe. Tattoo capital of the world. Well, not quite. We rank #8 in America. Burnside Skatepark, anarchist architecture, and global icon of skater culture. World-class … Continue reading...

Walking Portland: Woodstock

This 5-mile loop walk--starting and finishing on popular Woodstock Avenue--traverses a larger part of the lovely southeast Woodstock neighborhood, including a ridge of gorgeous views and a beautiful park. This scenic walk--beginning and ending on popular SE Woodstock Blvd--traverses much of the north-south length of the Woodstock neighborhood, including Woodstock Park. For info on our monthly Portland walking tours, join us on our Facebook page, Women Who Walk. And sign up for the next walk on Meetup at PDX Women Who Walk. Add a meander through Woodstock … Continue reading...

How to Prepare Your Home for Sale

When you're ready to prepare your home for sale, remember this: Most people think that buying a home involves a rational decision. It doesn’t. Human beings rarely make purely rational decisions. We make emotional decisions, almost instantaneously—and then justify them with a bunch of mental gobbledygook that sounds logical. We can't help it, it's how we roll. So now that you have decided to prepare your home for sale, you need to look at it from the perspective of your emotional potential buyers. Today’s buyers are design savvy thanks to mega taste makers like … Continue reading...

Dogs of Portland: Bourbon

It’s Friday morning, and by morning I mean 5:30 A.M. The sun hasn’t yet risen over the western bank of the Willamette River. The Fields Park is shrouded in mist. I grind Italian roast and glance out the window at the park and coffee shop below. There he is, sitting resolutely at the door of Ovation Coffee & Tea, resigned human in tow. Bourbon. A canine fixture in the Pearl District, and the cutest, funniest, quirkiest English Bulldog you may ever meet. He’s waiting for the coffee shop owner to open the door and give him his morning biscuit. And by wait, I … Continue reading...

Hauntingly Beautiful Sauvie Island: 10 Reasons We Love It

The first time we set foot on Sauvie Island--a beautiful fall day, many moons ago--we were transfixed. We were just a few minutes from downtown Portland, still in Multnomah County, within Portland city limits. Then why did it seem as if we were in another world entirely? A magically transporting world of winding country roads flanked by fields of roses, corn, cabbage, berries, apples, peaches, grapes, and pumpkin. A world of lowland marshes, rivers, lakes, and long stretches of sandy beach. Enormous flocks of birds in the air and on the water--American coot, … Continue reading...

Remodeling Your Portland Home for Resale

Remodeling Your Portland Home: Curb Appeal

Have you ever wondered how much return on investment you can realistically expect from remodeling your Portland home? Well, wonder no more. Because here are the latest Portland-specific figures. The highest return on your remodeling dollar? According to the Remodeling 2018 National Cost vs. Value Report, replacing a garage door earns a 130.7% return on your investment. This makes sense, because unless you can entice potential buyers off of their computers, out of their cars, and up to your very attractive front door, you don't stand a chance of selling them your … Continue reading...

Portland: Moving Into Fall

There's no season more spectacularly beautiful in Portland, Oregon, no season more poignant and full, than ever bountiful fall. “When fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.” ...Stephen King In … Continue reading...

This Portland Life Photo Gallery

If you've perused this site, you know that we LOVE Portland and its Metro communities. Every day in Portland, Oregon is a day of adventure and discovery, and I never leave home without a camera. Follow along on Facebook--one day and one photo at a time--as this girl and her camera hit the streets to capture the unique essence of this quirky, weird, and stunningly beautiful city. This Portland Life Photo Gallery Hover over each photo for a description. Or click any photo to launch the slideshow view. Copyright 2018 Susan S. Bradley. All Rights … Continue reading...