By: Nathaniel Brooks Portland, Oregon, has always had a complicated relationship with perfection. This is a city where musicians can build devoted followings playing in cramped rooms, where vulnerability often carries more currency than celebrity, and where the gray skies seem to encourage a particular kind of introspection. From
Retropolitan has opened a new Portland vintage market in downtown Portland with about 70 independent vendors selling vintage goods under one roof. The marketplace occupies the former Paul Mitchell school building at 234 SW Broadway, giving independent sellers a shared retail setting in the city center. Key Takeaways Retropolitan
By: Marissa Lane There is a peculiar mythology surrounding the old flame. Popular music has spent decades telling us that the person who got away must remain either an open wound or a secret temptation. We’re supposed to regret leaving, fantasize about returning, or congratulate ourselves for surviving. What
Portland Arts Week will return June 22–27, 2027, after organizers reported increased downtown activity during its inaugural 2026 event. The four-day debut drew about 3,000 Gallery Walk attendees and coincided with an 11% increase in downtown foot traffic, while the second edition will expand to six days with an
By: Claire Holloway Portland may sit thousands of miles from Pam Ross’s North Carolina home, but “Lost in Heaven” feels surprisingly natural beneath the Pacific Northwest sky. Its mixture of country storytelling, Americana warmth, and Southern-rock electricity speaks to a city that has long welcomed musicians who ignore genre
Downtown Portland recorded more than 22.2 million pedestrian visits from January through August 2026, according to Downtown Portland Clean & Safe. July and August each surpassed 3 million visits, while worker traffic remained nearly 50% below 2019 levels, creating a mixed picture for the central city’s businesses and economy.
By: Elias Jones There is a moment in See Your Shadow’s “Another Saturday” when the whole mythology of the American Saturday night collapses. Saturday is supposed to mean possibility. It is the night when the factory whistle has stopped, the office lights have gone dark, the jukebox is playing,
The Oregon Zoo is preparing to host the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ 2026 annual conference at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The six-day gathering is expected to bring more than 2,800 zoo and aquarium professionals from around the world for educational sessions, presentations, discussions and industry activities.
By: Seth Adams Espionage novels often ask readers to accept extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. Brett Andrew Strange approached his Across Latitudes trilogy from another direction. A former U.S. intelligence officer, he wanted the story to remain grounded in recognizable human behavior, even when the characters are caught inside
By Sebastian Vale There is an amusing problem at the center of ARGYRO’s Glitterati: celebrity culture is no longer reserved for celebrities. Everyone has an announcement. Everyone has a platform. Everyone is launching, posting, documenting, branding and performing. The old machinery of fame—once guarded by record companies, movie studios
Portland City Council has advanced planning for a new Broadway-capable performing arts venue at Portland State University and directed additional planning for Keller Auditorium. The Sept. 9 vote supports development work but does not allocate city funding, setting the next stage for decisions about Portland’s major performing-arts facilities. Key
Dream Big City is moving Portland Dream Plaza into a new phase, more than a year after the Central Eastside space first opened. The nonprofit is preparing renovations and new community-built features at SE 9th Avenue and Taylor Street. This report explains the plaza’s timeline, current expansion, programming and
By: EM Crocker There is a specific quality of authenticity that separates fiction written by someone who has been inside the world they are describing from fiction that has been researched from the outside, and it announces itself on nearly every page of Rising Star. Michele Kwasniewski spent more
By Colin James Portland has always had a complicated relationship with polish. This is a city that can appreciate a beautifully constructed record while remaining deeply suspicious of anything that feels manufactured. From the alternative-rock explosion of the 1990s to today’s sprawling network of indie, Americana, punk and roots-rock
By: Eric Johnson In Shadows & Kings, part of Jennifer Aitken’s Legends of Light & Shadows saga, the battles may unfold across fantastical worlds, but one of the story’s most important conflicts is strikingly human: learning to believe in yourself when doubt insists that you can’t. For Aitken, that
By Natalie Marks There are easier ways to write a pop song than asking your audience whether they’ve ever loved like a tree. You could write about a breakup. You could write about revenge. You could write about somebody who left you on read and turn three dots on
A 4,000-square-foot Phoenix pollinator garden has opened at the Phoenix Library in Southern Oregon, creating a public green space shaped by community discussions after the 2020 Almeda Fire. Jackson County Library Services and the Jackson County Library Foundation helped develop the garden, which includes plants selected to attract butterflies
Portland, Oregon, is known for its quirky neighborhoods, lush parks, craft breweries, and famously eccentric personality. But beneath the city’s laid-back exterior lies a darker history filled with mysterious deaths, vanished sailors, underground passageways, and forgotten graves. From elegant mansions overlooking the city to notorious tunnels beneath its streets,
Portland’s James Beard Public Market has secured a construction permit for its downtown site, advancing the next phase of a roughly 38,000-square-foot project planned for Southwest Sixth Avenue and Alder Street. The year-round market is expected to house more than 40 small businesses, with a spring 2027 opening target
Portland’s Lloyd Center ice rink is scheduled to close on August 8, ending a 66-year run at the center of the Northeast Portland mall. The closure affects longtime skaters, coaches, families, and tenants as redevelopment plans move forward. This report explains the final-day events, the rink’s history, and the
Pickathon is returning to Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley with a four-day schedule featuring live music, family-friendly activities, and immersive festival spaces. The annual event brings together artists from multiple genres while offering attendees opportunities to experience performances, community activities, and outdoor attractions. Key Takeaways Pickathon returns to Pendarvis
By: AP Sanders There is a specific reading experience that the best psychological thrillers produce and that most merely competent ones approximate without quite achieving, the experience of being so completely inside a story that the real world becomes temporarily less real than the fictional one, where the anxiety
By: GP Sullivan Many fantasy novels know how they end before you do. Terrence W. Walsh wrote one that does not, or more precisely, one that holds three different endings open simultaneously and then gives Prince Adam the unusual and slightly disorienting freedom to choose between history, comedy, and
Free Art in the Park is returning to downtown Portland with a series of free creative gatherings scheduled throughout the summer. The initiative invites residents and visitors to take part in public art activities that encourage community participation while making creative experiences accessible in a shared outdoor setting. Key
