Hipster paradise of Portland, Oregon

If you’ve never heard of Portland, you’re missing out.

In the heart of the state of Oregon, it is one of the most charming and happening cities in the entire United States of America.

Ever flicked through a Lonely Planet guide and read about a 'neighbourhood to which hipsters flock' and felt a bit confused? It turns out these 'hipsters' are laid back young men and women with a penchant for idiosyncratic fashion, art, culture, music, left-ish politics and tasty, locally-brewed beer.

Their favoured neighbourhoods may only number one or two in any city but in Portland their vibrancy and hospitality provide all that’s needed for a fantastic city break.

Explore the city

A good place to start exploring the city is the leafy north western suburb of Nob Hill and the slightly more built-up, converted warehouse zone of the neighbouring Pearl District.

The key strips of the former are NW 21st and 23rd Streets, both of which are filled to the brim with a quite incredible array of restaurants, bars and coffee houses. The latter has the pick of the city’s galleries; with everything from tiny independent spaces to much larger and more commercial affairs.

On the first Thursday of every month, the Pearl District’s art scene comes alive with a range of after-hours gallery viewings and street entertainment. On offer are art and craft markets (not in the tacky sense but in fact things you’d actually like to hang on your wall or put on your coffee table), live music and even some capoeira.

Verdant Portland
The city’s green spaces are also a major attraction and will stand up to anything found in Portland’s bigger, better-known cousins.

It’s not so much their verdant aspects, however – it’s the quirky nature they all share. Portland has countless pieces of art and sculpture found lurking its in parks and other pockets of greenery, each more striking and surprising than the last.

On the theme of greenery, a relaxing afternoon can be spent at Portland’s Japanese Gardens (once described by a visiting dignitary as the finest he’d seen outside of Japan) – which offer a journey through five different ornamental styles. In what can sometimes be a bustling and noisy city, the gardens are an exquisite oasis of calm, a tranquil hideaway from the world – even if the most stressful thing you’ve encountered so far that day has been the walk up the hill to find them.

By far the most moving aspect of Portland is the Holocaust Memorial. It isn’t the only one in the world by any means, and there are larger and more high-profile edifices dedicated to the same cause.

However, Portland’s is certainly noteworthy for the comprehensive and thought-provoking narrative describing the events leading up to and during the Holocaust, and moreover for how the city’s creative sensibilities are on show once again in small bronze pieces littering the area. The rendering of everyday objects recalls the visitor exhibits at Auschwitz in Poland, where the most mundane personal possessions become something much more poignant.

On a lighter note, one of the biggest draws to the Portland - and the Pacific Northwest as a whole - is the beer.

Home to the highest concentration of breweries of any city in the world, the thirty Portland has to offer reflect a breadth of types and tastes from the lightest white concoctions to the darkest of stouts and porters.

Among the best might be found at the Tugboat Brewery, the Amnesia Brewing Company on Mississippi Avenue and the brewpub on Hawthorne Avenue, a treat for dog-owners and beer-lovers alike.

Speaking of beer, it’s worth mentioning the McMenamins Company. Less of a brewery and more of a local institution, the company has made its name converting and restoring several beautiful old buildings in and around Portland into charming bar-restaurants (serving its range of unique beers and tasty food), cinemas (offering bargain tickets, table service, home-cooked meals and, yes, its own beer) and even some charming hotels and guesthouses.

Any visit to the city should include sampling something this unique company has to offer.

If you’re in the market for a visually-striking place, full of well-know tourist attractions then visit Seattle, New York, San Francisco, to name but a few. But for a welcoming, laid-back feel in a young, fresh and unpretentious sort of a place, Portland is for you.

James Ranger