Bad Vibes: A Conversation About the Decline of Portland, Oregon

Author William Deresiewicz and I will be live on Zoom 12/19 - that's tomorrow! - talking about what happened to Portland, what happens now, and taking your questions

In July 2019, I published a piece in Tablet which they titled, “Portlandization: It Can Happen to a Place Near You,” but which I always think of as “Good Luck, Portland.” The piece proved prescient - anyone who’d been paying attention sensed a creeping dissatisfaction and unrest, and an appetite certain factions had for tearing down a city they seemed to feel was not delivering fast enough on their dreams and/or what they perceived the proper dreams of the nation to be.

I would move away from Portland within the month and would, in covering the 2020 protests and the general decline of the city, many times have the opportunity to reference “Good Luck, Portland,” which will be part of a live Zoom tomorrow, sponsored by Tablet and in conjunction with author William Deresiewicz, whose piece, “Has Portland Lost Its Vibe?” appears in the December issue of Portland Monthly. Though William and I have never met, I sense we will have no problem launching into the following:

Join us Tuesday, December 19, noon PT/3pm ET, for Bad Vibes: A Conversation About the Decline of Portland, Oregon.

I have several new Portland articles cued up for you, as well as more reporting from Israel, where I will head in January. If you’re not already a subscriber, now is a good time to do that!