Dave Knows Portland

It’s “Cooch” not “Cowch” – An Insider’s Guide to Portland Architecture and History (19-February-2011)

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Architectural Heritage CenterThe Architectural Heritage Center presents It’s “Cooch” not “Cowch” – An Insider’s Guide to Portland Architecture and History this Saturday, February 19, 2011.

Few people learn about Portland’s history or its architecture in a formal way. For the majority of new residents, learning is by happenstance. A building that went unnoticed on the morning commute suddenly emerges from the mist with a nickname and its place in the city’s history is revealed. And learning is often by mistake. Have you ever been corrected for mispronouncing the name of a new or unfamiliar street or building?

We hope newcomers and old-timers alike will join us for this informative and sometimes whimsical overview of Portland’s architecture and history. Did you know there was a typo on the exterior of Portland’s 1913 Central Library? Was it ever fixed? Other than poking your head out the window, where can you find a weather forecast while downtown? Who’s “Freddie?” What shopping mall was once the largest in the United States? And what is “Big Pink” anyway?

Portland native Amanda Tillstrom, who has a Master of Arts degree and has worked on exhibits at the Oregon Historical Society and the AHC, will provide answers to these questions!

The presentation takes place at the AHC (701 SE Grand) from 10am until 11:30. Admission is $13 for members and $18 for the general public. Pre-registration is strongly recommended!

Oregon Historical Society: Statehood Day Free Day (13-February-2011)

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2012 information here!

Oregon Historical SocietyThe Oregon Historical Society (1200 SW Park) is celebrating Oregon’s Statehood Day* by offering free admission on Sunday, February 13, 2011 from noon until 5pm:

Visit OHS for a free day in celebration of Oregon’s 152nd birthday. View our newest exhibit Perseverance: Black Pioneers in Early Oregon, and speak to representatives from the Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers. Take a walk through Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride and Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam, on their last day open in the museum. Children can investigate artifact replicas at our “What is it?” table.

At 2pm visitors can listen to a lecture by Kerry Tymchuk: “Laughing All the Way to the White House.” The celebration also includes birthday cake and frozen yogurt samples from Lucky Spoon Frozen Yogurt, while supplies last!

* Oregon’s birthday is actually Valentine’s Day, February 14. But OHS is closed on Mondays and celebrating Sunday ensures more people can participate anyway!

The Oregonian: Heather Finds Love, Portland-Style

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Heather and meMy wife Heather (who writes at Mile73.com!) spoke to journalist Jennifer Willis recently about finding love in Portland. The article was just published!

Is finding love in Portland a breeze, or is this city a black hole of dating?

For Heather Strom, finding love couldn’t have been easier.

“I came to Portland without a job, without knowing anybody, without having a place to live,” says Strom, who moved to the city in January 2008. “I didn’t know a soul.”

Read the rest of her story of romantic good fortune (if I do say so myself!), at OregonLive.com:

Finding love, Portland style: Where the boys are (or aren’t) …

Free Bike-Delivered Neighborhood Welcome Bags from SmartTrips

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SmartTrips goodie bagDid you know that you might be eligible to receive a free bag of transportation goodies from the City of Portland’s SmartTrips program?

SmartTrips is dedicated to offering transportation resources to Portlanders who have moved recently.

It’s a pilot project, so currently only those who have lived in one of the following zip codes for six months or less are eligible to receive the transportation resource materials: 97202, 97206, 97214, 97215.

The goodie bag, full of maps and guidebooks, also comes with – your choice – a chocolate bar from Portland’s Moonstruck Chocolate or an All Day TriMet ticket.

And of course, the goodie bag is delivered by bicycle!

Visit the SmartTrips website for more information on Portland transportation options and this pilot program. For background on SmartTrips, check out Neighhorhood Note’s profile of the program.

Photo of the goodie bag courtesy of Paul Smith (@GreenSmith on Twitter).

Job Finding Resources in Portland

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Looking for a job in Portland, Oregon? Photographer Rachel Hadiashar, who with her husband Ali recently settled in Portland, developed a personal batch process for job finding that just might be useful to other job seekers.

– once a week visit bookmarked job boards at local colleges and universities
– subscribe to RSS feeds or emails lists at college and university job sites so openings would be automatically brought to my attention
– once every two days go through all RSS feeds and twitter streams to star or favorite interesting opportunities
– when blessed with time and in the right mood, re-visit starred listings and make a second cut to decide which openings to pursue

But I think job seekers will find most useful the exhaustive list of Portland, Oregon job finding resources Rachel has assembled. The list includes links to local university and college job sites, general job listing sites, and a comprehensive list of useful Twitterers and Twitter lists for Portland job searching. Find these at Rachel’s blog, refresh, renew explore: How to Find a Job in Portland, Oregon.