“Ode” implies lyrical writing or singing, so, sorry for the click-bait title I guess: This won’t be poetic and I won’t sing it.

Anyway, like many others around Portland I’m really sad about the Alder St. food cart block closing down last month to make way for a boring hotel. (OK, I think the particular building going up there is kind of cool, but it’ll just be another fine building among others.)

I’ve only lived in Portland a little over 4 years, so I don’t have much of a say in what defines the city, but I can at least know what defines it for me. As I was “commuting” to Portland for work and looking for a place to live here, the first things that helped me fall in love with downtown were Pioneer Square and the Alder food cart block.