Dear Portland,
By the time you read this article, I’ll be gone. I’m leaving you, the city I’ve called home for 24 years, to live abroad. You’ve treated me well. We’ve had some wonderful times and I’ll never forget them. But the world is calling to me.
Make no mistake, I’m going to miss you. You’re my favorite city. Yes, you have your problems. Rents are too high, wages are too low. Your vulnerable citizens—the young, the homeless, the sick, the elderly, ethnic minorities, gender minorities, those with disabilities, they all continue to face hardship, injustice and neglect. And despite your wholesome twee exterior, your dancing frogs and your naked cyclists, you’re not immune to discrimination, corruption and greed…