North Park Blocks - Park in Portland - 235 NW Park Ave, USA

A lot of very beautiful and unique art! Did not come home empty handed 🙂 The only thing is… we did not see any food or drink vendors. What's up with that?

It was a beautiful day the park blocks were peaceful and relaxing

This row of full city blocks that span roughly 20 blocks long nearly from the Union Train Station at the Broadway bridge over the Willamette River to Portland's college across the whole downtown area is a pleasant surprise in the bizzy atmosphere of downtown life. Full of statues, park benches, and hidden fun.

Green space near Pearl District. Hard to see the juxtaposition of a homeless guy sleeping under the kiddie play bridge and a mom playing with her 2 year old on the slide 10 feet away. Playground equipment looks new and has some cool artwork.

I took my cat, Pax, on my shoulders to the North Park blocks Art in the Peral on Sunday. There was a great turn out. The art show stretched two full blocks. Many dog on leashes. There was a sax player at one end by the food court.

One crisp autumn morning just as the leaves we're beginning to fall, I found myself in Portland's infamous North park block. On second thought, I believe the word "notorious" would be a better choice of vocabulary for such a place. For this morning in particular, there were no birds chirping and no squirrels nesting. The glaze of fresh dew upon the grass was also absent. This very morning, it seemed that the park took on a rather sinister image. After laughing of memories past with a good fellow buddy of mine, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a rather strange looking man sleeping on the lawn. Sleeping is probably not the correct word. Perhaps passed out is more appropriate. Many scenarios played out in my mind of how this fine gentleman found himself devoid of consciousness right here, not even a mere 10 yards from my feet on this crisp autumn morning. I concluded that either the spirits took hold of him, which would explain the stain encroached upon the front of his pants. This scenario, however, was quickly debunked when all of a sudden, a faint sound of a siren became ever increasingly louder. My intuition served me well, and just as I presumed that siren became an ambulance, stearing irqn the direction of the man snoozing on the grass. Something about this emergency call, though, was somehow eriely different. The sense of urgency was absent, and it was if the responders already knew of the gentleman's fate. After just a few moments o became horrified to learn that our gentleman was not snoozing but rather dead. My stomach twisted and contorted as I reflected on how long I had been sitting there not giving it a second thought of this man's health. The First responders then. Placed the man on a gurney and zipped the man shut inside the bodybag. Who was this man, I asked myself. Did he have kids, a wife, a career? Or did he once know of a life with such things but have since been stripped from him only to haunt him in the present. Never the mind now I suppose, all earthly worries and concerns are no longer a burden on this man, he is free. This story is not only one of shock and horror but also of redemption and transcendence. This park block may be the location of this week's neighborhood basketball game or it may become tapped off following a double homicide due to a drug deal gone bad. Either way lives are transformed here. Birth becomes young, while young become old, and finally old becomes death.

This is not a good scene in Portland. :( Open drug use, homeless scattered around. I sure hope we can find some solutions soon. Don't be afraid of this area, but don't expect to want to spend a lot of time here at all. I was here for the art event "...in the Pearl" and the artists were cool and all, but the vibe was WAY off.

Nice green space to share with our dog while my partner browsed the stacks at Powell's. The amount of trash was sad. A few folx asking for money, and a couple camping out under the public art. Wouldn't recommend going out of your wat to visit.