Young people run Portland, Oregon. I am told that 65% of the city’s population is under 35 and it shows. Lots of restaurants, cafes, and saloons, inexpensive music venues, and plenty of places to get something good to eat at 2:30 in the morning. Everyone seems to have something to look forward to.

Not to say that Portland lacks sophistication. There are some truly classy restaurants with extensive wine lists, including the excellent local varieties, as well as some great venues for events. Portland is growing up, and should definitely be considered for a regional or west coast meeting.

The key marketing term there is “sustainable”, as in “a sustainable taqueria”  (whatever that means. Re-fried beans?) while pretty much everywhere you go offers gluten-free or vegan options. It’s a green-conscious city and the downtown is blessed with a very user-friendly mass transportation system.

The other ubiquitous term in the neighborhoods occupied by younger people is “vintage”, which really means used or old, but sounds cooler. Since many homes in Portland are blessed with large and useable front porches, there is a big market for “vintage” sofas there. I think some smart entrepreneur could make some money by importing them from “used” furniture and Goodwill stores around the country and re-branding them as “vintage”. There also is an unusually big market for things that claim to be made in Nepal, or by Tibetans. I am sure that in some boardroom in Katmandu, businessmen are sitting around a table looking at a map saying, “Portland, who would have thought?”

Many of the young people seem to be in Halloween costumes all the time, or walking around in what must be their pajamas. There are also several demographic sub-sets that are easily identifiable; the hipsters who cultivate the uncultivated look but, I suspect, all shop at the same Pendleton store to buy their hats and plaids, and the bro-dudes. The latter can be identified by a) they have a beer in their hand and, b) when speaking, use “bro” or “dude” at least twice in every sentence.

Then there are the “activists”, earnest young people with petitions of all kinds, who start talking to you as if they have known you for years. A certain percentage of them will become automobile or aluminum siding salesmen someday. It will be sustainable aluminum siding (with a vegan option), of course. There is, as is to be expected, a higher than average per capita of piercings (“dude, are you sure those big things in your ears are a good idea”), and plenty of tattoos to go around.

But before I move on from what seems like I am poking fun… everyone was really nice, friendly, happy, creative, and very much “into” Portland. It’s all good.

Another great feature of the city; food carts. There are over 250 registered food carts in town, and so it becomes clear where old school busses and step-vans go to retire. But these are not your typical roach-coach mobiles. Many of these are gourmet… well maybe not gourmet, let’s say, they have really good food at affordable prices… and are perfect for young people with sophisticated palates whose parents no longer take them out to dinner.

Oh yes, hotels, meetings and the reason we are here…

There are a couple of convention-type properties, most notably the Marriott and Doubletree, but Portland is more of a boutique kind of town and, assuming you are not planning a huge convention, has some sophisticated but unpretentious options in the heart of downtown close to all of the great restaurants, nightlife and shopping. I recommend the following…

The Heathman, with 150 rooms and 3800 square feet of meeting space, is always voted in the top 100 hotels in the US by Travel & Leisure. It is elegant, but homey. Nice people, great service and an excellent restaurant. Two thumbs up.

The Monaco has 221 guest rooms, 550 square feet of meeting space, a great restaurant (the Red Star Tavern) and lots of art. Originally built in 1912, but of course, all renovated and really cool.

The Governor, a Member of Historic Hotels of America, is a Portland landmark and has been in business for more than 95 years. It has 100 guest rooms and 17,000 square feet of meeting space, but because it is an historic building the space is, well, different. The staff is great and go out of their way to make whatever you need to happen, happen. But remember, it’s an historic building.

The Benson: In the same market niche as the Heathman. It has been around since 1913, has 287 guest rooms and 16,000 square feet of meeting space in 13 different meeting rooms, including a great ballroom.

The Nines: This 331 room hotel is part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection and is on the upper floors of the landmark Meier & Frank Building on Pioneer Square in the middle of everything. It also has 13,000 square feet of meeting space and two restaurants. Like I said, it’s a Starwood Luxury Hotel, so it has that brand reputation.

I did not bring my camera this trip, but I will try and describe one vignette that stuck with me as iconic. Not to make a big deal out of it, just, well…if you have read my blogs you know the inside of my head may not be completely normal. Anyway…

We went to the Saturday market down by the river. Beautiful day, street musicians and performers, artists selling the usual crafts Booths with leather journals, stained glass, jars of honey, jewelry… the stuff you see at any Saturday market down by the river. One thing I noticed, and maybe because I grew up in New York City and live in San Francisco, is that just about everyone was white. A few African-Americans, a smattering of Asians, but all in all, this was a white crowd. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But then…

We passed through the market, made a right turn, and crossed the street, only to find a very large crowd of homeless people having a festival of their own in the street outside a church mission. Suddenly, Diversity! And to make it all just a little weirder, the crowd was sequestered behind a fence topped with barbed wire. The fence’s purpose, whether to keep people out or in, was unclear, but inside people were being fed and entertained and having a grand old time. Or at least as good a time as you can have when you are homeless. The juxtaposition of the two events was such an obvious metaphor, you would not have believed it if you saw it in a movie. Just sayin’.

In summary… Portland is a surprise. A great little city on it’s way up. Consider it.