"I like bikes. I like coffee. I especially like biking to coffee, which is one of the things that drew me to moving to Portland, Oregon, many years ago. Sometimes I also like giving myself a big dumb project, like, say, biking to 100 different coffee shops. Did Portland even have 100 coffee shops within biking distance that were worth visiting? I didn't check when I started, but it seemed plausible."
"At the same time that I was cruising along Portland's river-spanning bridges and tree-lined streets, then-candidate Donald Trump was describing it as a "shambles" and "a burned-down hulk of a city." Earlier this month, responding to something he saw on television, he insisted that "paid terrorists" are ruining the city, making it "like living in Hell." As with other blue cities he's targeting, the allegation of violent chaos is intended to establish a pretext for policing with the National Guard."
A Portland resident combined a love of biking and coffee into a project visiting 100 coffee shops and posting photos with the hashtag #biketobeans. The project began in spring 2023 as a way to reconnect with the city after pandemic isolation and to counter portrayals of urban decline. While riding across Portland’s river-spanning bridges and tree-lined streets, public figures characterized the city as a "shambles" and urged National Guard intervention. The project covered hundreds of miles and all four quadrants, revealing everyday activity, neighborhood variety, and community life that contrasted with allegations of violent chaos.
Read at Slate Magazine
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