As a relative foreigner and native of Southern California, it can be tricky to orient oneself in this madly eclectic place. My oft-shunned geographic heritage not only sets me up for navigational failure downtown, but it also places me among a huge new demographic of foreigners doing our best to live out the dream of the 90s. It’s difficult to understand Portland’s culture until you’ve survived 8 months of grey skies and steady rain. You quickly learn why there are more breweries than any other city in the world (52), almost as many strip clubs (50), and a penchant for gourmet donuts.

While we may wear our vices on our sleeves in order to beat back the steady gloom, there is so much more about the Rose City that continues to beckon wayward weirdoes, the hippest of the hip, and those too cool for that drab place they came from. With a local foodie culture, vibrant arts scene, excellent public transit, and more ways to consume a freshly made local brew than just about anywhere else on the planet, I’d say it’s worth our time to seek out what makes this town tick.

Each iteration of this new series, which will feature the best of Portland’s five quadrant neighborhoods, will focus on the quirky, hoppy, and savory sides of the town’s current scene and the history that made it so. I could go into the details about what composes these five quadrants, but instead of enlightening you with a seriously fascinating description of the geographic borders of the town, I’ll simply refer you to the graphic above and to future posts that will catalogue it all in time.

The purpose of it all is to literally journal the best brewpubs, restaurants, taprooms, events, and oddities we have to offer. Call it a guide to your next vacation in hippie town or a city guide for new emigres. I’ll throw in a little history, a little patchouli, some thick black frames, a bag of organic quinoa, and a man who rides around town in a kilt and a Darth Vader helmet while blowing on some flaming bagpipes and peddling a unicycle, and then you just might get a sense of what this town is all about.