Portland Coffee Hangouts

On this cool, cloudy/scattered shower morning, four of us ventured to SE Belmont to try out the Never Coffee Shop.  Supposedly this shop came into being when an ad agency in a newly built building had the opportunity to use a vacant storefront as a branding project.  As you might imagine, the resulting shop is easy to look at with sharp lines and colorful furnishings.  The space within, however, is small, leading to the use of tiny tables and stools.   For those of us desirous of hanging out, the visual ambiance is fine, the physical one is problematic.

Today’s discussion topics were mostly political/environmental: whether the City Council has the votes to pass the in-fill proposals that two of our members worked on; why the current residential energy proposals don’t go far enough; the rush by developers to submit applications for building permits before the new inclusionary zoning regs take effect; and changing players and staff in City Hall.

4243 SE Belmont       http://www.nevercoffeelab.com

On a brisk, dry, October-like morn, three of us enjoyed a stimulating ride through SE to connect with our friend C, who is still a part-time Denver resident.  We enjoy this St. Honore outlet more than the original NW Thurman site for hanging out.   Though both sites have great windows, this site has more angles, different ambiances in its three seating areas, great views of the kitchen,  and feels airier and more relaxed.    It’s been 2+ year since last here, and it’s still a 2nd line favorite.

Discussion topics were also stimulating, though all over the map.  The upcoming elections, both local and national; home construction projects in Denver and Portland; a report on the 14,000-attendee national epidemiology conference where M just facilitated a panel discussion; and the future of transportation, including driver-less cars.

3333 SE Division    http://sainthonorebakery.com/division.php

It’s been four years since we visited Five Points – formerly Coffee Division – and not much has changed, shop-wise anyway.  Business-wise, they’ve changed their name, started a roasting company, and opened a new outlet in John’s Landing.  Shop-wise, this site remains relatively unflashy – simple chairs/tables plus some window stools, smaller art pieces on the white walls, et. al., compared to some newer outlets on Division with their bold colors and craftsmen-built  tables.    And yet it’s obvious today that Five Points has a dedicated clientele appreciative of this unassuming space.

Discussion-wise, this was a milestone outing for our group in that we had some meaty personal issues to share, resulting in probably the sole time over the past 9 months that we didn’t touch on the outrageous behavior of one particular presidential candidate.    C and T hadn’t seen each other in over a year, so C was anxious to hear that T had learned who his birth parents were, had successfully and joyfully made phone contact with his mother’s sister and multiple siblings, learned that both of his birth parents had passed, and that his birth father ultimately married this aunt.   T. also shared that recently his son was enmeshed with a police/legal problem that seems to have become almost a ritual for many of his generation.

C then shared the untenable position he feels he’s in as his brother-in-law – someone with a history of burning bridges – has moved into his house against C’s wishes.  He had hoped his wife would have put limits on her brother’s length of stay, but that didn’t happen.  He’s now trying to figure out next steps.  Everyone was pleased to be present and be supportive when hearing these gnarly issues.

3551 SE Division     http://www.fivepointscoffeeroasters.com 

Upon learning that our biking group hasn’t visited Rain and Shine in 4 years, we concluded that time must be flying :), and that each of us actually has visited individually in the meantime.  We remember as a group first visiting within 3 months of the shop’s opening when the layout of all wooden chairs and tables was in a very school-like, restrictive set-up, and then 18 months later when the furniture and layout was looser with several cushioned sofas and couches around the periphery.  Even then it was obvious with their supply of games and reading materials, they sought to provide a relaxing hang-out atmosphere for their patrons.

So while now there are no couches and just a couple of cushioned chairs, Rain/Shine has inserted a  nice set of faux windows to serve as a partition – which highlights all of their wonderfully large windows – to go along with their array of other homey amenities.  And that’s not to mention that they bake many of their pastries in their open kitchen.  We all agree that they ably achieve their stated goal of “drink, eat, gather.”

With C. still in Portland before heading back to Denver for his 2 week routine there, today’s primary discussion topics were environmental sustainability and equity.  And we dug deep into the weeds around such nuanced topics of how one speaks of/defines social justice, climate change, and the like.  Particularly interesting re equity was how various cultures in the past may have redistributed resources such at the potlatches of Native Americans, and the Jewish culture’s take on a 7th year Sabbatical or Jubilee, when land was to lie fallow, debts be forgiven, slaves freed, and land redistributed back to original families.  A basic premise in both cultures was that the lands were sacred and not to be privately owned.  Radical indeed.

5941 SE Division       http://www.rainorshinepdx.com/

Probably stimulated from having read a recent blurb that a Stumptown roast was voted by Seattleites its best coffee, we returned to Stumptown’s original site on Division.  And we, reminded of the irony that despite our Sunday biking group’s focus over the past six years of visiting 140+ independent shops in part to experience/report on their ambiance for hanging out, this particular site – which helped birth a revolution – isn’t a particularly good one for hanging because of its limited size.

Moreover, we also recognize that – with Stumptown now part of a corporation that has allowed it to open shops in L.A., New Orleans, and NYC as well as Seattle & PDX – it probably does not fit into the “independently-owned” category; still we’ve enjoyed our visits to its outlets around town, and are proud of its recent recognition in Seattle.  (You can call us shallow.)

Today’s check-in discussion included: C detailing how his wife K’s recent “outpatient” surgery on her broken metatarsals took 4 hours, twice as long as predicted, and the house projects on his plate in Denver and Portland; how A juggles teaching in Corvallis 2-3 days a week with family responsibilities; and our election doubts whether the upcoming housing levy is large enough to make a significant dent in the city’s needs for homeless and affordable housing, and our lack of understanding whether the proposed  gross receipts tax replaces existing revenue or is additional.

4525 SE Division    http://stumptowncoffee.com/location/division/