Is Portland weird?

I've always thought Portlanders, a few vocal ones, greatly over-estimate the positive "weirdness" of the city. I'm not alone.

Carl Abbott doesn’t think Portland ever was. Weird, that is. The Portland State University urban historian says it takes more than a bumper sticker to bend reality.

“Except for a handful of 24-year-olds who ride funny looking bicycles, I don’t think Portland is weird at all,” Abbott says. “I’d call it sincere, earnest, outdoorsy, old-fashioned, and pleasant. If Portland were a person, you’d be delighted if your daughter said she planned to marry it.”

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Caren Anderson and Carl Baldwin haven’t quite figured out what form of weird it takes to catch on here. The couple opened the Velveteria Museum on Southeast Burnside Street four years ago, about as quirky a museum as you’re likely to find. But nobody has welcomed them or their collection of more than 2,000 paintings on velvet into the cultural mainstream. Nationally, they’re a hit, with stories in Newsweek and on CBS Sunday morning. But only about two of 10 visitors to the museum are local, according to Baldwin.

“People will walk by and say, ‘I saw you on the Tonight Show,’ and keep on walking,” Baldwin says.

Anderson says in another city, the museum would likely become a cultural landmark. “What it says about Portlanders is, I don’t think they’re as curious as they think they are,” she says. “I think people here are too comfortable and they just stay in their neighborhoods and hang out with their friends.

“I’ve been here almost 30 years. This city is provincial. I don’t care if you ride a bike nude.”

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