The Multnomah Villager

Picked a great week to start a Village ‘blog… My digital camera is on vacation without me, and I don’t think “started a neighborhood ‘blog” is a sufficient excuse to justify the purchase of a new digital camera (which I have been craving) to Mrs. Villager.

Next week.

Also, I’ll be out of town this weekend and I wil miss First Friday. First Friday is the time every month where all the Village businesses stay open until at least 8PM, and there are plenty of people around. Last month there were at least two groups of musicians along the sidewalks. Some middle-school-aged string players just along the main drag, and a folk/guitar combo outside Village Coffee, where I’ve just found out, the Portland French Conversation Group meets every Saturday (Samedi) at 2PM. I don’t speak french, but I love croissants….

The Portland Oregon Visitors Association (POVA) site has this to say about Multnomah Village:

Multnomah Village’s laid-back, quiet personality is a pleasant alternative to Portland’s busier neighborhoods. A short drive south of downtown leads into Multnomah’s winding, cozy streets. Antique shops, bookstores and cafes lend this village its relaxing vibe. A refreshing mix of galleries and specialty shops round out the experience.For a taste of Multnomah Village: Any local will point in the direction of Marco’s Cafe and Espresso Bar. Here, innovative breakfasts are served all day and the eclectic dinner menu changes nightly. Originally built as the Thomas Bungalow Grocery in 1913, Marco’s historic edifice included the first Multnomah Post Office and was also used as a Masonic Lodge and dance hall.

And here’s what I have to say about that. Every neighborhood has it’s signature restaurant, the place that you “must go” when you visit that part of town. Marco’s is that restaurant for the Village. Marco’s website is here. Now that I’ve given you this info, here’s a confession:

I’ve lived here 10 years and I’ve only eaten there once.

Not that it’s not good, in fact, Mrs. Villager was just saying that we should give them another try, but to tell you the truth the issue is this: Marco’s is the Multnomah Village restaurant for people that live outside the village. A lot like Papa Haydn’s in Northwest. The locals know it’s great, but hardly ever go there because it’s always so crowded with people from outside the neighborhood.

The other reason is that we almost never eat anything but breakfast in the Village restaurants. Now don’t worry. The Villager goes out to breakfast a lot so I’m doing my share to support the local vendors. However, I am much more likely to be found in Fat City or O’Connors come morning time, digging in to two eggs any style (or a 2 x 2 x 2 in the case of O’Connors).

More on those establishments later I think, and yes I’ll tell the story of the Police Chief and Bud Clark.

Hey, b!X added the Villager to his regional blogs links list. To be fair, I sent an email and asked. But I didn’t expect such quick action. Now I’m going to have to start churning out some actual content for this thing.

b!X, if you don’t know, is the e-journalist behind The Portland Communique.

Thanks, b!X!

So I figured that the best way to kick this thing off would be to head out into the Village and environs and post from a free wi-fi hotspot, since the MV is laptop-enabled and all. I was aware of the free wi-fi over at Vermont Hills Coffee, but was wondering if there are any other wi-fi spots in the Village.

I hit up Wi-Fi Freespot dot Com to check it out, and found out that both Sip D’Vine and (surprise) Renner’s Bar and Grill both claim to have wi-fi, along with the aformentioned Vermont Hills Coffee. Vermont Hills’ website is “under construction” but the home page has their hours, and really - what else do you need from a coffee shop website?

My desires were thwarted however, when I arrived at Vermont Hills and found them closed for the day! They’re normally open on Sundays, but must have planned ahead to thwart the Villager on this particular day. I think I will go back and check it out Monday morning though, since I must have a cup of coffee to start the day and making it at home when I’m home alone, which I am this week, is just too much work for one.

Of course, the Starbucks in the Village also has wi-fi, but it’s not free. They have a T-Mobile Hotspot which requires a subscription. Now, I’ve used T-Mobile’s hotspot service all over hte country and it’s great, but unless your office is paying the bill, the MV believes that at least in Portland, there’s simply no need to PAY for wireless access.

I’m sure there are other wfi-fi spots, and also sure that if I were to take a quick wardrive around the village streets I’d find a number of personal wireless routers. Most should be WEP-encrypted like mine, but in reality you could probably camp on quite a few.

This by the way is a great site for locating wi-fe free access: Metro Free Fi dot Com. The others I have used are Wi-Fi Freespot dot Com and there’s also the Personal Telco site, but I’m not linking to it, ’cause it confuses me and also requires registration.

So I thought I’d be starting out with a review of Vermont Hills Coffee, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Until then, if you know of any other Village-area free wi-fi access points, please drop me an email and let me know the details!

For a while now, I’ve been thinking about becoming more involved in the life of my neighborhood. Perhaps it’s because I now have a family, perhaps it’s because after 10 years living in and around Multnomah Village, I have a keen sense of ownership of my part of this space.

I don’t really have it in me to get involved in government, although the temptation is there from time to time, so I though maybe the best way to develop a “voice” in my community was to start small, with this ‘blog, and at least communicate to others what the experience of life here in the Village is like. I know by doing this, it will force me to ask a few more questions, stop into those businesses I don’t already frequent, and perhaps attend a neighborhood association meeting or two.

This is an experiment. I’m not a journalist, and as you will likely discover, I am not a trained writer. I play fast a loose with punctuation, particularly dashes and commas. That’s just the way it is. Also, I should point out that this ‘blog is not intended to be a “puff piece” for local businesses and events. I don’t automatically like something, just ’cause it’s in my neighborhood. I’m just intending to communicate my personal experience.

So bear with me a little while I get this thing going, This is the first time I’ve used Blogger, and I’m sure it will take me a bit to tweak the settings and layout. I’ve set up an email account for this ‘blog and the link is over there in the sidebar. Please feel free to send me any comments you may have, or just comment on this or any other post.

One more note - I’m keeping this ‘blog separate from my “actual identity” for now. I just want to see how it plays out and whether anyone reads before I decide to “out” myself (and I may not). We’ll see how that goes.

Thanks for stopping by.