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  • In Search of Portland: Exploring a Transforming City by Brian Libby book cover
  • In Search of Portland: Exploring a Transforming City by Brian Libby book cover
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In Search of Portland: Exploring a Transforming City

by Brian Libby

Portland through six urban walks

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Portland through six urban walks

Brian Libby organizes this exploration of Portland around six excursions through downtown, Old Town, and the Pearl District. Beginning at the Empire Apartments, where he lived in 1997, he connects one hundred points of interest—from landmarks to lesser-known places—with personal reflection, interviews, and anecdotal history. Architecture is part of the subject, but the book also links the built landscape to the people and local histories that have shaped the city. Stops including Pioneer Courthouse Square and the Crystal Ballroom place Portland’s changing identity in view alongside its buildings, public spaces, and neighborhoods.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • For readers interested in Portland’s neighborhoods, landmarks, and local history.
  • For architecture enthusiasts who want to explore buildings in the context of a city’s people and public spaces.
  • For readers interested in walking tours and place-based urban exploration.

Themes

Portland architecture and urban landscapeLocal history and personal memoryNeighborhoods and public spacesA changing city

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Book overview

"A good walking tour is not just about individual stops but the total experience of moving along a city's streets, taking in a variety of neighborhoods, buildings, shops, parks, public art, and bridges: a chance to be the grand marshal in your own parade," writes Brian Libby in the introduction of In Search of Portland. Starting from his 1997 home, the Empire Apartments at Southwest Eleventh Avenue and Jefferson Street, Libby shares one hundred fascinating points of interest through personal reflection, interviews, and anecdotal history.

The six excursions exploring Portland's downtown, Old Town, and Pearl District not only focus on the city's important landmarks and hidden gems but showcase an evolving city's resilience and heart. Alongside his own experiences, Libby reveals how luminaries like Humphrey Bogart, Mark Rothko, Gus Van Sant, Vera Katz, and Bill Walton appreciated the City of Roses. From Pioneer Courthouse Square to the Crystal Ballroom, each location in the book celebrates the spirit of place in addition to its architecture.

More than a book about buildings, In Search of Portland reveals the stories behind the built landscape, the people, and the history that have created modern Portland.

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