Seattle and Portland are friendly rivals, be it on the soccer pitch or in the national imagination. In the spirit of my previous compare and contrasts, here is the Seattle – Portland smackdown!
Coffee. Seattle has Starbucks, Caffe d’Arte, Vivace, and other outlets. Portland has Stumptown. Stumptown has come to Seattle, with one outlet on Capitol Hill.
Microbreweries. Ubiquitous in both towns.
Water. Seattle is hemmed in by Puget Sound, Lake Washington, and the Ship Canal. Portland has the Willamette and Columbia Rivers.
Restaurateurs. Portland has Vitaly Paley and Andy Ricker. Seattle has Tom Douglas and Eric and Sophie Banh. Each of them has multiple outlets in their respective cities. (Yo, Andy, when is Pok Pok coming to Seattle?)
Farmers’ Markets. We’ve been to Portland’s Saturday market before, but that struck me as more of a flea market. Pike Place Market rules.
Academics. Both Seattle and Portland have state-supported medical schools. Each also has a variety of public and private colleges and universities.
Hipsters. Both cities have them in abundance. Julian remarked as we walked up Hawthorne Street in Portland on Saturday, “I don’t think I’m hip enough for this neighborhood.” I feel that way in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood.
Television. Portland has Portlandia. Seattle has had Frasier and Here Come the Brides (“The bluest sky you’ve ever seen, in Seattle…”) And, lest we forget, Bill Nye the Science Guy.
The score? There is no score. We’ll gladly visit Portland any time.
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