Portland Real Estate Agent Blog - Search Portland Neighborhood Listings » Diversions http://repdx.com Portland Oregon Real Estate Search Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:47:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Friday Fun – Portland At Night, Time-Lapse Video http://repdx.com/2011/11/18/friday-fun-portland-at-night-time-lapse-video/ http://repdx.com/2011/11/18/friday-fun-portland-at-night-time-lapse-video/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:12:48 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1984 I’m a sucker for time-lapse video, especially if Portland scenes are involved. Here’s a beaut:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photography by Lance Page. Music soundtrack provided by Andrew Parish.

]]> http://repdx.com/2011/11/18/friday-fun-portland-at-night-time-lapse-video/feed/ 0 Friday Fun – We Love our Timbers http://repdx.com/2011/09/16/friday-fun-we-love-our-timbers/ http://repdx.com/2011/09/16/friday-fun-we-love-our-timbers/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:15:14 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1888 Major League Soccer fans across the country know that Portland has the most rabid, passionate fans in the league. Sure, the Blazers are the top game in town, but the Portland Timbers are giving them a run for their money when it comes to promotion.

Coach John Spencer is a big part of that. And whenever I need a laugh, this Alaska Airlines ad does the trick:

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://repdx.com/2011/09/16/friday-fun-we-love-our-timbers/feed/ 0 Friday Fun – “If Public Art Could Talk” http://repdx.com/2011/08/26/friday-fun-if-public-art-could-talk/ http://repdx.com/2011/08/26/friday-fun-if-public-art-could-talk/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:26:14 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1877 Another Portland-y vid from Mike Vogel, this one titled “If Public Art Could Talk“.

It’s mostly safe for work.

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://repdx.com/2011/08/26/friday-fun-if-public-art-could-talk/feed/ 0 Friday Fun: ‘Tiny Portland’ http://repdx.com/2011/08/19/friday-fun-tiny-portland/ http://repdx.com/2011/08/19/friday-fun-tiny-portland/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:35:09 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1857 I just love this 1-minute-long, a-day-in-the-life video montage of Portland.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Produced by local film maker Mike Vogel. Music by Trevor Bennett.

]]> http://repdx.com/2011/08/19/friday-fun-tiny-portland/feed/ 0 Midcentury modern fans get a Rummer fix http://repdx.com/2011/05/13/midcentury-modern-fans-get-a-rummer-fix/ http://repdx.com/2011/05/13/midcentury-modern-fans-get-a-rummer-fix/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 19:43:20 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1812 Oak Hills Rummer tour logoModern home enthusiasts, take heart.

While the popular Street of Eames home tour ended its 5-year run last spring, Atomic Ranch fans can still get their fill of California modernist design with the Rummer/Oak Hills House Tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 21 between 10am and 4pm.

Sponsored by the Historic Preservation League of Oregon, the tour features inside peeks at 8 Robert Rummer-designed homes in the 256-acre Oak Hills planned development just north of the Sunset Highway at Cornell Road. In addition, tourgoers get a midcentury modern architecture lecture and a Q&A session with Mr. Rummer himself.

Buy your tickets here.

Hat tip to M Realty’s modern home specialist, Marisa Swenson.

]]> http://repdx.com/2011/05/13/midcentury-modern-fans-get-a-rummer-fix/feed/ 0 Find Your Badass Portland Neighborhood http://repdx.com/2011/04/27/find-your-badass-portland-neighborhood/ http://repdx.com/2011/04/27/find-your-badass-portland-neighborhood/#comments Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:47:08 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1753 As a Realtor, it’s not uncommon to field questions about which neighborhoods have low crime, good schools, ‘like-minded’ neighbors (either politically or demographically), and other personal preferences.

Unfortunately, Fair Housing laws limit our ability to guide or ‘steer’ people into specific neighborhoods based on our opinion of  a neighborhood’s racial complexion, family-friendliness, safety, and other social factors. Often, we just point them to the raw data, where available, and let them come to their own conclusion.

Over the years, sites like PortlandMaps, Walkscore, and others have made this process a lot easier, through geomapping and other visualizations. For example, I love M Realty’s Walkscore heatmap view for searching in highly walkable neighborhoods.

But what if someone wants to know where Portland’s badass neighborhoods are?

I have little to no hipster in me, so I wouldn’t even know where to start. But a couple local dudes apparently do and have created the city’s first bad-assness index.

The factors:

  • Public transportation availablity. Good.
  • Property values. Yes.
  • Bike access. Sure.
  • Beer availability. Still with you.
  • Coffee locations. Makes sense.
  • Food cart proximity. I suppose…
  • Pinball availability…um.
  • Strip clubs…no comment.

Pull together the data, geocode it, and turn it into a heatmap, and voila — Portland’s badass neighborhoods (PDF).

Areas of town get ratings from from ‘Hella Badass’ to “Flannelville” to ‘Vancouverish’ at the low end (sorry my Clark Country friends). The Boise neighbhorhood gets top prize, followed closely by Goose Hollow and Oldtown/Chinatown. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shout out to Rick Turoczy at the Silicon Florist for the find. From Dillon Mahmoudi on Vimeo.

]]> http://repdx.com/2011/04/27/find-your-badass-portland-neighborhood/feed/ 4 Portland: A City Where Young People Go to Retire http://repdx.com/2010/12/17/portland-a-city-where-young-people-go-to-retire/ http://repdx.com/2010/12/17/portland-a-city-where-young-people-go-to-retire/#comments Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:55:00 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1583 Fred Armisen pokes fun at Portland and its hipster scene in his new show, Portlandia.

(Media link here if video doesn’t appear below.)

You’ve got to admit, some of it’s true :)

More clips.

]]> http://repdx.com/2010/12/17/portland-a-city-where-young-people-go-to-retire/feed/ 2 It would be more funny if it weren’t so painful http://repdx.com/2010/10/09/it-would-be-even-more-funny-if-it-werent-so-painful/ http://repdx.com/2010/10/09/it-would-be-even-more-funny-if-it-werent-so-painful/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2010 20:55:21 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1475 Jon Stewart has a knack for putting a fine point on it. Actually, a serrated edge:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

Foreclosure Crisis
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

And there’s more:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

Mortgage Bankers Association Strategic Default
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Sigh.

]]> http://repdx.com/2010/10/09/it-would-be-even-more-funny-if-it-werent-so-painful/feed/ 1 Wipeout Weekend http://repdx.com/2010/01/23/wipeout-weekend/ http://repdx.com/2010/01/23/wipeout-weekend/#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:42:49 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=1013 Completely off the real estate topic today, but I bumped into this video posted at oregonlive.com, courtesy of the Windell Camp.

It’s two minutes and forty-seven seconds of epic flameouts. Enjoy.

Ouch.

]]> http://repdx.com/2010/01/23/wipeout-weekend/feed/ 0 Chickens Out, Goats In for 2010 http://repdx.com/2010/01/05/chickens-out-goats-in-for-2010/ http://repdx.com/2010/01/05/chickens-out-goats-in-for-2010/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:39:45 +0000 Ron Ares http://repdx.com/?p=997

To stay on the cutting edge of Portland’s urban farming scene, you’ll need to trade in your chicken coop for pygmy goats, according to the latest Willamette Week.

Here are 14 people (including one of my current clients, very cool) and trends to follow in 2010.

(Photo courtesy of Monterey Bay Equestrian Center.)

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