What exactly is "the Northwestern dream?" Is this based on some Portlandia sketch?
What I don't understand is why people keep coming here. Really, this city looks more and more like every other gentrified city in the country. I've been to L.A, S.F and D.c over the past few years to visit and the 'new; i.e. gentrified neighborhoods look virtually identicle to Nw 21st, the Pearl and what's happening to virtually every neighborhood in the city. So, again, why move here?
Cities are turning into what used to be the suburbs. The same people who would have never moved into a city ten yers ago are now claiming city core's as their own, claiming that they have GOOD JOBS and, therefore, know what's best for those stupid working class and minority populations. These selfsame, dime-a-dozen, bland, entitled and laregley white populations go on to make formerly diversive and singular neighborhoods into places where they feel more comfortable i.e Growlers (the dumbest fucking trend I've seen out of many of Portland's stupid fucking trends) wine bars, Whole Foods, chain designer clothing shops, and, of course, Subways, and succeed in making these harmless, homogoneous safe zones so they can 'find thesemselves, play a ukelele or whatever the fuck else.
You know what, life is full of disappointment. My 'Northwestern Dream' was cheap rent and the possibility of buying a house one day. I know, I know, I'm one of those shitty working class people who only work 40-50 hrs a week working jobs that aren't 'GOOD' in the eyes of entitled yuppies like these but this used to be a city, or really a country, where if you worked hard enough things like that might happen. Now, because of people like this, that has changed, and what was formerly a city where people were largely friendly to one another and was an interesting, creative place to live is now a city where hardowrking people like me are constantly anxious about rent while privelged people like this are upset because someone was a meanie to them.