, Columnist
Why Portland, of All Places, Erupted
The dream of the ‘70s is not alive.
No dream.
Photographer: Nathan Howard/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Jim Rose sideshow circus of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here.
The very first episode of the TV show “Portlandia” opens with a song about a magical place called Portland, Oregon, where “the dream of the ’90s is alive.” That sounds vaguely utopian, but the lyrics make clear it’s a utopia about nothing (to echo a ’90s comedy). It’s all about getting tattoos, sleeping until 11 and forming bands. “Portland is a city where young people go to retire,” one character gushes.