My second Portland Residence... BEST ADDRESS, EVER!

What's funny is, I don't actually remember looking for this place.  At all.  It's been a long time, and I've lived about 7 of my 9 lives since then.  What I DO remember, was the name of the complex, and the address, that cracked my shit up.  There is a historic aspect to the name, but at the time, I hadn't realized it.  

Truth be told, I DO remember looking now.  It was before the days of Craigslist, and I used an actual folding newspaper, or we would drive around in search of a few places.  We stumbled upon this particular building, by car.  I wrote down the address, and phone number on the sign, gave them a call, and within about a week, the place was ours.

Given our passing living situation, I was very anxious to move on, and would sit at my desk, willing every call that came in from the switchboard, to be about this place.  And eventually, it was!

So... get ready for this!  Our address, at Cable Village Apartments, (Ha ha ha!) was 1819 SW 18th Avenue, #19.  I can remember walking around the place, and reveling at the 9 foot ceilings, the big bedrooms, the second bath, the enormous kitchen, and most of all?  The motherfucking stacking washer/dryer, right next to our bedroom!  I think, in my mind, that actually came before the incredible view we had of Downtown Portland.

It earned the name because it was built along the old cable run that went along Portland Heights.  

I loved this place, so much!  We threw party, after party, after party, here, and because most of the other tenants were around the same age as we were, no one complained!

We lived here for one year.  We had a sister, and a friend come to stay with us for an extended bit of time, and that was fun. 

All around, I was sad to leave this place.  Something happened in the living room that will always make that apartment special to me.  I only wish I hadn't been watching "The Tom Green Show", when it happened.  I think it was the testicular cancer episode.  But?  Because nothing in my life has ever been your typical... whatever, T proposed to me... during that show.

So, yes.  I was engaged to be married at 1819 SW 18th Avenue, #19, during the testicular cancer episode of "The Tom Green Show".  Oy.

Path, leading to front door.  Mine was the second one here.

This was my front door.  I decorated it much more than is shown.  A few of those paper star lights hung on this little porch, and I had a wee little table and a couple of chairs out here.

The building wasn't really all that exciting, really.  Especially by my current standards.  But... the 23 year old me, was beyond thrilled.

They changed the name!

Sometimes I would walk up the hill.  This was one of my favourite neighbouring houses.

These condos were just being finished when we moved out.

This stupid tunnel was kind of the bane of our existence.  It is the on-ramp for 26 West.  It's pretty wide, and a lot of homeless people slept under it.  Most were OK, but we had lots of break-in issues.  There is a parking garage, but some of the time, the door would be stuck open, and people would just come right in, and raid our cars.  Our guests had a few break-ins, parking under that bridge, as well.  I mostly just chalked it up to city life.  This stuff happens.  Whatever.

This path leads to PSU.  I would walk it to catch the bus, on Broadway.

This unusually-shaped turret was something I walked past, daily.  The building is very hard to photograph, because there are so many trees in front, but it's like a really cool Victorian ruin.  I hope someone does something with it.  It is worth preserving.

The Goose.  It's a dorm for PSU.  I befriended a few students who walked the path at night, and lived there.  Safety in numbers, and all. 

Another glorious Victorian ruin, I hope someone does something with.

The 'hood.

If we walked up the hill in the other direction, we could see this!  Took all of about 10 seconds to get up here.  The year we were here, we watched fireworks from this vantage point.  They reflected off of the buildings.  It was really, really, cool.  And best of all?  We didn't have to fight any crowds, at all!

Why did we leave this place?  Well, a few reasons, really.  As much as I loved all of the amenities and the view, it was really close to the freeway.  T also got tired of traveling so far to go to work.  His office was way out in Hillsboro.  My office was basically downtown, so while my commute would end up a bit longer, his would be significantly shorter, if we moved.

So... our next place takes us out to an obnoxious suburb! 

Stay tuned.  While annoying, there were some good things that happened out there, as well.

-H