Portland, Oregon: Soul of the City Walking Tour – Portland, Oregon

EXPERIENCE

Discover some of Portland’s most influential architecture, from cast iron-fronted structures to the grandly disastrous post-modern Portland Building, on this walking tour. Discuss the modern rise of radical activists, and how it is connected to the city s history going back more than a century.
Meet your guide in the center of the city, at Director Park, only a block from the city’s Cultural District. Walk through the South Park Blocks, visiting the plazas connected to museums and concert halls, including the Portland Art Museum and the Oregon Historical Society.
Explore how Portland got its nicknames and city layout, how its cultural identity was forged, and where its commitment to racial justice and social progressivism comes from. Be surprised as you find out how the state of Oregon was founded and why.

Next, meet Portlandia, the image personifying the city. Learn how much of the city as you see it today has hippies to thank for its richness. End the tour at Pioneer Courthouse Square. On days when attractions are open, you can briefly enter 1 or 2 buildings.
Along the way, discover what led to the prioritization of parks throughout the city center, how the city s early urban planners decided on their layouts, how modern designers look at the past and plan for the future, and who the streets are named after.

HIGHLIGHTS

Trace Portland’s history through its buildings and street layouts with a guide
Tour one of the most pedestrian-friendly, park-focused cities in the States
Walk through parks and plazas where activists made international headlines
Learn about Oregon’s history of urbanism, art, architecture, and hippies
Explore the city’s most extravagant sculptural work, hidden in plain sight

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