Montrealia?

Okay, it’s not in French and it’s not Quebec-specific. And yet, scenes from the new show Portlandia do remind me of Montreal.

–You can go to clown school. Check.
–Where young people go to retire. Check.
–Obsession with where food came from. Check.
–High hipster quotient. Check.

We spent just over 24 hours in Portland last week and it does seem like a great place in that Pacific-northwesty-way. The disparities of wealth are definitely on display, as the nice independent record store (and Powell’s!) is very close to a youth center and lots of homeless people are around. Also, very Montrealish.