To say Portland has changed a lot in the past 30 years is a bit of an understatement. From the skyline to the bursting population to a food explosion and gentrification, the city has transformed entirely. If you lived here in the 80s, you may remember these things about our city before it made this change.
1. Django's
The Stark Street record institution was going strong in the 80s. The first all-used record store in the city, sadly fell on hard times when music took a digital turn.
2. Pre-Portland's Living Room
If you grew up in Portland in the 80s, you likely remember when the area now dubbed Portland's Living Room was just a parking lot.
3. Bud Clark Was Mayor
You will certainly remember one of our most colorful mayors, Bud Clark, who was in office from 1985 through 1992.
4. A Skyline Without Big Pink
The US Bancorp Building went up in 1983 and the skyline of the city was changed forever.
5. OMSI at Washington Park
Back in the 80s and the early 90s, if you wanted to visit OMSI, the river was not the place to go. Situated in Washington Park, now the home of the Portland Children's Museum, was the place to go to explore science and technology.
6. Kennedy School Was Just An Abandoned Building
In the 80s, the Kennedy School was just an abandoned school building and it would be another decade before the McMenamins team would renovate the school and turn it into a beer-drinking destination.
7. Pre-Convention Center
If you grew up in the 80s, you certainly don't remember the Oregon Convention Center being there. This large center located in the Lloyd District was completed in 1989 and opened the following year.
8. King Kong Visits The Portland Building
The year was 1985 when King Kong took over the Portland Building to market the Oregon Lottery.
What else do you remember from the 80s?
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