I feel you. This is only the second time in our adult lives when we are not in a walkable, destination neighborhood. We're happy with it because of the woods, river, and park across the street, but it's a change to not be able to walk a few blocks to a brewery or restaurant. (Because it's Wisconsin, we can walk a few blocks to three dive bars, of course.)
The challenge in this increasingly bifurcated economy is that the destination neighborhoods are now impossible to get into unless you can pay 40% over list with no inspection contingency. We were just in Bay View -- one Milwaukee example of a cool, walkable hood -- where we would have loved to land but couldn't make it work. Already, the chatter is already about which neighborhoods will become the next BV because no newcomers can afford a house there (ours is a strong candidate).
Fair point about the threshold to get into a neighborhood! It's a real double-edged sword, and I've seen it play out more than once. The Pearl in PDX is a good example. It used to be just "NW Portland," or even just "Northwest," and the characters that called it home made it what it was. It's still cool, but a different kind of cool, and those people are long gone. it's tough to thread the needle between cool, walkable, and affordable.
Thank you, John! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I can imagine a world where Freeman's a nice guy, but I need a villain to project all my grief over the Brewers losing onto, and he fits the bill. lol.
Thanks for sharing the Letterman/Zevon clip. Huge influence on my songwriting. I covered "Carmelita" on my last album, Dusted Off. By the way, my lead guitarist, Jon Bendis, did the heartfelt Zevon induction film. He's been creating them for the RnRHoF for 30 years. He also created the Joe Cocker mini-doc.
I live in inner SE Portland, and each year we seem to see fewer kids out for Halloween. I think this year we had maybe twelve come to our door. So, I take the leftover candy to school and give it to my students.
The plus side to living in inner SE Portland... I can walk to many cool shops (record stores!), indie cinemas, bars, and restaurants. I can also walk to the train (MAX) and take it to work (door to door, it's only a 25-minute commute). I can also ride my bike to work and be there in 25-30 minutes (the one thing Portland doesn't lack is bike lanes and bike routes!).
The problem with the west side of Portland is the hills, which, from downtown to the top of Burnside, is about 1000ft. Except for the Pearl or downtown (and the area around Chapman Elementary/NW 23rd neighborhood), many NW and SW Portland neighborhoods are in the West Hills. While the bus system is still good, there is no North/South train line, which also makes these neighborhoods more reliant on cars. We have friends who live in the West Hills just off Burnside, and they often have issues when bad weather hits (trees fallen, snow, or landslides), which can be very problematic for days.
I know there is a West/East (and North/South) divide in Portland, but I much prefer living on the East Side! And, let's be honest... the east side is where it's at in Portland! 😎
When I was typing this, I had a few different places in mind. Some I've mentioned upthread, but Hawthorne, parts of Belmont, NW PDX, and Multnomah were in the back of my head. The latter is more a personal fave than anything (or at least it was the last time I was there). And great point about the West Hills- I used to live just up from St. Vincents, and more than once the road would be closed.
MAX is a one of the best things that ever happened to PDX, and if one doesn't believe it, all they need to do is sit on I 84 at about 5:15 on a weekday. You get free parking and a great view of trains whizzing towards where you want to go. lol. On a personal note, my stepdad did a lot of cool things in this life, but helping build MAX is definitely right up there.
P.S. As a life long west sider, it kills me to say it, but you're right; the east side's where it's at!
I don't have any "hangouts" walkable from my house. I do, however, have four Kwik Trips within a reasonable walkable distance...so, I got that going for me.
I grew up so far out in the country that the idea of a walkable neighborhood never entered the picture for me. I used to ride my bike to school in high school, because I realized I could bike the ten miles in an hour, but the bus ride took 90 minutes. I was always envious of my friends who lived in town, because even in a small, rural town, it felt like they had more of the world available to them because they lived near other people, or the A&W, or the library.
I think about my friends who live in New York, where everything they need is within a walkable distance, and all the little neighborhoods are set up like self-sustaining enclaves. That's a luxury we don't really have in the Midwest sprawl of suburbs and horizontal--not vertical--living.
I would love to have a life where a car wasn't a necessity. It's such an expense.
Side note: Speaking of Monona and pizza--I miss The Pizza Oven. I used to go there a lot when I worked at MMI back in the day. It was a great place for lunch, and the rock'n'roll stuff on the walls didn't hurt. I always tried to sit at the table next to the Cheap Trick "In Color" album mounted in a frame over it.
My goal at some point is to not have to drive. Were it not for the weather, I think I could *almost* pull it off, though that would just be for getting to work, the store, etc. More realistically, getting back down to one car would be nice.
Four Kwik Trips! That's the gold standard for our part of the world. lol. I can see one from our upstairs, and walk to a second. The third is bikeable.
Pizza Oven was awesome! I'm thinking of the original spot before they moved to the end of the strip mall. We'd go their quite a bit. I miss it. FWIW, I also really like Sal's, though I don't think it's the sort of place you become a regular at- I've always seen it as a place to go occasionally or for something like a birthday.
I like Sal's food. Patrick does a great job. I went to the original Sal's in Sun Prairie (where Meze is now) during the first week he was open. I'm glad he made it a big deal. But it's not what it used to be. He has gone from a guy running a restaurant to being a restaurateur, and I think it changed him. Sal's isn't a hangout like the Pizza Oven was. It's too upscale. Any place that puts figs on pizza isn't a hangout. Gimme the Pizza Oven any day. I was there once or twice a week for a decade. I miss it terribly.
I actually live in a destination neighborhood for Halloween. We had 820 or so kids this year. It checks all the boxes. Because it's an old neighborhood, the houses are close together and a little closer to the street. It's on a grid and it's flat. The nicest neighborhood in my part of town has houses set farther back, it's hilly, and hit or miss on sidewalks. It's also one where if I hadn't bought in 10 years ago, I likely wouldn't be able to afford to live here today.
I miss being a regular. Before we bought our house, there was a brewery across the street from my apartment and I was always there. I knew all employees, got plenty of free beers, and always had fun. There were a handful of apartments in the area and there was a group of regulars I'd always see there. I'll never forget the guy who was Northwestern fan, but he didn't go there. He's probably the only one.
Also good concert earplugs are a must. I finally started using them a few years ago when I was seeing Run The Jewels on back to back nights. Since then, I always wear them at shows. If you get a pair designed for concerts, you can still hear everything, it's just at a more reasonable volume and your ears aren't ringing the next day.
I was thinking about your neighborhood (and our exchange on Notes) while hammering this out. At the risk of undercutting my entire thesis, it sounds like a lot of fun and something that brings your block together--something that's also in short supply in America.
As for earplugs, I'm 100% with you. To me, things sound better with 'em in, and you can still (literally) feel the beat.
We moved to a much more walkable area, and a much smaller place (a two bedroom condo for our family of three) and I do adore having a few local spots within “stumbling distance,” but it’s also meant having fewer single family homes, so we find ourselves dropping the kiddo off at a friend’s house in a much more traditional neighborhood to do trick or treating. It’s a weird trade off, and feels odd not to get to trick or treat in your own neighborhood. Disclaimer: my experience is limited here since I grew up in the UK, before trick or treating was a thing there.
Also, the Pulp Tiny Desk is absolutely brilliant! So glad they graced us with a new album and tour this year.
Yes! I saw them at Red Rocks, on a cold, rainy night - they’d apparently brought the weather with them. But it was a brilliant night of joy and dancing. I spent the summer knitting a “Mis-shapes, Mistakes, Misfits” cardigan for the occasion. How about you?
First, I love pizza. As a gym freak, I track my calories and macros, but pizza is something I will always make an allowance (or an exception) for. I'd rather starve all day if that means having a pizza and drinks with friends or family later.
How far would it take to walk from your house to your pizza hangout? Walking distances in the US always seem so huge compared to the UK (and some of your internal roads aren't even walkable which always blows my mind). Is public transport not available where you live? Having to drive all the time must be a pain (especially because it limits alcohol consumption 🤣) but over here we do romanticise this image of the big American road where you get in your car and drive off somewhere and everything is possible. I also envy the privacy of a car. I know, it's as if someone told me they romanticised rain. Grass is always greener, I guess 😅 Happy weekend!
I think it would take about 30-35 minutes to walk there. Maybe a little more? There's a bus (finally!, but that's a rant for another day), but it would actually take longer.
I want to echo the thanks for the link to Warren Zevon's RRHOF induction. I can't count the times that I have been in a mood and needed Warren to get me back on track. And I know that the RRHOF has its problems, but it has its place. A place that celebrates the Zevons of the music world.
I’d never heard of destination neighborhoods. That’s such a foreign idea to me having grown up and spent my entire life in a country that’s smaller than most cities (22 square miles). Usually it was a drive to get anywhere, albeit not a long one.
Now we live in a hamlet in the UK with only a dozen houses. It’s so lovely and dark and quiet and the neighbors are all lovely. One big plus is that we’re half a mile from a fairly large road and can get to a village in five minutes and one direction and a lovely market town in ten minutes in the other direction. It’s also less than half an hour to the train station from where we can get to London in under 3 hours and Glasgow in 2 hours.
My observations about the US is that it’s just so spread out. And some cities, like Houston, are incredibly spread out - good luck getting around without a car!
I am all in on this neighbourhood destination angle.
Where we live now, we can walk 20 mins each way to our fave local lunch spot. A bit less in our mountain place, which will be our home from next week. And then we’ll be in South Africa a lot of the year. From what I see, where we will be living has restaurants and cafes in walking distance or we would,do a quick 10 min day time bike ride over to Paarl.
Now not to forget, we will have time for that when we are in semi-retired status. Places for food and drink really need to be 5 to 10 min walks if you expect the lunch crowd.
I feel you. This is only the second time in our adult lives when we are not in a walkable, destination neighborhood. We're happy with it because of the woods, river, and park across the street, but it's a change to not be able to walk a few blocks to a brewery or restaurant. (Because it's Wisconsin, we can walk a few blocks to three dive bars, of course.)
The challenge in this increasingly bifurcated economy is that the destination neighborhoods are now impossible to get into unless you can pay 40% over list with no inspection contingency. We were just in Bay View -- one Milwaukee example of a cool, walkable hood -- where we would have loved to land but couldn't make it work. Already, the chatter is already about which neighborhoods will become the next BV because no newcomers can afford a house there (ours is a strong candidate).
Fair point about the threshold to get into a neighborhood! It's a real double-edged sword, and I've seen it play out more than once. The Pearl in PDX is a good example. It used to be just "NW Portland," or even just "Northwest," and the characters that called it home made it what it was. It's still cool, but a different kind of cool, and those people are long gone. it's tough to thread the needle between cool, walkable, and affordable.
A very impactful " round table " of disjointed ( and great ! ) thoughts.
Toronto is also considering " neighborhood destinations " https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/11/12/could-a-corner-store-be-your-new-neighbour/
The 22 minute clip on Warren Zevon was fantastic. Thank you.
Heck, even the hearing loss ( and prevention) article was enlightening.
You knocked it out of the ballpark!
Signed,
Toronto Blue Jays fan and fellow Freddie Freeman hater :)
---'tho both of his parents are Canadian, so it's tough
Thank you, John! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I can imagine a world where Freeman's a nice guy, but I need a villain to project all my grief over the Brewers losing onto, and he fits the bill. lol.
Thanks for sharing the Letterman/Zevon clip. Huge influence on my songwriting. I covered "Carmelita" on my last album, Dusted Off. By the way, my lead guitarist, Jon Bendis, did the heartfelt Zevon induction film. He's been creating them for the RnRHoF for 30 years. He also created the Joe Cocker mini-doc.
Right on! He did an incredible job. No easy feat, given who the film was about.
Bang on about the decline of Halloween. The destination neighborhood plus the entrenched commercial regulation and exploitation has hurt it greatly...
Thank you, David!
Fantastic read. I wish I had things within walking distance in my neighborhood.
The traffic on trick-or-treat is pretty low in our neighborhood too.
I heard Split Enz were touring, but it looks to be only New Zealand and Australia 😢
Both are just a short plane ride away, right? lol.
I live in inner SE Portland, and each year we seem to see fewer kids out for Halloween. I think this year we had maybe twelve come to our door. So, I take the leftover candy to school and give it to my students.
The plus side to living in inner SE Portland... I can walk to many cool shops (record stores!), indie cinemas, bars, and restaurants. I can also walk to the train (MAX) and take it to work (door to door, it's only a 25-minute commute). I can also ride my bike to work and be there in 25-30 minutes (the one thing Portland doesn't lack is bike lanes and bike routes!).
The problem with the west side of Portland is the hills, which, from downtown to the top of Burnside, is about 1000ft. Except for the Pearl or downtown (and the area around Chapman Elementary/NW 23rd neighborhood), many NW and SW Portland neighborhoods are in the West Hills. While the bus system is still good, there is no North/South train line, which also makes these neighborhoods more reliant on cars. We have friends who live in the West Hills just off Burnside, and they often have issues when bad weather hits (trees fallen, snow, or landslides), which can be very problematic for days.
I know there is a West/East (and North/South) divide in Portland, but I much prefer living on the East Side! And, let's be honest... the east side is where it's at in Portland! 😎
When I was typing this, I had a few different places in mind. Some I've mentioned upthread, but Hawthorne, parts of Belmont, NW PDX, and Multnomah were in the back of my head. The latter is more a personal fave than anything (or at least it was the last time I was there). And great point about the West Hills- I used to live just up from St. Vincents, and more than once the road would be closed.
MAX is a one of the best things that ever happened to PDX, and if one doesn't believe it, all they need to do is sit on I 84 at about 5:15 on a weekday. You get free parking and a great view of trains whizzing towards where you want to go. lol. On a personal note, my stepdad did a lot of cool things in this life, but helping build MAX is definitely right up there.
P.S. As a life long west sider, it kills me to say it, but you're right; the east side's where it's at!
I don't have any "hangouts" walkable from my house. I do, however, have four Kwik Trips within a reasonable walkable distance...so, I got that going for me.
I grew up so far out in the country that the idea of a walkable neighborhood never entered the picture for me. I used to ride my bike to school in high school, because I realized I could bike the ten miles in an hour, but the bus ride took 90 minutes. I was always envious of my friends who lived in town, because even in a small, rural town, it felt like they had more of the world available to them because they lived near other people, or the A&W, or the library.
I think about my friends who live in New York, where everything they need is within a walkable distance, and all the little neighborhoods are set up like self-sustaining enclaves. That's a luxury we don't really have in the Midwest sprawl of suburbs and horizontal--not vertical--living.
I would love to have a life where a car wasn't a necessity. It's such an expense.
Side note: Speaking of Monona and pizza--I miss The Pizza Oven. I used to go there a lot when I worked at MMI back in the day. It was a great place for lunch, and the rock'n'roll stuff on the walls didn't hurt. I always tried to sit at the table next to the Cheap Trick "In Color" album mounted in a frame over it.
My goal at some point is to not have to drive. Were it not for the weather, I think I could *almost* pull it off, though that would just be for getting to work, the store, etc. More realistically, getting back down to one car would be nice.
Four Kwik Trips! That's the gold standard for our part of the world. lol. I can see one from our upstairs, and walk to a second. The third is bikeable.
Pizza Oven was awesome! I'm thinking of the original spot before they moved to the end of the strip mall. We'd go their quite a bit. I miss it. FWIW, I also really like Sal's, though I don't think it's the sort of place you become a regular at- I've always seen it as a place to go occasionally or for something like a birthday.
I like Sal's food. Patrick does a great job. I went to the original Sal's in Sun Prairie (where Meze is now) during the first week he was open. I'm glad he made it a big deal. But it's not what it used to be. He has gone from a guy running a restaurant to being a restaurateur, and I think it changed him. Sal's isn't a hangout like the Pizza Oven was. It's too upscale. Any place that puts figs on pizza isn't a hangout. Gimme the Pizza Oven any day. I was there once or twice a week for a decade. I miss it terribly.
That’s a great way to frame it!
I actually live in a destination neighborhood for Halloween. We had 820 or so kids this year. It checks all the boxes. Because it's an old neighborhood, the houses are close together and a little closer to the street. It's on a grid and it's flat. The nicest neighborhood in my part of town has houses set farther back, it's hilly, and hit or miss on sidewalks. It's also one where if I hadn't bought in 10 years ago, I likely wouldn't be able to afford to live here today.
I miss being a regular. Before we bought our house, there was a brewery across the street from my apartment and I was always there. I knew all employees, got plenty of free beers, and always had fun. There were a handful of apartments in the area and there was a group of regulars I'd always see there. I'll never forget the guy who was Northwestern fan, but he didn't go there. He's probably the only one.
Also good concert earplugs are a must. I finally started using them a few years ago when I was seeing Run The Jewels on back to back nights. Since then, I always wear them at shows. If you get a pair designed for concerts, you can still hear everything, it's just at a more reasonable volume and your ears aren't ringing the next day.
I was thinking about your neighborhood (and our exchange on Notes) while hammering this out. At the risk of undercutting my entire thesis, it sounds like a lot of fun and something that brings your block together--something that's also in short supply in America.
As for earplugs, I'm 100% with you. To me, things sound better with 'em in, and you can still (literally) feel the beat.
We moved to a much more walkable area, and a much smaller place (a two bedroom condo for our family of three) and I do adore having a few local spots within “stumbling distance,” but it’s also meant having fewer single family homes, so we find ourselves dropping the kiddo off at a friend’s house in a much more traditional neighborhood to do trick or treating. It’s a weird trade off, and feels odd not to get to trick or treat in your own neighborhood. Disclaimer: my experience is limited here since I grew up in the UK, before trick or treating was a thing there.
Also, the Pulp Tiny Desk is absolutely brilliant! So glad they graced us with a new album and tour this year.
I'm glad you liked it, and I'm really happy about the new album as well! What a gift. Did you get to see them on tour?
Yes! I saw them at Red Rocks, on a cold, rainy night - they’d apparently brought the weather with them. But it was a brilliant night of joy and dancing. I spent the summer knitting a “Mis-shapes, Mistakes, Misfits” cardigan for the occasion. How about you?
No such luck! Would love to see them play, though.
Ohhhh I hope you do. I’ve had to travel to see them in the past, so it was brilliant to have them in the city I currently call home.
Hey Kevin. Check these guys out. They sold out Webster Hall last night.
https://open.substack.com/pub/markmcinerney/p/rock-and-roll-turns-the-page-laundry?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1b56qu
Will do and thanks!
First, I love pizza. As a gym freak, I track my calories and macros, but pizza is something I will always make an allowance (or an exception) for. I'd rather starve all day if that means having a pizza and drinks with friends or family later.
How far would it take to walk from your house to your pizza hangout? Walking distances in the US always seem so huge compared to the UK (and some of your internal roads aren't even walkable which always blows my mind). Is public transport not available where you live? Having to drive all the time must be a pain (especially because it limits alcohol consumption 🤣) but over here we do romanticise this image of the big American road where you get in your car and drive off somewhere and everything is possible. I also envy the privacy of a car. I know, it's as if someone told me they romanticised rain. Grass is always greener, I guess 😅 Happy weekend!
I think it would take about 30-35 minutes to walk there. Maybe a little more? There's a bus (finally!, but that's a rant for another day), but it would actually take longer.
You’d need more trains! It’s all so road-based in the states. I know I’m preaching to the choir though 😆
We totally need more! More busses too, though to hear some people, mass transit is a crime against humanity. Baby steps. lol.
We are very happy that we can walk to many places and have multiple regulars.
Speaking of regular, what's the pizza order?
At this place, it's the "Mediterranean," but everywhere else it's black olive and pineapple.
I have never acquired a taste for olives.
(gasp!)
I want to echo the thanks for the link to Warren Zevon's RRHOF induction. I can't count the times that I have been in a mood and needed Warren to get me back on track. And I know that the RRHOF has its problems, but it has its place. A place that celebrates the Zevons of the music world.
Of course! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've said it before, but it bears repeating; we could really use Zevon right now.
I’d never heard of destination neighborhoods. That’s such a foreign idea to me having grown up and spent my entire life in a country that’s smaller than most cities (22 square miles). Usually it was a drive to get anywhere, albeit not a long one.
Now we live in a hamlet in the UK with only a dozen houses. It’s so lovely and dark and quiet and the neighbors are all lovely. One big plus is that we’re half a mile from a fairly large road and can get to a village in five minutes and one direction and a lovely market town in ten minutes in the other direction. It’s also less than half an hour to the train station from where we can get to London in under 3 hours and Glasgow in 2 hours.
My observations about the US is that it’s just so spread out. And some cities, like Houston, are incredibly spread out - good luck getting around without a car!
I am all in on this neighbourhood destination angle.
Where we live now, we can walk 20 mins each way to our fave local lunch spot. A bit less in our mountain place, which will be our home from next week. And then we’ll be in South Africa a lot of the year. From what I see, where we will be living has restaurants and cafes in walking distance or we would,do a quick 10 min day time bike ride over to Paarl.
Now not to forget, we will have time for that when we are in semi-retired status. Places for food and drink really need to be 5 to 10 min walks if you expect the lunch crowd.