This essay describes the neighborhood around Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. It contains interviews with people I met on the street. A tour of NW 23rd Street between NW Flanders and NW Thurman Street begins at its hub, Starbucks Coffee. People are congregated outside sipping their java and basking in the sunlight. Once a poor industrial area, NW 23rd street is now bright, cheerful, and bustling with traffic, business, and converted houses that serve as storefronts. In visiting with the people in the neighborhood I was able to discover many interesting facts about the reality of the neighborhood and I came away seeing its future as bright and vibrant.
