Besides the stories of the thousands of people walking and driving, talking and living, hurrying, and strolling through the streets, there is the architecture!  Now, I do not know a lot about building periods and styles, but I know some of these buildings are really old; and one thing I was intrigued by were the “ghost signs”-  the old painted signs left on buildings advertising businesses long gone.  Now, I may be wrong, but I do not think this is done much anymore, and there is a lovely feeling about what is left behind and not yet destroyed or changed. I also love juxtapositions and contrasts.  New and old. Nature and industry.  Opposites standing side by side.  There is a lot of that here.  Portland is very urban, but it is infused with parks, and you do not have to drive far to be in farmland, mountains, ocean, and even a little bit farther high desert.