Post-apocalyptic living! With restaurants!
In front of them was what was becoming an impressive enough bustle. The parking lots surrounding the college had long since been stripped of whatever cars that hadn’t been melted down to the asphalt or imploded into heavy metal balls in the first days of the return of magic; now the spaces were hosting something that was halfway between a collection of tents and shelters and actual streets of shops. There were more people around then there had been, too; most still dressed in garments from the Before Times, but the salvage was starting to run out and work was a lot harder on your clothes.
But everybody was clean and nobody was obviously starving, which was something Janet took some personal pride in. Meetings or not, the Emergency Council was doing the job. There were a lot of places where people hadn’t, starting with uptown Portland itself. But Janet didn’t like to think about that. It was too easy to end up thinking about all the horrors implied in the phrase ‘the end of the world.’
Her thoughts were interrupted by Elizabeth. “Hey! Janet! Lunch?”
Janet blinked. “Sure. Try the new BBQ place?” Venison had been the first red meat to go off the emergency ration list, and still the most common.
I’m intrigued …
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ummm … **which** Portland?
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Mew
.. because if that’s in the Dwar[f/v]enwood, then it should really be food carts.
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Mew
This is, like, a *year* after the Discovery. A lot of these people still think the USA’s maybe coming back to the West Coast at some point. 🙂
Ah .. it’d definitely be food carts, then. I recommend looking up (if you don’t plan to visit) both “Saturday Market” and “Portland Farmers Market”, neither of which are exactly what’s on the tin.
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I would also see if you can work in both the “White Stag Sign” and the Elk statue (was located on SW Main between 3rd and 4th, currently in storage due to damage during the various 2020 unpleasantness) .. oh, and “Mill Ends Park”, which I think you’ll appreciate once you research it.
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I will also recommend reading up on Vera Katz, she’s basically an archetype for Portland political leadership, with current mayor Turd Wheeler as a walking example of a failure in leadership.
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Seriously, Stumptown is a fascinating place .. not on the scale of a proper city like Chicago, but quite pleasant in other ways.
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Mew
Fyi: you have a then that should be a than. “There were more people around then there had been, too”
Thankee sai