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Earth Day / Green Travel / Events / New York City / Portland / Seattle / San Francisco / Los Angeles / → All Tags

When the US Goes Green Tomorrow, Where Will You Be?

Have you fished out your bicycle from underneath the swim noodles in your garage and aired out that old T-shirt with the recycling logo yet? Get a move on, buster, as tomorrow is Earth Day 2009, with green awareness events planned in every major city in the United States. Urbanites are especially encouraged to get out and say "hey" to Mother Nature, and thanks to Treehugger's list of the "10 Best US Cities to be in for Earth Day, they can, without too much thought beyond shouldering a reusable tote bag and heading out.

While the list is full of some surprises (Los Angeles, really?), we mainly think it's a godsend in terms of exhaustive event listings for the big eco players like their top five cities: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Washington DC, and number one New York City. From tours of water treatment plants to green tea parties, there's an eco-event to suit everyone's tastes, so long as that taste leans to the green.

Check out the full "10 Best Cities for Earth Day" list here.

Related Stories:
· The 10 Best US Cities to be in for Earth Day [Treehugger]
· The Zoos Will Be Partying on Earth Day [Jaunted]
· Green Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Image: Pollution Issues]

Simpsons Travel / The Simpsons / Portland / → All Tags

Adventures of Link: Portland Oregon States Its Springfield Case

Jaunted commenter jedge242 put forth this theory on our continuing coverage of the hunt for the Simpsons' hometown: Could Matt Groening have set his beloved cartoon family down in the city of his birth, Portland, Oregon? Besides the statue of Jebediah Springfield, we hunted down some other clues with the help of the Web's army of Simpsonmaniacs.

Evidence in Portland that Springfield, Oregon is the One True Springfield:

·   Springfield Elementary: Ainsworth Elementary School (#1) [PPS.k12.OR.US]

·   Duff Stadium: PGE Park Home of the Portland Beavers (#4) [Official Site]

·   Homer's Office: The Trojan Nuclear Facility, 1976-2006 (#5) [Willamette Week]

·   The Boss' Namesake: Montgomery Office Park (#6) [SeraPDX.com]

·   The Zoo: Oregon Zoo (#7) (aka the Springfield Petting Zoo) [Official Site]

 ·  The Gorge (Home of Blinky the Fish): Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area [Forest Service]

[Illustration: Dan Julian]

Portland / Maine / Restaurants / Food / → All Tags

Fore Street is Fore Foodies

Fore Street in Portland, ME is pretty much a buzz restaurant if ever there was one. Don't go here expecting to improve your street cred. Open since 1996, they were named the sixteenth best restaurant in the U.S. by Gourmet Magazine, and chef-partner Sam Hayward is a James Beard Foundation award winner.

What Fore Street lacks in underground sensibility, it more than makes up for in tastiness. Because the restaurant follows the popular Portland trend of loyalty to what's fresh, in season and local, it's hard to recommend dishes here. The menu is constantly changing. Three courses we recently sampled were a wild mushroom salad with goat cheese, grilled swordfish with summer squash, and a piping hot, sugar coma-inducing apple cobbler. Street cred be damned; it's all about the sugar coma!

The space is casual, with high ceilings and an open kitchen. Reservations are recommended if you want to be a shoo-in for peak dining times, but 1/3 of the tables here are actually reserved for walk-ins. It's pretty easy to visit at 7:00 p.m. on, say, a Sunday, and be seated immediately.

Portland / Food / → All Tags

We're Thrilled on the Inside

Craving some marzipan as a lobster chaser in Portland, Maine? Then you'll want to check out Simply Scandinavian Foods. They've got a huge cache of herring-based edibles in toothpaste tubes, if that's what you're into eating. Not to worry, there are also tasty chocolates, dry toast, and more odd berry jams than you can shake a lutefisk at, all available for purchase. If you're stumped as to which mayonnaise you want to take home, owner Mary Grant will be happy to help you make a selection.

There's also a Scandinavian furniture offshoot of the store down the street, but we call that IKEA where we're from. And, if you can't wait and need that Princess Cake stat, they'll ship anywhere in the U.S. We'd seem more excited, but that's not the Scandinavian way.

Related Stories:
·   Portland Coverage [Jaunted]

Portland / Transportation / → All Tags

Ticket Dispenser Troubles

We recently extolled Portland's first-rate airport-city center link. What we didn't share was that one Jaunted.com contributing editor was actually in Portland last week, spending a few days living the high life along the Willamette. While in Portland, our enthusiasm for all things MAX was seriously challenged by a common local mechanical failure.

At the NE 7th Street red/blue line light rail stop, the ticket dispenser on one side of the track simply didn't work. On the other side of the track, it wouldn't take bills. According to locals, such failures are commonplace, and not merely at the NE 7th Street stop.

We suppose that Portland's ticket dispenser situation is better than Budapest's, where for years faulty ticket dispensers and overactive ticket inspectors together seemed to conspire to levy fines on tourists. Nonetheless, it ain't good to force passengers to ride without having paid their fares.

MAX: Fix your ticket dispensers as soon as possible. A good public transportation system isn't just about comprehensive route maps and reliable schedules. It's also about giving passengers the means to ride the system legally.

[Image via Kevin O'Mara/Flickr]

Portland / Transportation / Airports / → All Tags

PDX Works It Out

Visitors to Portland can't help but be overjoyed by TriMet's MAX Light Rail. The direct light rail's red line connects downtown Portland to the airport. For $1.95 (that's no typo! $1.95!) you've got a direct route into the heart of Portland.

MAX Light Rail is also set up for late arrivals. The red line runs from the airport until 11:57 p.m. Monday through Saturday nights and until 11:37 p.m. on Sunday nights.

Not only is there no annoying connective shuttle--like, say, the hideously aggravating AirTrain--ferrying passengers between the airport and a pre-existing public transportation network, but the light rail link glides more or less into the airport itself.

The entire journey is seamless and quite quick. Thirty-seven minutes separates passengers from the airport and Pioneer Courthouse Square, the center of downtown Portland. Sound urban planning has been a Portland strength for years. The MAX airport link only solidifies Portland's reputation for a well-designed city infrastructure.

[Image via earthdog/Flickr]

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·   Terror Comes to Tiny Town [Jaunted]
·   Google Transit Trip Planner [Jaunted]