The US federal budget is 23% of the economy. This little office is one portal to a vast system. Of…read morecourse, to scale, is an online system to handle the vast bulk of interactions. I needed an all-so-quaint in-person interaction, on a timeline, I dreaded. I arrived a half hour before opening, I would recommend. Street parking was ample. The pre-opening lineup is ad-hoc. The first point is that it is a secure federal facility inspected politely. No guns, knives, or pepper spray. That is a good idea, I would not let those in my home, and each person is inspected, which takes time. Next is the magic kiosk. The kiosk user experience design is to separate the wheat from the chaff and assign a number to speak to an actual person. The first question is the bureaucratese "did you have an appointment?" I did not, you should. Then you enter your topic. There is ambiguity in topic. I do not think selecting the perfect topic is needed. Then the machine gives you a number and prints a receipt. There are rows of chairs and a video monitor showing the numbers served and audio announcing the next number. When a number comes up, it assigns a window with an actual person with powerful computer access into the matrix. Obviously you need the proper proof of who you are to access the matrix - bring it. RealID, passport, and the like. Your library card is not proof of who you are to enter the matrix. The big thing which cannot be understood is without a previously scheduled appointment, is your question big or small? There is no way to know. It's Brazil. I thankfully found my question was small. Without an appointment, and with a big problem, you are sent away with a future appointment. I had good service from admission staff and with window staff. I believe things can improve every day, day by day, measured. I'm A-OK with this office when you need it, minus 1 for unknown difference between big and small problems and unknown delays for big problems, especially without making an appointment, which you should.

Flummoxed and befuddled. SS is not here to help us but to hinder us from getting money that is…read morerightfully ours. I've yet to have an interaction that was easy, helpful and successful.

What a fabulous new location! Everything is shiny, new, and…read moresqueaky clean :) They provide several private "Community Rooms" that can be reserved They even rent laptops Staff was super helpful I'm so glad to see all this!

The new building is beautiful and spacious and includes study rooms, group rooms, etc. They are now…read moremore easily able to have events for various groups like teen and tween councils, game night, anime group, etc. Some of these events include volunteers (always very friendly). There is an adorable area for young children. They have lots of computers and desks as well making it a great place to quietly study, read, or just escape the Portland rain. The staff are incredibly helpful and friendly. This location has more room for books as well :) In addition much of the furniture use repurposed and salvaged material. The building is incredibly sustainable and IIRC is LEED certified (yes I had a chat w/ a librarian about this).

Not sure why so many negative reviews. This small post office services the downtown neighborhood…read moreand businesses across from Tom McCall Park on the waterfront. Yes, to get there if driving you have to navigate one way streets, but most are locals and walk. if driving, come down SW 1st and park right out front in the 15 minute spot. I've been utilizing this post office for years and the staff is always friendly and helpful. When I ask for the lowest price on return packages, they check various options without hesitation. While I've never used their passport services, which seems to be where issues are, I have bought supplies and sent out multiple packages, purchased holiday stamps and visit here to return prepaid packages - all with no issue and friendly service.

The rudest staff members not recommended for passport appointments No customer service at all the…read moreway they speak with customer is way rude.

Children's swim classes for my grandson opened for registration last Thurs at 9:30 am. I was told…read morethat was the earliest time anyone could enroll. I had the info ready and at exactly 9:29 I called. I was on hold for approximately 90 seconds and when the operator came on she said the class I wanted was full. In fact she said every class was full. IN 90 SECONDS OF BEING ON HOLD???? I had her put him on every waitlist. The next day I get an email saying they removed him from the wait-list at my request. I never requested any such thing. Either it's all Shady or the staff is completely incompetent

These folks get a well-deserved 5 stars!…read more Because of the complexity of my company's reservation, it took two phone calls to complete everything. Esther and Rolando were both very helpful. I even got a phone call 2 days later to let me know my permits were approved. Then, I needed to go to the PP&R office to pick up the permits and access key. Things didn't go completely smooth, because some notes didn't get added to my reservation in the computer system. BUT, they were very nice and very helpful. They got it figured out and I was in/out within about 10/minutes.

Their recovery help works. I'm 4 months sober now. They really exceeded my expectations.read more

Lets talk about Dawn Patrol in the mornings. Sucks for the…read moreBIPOC newcomer! I've been over and over again, hoping to, needing to share. These legacy "older white men" govern the group. Every so often, a woman can speak, she's usually over 40 and mostly every speaker chosen is someone who either has clean time of 5+ years or is a returning remembered face who went out for a while, years clean and needs to get sh*t off of their chest. Bless their hearts, I mean that, for they know not what they do, its covert here in White Utopia, it inevitably boils right out of 'em, this connotation of covert ...... Im not going to say it. I don't want to assume nor point fingers, but you can believe, Ill tell the whole group, or face to face. Today, after needing to share, after listening to the legacy 'ol goats use the pass and tag method they have that SUCKS!! (there's too many remembered faces who tag each other day in, day out, not cognizant of the BIPOC person who might want to share, who is sitting there bursting with anger, pain, frustration and all of the nuances we need to release) wont and doesn't get the chance to share. When you do, rushing after NUMEROUS meetings to get this out as one of the several convenient and fantastically structured places to go, it is solid folks, there is always coffee and someone there, many to speak with after as well, when you share and go on, no timer is used and the old boys look at you with discomforting glare, unwelcoming, kind of like "who is this cocky guy, what do we care, hurry up dude" thing. Its always, I mean ALWAYS weird. This isn't just my perception, I've talked to BIPOC after, before, during and at other meetings. Don't hold presence with color and expect to share. You'll have about maybe 1 in 15 chances to share, literally. But Buck, Jed and Sharon will share and tag each other, thanking each other for their share. Joquan, Malik or Tae wont get a word in, leavin' frustrated. Its just what they do at Dawn Patrol. Now, I've been there over the years so so many times trying to make it work hoping for change. Long after Im gone, the covert clan, the legacy members who come from the West Hills, come from Oregon City, come from Beaverton, come from the farms, come from outer regions with their upscale or solid running cars, before work feeling fresh and clean, will be doing the same thing. They are here, they feel comfortable, this is their clan. Its not yours and , its clear. Im going to give up ever thinking it might be different. Im sober, I've been sober, Im clean, as a whistle. Im educated, clean cut, smooth about my language but sharp, and im done. Please know that if you are BIPOC, yea, good luck, if you are a newcomer, policy says they have to "welcome you" and they do! But you know those who say one thing and do the other? You are not welcome as much as you need,. Alano Club is solid! But that meeting is run and for elderly white men over 45 who ran the gamut and don't need to hear young feisty, successful and motivated people, especially f color, trying to get cleaner and more sober. Go to another at Alano, they're great, beware of my warnings, its there. Dawn Patrol sucks. Im tired of folks talking and me hiding it. Im keeping it real for the newcomer. Its no wonder there is a lot of "returning legacy folks that are back after "going out". Fellas, consider restructure of your share approach, like the basement where there is tickets, and have them puty BURN on the back if they need to talk so as to pass over a missed ticket or something. Do something "fellas", you know who you are.

Another Portland landmark when it comes to signage. This is an iconic sign and you see it in films…read moreand tv shows and such when the setting is in this particular city. Portland is indeed a weird place and that is one of the reasons that I love it so much. It's quirkiness and art oriented drive is the "weirdness" I am referring to which makes this sign highly relatable to me. Anything that can make you lovably eccentric. Of course there is the weird element where it can delve into creepy but most people can flesh out as to what is purposeful and with intent as opposed to the opposite. I consider myself to be a weirdo and people have accused me of just that throughout my life and it's something I learned pretty early on that it's a thing to be embraced rather than treating our uniqueness and eccentricities ( the harmless kind) as a crutch, burden or handicap. I remember when I was a fairly new transplant to the Pacific Northwest there was a friendly rivalry that I would hear off and on as to what was the weirdest city in America. Austin, Texas and Portland were neck to neck and from what I heard Portland won out but of course I haven't been to Austin in a very long time and before I ever heard of the rivalry so maybe down there they say they are the victors. I may find out when I go there later this Spring. But for me seeing this sign whenever I come across it is an enduring thing and I feel like I am with my tribe... both in Portland and the Pacific Northwest.

I tried to avoid coming to "Keep Portland Weird" because I'd heard it is overrated since it's just…read morea wall in a parking lot, but honestly, I just couldn't resist not checking it out. FOMO, here :) It's basically just that phrase (haha) on its own without any fancy graphics, but I wanted to share my reviews and be part of the Yelp community. So, I added a little twist by including a collage of interesting trash bins. I guess this is one way to keep Portland clean, too. I have never seen so many trash cans throughout the city. Hahahah :)) Classic tourist trap move, but honestly, you cannot be in Portland without acknowledging this area.

This is another of the buildings in Portland where I love the history. I mean it looks nice and…read moreall but nothing outstanding then I learned about its history and wow! I am going to try and not put to much detail here (you can learn it for yourself. But in short it was built in 1919 to house the Portland Buddhist Church it was the congregation's third building. It is three floors tall with a basement. It was located here in what was the center of Oregon's Japanese community of "Japan Town" at the time. The first floor was the sanctuary, the second floor was a hostel for migrant workers and the third floor housed the priest. The basement housed a social hall and a small kitchen. The building was built to be more then a church it was also a community center with lots of groups meeting there. When they built this building the Japanese community was small about 2600 members in all of Oregon more than half that in NW Portland. The men usually came as singles saved their money and sent back to Japan for wives they chose from their pictures. The men worked jobs all over the northwest often working in physically demanding jobs but called the blocks around here home. The history tells a story of early minorities in Portland and how they were treated and of a world we will never see first hand. In 2004 the building joined the National Register of Historic Places,

This is the original building that housed the Jodo Shinshu temple that is currently in SE Portland.read more

On a recent visit to see my daughter in Portland, we ventured to this memorial site, in Washington…read morePark near the Japanese and Rose Gardens. (It took a while to find the nearest parking lot and, even then, we had a bit of a walk, including down a steep pathway. FYI for those who are mobility-challenged). The memorial itself is open to the public and free; parking in the nearby lots carries a nominal charge. It is difficult to convey how powerful this memorial is. One truly has to visit this site and experience it to feel the weight of the magnitude of the terror and atrocities and sadness and madness that the Holocaust created. As one approaches, it simply appears to be a stone curvilinear bench on a granite, brick-like ground, with a large, curvilinear granite memorial stone ahead, with engraved quotes and names on the granite. However, when one gets nearer, one sees objects, apparently random, everyday things, scattered about. Said objects are life-size and made of bronze. There's a child's doll on the bench. There's an abandoned pair of eyeglasses on the ground, and a nearby toddlers shoe. Just one shoe. A violin that appears to have seen better days. A valise on its side on the ground with a pronounced crack in its side. Perhaps most poignantly, a lone teddy bear. One can only imagine the nightmare of the people who these objects belonged to, and what fate befell them all. The front of the curved memorial contains quotes on smooth stone surrounded by rough brick-like granite. The reverse side of the monument is all smooth granite and it contains the names of all the Oregon families who've had relatives who've perished in the Holocaust. I had no idea there were so many Oregon families affected; you don't really see a lot of synagogues or Jewish delis or shops in OR (or the rest of the Pacific Northwest, really. I grew up on the east coast, where there is more of a Jewish footprint in the cities in the US and Canada out east). I was especially moved to see a pair of wreaths recently placed at the foot of the memorial with signs that read "Oregon and Humanity stands with Israel" and "Never Again is Now". In light of recent events and the global rise in antisemitism, these wreaths, in front of this memorial, really touched me, more than I can articulate here. (I encourage readers to check out the other reviews of this site, especially Tom V's review, as it is way more articulate than mine and gives the reader a better sense of the gravity of this memorial).

It takes your breath to see some of this memorial. The cast bronze of everyday items, scattered…read moreabout as if they were left behind in a hurry. Eyeglasses...a satchel...a child's doll...if you imagine hard enough, you can see these inanimate items attached to their owners as they fled capture or were led to camps. I'd say your breath is taken away, but it's not that; rather you find yourself holding your breath in. You just can't not feel the overwhelming gravity of the memorial. I've visited the traveling Auschwitz exhibit in Kansas City, and can say without equivocation that the power of its display could not match the terror that the Jewish people had to have felt. The Oregon Holocaust Memorial captures the magnitude of the stretch of years where armies of evil marched all over Europe, eradicating lives and forever altering history. There are samples of soil & ash from each of the six extermination facilities, such as Auschwitz & Treblinka, interred under a quiet memorial. Give that a look and attempt to understand the brutality of those moments decades later. Chances are very good that you will remember the time you spent here in reverence to those lives forever impacted. Quotes, simple anecdotes, and perspective are etched in granite for all to see in perpetuity and, hopefully, never to see repeated. It's a simple memorial, but unlike so many sites, the less said, the better. It stands for remembrance, a bitter reminder of chaotic, xenophobic times, and the solemn respect we should all have for those who perished and, more accurately, those who lived through nightmare only to have to recall it. May they find peace.

I haven't been to this Chinatown too much. I am very fond of the entrance going into this…read moreneighborhood however and I really do enjoy the Chinese Gardens that are here. And like a lot of these types of neighborhoods there is a lot of history there as well. While I have been to but a handful of Chinatown's in large cities or more or less the equivalent the Seattle version is my favorite. Part of me grading it the way I did is that there is a considerable amount of shuddered store fronts here , many blocks look rundown and the local and international flavor just quite isn't as cheerful or as noticeable. But there are parts. Like I said I really enjoyed the gardens here and it is worth a visit all the same.

Sightseeing in Portland, Oregon…read more.. After I read the reviews, I was prepared for the disappointment. I warned my niece and we agreed to just walk around for a few minutes. I wouldn't recommend coming to Portland's Chinatown because of the vagrants loitering around and the lack of restaurants and souvenir shops in the area. We stopped in at a convenience store, but they only had canned goods, beverages, and glass pipes. The Chinese Garden had an admission fee and low ratings, too. It was a chilly, overcast, drizzly day, so we drove to an enclosed mall to shop and have dinner.

Friendly service, clean, fairly easy parking, this post office is a hidden gem in the neighborhood.read more

Always have a great experience at this location. They always answer all my questions and try to…read morehelp me get the best bang for my buck with my postage options.