Portland

[treeebark]

Best shop with the best shoe selection?

Cals wasn't bad when i was there last year, and Shrunken didn't have any - those being the only two shops i visited (and CCS/Daddies for their car wash recreation invitational deal)

probably Tactics for shoes — they have Last Resort, Nike, Adidas, Vans, Cons, etc all the staples. Cal Skate is my go to shop but not the best shoe selection, Shrunk used to have Nike but doesn't have shoes anymore (that I'm aware of). Cal's Pharmacy is perputally half-closed and didn't have any shoes last time I went.

[WarmUpZone]

Best shop with the best shoe selection?

Cals wasn't bad when i was there last year, and Shrunken didn't have any - those being the only two shops i visited (and CCS/Daddies for their car wash recreation invitational deal)

CCS probably has the best selection. Their shop is at their warehouse, so anything on the website can be had in person. Last time I was there they even had a bunch of Dunks for sale that weren't on the website. They even had stuff I didn't realize was still around, like Globe ChetIVs, Osiris D3s, DVS, and Circa.

They are way up near the airport so it isn't really convenient to go there, though. And, yeah, they aren't skater owned. But it is cool to have a skateshop that has the inventory of a global ecommerce giant on hand.

[Mandatory Reload]

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Best shop with the best shoe selection?

Cals wasn't bad when i was there last year, and Shrunken didn't have any - those being the only two shops i visited (and CCS/Daddies for their car wash recreation invitational deal)

[close]

probably Tactics for shoes — they have Last Resort, Nike, Adidas, Vans, Cons, etc all the staples. Cal Skate is my go to shop but not the best shoe selection, Shrunk used to have Nike but doesn't have shoes anymore (that I'm aware of). Cal's Pharmacy is perputally half-closed and didn't have any shoes last time I went.

yeah pretty much none of the mom and pop skate shops in Portland have a decent selection of shoes unfortunately and most don’t carry them
at all. Tactics is relatively cool as far as online shops go, they’re Oregon based and employ actual skaters in the shop/sponsor local skaters and events. That’s my suggestion for shoes, they’re def more “core” than CCS or Zumiez which are basically the only other options for a good selection of shoes in Portland

[sharkjumper]

Best shop with the best shoe selection?

Cals wasn't bad when i was there last year, and Shrunken didn't have any - those being the only two shops i visited (and CCS/Daddies for their car wash recreation invitational deal)

Cal skate has an ok selection. Commonwealth is ok too.  WornPath is supposed to start carrying Last Resorts.  Not much else for locally owned shops with a good shoe wall. It’s ccs or tactics. Or employee store pass to adidas or Nike.

[sharkjumper]

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My wife and I considering moving to Portand from Chicago next year - curious about the slappy curb scene? Any good ones? Any people who enjoy skating them?

[close]

curbs are decent, go to spot for me is Red Pilars (metro regional gov't parking garage which has 3 floors of good curbs, covered and not a bust after 5pm weekdays / all day weekends). there's a handful of other good curbs at schools (Kellogg middle school is a good one), PSU Courts has a few decent parking blocks, Chrome HQ in NW has good boxes, qp and a short parking block.

There’s a good curb scene. Spots mentioned above. Faubion school, Grant high school, Ed Benedict has a long parking block curb. Plus some schools in the surrounding suburbs if you’re up for some exploring.

Edit to add: follow James Alby on Instagram. He has all sorts of weird curb spots.

[WarmUpZone]

Looks like the downtown Steel Bridge Skatepark (first conceived in 2001, formalized in 2008, revitalized as a project in 2019) just got fully funded for $15 million!

https://bikeportland.org/2024/01/03/portland-parks-will-invest-15-million-to-fully-fund-the-steel-bridge-skatepark-382865

While the designs are old and not what is actually going to be built, it sounds like it will be covered. Hopefully it won't just be another set of giant bowls that 90% of skaters don't want to skate.

The city still needs to buy the land, design the park, and build everything so it'll be years away (and I wouldn't be shocked if it got derailed again), but I never thought this one was going to happen. Stoked!

[Frank and Fred]

Hopefully completed before Burnside is shutdown with the bridge renovation but doubtful...

Seems like it will be more of  alpha concept with a bowl also. I think the general idea is a multi-use public space that is skate friendly right?

Either way, if we are being honest, the urgency here is not the city wants to suddenly support skateboarding again. it is because they see skateboarders as a way of cleaning the area up from the homeless and fentanyl users. they did the same thing on a much smaller scale at Laurlehurst with that shitty mini-ramp.

i'm all for more skateparks and revitalization of public space but i don't really trust the city's timing and motivation.

[sharkjumper]

I think the burnside bridge retrofit starts in 2025? No way steel bridge will break ground before that. I think Creston is slated to be completed in 2026 and that’s multiple meetings deep now.

It’ll be interesting to see how the design process plays out with steel bridge. There are a lot of groups working on this one. If we get something on the scale of Rhodes in Boise, or that Birmingham, AL park, there should be enough to please almost everyone.

Definitely suspect timing on this one. Has Dan Ryan announced a bid for mayor? I’m sure there’s political motivation behind it. Using skaters as street sweepers. It worked with burnside.
I’d like if the city would get more people into housing instead of constantly displacing them.

Edit to add: it’s wild they have $15mil in development funds, while there’s a $600mil maintenance backlog for the parks department.

[Frank and Fred]

Yeah, I'm sure you will be right about the timeline.

[Anxiety]

Can anyone direct me to some cool daytime cafes and outdoor stuff to do

And night time punk bars and cool spots for dinner

I haven’t been in Portland in like 8 years and I’m out of the loop

Thank you!

[sharkjumper]

Can anyone direct me to some cool daytime cafes and outdoor stuff to do

And night time punk bars and cool spots for dinner

I haven’t been in Portland in like 8 years and I’m out of the loop

Thank you!

Lots of recs in this thread.
When are you visiting? That’ll weigh heavy on the outdoor activities.
Cafes are you looking for coffee? There’s an overabundance of good coffee shops here.
And punk bars are you looking for shows, or generally that crowd?
Where in town are you staying?

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=127852.0