The Pittock Mansion exemplifies the degree of wealth that still typifies the highest income earners who call the Portland area home. Today it is a museum and a popular tourist destination.

This homeless shelter, made from a tarp and many other makeshift materials, is one of dozens one sees along underpasses and in greenbelts in Portland.

I had thoughts of developing a blog devoted exclusively to the divisions I see in Portland, where the professional and monied class have lives as radically different from those at the bottom as did the nobility of France prior to the collapse of the Old Regime in the late 1700s–a topic I studied at great length back in college. I am stil not sure what the point would be. I mean this is so obvious to everyone who lives here, what would I say and show that is new. So with that on my mind, I share two of the most commonly observed images one has that define the Portland I see all the time.

These two homes are actually less than 1.5 miles apart, as the crow flies. The homeless shed is one of many one sees, everywhere under the freeways and in green zones and transportation corridors and downtown. The Pittock Mansion is the crown jewel of the postcard Portland the city likes to beam out to the world. From this former home-turned-museum, one has a grand view of Mt. Hood, the shipyards, and downtown Portland. It is a beautiful place. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)