Not-so Pedestrian Portland
The city dweller considers changes along Congress Street.
Jessica Tomlinson
Recently, my office moved from 619 Congress Street to 522 Congress Street. As I was walking to my new digs, I realized that in my 15 years in Portland, all of my jobs have been in buildings located on Congress Street. Previously, I was with MaineToday.com at 22 Monument Square (a misnomer, the square is triangular and it is really located on Congress Street. Before that, I worked at the Portland Press Herald at 390 Congress Street.The downtown section of Congress Street has seen its changes in my time. My friends and I used to play a game on Sunday mornings where we would walk from the 600 block of Congress down to the 300 block, enroute to Green Mountain Coffee. This was back in the day before there were eight coffeehouses to choose from. We would trek right down the white line in the middle of the street and see how long we could make it before a car came. It felt like a bizarre urban version of the game chicken but in slow motion. Many times we would never encounter a car.
Those days are over.
Now there are high-end condos. A modern furniture store with pony fur ottomans.
An indoor golf clinic. Several restaurants with entrees over $25. Taxis that you can hail. I saw a lady in a fur coat at Paul’s Food Store where the homeless people shop.
There’s more to come on the street. The public library is positioned to make major architectural changes, the Maine Historical Society is expanding, the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies is moving in the old Casco Bay Weekly storefront and there are additional residential units under construction. Performance venues along the Congo now include the Empire, White Heart, Blue, Space, Geno’s and One Longfellow Square. Who needs the Old Port? (Oh, I know the answer to that: amateur drinkers.)
It feels as if Congress Street is changing rapidly. There is more pedestrian activity, lots of construction staging and signs saying Coming Soon. Which may be why the city is putting forth a proposition to make Congress Street a historic district. Some of this new construction does not sit so hot with those at City Hall (389 Congress Street).
As for my Sunday strolls, you’ll find me on the sidewalks these days.
Views expressed in blogs such as Media Mutt and others published on Down East.com reflect neither Down East's editorial stance nor the views of Down East Enterprise.
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