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St. Johns, Portland, OR

 This is the first place I've lived where it seems legal (and socially okay) for people to dig through your trash. And I don't mean the dumpster outside your apartment building, or the trash bin on the corner. I mean your home's personal recycling, trash, and compost bins.  On trash day, there is literally crowds of foot traffic going by the street looking through yours and your neighbor's trash cans. And its totally fine! No one shoos people away. No one tells them to leave. Oh help yourself! One man's trash is another man's treasure.  I guess once you move your trash to the curb, they deemed it "released" to the public.  I don't feel comfortable with that. The first night it happened, I freaked out. My brain started scanning my memory- trying to think of how many address labels I might have left on, how I didn't rip personal bank statements into small enough pieces, what else I could have thrown out that would reveal personal information, or ...
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Intro

Growing up on the East Coast of NYC, we often hear stories and fantasize about that chill, breezy, California lifestyle out West. Its some kind of weird social norm that's passed down to kids who never left their home state, let alone their home coast. Its common to drive down to Florida, the beaches in North and South Carolina, Maryland, up to the Coast to Cape Cod and Maine. But it's pretty rare to get on a plane and fly out West unless you have family there.  We watch shows like Beverly Hills 90210, The OC, surfing movies like Blue Crush, you name it. Everything portrays California as this fantasy land where everyone is well off, drives an expensive car and lives somewhere by the beach. Oh and the beach is VERY walkable. Everyone's hanging out on a boardwalk, working their teenage job by the Bay. Something very relaxing and beautiful- regardless of how miserable the show might portray their lives and what drama comes up. The environment portrayal is always a neutral, coo...
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