Why Are There So Few Drive-Up Fast Food Joints In Some Trendy Portland Neighborhoods?
I believe nutritious food is a celebration. That’s why I love living in Northwest.
From this blogger’s cliffside condo across from Washington Park, it is ten minutes or less to several great restaurants, as well as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Zupan’s, and even Elephant’s Deli.
I believe most fast-food is bad for you. In fact I know it is.
Yet when I drive down Burnside, or down neighboring streets, I often don’t have time to stop in and enjoy breaktime with something nutritious. I want to drive up, pick my choice, and then either pull into an angled parking spot and eat it, or bite down as I am driving.
But you know what? Unlike other parts of town, there are very few drive-up fast food outlets on West Burnside and adjacent streets. Taco Bell-check. That place with the Golden Arches-check.
But no Carl’s Jr., Dairy Queen, Jack In The Box, not even Wendy’s or Burger King.
This lack of fast-food places is common to other hip Portland neighborhoods. You won’t see a DQ on Belmont, for heaven sakes.
Maybe it is because these corporations think we Northwest Portlanders and residents of other hip neighborhoods have too snobby and sophisticated a palate for them. But then I take a look at the (charitably put) less sartorially distinguished residents of my part of town, and I start to wonder what is going on here.
Yes, yes, I know. Bring a sandwich from home, you say. Sometimes I do that.
Or buy one in Elephants, or even the Pearl Bakery. Sometimes I do that.
But if I am on the road, pressed for time, and want to eat something hot washed down with a diet pop?
You hit the nail right on the head when you used the word “snobby”.
Let’s just say for a moment that a fast food place wanted to locate on NW 21st. The Northwest District Association would have a collective hissy fit (which is their usual state about nearly everything), there’d be twelve years of traffic impact studies about the effects of a drive-up window, there’d be people carring picket signs about how an Arby’s represents encroaching globalization or protesting the type of fat Carl’s Jr uses to make their french fries.
Why would a fast food company put themselves through that when they can drop a place out in Tanasbourne or on 122nd in no time flat?
Maybe (okay, really likely) it’s because I don’t own a car, but if I wanted fast food that wasn’t available in NW I wouldn’t think it too far out of my way to drive across the river to MLK or Grand to get it.
One can only assume that this post is satire. If so, brilliant.
Land is too expensive and if you had found a property the neighborhood association would raise holy hell. Two examples, the old Hardees on 34th and Hawthorne and the old dairy on MLK. Get in you car and head to Beaverton or 82nd.
More fast food in NW would be horrible. McDonalds is already one of the biggest sources of litter, pollution, noise, traffic and unsavory customers in the neighborhood. I don’t think you can equate favoring local, responsible, accountable businesses with being a “snob”. It is just a matter of fact that a local business with an owner onsite (or nearby) has a better chance to serve the community, respond to their needs, and adapt to the circumstances of the neighborhood.
NW is a very urban, very residential, and very commercial neighborhood. The reason it has succeeded (in my opinion) is because it is not homogenous, not too corporate (save for a swath of 23rd), and maintains the charm of a small town. More islands of giant nasty parking lots with smelly fry factories in the middle of them aren’t going to help maintain that feel. The shape and size of fast food restaurants dramatically harms the walkability of a given street.
What this neighborhood does need in the food department is more cheap walkup takeout facilities. There are a ton of restaurants - but only a few that you can walk into, spend $3.50 and walkout with some food 5 min later. I’d like to see some hole in thewall takeout stands run by local independent entrepreneurs. Maybe if they stayed open late enough, they could snag a good chunk of the business that McDonalds is getting at their 24hour walkup window.
Drivethru’s in a city? Dude what’s your definition of “City”? You want easy access to drivethru’s move to the suburbs.
Truth, I live in NW and enjoy it (for the most part), but I don’t agree that it’s “not homogenous.” It’s about the most homogenous district in a very homogenous city.
Truth wrote “McDonalds is already one of the biggest sources of litter, pollution, noise, traffic and unsavory customers in the neighborhood.”
Unsavory customers!?! Wow. That is one of the most elitist things I’ve read in a long time. Typical of a NW dwelling yuppie scumbag.
Keep on gentrifying the city, scumbag. Pretty soon it’ll be full those savory upper middle-class white folks that you have such a hard-on about.
Spaz - when I said unsavory, i was referring to loud, drunken, threatening, menacing customers. I would also lump chronic litterers in this category. Because Mcdonalds has a large parking lot on a very busy street, right next to a bus stop (including a large set of steps that are frequently used as outdoor seating), it can be quite a confrontational location and and attraction for loitering (especially late at night).
My suggestion (and hope) is that if it were a local business, it might be more responsive to neighborhood complaints, and a little bit more proactive in making the neighborhood a less polluted, friendlier place.
Local doesn’t automatically a neighborhood friendly business make (see silver dollar pizza), but fast food is on the other end of the spectrum, especially with parking lots and the massive amount of trash that they introduce into the neighborhood.
Geez, Truth - what is it with your strange obsession about parking lots?
Haha ! I do have a strange obsession with parking lots, you are right. Our space is precious - they should be underground (or not at all), especially in a pedestrian friendly neighborhood.
I don’t think it’s trendy or snobby neighborhoods- I think that’s just part of the “city” itself. Fast food is suburban by nature, so the closer in the fewer there are…where I live in NE is definitely neither snotty nor wealthy - and there isn’t a fast food drive-thru anywhere nearby. Which I do actually find odd considering that lower income, minority neighborhoods like mine are often the target of those big chains.
And since I have no shame in admitting that I love me some Taco Bell - so I’m glad not to have the easy temptation!
Truth said: “McDonalds is already one of the biggest sources of litter, pollution, noise, traffic and unsavory customers in the neighborhood.”
I beg to differ. The biggest source of what you site is the merry band of douchebags that hangs out in front of Muu Muu’s.
“Fast food is suburban in nature”?
That’s the silliest thing I’ve read in ages.
How does that explain all that fast food downtown and all those fast food places next to Lloyd Center?
Nice one Lisa
My favorite fast food in NW is Good Sam’s cafeteria. Great prices, fast service and all of it health friendly.
divebarwife,
Where in NE do you live? There are fastfood joints all over NE. Not on every block mind you, but pretty widespread.
Actually, I totally agree with Divebar Wife that drive-thru’s are suburban by nature. I just got back from a trip to Chicago. Ain’t no drive-thru’s in downtown Chi. You have to go to the outlying areas (like our own NE) to find drive-thrus and fast food.
And why complain about wanting to give your money to a faceless corporation when you can keep your money local? You know Russ, local businesses who get your money may use it to pay for your services in the same way a McDonald’s will not.
Rah -
With a few exceptions - the only fast food downtown is either in Pioneer Square (mall) and as you already said in NE - by Lloyd (mall). And no one can deny that malls are suburban concepts.
And Butch - think about driving down some of the main NE arteries - no fast food on Killingsworth, Fremont, Grand, only Popeye’s on MLK (although there are 2!)… sure there are a bunch down Sandy and by Lloyd, but according to a quick look at Google Maps - just using McD’s as an example - there are only
3 in NW,
5 in SW,
7 in SE - but only 1 is west of 82nd
10 in NE, but only 3 of those are west of 82nd -
So that’s a total of 12 in close-in Portland
compared to
21 in Beaverton,
19 in Gresham, and
20 in other suburbs combined (Tigard, Lake Oswego, etc.)
I don’t have the spare time that some people have to sit in front of a map and google every fast food restaurant in Portland. It’s amazing the lengths that some pretentious people will go to in order to try and demonstrate that a fast food restaurant is somehow unworthy of being in their city.
I am so glad I’m leaving this ridiculous self-absorbed town in a few months.
bwaahahaaaa…..I think I was just called pretentious!
That has to be about the funniest thing I’ve ever heard! I’m gonna have to send a link to this post to a lot of people or they’ll never believe me…if only this had happened 23 days ago!!!
Right…but you clearly have the spare time to read blogs like this (which are specifically about this ridiculous self-absorbed town you supposedly hate).
And then ya whine like a bitch when someone is nice enough to answer your question.
Seems their answer disproved your point, and you didn’t like that…boo hoo hoo, ya nancy.
We’re glad you’re moving, too. Leave sooner. We won’t miss you.
That answer didn’t “prove” anything.
Looking at just one fast food restaurant (when there are so many others) doesn’t “prove” anything.
Russ’ original point still stands, that people in this town - especially the “hip” districts - are *snobs*. At least a half-dozen snobbish responses to his post prove HIS point.
Rah, I agree. This town is smug and so full of itself. Where are you moving to?
I’ve lived here 20 years and don’t like how the attitude has changed so drastically over just the past few years.