News & City Life

Activism

With Slashed Budgets, AIDS Walk Is as Relevant as Ever

As cuts to HIV prevention and care programs loom, Cascade AIDS Project leans into its 40th annual waterfront march.

09/11/2025 By Isabel Lemus Kristensen

Dead Air

Musicians Loved PCC’s Sonic Arts Program. The College Killed It Anyway.

As enrollment dwindles and federal decisions loom, community colleges are axing programs to cut costs.

09/08/2025 By Karly Quadros

Education

Portland Private Schools, by the Numbers

Application deadlines, tuition costs, demographics, and more key info on Portland-area K–12 private schools.

09/03/2025 By Portland Monthly Staff

PDX Index

Portland Public Schools’ Numbers Problems

The new bond will help school buildings, but will there be enough kids to fill them?

08/25/2025 By Margaret Seiler

Coast Is Clear

The Burly All-Terrain Wheelchairs Rolling Across Oregon’s Beaches

David’s Chair helps people with mobility challenges access the joys of the shore.

08/19/2025 By Amelia Arvesen

Land Rights

The Fight for Willamette Falls

As tribal communities and local governments imagine a future for the country’s second-largest waterfall, they’ve exposed the long-standing rifts born from the wounds of colonization.

08/18/2025 By Karina Brown Photography by Kari Rowe

Book Club

The Bike Library Connecting Portland’s Housed and Unhoused Residents

Street Books has made a lot of friends in its 15 years—and divined a uniquely effective form of mutual aid.

08/12/2025 By Jaydra Johnson Photography by Michael Novak

Animal Planet

Have the Vaux’s Swifts Ditched Chapman for Good?

Last fall, the birds abandoned their longtime roost. Now, a city waits in suspense.

08/11/2025 By Rebecca Jacobson

On Line

The Gen Z Kids Behind the Busiest Matcha Café in Portland

It’s been around for decades. Why does it feel like we’ve never actually tasted matcha until now?

07/31/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Knives Out

Portland’s Cutting-Edge Knife Shops

Portland’s culinary fervor and abundance of artisans make for a razor-sharp knife scene.

07/30/2025 By Alex Frane

Soil Deposit

The Luxe Conglomerate Quietly Gaining Ground in the Willamette Valley

New money famously draws skepticism when coming into the valley. What’s different about the Ground’s mini wellness empire?

07/29/2025 By Jordan Michelman

Love Letters

An Illustrated Ode to Secret Roller Disco

Portland's best pop-up dance party on wheels.

07/23/2025 Illustrations by Shay Mirk

Our Sporting Past

The Portland Fire Is Back: Local Sports Teams Then and Now

You know the Blazers, Timbers, Thorns, and (soon-to-be-resurrected) Fire. But what about the Buckaroos, Rosebuds, and Forest Dragons?

07/15/2025 By Margaret Seiler

Water Ways

How a Jog and a Jump in the Willamette Became My Summer Ritual

I’ve learned to love Portland’s river like a friend.

07/07/2025 By Emily Chenoweth Illustrations by Davide Comai

Fourth of July

Fourth of July Fireworks in Portland and Beyond

Leave the explosives to the pros. From the waterfront to Oaks Park, Astoria to Hood River, here’s where to enjoy some spectacular displays.

06/24/2025 By Portland Monthly Staff

Editor’s Note

An Argument for Befriending the Willamette

Our river, ourselves.

06/23/2025 By Brooke Jackson-Glidden

As Seen on TV

Why Is PBS Teaching Me How to Sell Things Online?

The Portland-produced doc Generation: Freedom has a complex relationship to the problems it hopes to solve.

06/18/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Paddle to the People

These Kayakers See Climate Justice as Community Work

With a kayak lending library and social paddles, Mosquito Fleet wants to shift how we relate to the Willamette.

06/17/2025 By Rebecca Jacobson

LGBTQ+

Portland Pride Guide 2025

Our annual roundup of LGBTQ+ parades, pageants, concerts, drag shows, and festivals.

06/11/2025 By Portland Monthly Staff

No Reservations

Is Downtown Portland’s Tourism Industry Bouncing Back?

Five years after COVID, Portland hotels are filling back up—but nowhere near 2019 levels.

06/09/2025 By Winston Ross Illustrations by Matthew Billington

Portland Monthly