Post #6: Individual Analysis of Ethnography & Mental Maps

A Sunny Day on Congress Street and Alternative Living Situations

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Simultaneous perception was a challenge in conducting my café ethnography. Instead of going about my business and taking notes every ten minutes, I found myself hyperaware of everything going on both inside the café and outside the gigantic window. In terms of housing, the location of Tandem brought up many questions about neighborhood, weekend wandering/flanerie, and demographics. Though I saw more racial diversity outside the window than I had expected, the clientele at Tandem were predictably homogeneous. Though I think Tandem is technically situated in the West End, its placement on a main artery made peoplewatching a more varied experience.

Mental map collection mostly yielded discoveries about the many living situations possible in Portland. Whereas I had expected to see several detailed maps that were telling in their inclusion and omission of certain neighborhoods and public areas, what I ended up gathering from my cartographers was more pertinent to housing than expected. For example, one can see below that Helen’s map is influenced heavily by the fact that she lives on a sailboat docked right outside DeMillo’s and once commuted further inland to CBHS via the highway. Sam lives and works at Bayside Variety Store, but a street of bars and clubs in Old Port were the first places he marked, and he marked no East Bayside locations at all. I was interested to see that living in Portland isn’t always a simple matter of finding an apartment in a shiny new condo, even though the future holds many new developments of that nature.

Café Ethnography: Tandem Bakery & Café (742 Congress St)

Saturday 9/27 @ 3:30PM

  • I almost walked straight past the whited-out gas station awning of Tandem Bakery
  • Walk in, immediately greeted with a friendly hello and enthusiastic conversation about their Malt Iced Coffee
  • I watch the guy make it with all these beautifully curated tools and cups
  • It’s really good coffee
  • After sitting down in the more interesting corner bench area with low marble tables (impossibly small), I decide to move to the window counter with tall stools. I realize the whole place has really nice natural light, and feel pretty cool sitting in a former gas station store that is all bleached out and minimalist and stuff.
  • A couple pulls up their car and leaves it unlocked, idling in a random spot in front of the awning, like we’re actually at a gas station. Nobody seems to mind at all. They come in, say some friendly hellos, and seem to order the usual. They are young, white, and clearly well off. They leave and get back in their little eco-friendly Toyota and zoom away happily
  • Somewhat hip guy rides bicycle past a big brick house that was clearly a mansion, but is now for sale by KW real estate
  • The music in here is solid and nostalgic
  • Woman in headscarf walks by, wearing very cool Nikes. If I were to make a snap judgment, I’d say she belongs to an African refugee population here in Portland, but she is clearly integrated in terms of fashion.
  • The baristas are talking about umami and something with a ragout…this town really cares about food.
  • The pastries are sitting behind me, pretty much staring at me. The sticky bun looks really good. Maine for real. Even though I feel like I’m in Brooklyn.
  • Apparently what I’m hearing are “records.” Of course
  • Longboarding is happening in front of me. It’s so nice out that I’m not really surprised. This just doesn’t happen in Brunswick so much.
  • I notice that the house across from me (that isn’t made of brick) is really intricate and somewhat Victorian/arts and crafts.
  • Portland police vehicles keep passing by
  • People really ride motorcycles on days like this too.
  • Wandering is a popular activity on a Saturday (for some)
  • Emily is sitting next to me. She has the impulse to write in this space. It is blank and therefore creatively open?
  • A blonde family on bikes stops by, boosting the Scandinavian quality of the space. Families happen in this neighborhood, and they hall have their own cute little bikes. Classically cute little girl says something about “a long bike ride.” Mainers take advantage of nice weather when they can.
  • Racial diversity out this window isn’t on par with NYC, but it’s noticeably better than Brunswick.
  • Barista checkup: . All hip. Having fun together.
  • Asian guy w/ glasses, top bun, blue running nikes.
  • White guy with Red Sox cap and scraggly chinstrap beard.
  • Black woman with big braids, lip piercing, big earrings
  • The people who come in here are willing to spend $4 on a coffee. The café is not always full, but they do have consistent business. Some people can afford this lifestyle. They are all seemingly under the age of 50, and are mostly white.People are jogging by occasionally.
  • The natural light is really doing its job.
  • Okay these buildings across the street from me are literally ivy-covered. Portland was/is fancy. People on the street don’t match the fanciness that much.
  • Portland seems very walkable, even though this street is clearly a feeder off some highway.
  • Baristas share a secret code of theirs about a “cappuccino knife.” You don’t ever need a knife to make cappuccino, but you ask a coworker to pass you a cap knife when you’re frustrated.
  • Like you are secretly pissed off and stabby
  • Good to know
  • Emily comes back from bathroom, comments on bathroom art and lemon verbena soap. Of course.
  • Bus passes by at 4:10. “Metro Runs on Maine Natural Gas” Holy frack.
  • It can get pretty calm in here. Just hearing the soundtrack and washing of dishes is kind of nice. I feel like I’m doing my homework in a restaurant kitchen.
  • I don’t see nearly as many elderly people walking on the street here as I do in Brunswick. This one I just saw has varicose veins like a lot. Poor guy. He’s wearing a button-down though…
  • Beginning to suspect that the African-American population here is more substantial than I thought before. Like just from who you see on the street.
  • A lot of kids skate on these cobblestone streets! That seems bumpy.
  • Some friends show up, as well as a carful of Bowdoin kids I didn’t expect to see. They are ecstatic. Coincidentally, the barista says to a member of the cast of Girls: Portland Edition that he is “very happy to be working here” as he caresses his La Marzocco machine.
  • The place just smells really clean. Like water, alternately colored by the smell of espresso coming out of the machines. This is a bourgeois side of Maine that emulates many other styles. Most notably Scandinavia. It’s all white, but in a warm way. White walls + wood + white tile + plants. Green still makes its way into here, but not the typical Maine green coniferous growth you’d expect.
  • Asked for a glass of water and the barista said “It looks like you guys are hangin’ out,” and handed me a whole nice bottle of cold water with one of those pop off caps. Maine manners are alive and well.
  • Beanies n’ bicycles outside. Fixies too.
  • Woman comes out of an apartment-looking building to smoke. What’s the housing makeup of this neighborhood (West End)? I see a lot of former mansions, but they no longer seem to be single-family homes. Tree lined streets and low buildings. Kind of like Brooklyn.
  • A family comes in and the little boy wants a soda. Unfortunately, we are in hip Scandanavia, so all that ole’ top bun can offer him is a sweetened sparkling water. Tandem. I really like you, but I can see how some local people would hate you; namely these grungy Dakine backpack skater looking kids walking by. They probably think your coffee shop/bakery is bullshit.
  • This location has been open for one month. Redheaded mom of white family (+ chacos & ankle tattoo) says “this place is so nice.” Barista says thanks, clearly having heard this sentiment all day.
  • J Crew catalog model walks by in his best photo shoot attire, aviators and all.
  • The bathroom has very interesting hanging practices. Portland strikes me as an aesthetically minded place, at least when people can afford to give a damn about that kind of stuff.
  • I feel the need to walk for two reasons. My parking meter is running out, and activity on the street and in the café is slowing down considerably. As I exit, a man in a Bruins shirt and Red Sox cap with an absurdly small dog walks by. “Keep Portland just slightly weird.”

 

Mental Maps

mentalmap002
Helen. Female, 51. Has taught Math at Casco Bay High School for 9 years as a commuter from York area. Lives on a sailboat, which she and her husband had just docked near Old Port. Living on the wharf, she wishes there were better waterfront access all over the city’s coastline.
mentalmap003
Sam. Male, Age 33. Moved to East Bayside from Brooklyn almost two years ago to take over Bayside Variety from previous owner who skipped town. When asked about improving Portland, responded that the area has “no manners, ethics, or beauty.” To combat this problem, he suggested education reform and a new school. The nodes marked at the bottom are clubs and bars in Old Port, and the x is where Sam lives and works.
mentalmap004
Kazeem. Male, 41. Owner of a high-end clothing store. Has lived in Portland for 6 years. Thinks that the city could improve multicultural life through public programs like movies in the parks (he started the Maine African Film Festival). Kazeem took a different big picture approach and marked a few Portland landmarks (like Whole Foods).
mentalmap001
Sarah. Female, 34. Works at Find, a quirky clothing and trinkets store on Middle Street. Has another job near Marginal Way, but couldn’t situate it on her map. She thinks Portland could use better transportation options or parking; she lives kind of close to her job at Find, but would rather not have to drive in winter because parking is impossible in the Old Port area.

4 thoughts on “A Sunny Day on Congress Street and Alternative Living Situations”

  1. Love the imagery in your ethnography! Also the sarcasm. You definitely pick up on a lot of the tensions I’m sure Portland is experiencing as its demography and economic status change. I really like your notes about Sam and Kazeem. I wonder why Sam is so jaded (slash why he doesn’t move back to Brooklyn if he’s so displeased with Portland). I’m not sure if his comment about the need for education reform should be taken with offense…haha Kazeem seems to make a more productive suggestion, and I really like his idea about setting up more community events that would help integrate the different demographic groups.

  2. Like Claudia, I’m drawn to the suggestions of more public events that can bring large and diverse swaths of Portland together. Moreover, these events seem to be super popular in NYC and elsewhere. At the same time, i wonder if there is a risk of coding public spaces as upscale or bougie, and neglecting others. I wonder if there is a way to design events that avoid this.

  3. Great diversity in your maps and a very entertaining ethnography! I really liked your map from Helen; it gives a unique perspective and her desire for greater waterfront access reflects an idea that I had in one of my earlier blog posts. It’s fascinating that many of our mappers labeled gentrified areas (either with words or $$) without being prompted; this clearly shows how present it is, and it’s usually those that cannot afford the gentrified areas that indicate it. Sam’s idea for education reform seems a little lofty and out of touch with smaller, more accessible changes that Portland could easily implement. Kazeem’s map is a nice reflection of growing Portland diversity and his desire to create community ties in nicely with many of the ideas that we have talked about for public space usage.

  4. I think you capture one of Portland’s central tensions by drawing out how people from different realms of the city would interact with a place like Tandem – some would gush over the lemon verbena soap and four dollar espresso, others don’t have the luxury to “give a damn about that kind of stuff.” It is important to assess both the value and the consequences of ‘bougie’ developments, and you do a great job of both.
    Your mental maps cover a wide range of perspectives. It’s interesting to hear from people like Sam who do not sugarcoat their opinion – I spoke with a man who called Portland a “cesspool.” I would be fascinated to learn more about Helen’s experience of the city and outlook on the housing dilemma, in light of her unique housing situation.

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