Saturday October 4
\nArabica Caf\u00e9 (Formerly\u00a0Caf\u00e9 Crema…ambiance described as “hipster” on Yelp)
\n9 Commercial St., Portland<\/p>\n
2:40 pm Mental Maps<\/strong><\/p>\n -25 year old male -64 year old woman -Alex, 25-year-old man -31 year old male After spending time in Portland,\u00a0observing at the caf\u00e9, collecting maps, and doing the transect walk, I have a much more comprehensive view of the people and the issues of the city. Personally, I find people-watching fascinating, so I really enjoyed doing so with a more critical eye at the caf\u00e9.\u00a0Caf\u00e9s are fascinating places to do … Continue reading New Perspectives on Preble St. and Housing Sustainability<\/span>
\n-The caf\u00e9 is on Commercial St, so we\u2019re right on the water and there\u2019s a lot of salt in the air. There is an enormous cruise ship looming over the docks, much larger than the buildings in my line of sight. Trolleys keep passing by, one of them sponsored by Whole Foods and another sponsored by Shipyard.
\n-The caf\u00e9 is pretty crowded. There is an interesting age range \u2013 primarily babies and elderly people. There are a few people on laptops and on dates, some people at the bar on cell phones, some couples reading or chatting. There are a lot of paintings up on the walls \u2013 a bunch of trees and flowers, a butterfly, a fish. Pretty standard coffee shop stuff.
\n-The line is daunting. I\u2019m waiting for it to die down before I get some much needed coffee but it seems to keep growing.
\n-People scatter around the spacious interior of the caf\u00e9 after getting their beverage but almost everybody stops at the table stocked with sugar, milk, napkins, and stirrers.
\n-The apple logo is everywhere you look. My friend\u2019s Dell stands out in the crowd.
\n-Children congregate around the gelato case.
\n2:50
\n-A girl with a stuffed animal monkey hangs on her mother\u2019s arm and begs for gelato. A boy walks by with a couple of bike tires draped around his torso like a sash and opens the door for a stream of customers.
\n3:00
\n-The girl with the monkey got gelato after all \u2013 success.
\n-A mother with a large camera takes a photo of her son biting into a brownie. The boy\u2019s sister plays with one of the toys provided by the caf\u00e9. Her brother joins her. Now they\u2019re both clutching the same toy. A fight is brewing\u2026 \u201cDaddy, he\u2019s not sharing. I hate boys.\u201d
\n-The workers here seem pretty scattered. They run around and deliver people\u2019s orders.
\n-A woman walks in with a young girl on her shoulders. A boy in line with his mother swings her hand back and forth and laughs somewhat maniacally.
\n3:10
\n-A woman walks by and asks us what discipline we\u2019re studying. She tells us that she teaches medicine.
\n-My friend Elisabeth is taking photos for her photography class. She takes a picture of the gelato. \u201cThat was fun,\u201d she says. Word.
\n-There\u2019s a small bookcase behind us next to an antique piano. The Hunger Games<\/em>, Chuck Palahniuk, Agatha Christie. A kid screams about a puppy.
\n-My friend Sabrina got an enormous cappuccino and it\u2019s making me rethink my apprehension about the line.
\n3:20
\n-I didn\u2019t see it but apparently a man biked by the window wearing the hat of a \u201croman soldier.\u201d
\n-A grey haired man with a rattail runs into a family he knows and everybody hugs.
\n3:30
\n-Time to brave the line. The crowd has thinned out a bit. Can\u2019t tell if I should wait at my table or wait by up by the bar. Table.
\n3:40
\n-A woman wearing all red and many tattoos wipes off the central milk\/sugar\/spices table and retrieves stray mugs from around the room.
\n3:50
\n-Older friends meet up and exclaim, \u201cThey changed the name!\u201d
\n-People walk by outside under umbrellas and wearing raincoats.
\n-The cruise ship is still hanging out (named Arcadia<\/em>, like the Preble St. bar), the American flag is still waving on top. Is this a vacation cruise? Pretty dreary weather\u2026I learned a bit about the social dynamics of Maine tourism this summer and I\u2019m curious about the transition from summer to fall.
\n-Engaging in people-watching commentary and staring at this massive cruise ship is making me want to reread \u201cA Supposedly Fun Thing I\u2019ll Never Do Again.\u201d
\n4:00
\n-We\u2019re collectively unhappy about the outlet situation. (There are very few, and none of them close to us.) Sabrina is keeping tabs on the movements of the \u201ctwo old men in back\u201d sitting at the table with outlet access.
\n4:10
\n-The two old men have exited and I\u2019ve snagged a prized outlet spot. Brightness is up, phone is charging. What luxury.
\n4:20
\n-My new vantage point now includes the rattail guy & family from earlier. The young girl in pink taps furiously on a phone screen, brow furrowed in concentration, as the adults around her chat. A woman in a flannel sits and reads at the bar.
\n-The ones who didn\u2019t know the caf\u00e9 changed its name stand up and exit.
\n-I think everybody who was in here when we arrived has left by now. Our crew has spread itself out around the caf\u00e9 as if by osmosis.
\n4:30
\n-A guy just walked in in a bright yellow disposable plastic poncho. He\u2019s owning it.
\n-The man behind him in line has the word \u2018SUPERVISOR\u2019 printed on his back. He\u2019s glancing shiftily around the caf\u00e9, looking very alert. He\u2019s doing a great job.
\n-An older couple to the left of me sits across from each other and scrolls through their individual phones, occasionally showing each other a photo and giggling.
\n-There is a minor kerfuffle at the register because they are out of caramel.
\n4:40
\n-Oh no, I smell a banana in the vicinity. I\u2019m terrified of bananas.
\n-The young girl in pink has put the phone down and her chin is on the table in a display of boredom.
\n-Sabrina comes over to ask if I can hear the music, which she describes as weird and \u201cwhisper-y.\u201d She suggests that I move over to join her at her table, from which I\u2019d have a perfect line of vision to the rattail man, access to the sounds of the weird music, and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 distance from the banana. She is very convincing and I agree.
\n4:50
\n-The demographics have changed significantly since we first walked in. The scene is much younger and trendier, with almost no families or kids.
\n-A bald man behind me asks for the wifi password. It\u2019s espresso.
\n-Sabrina asks me if I noted the floating door. I hadn\u2019t. There\u2019s a door about a story up the wall toward the back of the caf\u00e9, very much floating as described. She is very helpful. She shows me a video of thirteen dogs jump roping. It\u2019s really worth a look. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YtwPzyppOyY<\/a>
\n-The man and the family are leaving. He is welcome to visit them any time. Lots of smiles and good feeling and jokes about the weather. Haha, it snows a lot here.
\n5:00
\n-The music is decidedly weird \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s gotta chill,\u201d says Sabrina. Lots of alternating growling and whispering.
\n-The cruise ship is moving now, trudging along parallel to the street as comparatively speedy cars zip by.
\n5:10
\nHeading out.<\/p>\n![\"MentalMap1\"](\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2014\/10\/MentalMap1-300x213.jpg\")
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\n-Works in freelance
\n-Has lived in Portland for five years
\n-Lives in Munjoy Hill
\n-Wants the results of our study to be communicated back to Portland residents as opposed to \u201csitting in a warehouse,\u201d but doesn\u2019t want to be contacted about the study<\/p>\n![\"MentalMap2\"](\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2014\/10\/MentalMap2-300x204.jpg\")
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\n-Gardens, cleans houses, helps with her husband\u2019s carpentry business but is \u201csemiretired\u201d
\n-Has lived in Portland on and off since she was a kid, now commutes there for work.\u00a0Lived in four different places in Munjoy Hill, one place in the West End, and one on Peak\u2019s Island (now \u201cYuppie-ville)
\n-Her and her husband were \u201chippies\u201d in conflict with the \u201cgreasers,\u201d who threw beer cans at them. \u201cWhen the greasers started doing drugs, everybody got along.\u201d
\n-She lived in NYC out of high school, was \u201ctoo stoned\u201d to remember what part of the city though.
\n-On Portland gentrification, she commented that the city is \u201cbecoming an extension of Boston\u201d and that Old Port, formerly dangerous, is now \u201cmoney, money, money.\u201d
\n-Emphasized walking, trees, and cemeteries (“Every cemetery is worth walking through.”)
\n-Expressed concern about the rising sea level, particularly in Back Cove, and suggested infrastructure to support flooding in that area
\n-Wants to be contacted about the study at drondras50@gmail.com<\/p>\n![\"MentalMap3\"](\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2014\/10\/MentalMap3-300x238.jpg\")
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\n-Drives the Portland water taxi
\n-Went to high school and worked in Portland, has been living there again for a month on Anderson St.
\n-Suggested an app for public transportation schedules<\/p>\n![\"MentalMap4\"](\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2014\/10\/MentalMap4-300x228.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n-Works as a chef
\n-Lives in the \u201cwestern part down by Denny\u2019s\u201d
\n-Called Portland a \u201ccesspool,\u201d has lived in Burlington and believes it is an infinitely better city. Commenting on Portland\u2019s skyrocketing homeless population, he noted that other cities are sending their homeless to Portland because of the city\u2019s outreach programs
\n-I interviewed him outside of the Preble Street Resource Center. He said very quickly that he is not currently homeless, but was homeless in Burlington eight years ago.
\n-\u201cI\u2019m a chef, I work full time, and I can\u2019t even afford to get an apartment.\u201d
\n-The lack of affordable housing \u201cmakes it impossible for people to get on their feet.\u201d
\n-Commenting on Portland\u2019s skyrocketing homeless population: \u201cAll these other cities are sending these people here because Portland has outreach programs and stuff like that\u201d
\n-He criticized Preble Street Resource Center\u2019s housing first model. In a homeless shelter he stayed at in Burlington, \u201cyou had to show them some type of effort.\u201d He commented that the Preble Street model \u201ctakes away\u201d from \u201cpeople who are capable of working,\u201d from people who will be receptive\u00a0to help and assistance. He also complained about the lack of follow up review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"