Flavor-Off!

Reporting on development, local flavor, and whatnot eventually led me to question the whole idea of local flavor. I went to college in Evanston, IL, right as that city's condo struggle really started to heat up, and I decided I preferred new buildings that stuck out boldly in their neighborhoods to new buildings that stuck out blandly. The latter were always just kinda ugly and never actually looked like the neighboring older buildings anyway. So what about new things that more or less do fit in but are obviously new anyway? I was in Portland, Or., this weekend, and people there seem to pride themselves on keeping old signs on their shops and buildings. Even a Hilton downtown has light-up letters that have to be 20 years old. Then there's this.



I saw this and coined a new term: Flavor invaders. They come in from out of town and co-opt the local flavor. Flavor invaders. A few minutes later, I decided I really couldn't fault the Qwest people when I saw this over a long-established local Greek restaurant: