apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The vortex guy must be in a neighborhood with no HOA. I feel sorry for the neighbors.

Seriously though, in a non residential setting, like at an amusement park that would be a great idea.

It also might tend to make a statement about excess taxation (especially here in Portland where they use tax money for everything BUT essential services then say "OMG we have a crisis, we have to raise taxes" and the gullible stupid public falls for the scam every time).

I wish there were more vortexes in neighborhoods...less of an eyesore compared to most housing developments and architecture by committee.

The inversion house was here in Houston. And was town down last year.

Gregory - you'd hate Portland.

They have this artificial land shortage called a "growth boundary". All that accomplishes is to make those who can afford to, move farther and farther out to get outside the boundary because construction inside the boundary is unlivable. We're talking McMansions with 6 feet or so between houses, and they're shoddily built, at least the ones built by Arbor are. As if that wasn't bad enough, the latest Portland planning calls for no road improvements for 25 years. We desperately need a 3rd bridge into Washington but that won't happen for at least 25 years. The city is on record as saying they won't pay 200K for pothole repairs because "there's no return on the investment". This after spending billions on a light rail that nobody rides and doesn't do anything to ease congestion. Grrrr....

Please don't move to Portland anybody - if you do, you were warned.

I remember liking Portland the two times I'd visited. It felt like San Francisco without the slicker finish of the tech industry, with some really cute moderate sized homes. But of course, living somewhere and visiting it are two different things altogether.

That being said, I hope to come and visit again.

Yeah, there are some nice parts. You have to go for the old neighborhoods, the ones with mature landscaping and decent sized yards. New neighborhoods generally bite. If you like antique shopping, the Sellwood area is a nice place to spend a weekend. The area around 13th st is where all the antique shops are. At least the ones that are left. The area is changing a lot. Walmart is trying to force their way in (nothing against Walmart, but one in Sellwood would ruin the atmosphere - it's bad enough that Starbucks and other chains are moving in - most people prefer local stores). Lately this place is turning into a wet version of California, and that's not a good thing.

To add on to Alyce's comment:

The Vortex house is (was) in Houston, Tx. Its real name is "Inversion" and it was a temporary art installation done by the Art League of Houston. Now the installation is gone, replaced by the Art League of Houston's new independent coffee shop (aptly named Inversion Coffee House).

Houston has no city zoning, which can be both good and bad, depending on what your neighbors decide to build. Specifically, the Inversion installation was located in the Montrose area of Houston, near downtown, well known for being eclectic and artsy.