Margaret Seiler

Managing Editor at Portland Monthly (Oregon)

Featured in: Favicon

pdxmonthly.com Favicon

chieftain.com

Articles

Transit Trip: Estacada via TriMet Bus

3 weeks ago | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

Someone is blasting Snoop on their phone when I change from the Green Line MAX to TriMet's Bus 30 at the Clackamas Town Center, and "Gin and Juice" plays in my head as the bus winds its way out of the parking lot and rolls onto SE 82nd Avenue. With someone else doing the driving on 82nd, I stay laid-back. And like Snoop, I'm pretty pleased with myself, though instead of downing gin and juice, the pair I'm excited to check off today is south and east.
Neighborhood Guide: Orenco Station

1 month ago | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

A century ago, the Oregon Electric Railway stopped in the namesake company town of the Oregon Nursery Company—Orenco is a portmanteau. World War I scuttled its export plans, and the company went bankrupt during the Depression. But the old rail segment became part of the Westside MAX in the 1990s, and land once covered with orchards and berry fields was suddenly a canvas for the city-planning buzzword of the day: transit-oriented development.
Portland’s Best Irish Bars

1 month ago | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

Portland isn’t the most Hibernian locale in the US, missing the deep roster of Irish pubs that cities like Boston and New York boast. But while we lack the Dead Rabbits and Black Roses of East Coast cities, we do have a handful of spots where we can admire the ombré of a settling stout pour and dig into some fish and chips.
Best Hot Springs Near Portland

2 months ago | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

The Pacific Northwest is a place of rich geothermal activity—just take a look at our volcanoes. All that underground hubbub also gives us hot springs, and in dramatically different landscapes. They vary in terms of frills and vibes, but here are nine of our favorites, organized by proximity to Portland. (In a sauna mood instead? We've got you covered.)Carson, WA| One hour from PortlandIf it’s another era you seek, Carson Hot Springs is the hot springs for you.
A Layperson’s Tips on Avoiding Norovirus

Jan 23, 2025 | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

The average person gets norovirus—the stomach bug marked by near-liquid diarrhea and often simultaneous vomiting—five times in their life. I’m at 13 and counting, and, yes, I wash my hands. Maybe it’s bad luck, or a genetic predisposition, or a fondness for oysters (the FDA recently issued a recall of possibly contaminated bivalves from a certain Puget Sound inlet). I don’t know, and I don’t know for sure that every bout was this particular culprit, though the pattern is pretty consistent.
The Return of Portland’s Downtown Skating Rink

Nov 8, 2024 | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

Like movie theaters, bowling alleys, and pay phones, there used to be a lot more skating rinks around here. Society types once glided at the Ice Hippodrome at NW 20th and Marshall—it was touted as the largest such facility in the world when it opened in 1914. Later, a young Tonya Harding practiced her T-stops at Jantzen Beach and the Clackamas Town Center. But in recent decades options had winnowed to Lloyd Center Ice and some far-flung suburban hangars.
A Transit Trip to Forest Grove (or Is It Avonlea?)

Oct 16, 2024 | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

Blame the Traveling Wilburys, but “the end of the line” always seems so far away, perhaps even on a different metaphysical plane. And getting to TriMet’s western terminus, where the bus turns around in Forest Grove, 21 miles east of downtown Portland as the crow flies, certainly takes a while.
Superfan: Tom Kervin Is a Fixture at Fat City Café

Sep 17, 2024 | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

Fat City Café used to have more regulars. Helen Johnson, who’s owned the Multnomah Village breakfast institution for roughly half of the restaurant’s 49 years, remembers a group who’d often meet up around a big table near the back of the license plate–lined space, but the 2016 election seemed to break them up. Other onetime regulars haven’t been in as much through the pandemic or since they started working from home. Then there’s Tom.
Who’s Excited for Portland’s First Ranked-Choice Election?

Sep 4, 2024 | pdxmonthly.com | Margaret Seiler

In November 2022, Portland voters passed a historic charter reform measure. It increased the number of commissioners from four to 12, with three from each of four geographic districts. And it changed how these commissioners, and the mayor, would be elected, instituting ranked-choice voting—and calling for everything to be in place before this fall’s election.
6 Portland Hotels with Outdoor Pools for Your Summer Staycation

Jul 31, 2024 | shorturl.at | Margaret Seiler

You’re a Portlander. Chances are, you don’t have a pool. You probably don’t have a friend with a pool. You don’t live close to one of Portland Parks & Rec’s public pools, or if you do, you don’t have the time to wait in line before open swim starts so you can get in before the pool’s at capacity. And while you love the Willamette and the Columbia, sometimes you just don’t feel like jumping in a river.