The Bicycle Realtor

Today, I had an opportunity to interview Kirsten Kaufman, who calls herself Portland's Bicycle Realtor.  She is a real charmer, a working woman with three young sons who enjoys her life that is mostly car-free.  She admits to having a van, but she only gets it out "once or twice a week."  Instead, she walks and bikes as much as possible.

Like her clients, Kirsten is living "a lifestyle that doesn't revolve around striving."  It is, she says, more environmentally sensitive, more integrated with the community and it makes her family happier.  Plus, it burns off the excess energy of her three boys.

Many of her clients have no car, and many have no TV.

According to Kirsten, the big things that help sell homes to this lifestyle group: Proximity to Farmers markets, organic food markets and New Seasons, a popular, locally-owned grocery store.  (My favorite Portland person, Joe Cortright, insisted on taking me on a tour through New Seasons on one of my visits.)  Kirsten's clients are happy to make the trade off between proximity to what they consider to be great destinations and having more square footage in their homes.

When I pointed out to Kirsten that even though the unemployment rate in Portland is higher than the nation's average, people keep moving there, she explained that it's the Portland lifestyle that keeps people coming.  "It's the ability to live car-free, the vibrancy of the neighborhoods (especially our neighborhood business districts) that is so appealing.  Plus, the fact that so many young people have moved to Portland begins to feed on itself."

And the stampede is not limited to young adults. Kirsten is also hearing retirees say they want to move to Portland because of its more European lifestyle.

Kirsten gave a special shout-out to the Portland Bicycle Business League. It's a group of businesses (she's a member) that do their business by bike.  Among its members are a gardener, a home cleaning service, and a soup delivery business.

  

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