I agree that cities change and it's often for the better, Portland included.  I welcome that and like you, the variety that we have.  My point, like the writer , was getting at, was that we can weigh in and fight for change that makes our city better and not designed by corporate interests who don't care that we'll come to look like LA.  When did cities all start looking the same and why do we allow it?  To me, and I'm sure most reading this, that does not mean more fast food and chain stores. Can we not agree?  I haven't been there in quite a while, but I hear that NYC is moving toward being inhabited by stores that you'd find in any city in America.  What was unique about it is quickly changing and not, to my mind, for the better.  I want to see people here, transplants and locals alike, who are creative and think outside the box and to share their talents with the rest of us.