Hi-diddly-ho! I was enjoying a morning tour through the Alphabet District of Nob Hill in Northwest Portland, and I felt as though I was being stalked by a cast of goofy cartoon characters. The neighbourhood is all close-knit Colonial Revival houses, coffee shops, and burger and beer taverns where you could easily find yourself trapped for hours – and yet there is something else at work here.
First, we walked past a sign for Quimby Street. Then, in quick succession, we crossed Lovejoy Street, Kearney Street and Flanders Street. To the south of the neighbourhood, I was told there is a Burnside. I also learnt about Montgomery Park and Van Houten Avenue. I’m no map geek, but I am, I confess, a super fan of The Simpsons – and I found myself drawn into the story of its origin in Portland like Homer to Duff Beer.
“Portland’s not Springfield where the cartoon is set, that’d be too contrived,” said guide John Moran, of America’s Hub World Tours, as he recounted the backstory of America’s longest-running scripted primetime show (after first appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987, it’s now up to 34 seasons and counting).
“There are no Simpsons museums or themed attractions here, but if you know where to look it’s pretty obvious Portland’s in the show’s DNA.”
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Portland shares plenty of street names with Simpsons characters – and is that Mount Springfield in the background?
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Certainly, these days, there is a throng of destinations allied to TV shows, and set-jetting on ‘location vacations’ is a bankable travel trend. HBO has made stars of the swanky hotels, villas and restaurants used in Succession, while Albuquerque, New Mexico, is now synonymous with Breaking Bad, as is Baltimore, Maryland, with The Wire and Snoqualmie, Washington, as the home of Twin Peaks. Not to mention the extra star-power sprayed all over Hawaii, Sicily and reportedly Thailand with each new series of White Lotus. Cartoons are another matter entirely, of course; and yet, if a TV show is the sum of its creator’s influences, The Simpsons is steeped in the spirit of Matt Groening’s Portland.
By that measure, the most important address in the city is 742 Evergreen Terrace, where The Simpsons’ cartoonist grew up in the 1950s – with father Homer, mother Marge and younger sisters Lisa and…
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