Brew to Bikes: Portland's Artisan Economy (OpenBook)

This is an insightful and rewarding read that synthesizes the shared ideals and practices of Portland's artisan enterprises and critiques some common economic development tools. An examination of what it means to be an artisan economy helped to frame both the grassroots responses that gave rise to this movement and the interviews of various artisans in differing practices. The case studies themselves I found to be enlightening, and provided a much needed view into the world of an artisan and their role in the local economy.Heying provides a set of frank recommendations (the tone of several made me laugh out loud) which incorporate the experience and learning of artisans who are at the forefront of economic vitality in Portland, with potential action items for planners, developers and economists of any city. His last recommendation ("Don't import bad ideas when we can grow our own") perhaps illustrates this best by challenging the proposed redevelopment of Portland's Rose Quarter based off the failed, but well marketed, Kansas City Power & Light District.The book is very accessible, clearly articulates what it means to "go local" or "go green," and clearly illustrates ways to improve our city/regional economic development model. 5 stars.

I picked up this book expecting it to be more like a guidebook or a list of recommendations. It isn't one, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Although some of the fascinating places and people in this book are still around PDX, I think a lot of the value in these stories is to help us understand how innovative and new an artisan economy was when this book was written. I'd love to see an update on how these industries have fared in the last decade; I think the discussion about gentrification would be quite different today, but undoubtedly there are new centers of excellence and imagination that would fit right in to this fascinating read!

Great book, now we have share economy

Having just moved to Portland a few months ago, I found this book to be a interesting/informative. I enjoyed the mesh of personal experience with insightful research; I didn't expect it, at first, to cover so much about the economy of the area -- but I was glad for it, as I'm only used to that of the east coast.I also still really find the whole aspect of local businesses in Portland so be fascinating. In my home town, people really try to be successful with it and it doesn't seem to pan out for a lot of folks. So, it was interesting to see a different side of that as well.

Coming into this, I knew very little about economics and not a whole lot about Portland in general. What Heying has here is a very accessible introduction to both, and it is great for anybody looking to understand Portland or wrap their head around alternative ways to look at business. I'm not very interested in fashion, but I was glued to the fashion section. I don't really care about bikes that much, but the stories in here are way too interesting not to read them. Beer, on the other hand, is what I came here for, and this book delivers. The history is fleshed out, and because of this book, I now have a list of new brands I need to try.The great thing about this is that it's written by multiple people, so there are a lot of viewpoints. Sometimes, they veer pretty close to an annoying idealism, but putting that aside, they are very clearly written. Most of them have an academic flavor to them, but it's not quite as dense as other popular economics books. If you're at all interested in coffee, beer, bikes, music, or anything Portland, definitely pick this one up.

This is a good overview of the artisan economy in Portland. The most interesting parts for me were the histories of local businesses and how they have found success. The local economy discussion was interesting, and how community focused economies foster self-reliance. I do wish it had talked more about the sexism implicit within DIY culture and how class affects the opportunities needed for self-reliance. But I did enjoy learning about the history and specific people/businesses.

When I came to Portland to visit family (and check out the PSU publishing program) in 2013, I had already been wanting to move here for five years. Brew to Bikes seemed like the perfect thing to take home with me to keep me inspired until we'd saved the money and developed the portfolio to make the move.What I sort of expected to be a series of profiles of the different artisans around the city of Portland turned out to be much more of an exhaustively researched academic document. It covers some of the famed "industries" of Portland (I put that in quotes because Heying makes a pretty large distinction between industrial vs. artisan economy): food, beer, and bikes, but it also reveals some potential growth areas of Portland's economy. For instance, I didn't know much about Portland's connections with the fashion industry before reading this book.I'll be interested to see future editions of this book and how they reflect the economic changes in Portland, especially in the way that its grown so quickly in the last few years. I think the appeal here is especially applicable to people who are invested in the future of the city itself, rather than those who are merely curious about it.