The Vig

Oregon City’s Black Point Inn finally closed it’s doors this week.  I’ve only been there once, with my parents about 15-months ago.  We had Sunday brunch.  The place was nice enough.  We had Sunday brunch.  But the location at 7th and Washington seemed awkward.  That’s an intersection everyone drives through but never stops at.  Does that make sense?

There are a handful of “nice” places springing up around Oregon City.  There’s one in the space where my uncle used to operate a bookstore back in the 70s and early-80s at the corner of 7th and John Adams.  There’s another down at 15th and Washington.  But they all seem to be destinations, dependent on customers seeking them out, rather than neighborhood hang-outs.  But then using that logic, how do we explain the success of Carver’s Stone Cliff Inn?

It’s been close to 40 years since the Abernethy Bridge opened, clearing tons of traffic off the old Oregon City Bridge, and 25 years since the Highway 213 bypass opened, further draining traffic from downtown Oregon City.  In that time, the city fathers have had some success attracting business into the downtown and midtown areas, but its always been their desire to make the OC into a boutique regional tourist destination what with the wagons and the train station and the hey hey.  I just don’t see it ever happening.