The New PDX Terminal Is a Love Letter to All Things Local

14.08.2024 - 21:23 / cntraveler.com

Before the Portland International Airport (PDX) officially opened its newly expanded main terminal on August 14, the city’s indisputable queen obviously needed the grand tour. So Portland, Oregon’s drag icon Poison Waters swung by last week and snapped a few stiletto selfies on the airport’s cult carpet, which has finally made a comeback nearly a decade after it was ripped out.

Waters had joined several dozen Oregonians who PDX invited to appear in a photo shoot to commemorate the terminal’s opening on August 14. And a drag queen celebrating the return of a green ’80s-era carpet pattern—which had infamously been replaced with a modern design in 2015—is the very Portland conclusion to a $2.15 billion redevelopment project with a rather peculiar goal: to create the most local airport on the planet.

By several niche metrics, PDX appears to have succeeded: All two-dozen shops and restautrants coming to the new main terminal are locally grown brands including independent bookseller Powell’s City of Books, farm-to-still distillery Freeland Spirits, and, at last, fried-in-the-airport Blue Star Donuts. (Some stores are open now, with more coming in phases through 2026.) The marquee beer hall open now on the mezzanine, Loyal Legion, has one of the most comprehensive tap lists of Oregon-brewed beers, with 96 on draft. And the terminal’s most defining architectural feature—the mass-timber roof, a first for a major US airport—was built with 100% Pacific Northwest wood, all sourced within 300 miles of the airport.

This dedication to all things local stems from the unusual relationship Portlanders have with PDX. “People here are weirdly proud of the airport,” says photographer and Portland In Color founder Celeste Noche. “And I don’t blame them—I am, too. As someone who travels a lot, airports can feel depressing—a place you want to get in and out of. But the new spaces at PDX, it’s actually fun to hang out there.” Earlier in the month, PDX even hosted a “dress rehearsal,” where Portlanders from all walks of life volunteered a Saturday to “act out” several traveler scripts to help the airport work through any kinks. Thousands showed up. “That’s how invested people are in seeing the space,” says Noche, who also attended.

The original Portland airport carpet design can now be found in select areas throughout the new terminal.

Often ranked among America’s favorite airports, PDX has a positive reputation among passengers from all over the country. But nothing embodies the tongue-in-cheek nostalgia many Portlanders hold for their local airport quite like the old carpet, which became famous in the early 2010s on Instagram, where locals would post photos of their feet on the carpet whenever they traveled. When the Port of