I've received a flood of responses confirming that Portland is the mecca of stripping--apparently a combination of loose laws and laissez faire attitudes in the Northwest combine to give Portland an amazing quantity of strip clubs, making it the per capita leader in that area. Go Oregon!
From one of the responses:
I heard a similar description of Portland, my hometown, a couple months
ago, and I was puzzled too. I didn't think we had more strippers than
anywhere else, but maybe things have changed in the 16 years since I
moved to New York. I can tell you that I avoided strip clubs while I lived
there because I had at least three high-school classmates and two friends
of friends who were strippers, and I didn't really want to walk in and see
somebody I knew, um, performing. That's more strippers in Portland than I
know stockbrokers in New York, if that means anything.
I do have a happy holiday story to tell you. I worked at the Portland
newspaper for three years, including nights, weekends and holidays, and
one Christmas I was working the night shift and getting hungry. I called all
over downtown Portland and couldn't find a single restaurant open -- until
someone suggested calling the Carriage Room. In addition to offering
exotic entertainment, they could provide cheeseburgers for all. I walked
the two blocks from the office, and the only other people in the place,
besides me, the girls and the cook, were the cops. They have to eat too.
One of my loveliest Christmas memories.
Cops, strippers and stockbrokers. God bless us, every one.
4:37 PM
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