There's a stalled bus alongside the curb, apropos of the fact that this shelter, back before Portland's Transit Mall was revamped in 2007, would have served many buses throughout the day and the night, for untold numbers of commuters. I used this particular a lot myself when I first started commuting from Northwest Portland to Southeast Portland in October, 2006. Since November, 2006, set records for rainfall totals, it came in very handy.
While I'm glad that at least one of these iconic shelters was saved and turned into a coffee stand, it makes me sad as all get out to think about the many that disappeared, their unique shapes gone forever, replaced by generic glass and tube shelters which do little to protect us from blowing rain. I heard that TriMet did away with these--which always remind me of hats that might have been worn by China-men of yore--because their closed-in design led miscreants to use them for nefarious reasons, as well as others who took advantage of not being able to be easily seen to relieve themselves, hopefully during the night when few commuters were on the streets. I myself never witnessed either activity.
