You can’t just take at face value the unofficial slogans of the Portland Chamber of Commerce. “There are more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the country,” “You’re never more than fifteen minutes by foot from a microbrewery,” and “We do too have a professional sports team in one of the major leagues!” That first statement, especially, is one that gets thrown around a lot. A lot a lot, by people who’ve never set foot in a club and yet find it one of the charming defining characteristics of the Rose City. Portland has a strip club culture like nowhere else, complete with its own magazine, celebrities, and scandals.
This week, a curious reader wrote into the city’s Pulitzer-winning alternative paper, Willamette Week, to ask if this is actually true. It is. If, like me, you took issue last summer with Tampa’s claim to this title in every article about the RNC, you’ll be please to see that the WW writer calculated a 1:9,578 ratio for Portland and 1:10,813 for Tampa. That’s a close enough margin to where the two cities could probably trade places on the list depending on the fortunes of a few clubs. It’s unquestionable, though, that Portland is the single easiest place in the U.S. to open a strip club, and that’s what lies at the bottom (lol) of its saturated nudie-bar market.
The single most important factor in the ease of running a strip club in Portland—or in all of Oregon, for that matter—is that nude dancing is protected as free speech thanks to a decision from the Oregon Supreme Court. In 2005 the court struck down prior rulings that upheld local laws regulating nude dancing and live sex shows, declaring that both were permissible under their reading of the Oregon Constitution’s free speech provisions. While there have been attempts at amending the state constitution to narrow its scope, both before and after this decision, none have stuck.
It’s the broadest definition of free speech as it applies to adult entertainment in the country. It struck down any. local. restrictions. on whether dancers could touch patrons or vice versa and whether sex-as-live-performance could be allowed. Local governments cannot ban strip clubs or sex shows, full stop. Just think about this, any of you who have worked in an area where you watched as laws were passed that mandated minimum clothing requirements or distance minimums or any other restriction on your work. There is a state where none of that happens. No pastie laws. No three foot rules.
Prior to these rulings, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission had the ability to regulate both dancers and strip clubs that served alcohol, and they did so rather strictly. At one point, dancers were warned that so much as touching their own breasts would be considered a violation of OLCC’s regulations banning lewd conduct inside clubs. But after the 2005 judgments, the liquor board lost its power to regulate the clubs.
There were already a ton of clubs in Portland long before these rulings, and what that comes down to is incredibly cheap and easily obtainable liquor licenses ($400 for a liquor license as of my last check) and the lack of requirement of a second license of any kind to have strippers performing on premises. Many local governments require strip clubs, whether they serve alcohol or not, to apply for pricey or difficult-to-obtain sexually oriented business permits. Portland has no such restriction. Any bar, if it wanted to, could have fully nude dancers as entertainment (and every bar has to serve food, but that’s an Oregon quirk for another day).
Along with Portland’s ever-freshening population of young women, the lack of licensing required for individual performers, and its socially relaxed attitudes that attach about as much stigma to stripping as to bar-tending, you have the conditions to saturate a market completely and make strip clubs as commonplace as coffee shops.
I love my city!
Demographically, it makes little sense for Portland to be the strip club leader. It’s not a big money city nor a city full of the stereotypical blue collar guys that keep many strip clubs afloat. While I’m sure that a few of the clubs cater to a “non-traditional” audience, free market standards will eventually apply.
Unless there’s a blue collar or big money population boom or the clubs start pooling money to air late night commercials in less saturated markets, local dancers would be better off if a few clubs fell by the wayside.
Yeah, the fact that it’s a low-earning-potential city/one where supply outstrips demand is another story entirely. In general I don’t like the idea of licensing strippers, but I always thought that if you had the smallest barrier to entry, like a $20 license, it would make the labor pool a lot smaller.
Sorry but I think that is a really bad idea for a number of reasons.
Sorry why? I didn’t say I thought it was a good idea, just that the tiniest barrier to entry would affect the market.
Maybe. A Cabaret ID in Detroit costs $150 (down from the low, low price of $250). We also have to pay for a variety of clearances to get said ID. And then there’s the ridiculous house fees. Yet, there’s definitely no shortage of strippers.
even though it’s not a big money city, the strip club culture in Portland is such that almost EVERYONE goes to the club. So even though there arn’t a lot of big spenders, there are huge stage tipping crowds and a lot of customers you wouldn’t see in other cities, I think is why it works out economically. You can definitely make a healthy living if you cultivate regulars and work at a club with heavy stage tipping.
Yeah, what’s the money like with all that competition?
The saturation creates a very competitive market. Good for customers, not so good for dancers, in general.
That said, the true spirit of the free market is alive and well in the PDX exotic industry, creating a culture so enormous and diverse that there really is something for everyone. Good clubs endure, bad clubs evolve or die. And despite the rivalries, there is still this pervasive sense of community which I enjoy immensely.
Dancers don’t miss out on *all* of the benefits of the diversity, either. Don’t like the club you’re at? Another one is right around the corner. A dancer with business savvy can do well here despite the saturation. Word of mouth spreads, regarding foot traffic in clubs, quality of patrons, quality of staff & management. Girls eventually gravitate to the clubs that fit their style, their personality, the pace they like to work.
The buzz is everywhere; PDX is a beautiful, busy little bee, isn’t she?
-S
I definitely want to dance in Portland some day.
As a Portland stripper, I’ve learned that everything is a trade-off.
While yes, I can stick straws through my nose and light my pubes on fire and dance in Keds and the list of antics goes on, the money scene can be tough.
I certainly wonder what would happen if suddenly, magically, about half of these clubs closed their doors.
More competitive scheduling, of course, but also better tips? I’ll never know.
excuse me. “LIGHT MY PUBES ON FIRE”?!? holy shit, Elle.
Sounds like typical Portland shenanigans to me.
I plan on trying Portland, but there’s so many clubs, I wouldn’t even know where to start. Thanks for the info, everyone!
[…] OR, frequently cited as the U.S. city with the most strip clubs per capita, is home to its own annual stripper pageant, Miss Exotic Oregon. Hosted by the local strip club ad […]
I had no idea Portland was so famous for most per capita. I know a good deal about Las Vegas strip clubs but nothing about Portland. I always though we had the most per capita, even with almost all of them being on the Strip. Thanks for this fun writeup.