How would your life be different if you couldn't see? What's it like to be a rose in a bed of daisies? Can art appeal to the masses without being grossly commercial? How would you drag yourself to work each day if it meant facing hopelessly troubled kids?

Each year, WW introduces readers to several Portlanders who, though they don't regularly make headlines, help us to think about our city in a new way. Richard Ray, blinded at age 6, explains what he loves about Portland--and why he's leaving it. Juvenile court referee Katharine English, a lesbian with a reputation as a squishy liberal, tells why her career has led her to advocate strong family values. Sculptor and curator Paul Arensmeyer offers an insider's view on why Portland's arts scene is better than New York's. And Okianer Christian Dark, a relative newcomer to Portland, discusses raising children and building a community in what has been called the whitest big city in America. As 1998 begins, these four Portlanders forge new plans, dispel old beliefs and share their candid impressions of life in the Rose City.