the Portland is beautiful. had I known that I would be doing weekend recreational riding and would eventually be able to "lean down", I would've gotten that bike.

what I ended up with isn't so bad though. for $720 I got a 2009 Trek Soho, which I think has geometry similar to the Portland though a flat bar and three major differences:
1) belt drive instead of a chain - this is absolutely wonderful
2) internal gears, 8-speed Nexus hub - seems to be a taste thing, but I love them for stop & go city riding.
3) roller brakes instead of disc brakes - not crazy about these, although they perform perfectly in the rain

for whatever reason Trek bumped the MSRP of the Soho to $1050 for the current model without improving anything, so I don't know that it's such a great deal anymore. but it is a virtually maintenance-free bike and is workable for the occasional weekend distance ride