Earlier this week, the Portland International Airport made a buzzworthy announcement that it was installing a section of the iconic carpet that travelers have revered for over 25 years. This welcoming news comes in the midst of a major remodeling effort to update the main terminal which is set to be unveiled this August. This summer, travelers will be lining up to take pictures of their shoes once again.
For anyone out there not in the know, you may be confused as to why anyone would care what type of carpet was in the airport, but let me assure you—it's a thing. The carpet throughout PDX became surprisingly famous when people started taking pictures of their feet on it as a “shoe selfie” to signal they had landed in the great PDX, then sharing the photo with friends or posting it to their Facebook or Instagram page.
The teal carpet was a mainstay of the airport from 1988 to 2015 and was actually designed specifically for PDX, representing the north and south runways just like they’d be seen from the air traffic control tower. However, when the carpets were removed in 2015 the outcry was so great that the airport decided to bring it back as part of the new renovations. The carpet is such a big deal you can even buy socks with the carpet pattern on them and when they originally took it out, you could buy a piece of it as a coaster or wall decoration.
Just this week, crews working on the new terminal installed 1,000 square feet of the famed carpet on the mezzanine level. The carpet will be accessible to everyone since it’s located in a pre-security area, so no matter if you're picking up, dropping off, or flying yourself you’ll be able to post your “shoe selfie” to your Insta and let everyone know where you’ve been.
