I particularly like the picture of the author, who is part of a movement which wants to "opt out of just about everything that smacked of the mainstream," in front of a television set.

Yeah, the dishes stay dirty, the garbage doesn't get taken out. The house, under the stickers and colors is crawling with vermin drawn by the dirty dishes and garbage.

It's the 60's again, with naked babies crawling on the floor and playing in the dog poop while Mom and Dad do some more tweak and rant about getting even with "the man".

Paradise, and all too real in Oregon.

John, a punk house is not like that. Most punk houses shun drug addicts. (Alcoholics are another thing, pay your rent, be drunk, be happy, they're okay.)

Most of the time, you're pretty well kicked out to be a responsible adult once you have a kid. I lived in what this article defines as a punk house while I was in college and managing a sub shop.

It was fun, and for what came out to about $100/mo in 2001, I had a place to live with my own bigass room to myself. I got to play music with people like me, we threw awesome parties, and I generally got to live a relaxed life, focusing on college and making enough cash to have some fun and survive.

Since then, I've become a useful member of society, now in middle management for a tech company. It's a fun way to spend a few years while existing and paying your way.

My place was sloppy a few days a week, but Sunday afternoons everyone kicked in a little effort and cleaned the place up. Yeah, the "public" (bar) bathroom usually had some spent bottle rockets in the toilet, but otherwise we kept the place clean.

It's not about being fucked up out of your mind, letting your kids play with poo.

Seriously, I've never known someone who'd live with anyone crazy enough to let their offspring do that kind of thing. And I've been as "punk" as anyone can be, by any definition I've seen.

I lived in what this article defines as a punk house while I was in college

I think most college kids who didnt live in dorms lived in a place like that. Most of my friends who lived off-campus did. But eventually most people grow up and move on.
I would guess most people who live that way after college tend to be of the "creative class" so revered in Portland.