Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Willie Nelson, Explosions in the Sky, Hook ‘em horns, nerdbirds, slackers, queso, moonbeams, hill country, dry rub, and watering holes. Wish it had much better transit, but still a pretty good city. My preferences are towards Portland, but this comparison is reasonable and far from a blowout.
Willie Nelson, Explosions in the Sky, Hook ‘em horns, nerdbirds, slackers, queso, moonbeams, hill country, dry rub, and watering holes. Wish it had much better transit, but still a pretty good city. My preferences are towards Portland, but this comparison is reasonable and far from a blowout.
Right on. To me, 6th street is one of the worst things about Austin. I went to school in Austin. I prefer Portland, but the level of disdain and flippant comments it gets is pretty incredible. A lot of hate on this forum for it.
This thread is interesting because Austin boosters probably think that Austin is leagues ahead, but if you just look at the facts Portland beats Austin very badly.
Portland-majestic PNW setting an hour from the ocean, incredible mountains nearby, MLS, successful, even iconic NBA franchise, a massive metro rail (nearly 100 stations + 3 streetcar lines for a 2.4 million metro), noted beer and coffee scene, rich history as an industrial, port, and intellectual city, rich music scene and legacy (Dandy Warhols, Pink Martini, Sleater Kinney, Decemberists, Elliot Smith) .
Austin-SXSW, "6th street bar scene".
Aren't you quite the pot calling the kettle black.
Setting - Yes, Portland has a better setting
MLS successful - Yes, Portland has a successful MLS franchise and an NBA team. We will see how MLS in Austin pans out starting in 2021. Judging by Austin Bold's home opener, it will do very well.
Metro Rail - Portland has Austin beat by leagues.
Beer and coffee scene - Austin was just labeled as the beer capital of the world. The city also has a very notable coffee scene as well.
Rich history - Austin has a rich history as well, just about as any other major city in the country. Neither city is Boston or Philadelphia.
Rich Music Scene - Have you ever heard of the live music capital of the world? Hint: between Austin and Portland, it isn't Portland. Not only is it a self-dubbed title, but many lists agree. SXSW and ACL are two of some of the largest music festivals in the world, with Euphoria quickly gaining a lot of popularity in the US.
Oh and yes, we also have 6th Street....
We also have West 6th, East 6th, SoCo, 4th St, Red River District, Rainey St, Rock Rose, and West Campus, which are all large nightlife areas of Austin.
I think you are the only one who seems to be claiming that Austinites believe they are leagues ahead of Portland. The two are actually pretty comparable in many aspects. However, according to you, it seems as if Portland is world-class while Austin is really just a local influence.
Aren't you quite the pot calling the kettle black.
Setting - Yes, Portland has a better setting
MLS successful - Yes, Portland has a successful MLS franchise and an NBA team. We will see how MLS in Austin pans out starting in 2021. Judging by Austin Bold's home opener, it will do very well.
Metro Rail - Portland has Austin beat by leagues.
Beer and coffee scene - Austin was just labeled as the beer capital of the world. The city also has a very notable coffee scene as well.
Rich history - Austin has a rich history as well, just about as any other major city in the country. Neither city is Boston or Philadelphia.
Rich Music Scene - Have you ever heard of the live music capital of the world? Hint: between Austin and Portland, it isn't Portland. Not only is it a self-dubbed title, but many lists agree. SXSW and ACL are two of some of the largest music festivals in the world, with Euphoria quickly gaining a lot of popularity in the US.
Oh and yes, we also have 6th Street....
We also have West 6th, East 6th, SoCo, 4th St, Red River District, Rainey St, Rock Rose, and West Campus, which are all large nightlife areas of Austin.
I think you are the only one who seems to be claiming that Austinites believe they are leagues ahead of Portland. The two are actually pretty comparable in many aspects. However, according to you, it seems as if Portland is world-class while Austin is really just a local influence.
This post actually bolsters my points.
Literally every city has a beer and coffee scene-cities that don't have much to offer usually start with those when listing attractions. Stumptown and Coava are from Portland. What is the name of the Austin based coffee roaster that I can find with retail locations in southern California? I'm sure there has to be one....
When I said "intellectual city" I didn't mean having Acme State U. in your backyard-I mean historically significant intellectuals (see the film "Reds" with Warren Beatty about this stuff in Portland). Portland does indeed have a rich history-they were a boom town at the turn of the last century with their population quadrupling in a little over a decade. What did Austin look like during this period?
In terms of bands people around the world have actually heard of, I'm sticking with Portland on this one.
So again, they aren't really comparable in any aspect other than the basic, bare bones amenities that all cities have. Like you said, in the big things-metro rail, pro sports....Portland is running unopposed in this contest.
Literally every city has a beer and coffee scene-cities that don't have much to offer usually start with those when listing attractions. Stumptown and Coava are from Portland. What is the name of the Austin based coffee roaster that I can find with retail locations in southern California? I'm sure there has to be one....
When I said "intellectual city" I didn't mean having Acme State U. in your backyard-I mean historically significant intellectuals (see the film "Reds" with Warren Beatty about this stuff in Portland). Portland does indeed have a rich history-they were a boom town at the turn of the last century with their population quadrupling in a little over a decade. What did Austin look like during this period?
In terms of bands people around the world have actually heard of, I'm sticking with Portland on this one.
So again, they aren't really comparable in any aspect other than the basic, bare bones amenities that all cities have. Like you said, in the big things-metro rail, pro sports....Portland is running unopposed in this contest.
I am pretty sure most people couldn't care less which coffee from Austin they could find in SoCal, let alone anywhere else. I honesty don't even know what coffee or if even any coffee is popular from the Austin area. All that I care about is that Austin has numerous great local coffee spots and many that are 24 hours. But if being able to find coffee from Wherever, USA in California is a way of measuring a city's prominence in your books, then great for you!
Having large population growth over a short amount of time doesn't enrich a city's history. If anything it is detrimental. Austin has always been a boomtown... so what? Austin hasn't grown less than 20% per decade except for once since it was founded. Sure it is fun to see quick development, but it puts a strain on infrastructure and raises the COL insanely. Regardless, being the capital of Texas, Austin has its fair share of history.
Music-wise, Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks and many more originated in Austin. Sure it's cool, but it doesn't make Austin or Portland any better than one or the other.
Pro sports is a complicated topic for Austin. We are getting MLS in 2021. The University of Texas have large football and basketball programs which would be direct competition with both the NFL and NBA. DKR has a larger capacity than most NFL stadiums and the Frank Erwin Center has the capacity of any NBA arena. Also, Portland doesn't have any competition from any other major cities nearby. Austin has 3 of USA's top 10 largest cities within a three hour drive, (Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio). Within 180 miles of Austin are three NBA teams, two NFL teams, two MLB teams, two MLS teams, and an NHL team. Austin's best chance at getting another pro franchise would be from either the MLB or NHL. However, those chances are likely to be very slim.
As far as metro-rail, just as any major TX city, Austin is lagging. Texas has always had a large freeway culture. There is a big vote coming up in Austin, which would help begin to alleviate the issue.
In no way was I trying to say Austin is any better than Portland or vice-versa. I was only trying to point out the hypocrisy and lack of knowledge of Austin, (aside from 6th street and SXSW), in your last two posts. Either way, Austin is a metro area of just over 2 million people and it still compares closely to Portland, which consists of a metro area of 2.4 million and a CSA of over 3 million people.
Portland tops the list of most overrated US cities. Austin and Denver aren't far behind.
You got that right. Portland is unbelievably overrated and has so many short comings, you wouldn't lose hardly anything going to the deep south in place of it. Not Austin but lets say Huntsville or somewhere like that. Portland gets too much hype, I fell for the kool aid in 2008 highly, moved here again now with different expectations even, and I see how bad of a place it really is.
The food carts are or WE'RE a cool concept until now you realize each time you wanna go to one, parking is tight. The idea of Portland was good for walking or for people who had DUI's or didn't have a car or truck but for driving (and you drive in EVERY US city btw), Portland is awful. Its up there with Boston now. I can't believe how many parking lots in the immediate city and immediate suburbs now that have tight parking. Its ridiculous and people here aren't that friendly.
All this traffic, people are retarded socially. I am planning my exit from the area.
Portland tops the list of most overrated US cities. Austin and Denver aren't far behind.
I'd say both are overrated. Years ago before I discovered Portland, I actually considered Austin possibly. I watched youtube videos on it and traffic at the time looked pretty bad there but the music scene looked AWESOME to say the least.
I'd probably say its close to a tie with Austin getting the edge. TX = friendlier and more real than Oregon and w/ more major cities so I'd say Austin is in a better spot and has better weather, but not a place I'd move to nonetheless. I like sun though so Austin would get the edge.
I actually prefer Portland's nightlife. I like cities like Portland and Milwaukee where there seems to be a cool neighborhood bar or dive bar on every block as opposed to one or two giant nightlife clusters. Portland has some decent clusters, although nothing on the magnitude of 6th St. in Austin. On the other hand, Austin outside of Downtown and a few pockets doesn't have a great distribution of bars/nightlife, while Portland seemingly has bars everywhere.
Or Boston you could throw in there too.. and with that comes provincialism though. Northern cities are not the places to be socially unless you don't mind a drab environment with snobs and yuppies everywhere. Minneapolis would be terrible too. The so called "neighborhood bar" scene. How is Boston as a place to live? Think its that good past the sports scene? Is Portland the most friendly? and Milwaukee is one of the most racist cities in the country so.. Its south for me from now on. Even Vegas I'd rather give a chance to than a northern city at this point whether it be Portland, Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago, NYC.. the only northern city that be worth a damn would be Philadelphia and thats still quite dumpy but I'd prefer it to everywhere else up north anyhow from east to west.
I am pretty sure most people couldn't care less which coffee from Austin they could find in SoCal, let alone anywhere else. I honesty don't even know what coffee or if even any coffee is popular from the Austin area. All that I care about is that Austin has numerous great local coffee spots and many that are 24 hours. But if being able to find coffee from Wherever, USA in California is a way of measuring a city's prominence in your books, then great for you!
Having large population growth over a short amount of time doesn't enrich a city's history. If anything it is detrimental. Austin has always been a boomtown... so what? Austin hasn't grown less than 20% per decade except for once since it was founded. Sure it is fun to see quick development, but it puts a strain on infrastructure and raises the COL insanely. Regardless, being the capital of Texas, Austin has its fair share of history.
Music-wise, Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks and many more originated in Austin. Sure it's cool, but it doesn't make Austin or Portland any better than one or the other.
Pro sports is a complicated topic for Austin. We are getting MLS in 2021. The University of Texas have large football and basketball programs which would be direct competition with both the NFL and NBA. DKR has a larger capacity than most NFL stadiums and the Frank Erwin Center has the capacity of any NBA arena. Also, Portland doesn't have any competition from any other major cities nearby. Austin has 3 of USA's top 10 largest cities within a three hour drive, (Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio). Within 180 miles of Austin are three NBA teams, two NFL teams, two MLB teams, two MLS teams, and an NHL team. Austin's best chance at getting another pro franchise would be from either the MLB or NHL. However, those chances are likely to be very slim.
As far as metro-rail, just as any major TX city, Austin is lagging. Texas has always had a large freeway culture. There is a big vote coming up in Austin, which would help begin to alleviate the issue.
In no way was I trying to say Austin is any better than Portland or vice-versa. I was only trying to point out the hypocrisy and lack of knowledge of Austin, (aside from 6th street and SXSW), in your last two posts. Either way, Austin is a metro area of just over 2 million people and it still compares closely to Portland, which consists of a metro area of 2.4 million and a CSA of over 3 million people.
LosFrisco, for whatever odd reason, can't stand Austin, even though he's never been.
Portland is a great town, I'll take it over Austin. but Austin can be fun and UT is head and shoulder's above any Oregon university.
This one is easy. Portland for June, July and August. Austin for the rest of the year...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
