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Old 09-20-2013, 02:29 PM
 
Location: The edge of the world and all of Western civilization
984 posts, read 1,184,946 times
Reputation: 1691

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Griffis View Post
I just spent four years in Portland, Oregon. Definitely fits the bill.

But freakin' everybody seems to be moving there. Really driving up housing prices, especially rent.
That city is such a mystery to me. On paper it would seem to be everything I would want out of a city, but I've been twice and didn't like it. I really wish I knew why it doesn't sit right with me, because it seems to be all around the perfect place to call home. Other cities that meet the criteria are places I would live though, so I'm confused.
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Old 09-20-2013, 06:11 PM
 
Location: Tippecanoe County, Indiana
26,375 posts, read 46,232,890 times
Reputation: 19455
Quote:
Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie View Post
How did you deal with the cloudy weather most of the time? That's hard enough to do during the winters in Oklahoma.
Vitamin D supplements, large quantities. I'm at over 43N latitude where we actually get significant differences in daylight/sunlight between Summer and Winter unlike areas to the south. Stay active in Winter and take up a different sport or activity.
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Old 09-20-2013, 06:13 PM
 
Location: Tippecanoe County, Indiana
26,375 posts, read 46,232,890 times
Reputation: 19455
Quote:
Originally Posted by dvxhd View Post
That city is such a mystery to me. On paper it would seem to be everything I would want out of a city, but I've been twice and didn't like it. I really wish I knew why it doesn't sit right with me, because it seems to be all around the perfect place to call home. Other cities that meet the criteria are places I would live though, so I'm confused.
Other recommendations would be the Upper Midwest/Northwoods or northern New England.
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Old 09-20-2013, 10:02 PM
 
Location: The edge of the world and all of Western civilization
984 posts, read 1,184,946 times
Reputation: 1691
Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater View Post
Other recommendations would be the Upper Midwest/Northwoods or northern New England.
In 2015 I'm shooting for the Northeast.
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Old 09-21-2013, 12:38 AM
 
Location: Deep Dirty South
5,190 posts, read 5,309,800 times
Reputation: 3863
Quote:
Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie View Post
How did you deal with the cloudy weather most of the time? That's hard enough to do during the winters in Oklahoma.
Didn't trouble me at all. I love overcast days and a bit of rain. People speak as if it is constantly raining in Portland and that's really not the case. It rains a great deal for several months out of the year (particularly from Oct or Nov through March or so) but it is usually a gentle rain, off and on with a lot of gray skies. The Spring and Summer, though, are absolutely glorious. Everything grows up there so the gardens and just the variety of plants and flowers exploding everywhere is astonishing. The last year I was there we went months without rain. Completely perfect weather.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dvxhd View Post
That city is such a mystery to me. On paper it would seem to be everything I would want out of a city, but I've been twice and didn't like it. I really wish I knew why it doesn't sit right with me, because it seems to be all around the perfect place to call home. Other cities that meet the criteria are places I would live though, so I'm confused.
I wonder if you could be specific about what put you off about the city. There were aspects of it that bugged me some, but I liked it overall. I could easily live there again, but if I moved back to Oregon it would likely be to somewhere other than Portland.
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Old 09-21-2013, 01:28 AM
 
Location: The edge of the world and all of Western civilization
984 posts, read 1,184,946 times
Reputation: 1691
Quote:
Originally Posted by Griffis View Post
I wonder if you could be specific about what put you off about the city. There were aspects of it that bugged me some, but I liked it overall. I could easily live there again, but if I moved back to Oregon it would likely be to somewhere other than Portland.
I really wish I could say. That's what confuses me, because I just didn't like it either time I went there, though it theoretically has about everything I would want. Believe me, I would elaborate if I could, but I'm at a loss with this one. Normally I can pinpoint why I love/like/dislike/hate something, somewhere or someone, but I really don't know what to say about Portland, aside from that I just don't like it there. I guess it's like those people who just rub you the wrong way and you can't explain why.
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Old 09-21-2013, 02:45 AM
 
Location: Deep Dirty South
5,190 posts, read 5,309,800 times
Reputation: 3863
Quote:
Originally Posted by dvxhd View Post
I really wish I could say. That's what confuses me, because I just didn't like it either time I went there, though it theoretically has about everything I would want. Believe me, I would elaborate if I could, but I'm at a loss with this one. Normally I can pinpoint why I love/like/dislike/hate something, somewhere or someone, but I really don't know what to say about Portland, aside from that I just don't like it there. I guess it's like those people who just rub you the wrong way and you can't explain why.
Yeah, I get you. I have visited (and even lived in) places where I just always felt out of place and somewhat alien.

I experienced a little of that in Portland, but oddly of all the many, many places I've lived, the place where I feel most like a fish out of water is OKC, even though I have lived in Oklahoma most of my life, including Tulsa, Norman and a few other towns in the state which I enjoyed overall.

Part of it is problems I personally perceive with OKC specifically (in my personal opinion and experience), but to be honest, some of it is due to the fact that the older I get, the less I want to live in a big, sprawling city with god-awful traffic and hundreds of thousands of people or more.

Have you ever seen the show Portlandia? It's a hilarious send-up of Portland and its culture, done in sweeping stereotypes. If you've spent much time in that city, it will resonate with you pretty deeply.
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Old 09-21-2013, 08:36 AM
 
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
533 posts, read 1,704,414 times
Reputation: 389
I used to enjoy reading posts on this forum, especially the ones where people offered help and opinions to those requesting it. But it seems to me the entire Oklahoma forum has become just one complaining and bashing session after another.

Life is too short for me to listen to people complaining constantly about some thing or another that they find personally inconvenient.

So I'm done.
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Old 09-21-2013, 04:50 PM
 
Location: Tippecanoe County, Indiana
26,375 posts, read 46,232,890 times
Reputation: 19455
Quote:
Originally Posted by dvxhd View Post
In 2015 I'm shooting for the Northeast.
If you want a lower tax burden I'd recommend NH, but if you're looking at buying property do a good amount of research to find a town with lower property taxes. NH doesn't have an income or sales tax, but does tax interest and dividend investment income. Sales tax does exist for hotel/motel rooms and restaurant meals. Business taxes could be a bit lower, but a good state tax-wise to live in if you work for an employer. Growth in LLCs and small businesses have been slow and steady.
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Old 09-21-2013, 05:50 PM
 
Location: The edge of the world and all of Western civilization
984 posts, read 1,184,946 times
Reputation: 1691
Quote:
Originally Posted by Griffis View Post
Yeah, I get you. I have visited (and even lived in) places where I just always felt out of place and somewhat alien.

I experienced a little of that in Portland, but oddly of all the many, many places I've lived, the place where I feel most like a fish out of water is OKC, even though I have lived in Oklahoma most of my life, including Tulsa, Norman and a few other towns in the state which I enjoyed overall.

Part of it is problems I personally perceive with OKC specifically (in my personal opinion and experience), but to be honest, some of it is due to the fact that the older I get, the less I want to live in a big, sprawling city with god-awful traffic and hundreds of thousands of people or more.

Have you ever seen the show Portlandia? It's a hilarious send-up of Portland and its culture, done in sweeping stereotypes. If you've spent much time in that city, it will resonate with you pretty deeply.
I agree with the bold part, because that sums up my experience. I've really thought about it, and everything aside what is really upsetting me here is an insurmountable culture clash. What I don't understand is how I normally do well being amongst other cultures, but I'm not doing well here. My best guess is that it comes down to despondence: for some reason, anywhere else I go I seem to always know there's a way out, but am deathly afraid that there may be no way out of here. Also, I've heard of that show, but have never seen it. Similarly, I never used to like King of the Hill, but after spending so much time in this part of the country it makes me laugh hard.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater View Post
If you want a lower tax burden I'd recommend NH, but if you're looking at buying property do a good amount of research to find a town with lower property taxes. NH doesn't have an income or sales tax, but does tax interest and dividend investment income. Sales tax does exist for hotel/motel rooms and restaurant meals. Business taxes could be a bit lower, but a good state tax-wise to live in if you work for an employer. Growth in LLCs and small businesses have been slow and steady.
Honestly, I've never complained about taxes until I moved here even though I pay less here than I have anywhere else. The thing though is elsewhere I can usually see that my tax dollars are being put to use. At home, they did a pretty good job of keeping the roads maintained. Traffic has become a serious concern, so they put lots of money into public transportation to keep people moving. They put lots of money into the central core, and lo and behold, when house prices were plummeting throughout the area, the central zip codes were one of the few parts of town that actually saw land values rise. Every election I actually voted in favor of more taxes so that they could improve the quality of life, as I didn't think people were taxed enough there, as there was (and still is) lots of room for improvement.

My point with all this is that I don't see taxes as some evil the government uses to oppress people. Oklahoma cities and counties, plus the state itself (by which I mean the people) could potentially benefit from a higher tax rate. All I see is lost income and nothing to show for it except for hiring people to work for the government. People in San Francisco, New York, Boston and Washington pay high taxes, but they seem to have a lot to show for it, such as more services, infrastructure and investments in the city. I would gladly pay more in taxes (without complaining) to live in the heart of Washington than I would to live in northeast West Virginia and commute into the city.
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