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There are two issues here: it rarely stays cold enough to freeze the ground so we have ice and it doesn't snow enough to invest in a lot of snow removal equipment. From a cost effective basis it is smarter to maintain the power grid while sitting a snow storm out. That way we can watch other fools cars skate.
There are two issues here: it rarely stays cold enough to freeze the ground so we have ice and it doesn't snow enough to invest in a lot of snow removal equipment. From a cost effective basis it is smarter to maintain the power grid while sitting a snow storm out. That way we can watch other fools cars skate.
Yeah, that's not unlike Richmond, VA. We actually got a lot of snow this year (for Richmond). At one point we had a couple feet and the whole city shutdown. I still made it around the city, but I was prepared (shovel in the car, and I know what NOT to drive in) and had to help dig a couple people out who were stuck.
I actually love that there's little to no snow here, and I even love when it does snow because it's an event. Up north, you could get a blizzard in zero degree weather, and still have to make it to work. You NEVER get a snow day!
If you get snow in Portland you'll almost be expected not to show up for school or work. As a kid, when we'd wake up to find snow outside we'd sit in front of the big old radio in the basement (I don't know why we didn't just watch tv) and when they'd announce PP Schools were closed we'd scream, put on our warmest clothes & spend the day playing in it.
iliketrains is correct. A lot of the griping comes from folks who move to Portland with great expectations & when they're not met, react like jilted lovers-badmouthing the one who let them down.
Good luck with your move. I lived in NYC for a few years after I first left Portland & I loved it. I still do. But there's definitely a big difference between the 2 coasts.
I recall a snow last year shortly after I moved up to Portland...I will say this: It was, in fact, a "real" snow. The roads were icy, the trucks were unprepared for it. Conditions weren't great, I will be the first to admit.
But I remember driving home from work the day the storm first hit (Beaverton, Nike campus). I was fully expecting people to be driving stupid, because that's how it always goes when there's snow. But what I wasn't expecting were the people who just decided to STOP right in the middle of the road. We're not tlaking people who couldn't get up a hill. We're not talking people who were stuck or broken down. There were people who just hit the brakes, stopped their cars, and put it in park, right in lanes of traffic, on Murray Blvd. They were just blocking entire lanes of traffic, refusing to move. As if the snow/ice would magically melt if they just sat there staring at it for 5 minutes. Or else they were just paralyzed with fear. It was the most obnoxious and arrogant thing I had seen in quite some time. These people wouldn't even drive to a parking lot. It took me over 2 hours to get home that day, when my daily commute was usually right around 25 minutes.
I also think people assume since Portland is a city, they are going to have some sex in the city experience.
I'm sorry to hear that you're not finding sex in Portland, iliktrains. Portland really HAS changed! There was a lot of sex to be found when I was young & Portland had 1/2 the population it has now. Don't be shy. They're out there no matter what your persuasion might be.
I am one of the people who came to Portland to avoid the snow. I grew up with it on the other side of the Cascade Mountains, in Spokane, so I do know how to drive in snow and rock my car out when it gets stuck. (I was amazed last year at the number of people who thought they could get their car away from the curb in a foot of snow by just slamming the accelerator, and, of course, they only succeeded in spinning their wheels on the now packed-down snow). So, for about a week each winter, I get to remember my childhood, but otherwise, I find the rain much easier to deal with.
I agree that one's expectations about meeting people are important. I feel quite connected but that is because I live in a co-housing community in North Portland and I am an active participant in a choir as well as socializing with my workmates. The best thing is to just get involved -- if working at a shelter is your thing, you will meet other volunteers, etc. Compared to my experience in Beaumont, Texas, it has been very easy to feel "at home" in Portland.
Also, regarding your comment about the Pearl...there are many things to recommend the Pearl, of course, but I am enjoying North Portland a lot. It is an area in flux, and my relatives who have lived in Portland for years look fearful when I say that our cohousing community is in North Portland. I understand that it used to be one of the worst parts of Portland, and there are still pockets like that. But at least the part around the Adidas campus is very nice, with lots of people keeping large flower gardens and vegetable gardens. It is easy to zip downtown to the concerts and museums and galleries, etc. And very close to us, the Alberta Arts neighborhood is growing and growing. So, I would say that while the Pearl has captured the word "trendy" around here, do look around to other areas that have a lot to recommend them too.
As a long-term Portlander who did grow up in snowy climes and does know how to drive in the snow, I can concur with Xanathos' observations regarding abandoned cars and people stopping in the middle of the road. I will clarify something about the youtube link posted by iliketrains. That video was of a severe ice storm we had 5 or 6 years ago. Those poor drivers weren't just on snow, it was the worst ice I've ever seen in Portland. Add in that they were on a fairly steep hill... Why else does a car that wasn't really moving accelerate sideways! If those drivers made a mistake, it was turning on to that street in the first place.
But iliketrains IS right about the number of SUV's that wreck in bad weather. Four wheel drive get you going, but it won't help you stop!
Yeah, 4-wheel drive vehicles are often times the ones off the roads in Western NY too. People drive on snow and ice going 65 MPH while changing lanes. It's not uncommon for people to think they can do anything in a 4WD vehicle, even up north.
Thanks to everyone for the great feedback. Everyone on here collectively gave me the understanding I was looking for. It was reassuring to hear people call-out the unrealistic expectations of living in Portland that some people have in moving there, as I kind of felt like it was the case (especially with some people expecting some sort of super social experience, which exists no where in reality). Portland seems to have many great things about it, and I should be visiting again sometime in the next month or so. I'll post back once I figure out where I'm moving to.
I'm sorry to hear that you're not finding sex in Portland, iliktrains. Portland really HAS changed! There was a lot of sex to be found when I was young & Portland had 1/2 the population it has now. Don't be shy. They're out there no matter what your persuasion might be.
I am one of the people who came to Portland to avoid the snow. I grew up with it on the other side of the Cascade Mountains, in Spokane, so I do know how to drive in snow and rock my car out when it gets stuck. (I was amazed last year at the number of people who thought they could get their car away from the curb in a foot of snow by just slamming the accelerator, and, of course, they only succeeded in spinning their wheels on the now packed-down snow). So, for about a week each winter, I get to remember my childhood, but otherwise, I find the rain much easier to deal with.
I agree that one's expectations about meeting people are important. I feel quite connected but that is because I live in a co-housing community in North Portland and I am an active participant in a choir as well as socializing with my workmates. The best thing is to just get involved -- if working at a shelter is your thing, you will meet other volunteers, etc. Compared to my experience in Beaumont, Texas, it has been very easy to feel "at home" in Portland.
Also, regarding your comment about the Pearl...there are many things to recommend the Pearl, of course, but I am enjoying North Portland a lot. It is an area in flux, and my relatives who have lived in Portland for years look fearful when I say that our cohousing community is in North Portland. I understand that it used to be one of the worst parts of Portland, and there are still pockets like that. But at least the part around the Adidas campus is very nice, with lots of people keeping large flower gardens and vegetable gardens. It is easy to zip downtown to the concerts and museums and galleries, etc. And very close to us, the Alberta Arts neighborhood is growing and growing. So, I would say that while the Pearl has captured the word "trendy" around here, do look around to other areas that have a lot to recommend them too.
I looked at this cohousing site you gave and I am pretty impressed with it.
Its almost like it has community written all over it, maybe a little suburban, but way better than much of the suburban sprawled cookie cutter areas. Its more urban than that, but still suburban enough to be on the safe side as well. Judging by the people in the pics I saw, it looks like a wide range, intellectuals, cosmopolitan types, artsy people, middle aged all in one community. I like the idea of this place. What are rents like?
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