Anyone thinking of leaving Portland????/ (college, live, costs)

[roneb]

Portland and the Twin Cities do have a lot in common, as outlined in the earlier posts. My wife is a lifelong Portlander, so I may never get the chance to move, but here is why I vote for Minnesota (specifically Duluth).

Portland has become too expensive, I can't afford to upgrade to a better house for my family on a teacher's salary. I've never been much of a big city person (yes, Portland is big to me). Traffic is getting bad. Two seasons: summer (which is great) and the long gray wet. Portland is incredibly gray and dreary for far too many months. I really miss the seasons, cold crisp fall days (not wet) and actual snow on the ground in winter. Last, the people are changing. That PNW flavor is rapidly being replaced by a Cali style yuppie mentality - More superficial and money driven.

Duluth has almost all of the same recreation opportunities we enjoy in the PNW, but in a smaller down-to-earth community. The people are genuine and real. (I've been back twice to look at business opportunities.) The winters may be long and cold, but having grown up in Montana and Alaska, that is a plus to me!

[oldtintype]

We haven't been having cold crisp fall days?!

[nbres]

It is a small coastal town (at least to us Long Islanders) - that's why it is so great.

[Lillietta]

[QUOTE=roneb;1871280]Portland and the Twin Cities do have a lot in common, as outlined in the earlier posts. My wife is a lifelong Portlander, so I may never get the chance to move, but here is why I vote for Minnesota (specifically Duluth).


Thank God, somebody gets it.

[roneb]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

We haven't been having cold crisp fall days?!

I'll admit it, the past week and a half has been great! But you'll have to admit that this is not the norm for Portland in the fall! And we also get the inversion and pollution advisory to go with it! Duluth has some of the cleanest air in the nation.

[nancy thereader]

but here is why I vote for Minnesota (specifically Duluth).

I went to The U of Wisconsin in Superior which is sort of a twin city to Duluth. (We'd fly out of that airport to St Paul or O'Hare) and it was freezing up there. Lots of times the time & temperature clock near Woolworth's would register as minus 28° . Naturally no one would be wearing a hat or gloves ( how uncool can you get?) The school dorms would have snowshoes out for the kids to wear.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by roneb

I'll admit it, the past week and a half has been great! But you'll have to admit that this is not the norm for Portland in the fall! And we also get the inversion and pollution advisory to go with it! Duluth has some of the cleanest air in the nation.

This is always what fall is like, apart from sometimes there's rain too...

[Sobefobik]

I've lived in the Pacific Northwest all my life and I'm tired of it here. I've lived in Portland for about 4 years. I'm considering Homer, Alaska; Boston, MA; Spokane, WA; Ogden, UT or Salt Lake; Fairbanks, AK; and Denver.

I'm just really getting sick of the weather here. I also think that the job market is not good at all.

[smarino]

Every time I think of leaving where I am now and returning to where I used to live, I stumble onto these posts, and it has saved me from moving back several times. Please do not consider moving anywhere until you have visited for an extended stay. It takes a long time, usually, to process all the new information in a new city/state. This is not meant to be a rap on Portland, it's just my memories of the place, and they are not that subjective. Read these posts and you will see the same things over and over.

It is dark and gloomy most of the year. Damp and drizzly. All of which makes for beautiful flowers and parks, but if you are affected by light and the lack of it you will find it depressing. Winters are cold and wetter. Summer is just beautiful, but if you get 3 months of it you are lucky. Public buses are great. Great routes and plenty of them. A lot of people ride them, so it isn't ghetto like it is in many other places. The light rail is something I did not care for after seeing how it could be done in San Francisco and San Diego. It is insufferably slow, can be crowded because the seating is configured strangely, and you do not want to be on it when the high schools get out! Late night it can get very weird too due to uncouth youths. Portland's homeless, drugs, crime are not nearly as bad as a lot of cities, but it is there. The police are scary. I think they model their program on L.A.'s or something. They take no prisoners. I have seen a lady cop approach a pulled over station wagon, full of kids and a middle class mom, w/ her hand on her gun. The city can generally be described as liberal, and there are a lot of greenies and environmentalists helping to protect the city from developers, but I found that under the veneer of liberalism things looked pretty controlling and conservative, but then I lived a long time in New Orleans, Hawaii, and frisco, so it is relative. WAY too many PC nazis for me. People are not nesscarily snooty, but every friend I had there was from somewhere else. The people, and this is a generality, are usually polite, but distant. A ton of people talk about The Seattle Freeze, and Portland has its own version of it. Rents are not that bad, but that is changing, and home selling prices are out of sight. There are jobs, and the wages are good. There used to be a lot of programs for the less fortunate, but the right turn in the citie's leadership has cut out many of them. Thank goodness there are still a lot of private organizations that will still help out. There is quite a lot of music and entertainment. I liked how the different neighborhoods had their own flavor. I didn't hate the place, and I would love to have that great public transportation again, and I miss the natural beauty, but for me the downsides, and every place has them, won out.I hope you go visit several places before you pick a spot to move to.

[Lee151]

I think about moving back to Phoenix with longing every winter but my husband won't go with me.