Things that annoy me about Portland (Astoria, Halsey: neighborhood, buy, closing)

[greenlite]

Originally Posted by hamellr

Study after study in real world experiences going back to the 1950's shows that adding new roads does zero to help with traffic. Mass transit, dense downtown cores, or making people live near their jobs are the only real answers.

But wouldnt more freeways help? Many people say that Portland road network is outdated and wasnt designed for this many residents.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Things that annoy me about Portland

MAX...

Consider if they would have gone overhead or underground on Interstate and through town... Expo to Downtown is 7 minutes by car (off traffic) and 40 min via MAX..

Actually, I just looked. Max IS indeed about 35/40 min to downtown Portland from Expo Center. Google max has driving about 12 right now, with zero traffic. I think it's important to consider that yes, driving is faster when conditions are optimal/no traffic, but add traffic on 5 and I'll be MAX is a lot faster a good deal of the time. Add commute hours in and it's definitely faster MOST of the time.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by greenlite

But wouldnt more freeways help? Many people say that Portland road network is outdated and wasnt designed for this many residents.

Ask the people of Los Angeles that question.

New freeways help for a short period of time, but it just encourages more people to drive, then the problem is back where it was. 8 lanes in each direction haven't fixed LA traffic. Portland does have a problem where areas bottleneck but adding lanes wouldn't fix the over all problem long term.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by greenlite

I think public transit is not so bad, considering the city's size and scale, what Portland needs though is some new roads or someth that can help with the traffic, I only see it getting worse. City leaders need to stop thinking earth friendly and start thinking people friendly.

So what, pave the Willamette so we can add more lanes to 5 bottlenecks?

[Yankeemama]

The thing that annoys me most about Portland is the sense of entitlement many long time residents have. It plays itself out in many ways such as illegal, rude and ignorant driving maneuvers. The way many people in upper middle class neighborhoods ( the home prices may be expensive for Portland but no big deal in S.F., Boston, Brooklyn... and could buy almost nothing but a studio in Manhattan) act towards each other. You see this entitlement when these people have dogs and/or kids. Example: I am driving home when some guy has three loose, big dogs in the street. I slow to a stop so I don't hit one of them and one of the dogs is at my left tire. The owner finally gets them to the sidewalk and he looks at me like I am at fault. Example: I can't give just one example of annoying people with kids but here's some advice to the ladies with the double strollers. Use some courtesy when taking up a sidewalk or aisle. Yeah, I have kids, too! Lots of us procreated! You are not as special as you think you are! I know, people are like that in all cities but in Portland there is an extra special, "I am so much better than you" attitude. Okay, so that's what annoys me about Portand.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

The thing that annoys me most about Portland is the sense of entitlement many long time residents have. It plays itself out in many ways such as illegal, rude and ignorant driving maneuvers. The way many people in upper middle class neighborhoods ( the home prices may be expensive for Portland but no big deal in S.F., Boston, Brooklyn... and could buy almost nothing but a studio in Manhattan) act towards each other. You see this entitlement when these people have dogs and/or kids. Example: I am driving home when some guy has three loose, big dogs in the street. I slow to a stop so I don't hit one of them and one of the dogs is at my left tire. The owner finally gets them to the sidewalk and he looks at me like I am at fault. Example: I can't give just one example of annoying people with kids but here's some advice to the ladies with the double strollers. Use some courtesy when taking up a sidewalk or aisle. Yeah, I have kids, too! Lots of us procreated! You are not as special as you think you are! I know, people are like that in all cities but in Portland there is an extra special, "I am so much better than you" attitude. Okay, so that's what annoys me about Portand.

I'm sorry, but how can you possibly know that the drivers you claim make "illegal, rude and ignorant driving maneuvers" are long-time residents?

[turquoise1]

Yankeemama, I think that the rich people here, surrounded by the large amount of poverty-stricken and homeless, feel like actual royalty. The West Hills is far removed from the realities of Felony Flats or even Pioneer Square. In places where New York, there is more "mixing"... even the 0.0001 percent has to come into contact with the unwashed masses simply by walking out of their apartments.

But it's all a matter of perspective... someone in the West Hills might buy a $2 million house and feel like a king, while a house in the Hamptons could cost $45 million.

I really like Portland - it has a lot to offer. It is beautiful, green, livable, full of great culture and food. However, I think the superficially polite, passive-aggressive culture often conceals repressed anger. Also, I wonder if this reserved, indirect culture literally drives some people crazy because of a lack of social connection. For a place that is all about community, there are a lot of isolated people muttering to themselves on the street.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

I'm sorry, but how can you possibly know that the drivers you claim make "illegal, rude and ignorant driving maneuvers" are long-time residents?

I categorize "long time residents" as residents living in Portland for over 15 years. I am referring to many people I actually recognize and most of them are long time residents. Do you want to see the results of my survey?

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I categorize "long time residents" as residents living in Portland for over 15 years. I am referring to many people I actually recognize and most of them are long time residents. Do you want to see the results of my survey?

Well, yeah. If you're going to make sweeping (negative) statements about "long time residents" it probably would be helpful to know that you're talking about a few of them, in your neighborhood ... not all of us.

[midwest61021]

Originally Posted by belmont22

I do love this city in many ways, but lately a few things have really irked me.

1) The transit sucks

Sometimes it takes 2 hours to travel ten miles, and the MAX is really just a showpiece. Lines have been cut, prices raised. Some hours it's typical for the busier lines to be double capacity. Sometimes it's actually quicker to just walk than to wait for the next ride.

2) Poverty

Oregon has a lot of poverty. While I appreciate that the homeless are welcome here and not driven out of town, I wish they were better taken care of. I also find that if I go downtown for any period of time it's almost inevitable I will be asked for money. I'm not rich myself and while often I am willing to give them a dollar or at least a quarter or two, sometimes I feel like it's a tax. The job market also sucks; Portland isn't a good place to live if you want to make decent money.

3) The food, music and nightlife aren't that great

This town totally shuts down at 2:30 AM, and even though there are a lot of bars, they're honestly all pretty much the same as the next. Same with the food carts - I like gyros, but how many gyro carts do there really need to be? The Chinese food sucks too, now that Fujin is gonna be gone I'll pretty much be "done" with Chinese food.

Also what famous bands does Portland have that still make music or are relevant? None?

4) THE WEATHER

In theory I should like Portland's weather, but in practice I do not. The rainfall distribution is horrible for your health. I wish there was more winter sunshine and more summer rain. The mildewy winter gives me bronchitis and then when summer comes I get horrible allergies and can't breathe which is even worse.

It's also not as mild a climate as you'd think. While winter is usually above freezing, it's only a few degrees warmer than cities like New York and DC on average, and unlike back east you don't get days that are actually warm during the winter. The winters are LONG too - sure extreme cold is almost unheard of, but you can go like 5-6 months without it ever reaching 70F. The snowlessness is depressing, snow is fun and I feel like a climate as chilly as Portland deserves more of it.

Summer can also get quite hot and muggy at times, despite popular belief. 90 degree days that fail to get below 60 at night are quite common and the humidity tends to be around 35-50% during the day. The fact AC is rare in Portland and houses are poorly insulated combined with my allergies mean that July, August and most of September are not a good time for me. I am always aware of how the heat makes me unhappy during those months. By August it gets really brown and dusty too, I wish Portland had more summer rain.

Try living in Illinois if you think you have gripes and grievances now?? Illinois has your issues +10!