Honest Opinion of Portland (Dallas, Phoenix: fit in, sales, rent)

[SteveMark]

Originally Posted by studioiduts

Unless you work for the government, medical or are already wealthy, you will probably have a hard time here. Most of Portland is SERVICE based. Meaning, restaurants and bars. There is very little high tech here, not very many big corporations and overall, not a lot of jobs. If you take a service industry job, get used to lousy tipping. Getting 15% is lucky here.

If you are black, you will probably refer to Portland as "Utopia", as a friend of mine who left here for the Bay area did. Portland likes to think of itself as very open minded to all races, but they fail to remember what they did to the blacks in this region. They specifically made laws where they couldn't own or buy property except in only one place; the MLK area. And now, they are forcing them out of there through real estate price increases and so called gentrification. If you are black and even remotely menacing looking, expect people to walk away from you on the sidewalk. This is a "Mayberry Mentality" city. This city is only open minded when it suits their personal agenda. They are also totally happy with Mexicans and other illegal migrants sitting around on side walks and littering up the place all day in the name of Human Rights. And let's not even get into the fact that they defecate in people's door ways and wee on people's cars. Don't believe me? Go hang around SE Ankeny and 6th all day. Take a good look.

The city is heavily socialist. It's tax happy and if you do happen to make a decent living, you will find the gov likes to take as much as it can and redistribute it to certain "programs". This happens everywhere in Amerika, but it is very prevalent in Portland. Portland tends to think that it runs the whole state of Oregon as well. They really don't care much for the people in the smaller regions. Very much a sort of suedo class warfare.

There is some good food and some good small farms. Don't know how long that will last though, with Monsanto and ADM trying to ruin the world with the help of the USDA, it's only a matter of time before it falls. For right now though, you can get good local food here. But you'll have to hook up with a co-op to get it. Whole Foods and New Seasons aren't going to have that much. And Wild Oats just got bought out.

There are things to do here. If your coming from a small town from nowhere, you'll be entertained. If your coming from a big city, you realize that Portland is a poser city in a lot of respects. As someone on here said before, "it tries to be NY with out the class." It is a Hipster enclave, and basically most people are full of it. Lots of emo junk music. There are some goods bands and underground stuff. Some bands from Cali and Seattle have relocated here do to it being somewhat cheaper than there. Although, this is about over. Check Craigslist and you will see how expensive it is to live here. And the prices don't reflect wages, unlike Seattle. The Portland real estate market is a collusion between real estate speculators and government. It has has driven prices up to ridiculous levels that in no way reflect what this city has to offer. And the city is happy to tax you on your property value. You can also get raked over on leases here real easy. I suggest being careful about "NO CAUSE" evictions. You will not get much for your money here. Expect the fall of the real estate market bubble to hit every where else first. It will hit the NW last.

Crime isn't that bad. Nothing lethal. It's mostly vandalism and theft, which is rampant. If you have a decent car, you might want to find secured parking for it. It will most likely get spray tagged, have the mirrors broken off or have some other type of stupid vandalism applied to it. Don't leave valuables in the car and use a radio with a removable face. You don't have to worry about being shot or raped. Unless you specifically set out to go get shot or raped. I'm sure you could find it out past 82nd if you looked hard enough.

Not that much traffic. You'll get rush hour on I-5, 26 West and 84 at the usual hours. Some parts of 99E are bad in the city too between 5 and 7 pm. In general, it's pretty easy to get around. Public transit isn't all it's cracked up to be. The Max(train) basically only goes up, down, left, right. You'll more than likely take a bus if anything. Busses are pretty much the same in every city that I have experienced. People can't drive. PERIOD. When you take your DMV test, you'll see why. Get ready for bikers that think they own the road. They don't follow laws, ride recklessly if they can actually ride their bike to begin with and get all pissy when they cut you off and almost get hit by you( or actually do in some cases). A lot of people ride fixies and old junk that they can barely get a up a hill. A derailleur is SIN here. Which brings up my next point...

Portland is a say one thing, do another, type city. It's all talk and no action here. If it's a bumper sticker, they are all over it. If it's actual work, forgetaboudit. They are also not into actual due diligence of fact finding either. They like to be told what is correct by a Democrat that promises everything to them ( I'm Libertarian if anything, if your wondering, and into sound money) They like to tell you how green and eco-conscious they are. What they don't tell you is how much mercury and dioxin are in the Columbia and Hood rivers from industrial dumping. They don't tell you about the old Manhattan Project 2 hours north that is leeching all kinds of junk down here. They don't tell you about how most of Oregon runs off of dams for electricity. Of which, most block Salmon routes and have no fish ladders. It's destroying a lot of the local Salmon supplies as well as other fish. Dams are also a big contributor to Ecoli in water thanks to the constant release streams that wash vegetation off the edges of the waterways and create bad algae. Go look on City-Data for Portland. Look up the Toxic Waste data. Get a good look at all those markers. There is also the euphemism of "public land". Oregon has so much "public land". Like the people own it. It is not public land, it's Government land owned by the FEDS, not citizens. And the FEDS do what they want with it. Such as burry radioactive waste and spent fuel rods in remote mountain areas. And if someone starts talking about how great the Urban Growth Boundary has been for the city, please proceed in slapping them black and blue. It's a scam. Just like the TRAM. And the Waterfront Development.

The coast and mountains are pretty. But if your thinking of a warm sunny beach you are sadly mistaken. It rains hard and is constantly windy from Oct. to March on the coast. It's not pleasant. In the summer it will get only up to about 75 or 78, and that's at late day temperatures. If it's 90 in Portland, you will have to drive 1 and a half hours to Cannon Beach or other, and get there at about 2 pm for it to be 75. And that will last to about 7pm. Then it drops down to the 50's. The wind creates a wind chill too. In Nehalem it can be vicious. The water temperature is always cold too. About 50. It's not swimming water. Surfers wear gear. It is pretty though. The cold/cool makes it loose it's luster.

The weather isn't that bad. It's mostly mizzle when it does rain. It rains the hardest between Nov. and March. You can get some good storms and floods then. Go search YouTube for December 2007 floods (Seattle suburbs go the worst). The summers are great. Dry and warm to hot. You can get some 90+ degree days. Some up to 100. Generally pretty good though. You will need air conditioning in the summer to be "comfortable". The stinky hippies will argue against this. But, as someone coming from Atlanta, I know hot. Trust me, you'll want it. Winter lows are around 35 to 39. You won't get much of any snow unless you go to the mountains. It will be a dusting if it happens in the city. Foothills, a little more. When the weather clears up it's colder. When it gets cloudy, it gets warmer.

The people vary here. I find the more friendly people being people transplanted here from the midwest and East Coast. You will find a lot of smugness here. It is becoming a transplant city though. There are panhandlers all over the place. But, these are generally not homeless people. These are junkies, tweakers, deadbeats and generally ignorant misfits. The real homeless don't ask you for money. They are the ones digging through your trash at 3am looking for bottle returns. They will also try to take your parking spots with their vehicle, if they have one, and park it there forever to live out of it. That can be a problem on the inner east side in that respect. They usually are friendly though. In a Psychic Vampire kind of way. There are also some really disturbed and crazy individuals here. There is a high concentration of loons all over the place. Some of them homeless, some of them not. I don't think I have ever been in a city with this high of a concentration of mentally ill people before. And you can only blame so much on the "greys". Of which, you will have to get used to. It can be hard adjusting to long term overcast and cloudy conditions. Better like coffee.

Well this is getting long. I'll end with this. Move to where you know you can make great money. Because you can always take a vacation when you have money. If you are in a beautiful place, but poor and struggling, a paradise will look like a slum. You will never have any time to enjoy it.

Good Luck

It amazes me how many people keep saying that the negatives about Portland are overhyped or exaggerated! I read your post, which is very similar to mine and many other negative posts I read about PDX. They all have the same theme; homeless/street people/mentally ill problems, bad weather, elitist/uber-liberal attitudes, etc. However, anytime they are posted, someone says how blown out of proportion they are.

I guess everything is in the eye of the beholder, but I thought your comments were spot on. I once talked to two policement on 6th ave and asked why there were so many homeless and panhandling street kids. To quote one of them, he said, "Oh please, don't get me started on that. We have been told directly from the mayor not to bother or harass them in any way unless they are causing physical harm to someone." I asked, "what about them just harassing people, being loud and agressive?" He repeated, as if he was reading it, "not unless they are causing physical harm to someone or committing a crime". That says it all.

The packs of white, dreadlock wearing, olive drab wearing 15-22 year old "homeless" street kids exist and thrive there because they are welcome there and can pretty much do what they want. I saw two of these freaks (one girl and one boy) sitting on the corner by the mall by Pioneer Courthouse Square. One held a sign that said, "need money to stop the voices" and the girl's sign said, "need money for new ring-tone". Funny? Maybe... Indication of the type of ignorant loser that makes Portland look like a joke? Yes... I can't imagine promoting downtown Portland as a "family friendly" environment, a place to bring the kids:

"Come on down to the city of Portland. Bring the kids and watch them be accosted by grungy street people. Watch as men pee on the side of buildings in the middle of the day as the police walk by!"

Go downtown Chicago even, a city exponentially larger than Portland, especially in a shopping district and see if you'll see that kind of crap! If you do, it certainly won't be to the extent. And I guarantee you won't get panhandled nearly as much in Chicago or Minneapolis than you will in Portland.

Again, great comments!

[Tesaje]

I don't know, but the times I've gone to downtown PDX, I failed to notice hordes of homeless or panhandlers. Maybe I've gotten too used to the professional panhandlers here and have just learned to ignore them. I remember some 35 years ago in Sacramento, there were a lot of them in places. I never saw that kind of density in Portland. Our panhandlers here seem to stay indoors when it gets really cold so that may be why there are fewer in Chicago or Minneapolis.

When I read these tirades about how awful it is to have indigent, pierced, tattooed kids around, I just try to think of anyplace of any size in this country that doesn't have them. Maybe Provo, but then you have a few polygamist families there and governments with way too much church influence.

I'm sure there are some down sides to Portland like there is to any place. I appreciated Blazer Prophet's post as it also listed what he/she liked about the place as well as what not. I could quibble with the statement that it was that person's impartial opinion as an opinion is by definition partial. But it was obviously an effort to be honest about the good as well as the bad.

[Minervah]

I work in downtown Portland and not a day goes by that I don't get accosted by panhandlers. I've actually gotten to know them. Some are funny, some are nasty and some are downright scary. But like anything else one can get used to them.

[hymalaia]

I know I'm going to be in the minority but I actually see the panhandlers/homeless as a good thing, not because of their situation, but as a somebody who likes to film/photograph it gives a certain degree of "freedom" from harassment by law enforcement. I mean who is going to bother a decent dressed person with a camera when you have bums running about? Who knows maybe this is just an illusion but I've yet to be harassed on the street here by any law enforcement for shooting pics/video taping. The same can't be said for many other locales I've been too, regardless of the actual law. Homeless people might ask me for money but they are much less likely to go an a power trip than a cop. I'm far more afraid of the latter. Maybe if I was a woman I'd feel differently though.

I don't know, I also get the sense many people (nobody specific) just don't like seeing homeless people. It bothers them. But homeless, down and out people exist everywhere. At least Portland doesn't try to cover up the problem the way other places do.

[hymalaia]

Originally Posted by studioiduts

I wish I had a good answer. I'm going through that myself. The truth is, Amerika is in a BUST, and will be for a long time. From the people I have talked to, Seattle has a better economy than Portland. More big business and International business and shipping. Which translates into more jobs and services. Which translates into people having more money to spend on art, clubs, music, galleries, filming, web content. They are also more educated. Portland is not business friendly. It is not free market friendly( actually, nothing in Amerika is when you get down to it). I come across a lot of people just getting by and who work on a "favor system". I won't say Seattle is a meca in a monetary regard, but it seems better than Portland. In terms of livability, Portland is better, but, it is also way smaller. It's a matter of scale. As an artist, if you have the means to make money online, travel, or sell your work outside of your locality, it becomes more of just asking yourself whether you just like living there. If you have to survive locally, or are working a full time job as well as trying to make money and get noticed doing your art, you have to have a good sense of what is happening around you and weed out the hype. Look at the numbers. Look what's being consumed or not being consumed. Look at how people operate. I'm out in the bars and clubs. I'm working with the bands. I'm talking with the film guys and studio owners. The market in Portland is saturated with a downturn economy. If a city relies heavily on services that are not "essential" services" for jobs, such as restaurants and bars, if it relies on big government both local and federal for jobs, when there is less money being spent, you will see heavy unemployment and lay-offs. People will have less money to eat out and drink. Government will have less tax revenue coming in and will liquidate non essential jobs. Inflation is already eating everyone alive. The only saving grace would be medical, because people always get sick. But the medical establishment here seems to rely heavily on cronyism from the local government. I've also talked to professors of some of the major colleges here, who I happened to be drinking with at Low Brow one night. His statement was that it is hard to get highly educated people to enroll in Portland. When given the choice between SF and Seattle or here, people will decide on one of those areas instead of Portland. Why spend all your money on schooling here when you won't have a job when you get out? Seattle is only 2 hours away.

If your asking me where to go to make money being an artist, there is no answer to that. All true artists have always suffered no matter where they have been. Art is not essential to life. People will choose food over a music CD every time. You can take solace in knowing that if your any good at what you do, you will probably make good money about 5 years after your dead.

For what it's worth, if your a musician, live shows are where it's at. You have to travel and be business savvy to make it work though.

I agree with you that all of America is pretty screwed, in fact I'd say all of industrial civilization is in the same boat. I suppose I could move to some third world backwater where my dollar goes 50 times as far, I just have no desire to do that.

I'm actually a filmmaker, but I'd rather eat my spleen than live in LA, which is apparently where I am supposed to be. I suppose if necessary I could live there for a couple years as an "adventure", but I could never tell myself I'm going to "settle" there, unlike with Portland. I use alternative means to make my income and frankly I wouldn't be able to pull it off in SF or Seattle. Just too expensive. No PDX isn't the film mecca of the world but there is more stuff going on than most places, plus I'm more the "artsy-filmmaker" type and I can fit with the general "vibe" here, even if it can sometimes be pretentious and annoying. Being around like minded people is important to me. I can see though, where somebody who wants a normal corporate job and a normal family will be put off by this city.

I disagree though when you say art isn't a necessity. It's true perhaps that people will spend money for food first, but in the modern age food isn't exactly scarce for most people. It's actually quite cheap as opposed to housing, school and insurance, which are things I suppose people will put their paychecks towards before art. But can you imagine civilization existing without art? I certainly can't, and even if it could it would be so horrifying I'd have to blow my brains out. Is life just about survival and passing on your genes? Maybe but I think that's a real depressing mindset to take.

I know someone may read this and tell me to go see a shrink. Well I would but I can't afford it with the price of housing.

[tiffela74]

Im a female, lived in Oregon all my life, spent a LOT of time in Portland, and I have only ONCE ever felt threatened or harrassed by a homeless person. And that includes the years where I was an overconfident idiot and would walk about Portland after dark by myself in some of the less desirable areas...Anyhow, this paticular.....gentleman had quite too much to drink already, and was getting rather aggressive and insistant. Would NOT take "Im sorry, I dont have any spare money" from me. A couple of strangers ended up intervening and helping me out. Even walked with me for awhile to make sure I was okay and not being followed. Anyhow, besides that, ive never had any issues w/homeless.
Most people ive met, have been quite polite about it when i cant give them anything. And while they are about, its not like you cant walk down the sidewalk w/o being approached.

As for the coast, Its not rainy/windy here all the time. sigh. My girls have been wearing skirts/dresses to school and not feeling any chill. People have been out and about in tshirts playing outside in some very nice weather here lately. We spent the entire weekend down playing on the beach it was SO nice!!!

My biggest gripe about Portland is probably the taxes here in Oregon. We seem to really get slammed w/taxes. Of course, the tax rebate checks are pretty awesome! We got just under 1000.00 just before Christmas this year! THAT was a very happy unexpected bonus!
Oh wait!!! I know what I really dont like! All the scary people on bicycles! Theyre all over the place and can be so aggressive!! IM always scared spitless Im gonna squash one someday they way they dart in and out! YIPES!!!!

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by hymalaia

I know I'm going to be in the minority but I actually see the panhandlers/homeless as a good thing, not because of their situation, but as a somebody who likes to film/photograph it gives a certain degree of "freedom" from harassment by law enforcement. I mean who is going to bother a decent dressed person with a camera when you have bums running about? Who knows maybe this is just an illusion but I've yet to be harassed on the street here by any law enforcement for shooting pics/video taping. The same can't be said for many other locales I've been too, regardless of the actual law. Homeless people might ask me for money but they are much less likely to go an a power trip than a cop. I'm far more afraid of the latter. Maybe if I was a woman I'd feel differently though.

I don't know, I also get the sense many people (nobody specific) just don't like seeing homeless people. It bothers them. But homeless, down and out people exist everywhere. At least Portland doesn't try to cover up the problem the way other places do.

My heart goes out to the homeless here. So many kids (under 18) and the vast majority in to drugs and prostitution. I often wonder what it was that brought them to this stage of their lives. The police want to help, but it's hard to help those who either don't want it or squander it. When I used to take MAX to work downtown in the winter I'd see all the people in doorways with a single blanket wrapped around them. Like some people, I do the little things. I volunteer some time and give money to local charities but the problems just seems to be getting worse. I don't begrudge their panhandling per se, but when one realizes 90% of it goes to get high it's hard to give as you're part of the problem.

[suncat]

Originally Posted by tiffela74

Im a female, lived in Oregon all my life, spent a LOT of time in Portland, and I have only ONCE ever felt threatened or harrassed by a homeless person.

Oh wait!!! I know what I really dont like! All the scary people on bicycles! Theyre all over the place and can be so aggressive!! IM always scared spitless Im gonna squash one someday they way they dart in and out! YIPES!!!!

I'm female and don't feel threatened by the homeless, but just annoyed by the preponderance of the disgruntled pan-handling youth downtown. I've lived here 21 years, and it's gotten progressively worse. I feel bad for the old men, the old veterans and mentally ill, but the young ones around Pioneer Square have such chips on their shoulders. They're the ones I've had it up to here with.

Who says the bicyclists are scary? People want to commute by bike? Great. Many of those riders are considerate and follow the rules of the road. There are two types of bicyclists that really bug me here, though --

1. The yuppies who have to dress in all that pretentious gear just to go for a Saturday afternoon ride. Why try so hard to look like a professional biker? Just go out and enjoy your nice bike ride, instead of being so conscious of how you look doing it.

2. The bikers who think they're superior to traffic laws and blow through stop signs as if they own the roads. They are dangerous not to themselves, but to drivers.

You see this stuff in other cities, but here in Portland it's on a larger scale.

[tiffela74]

Its those you described as #2 that scare me! They dart all over like big bees and it freaks me out! I had one person zoom across a couple lanes of traffic on one of the bridges a few years ago..no signals, no look, nothin....i about hit him and it freaked me out so bad my heart hurt. jeez....talk about a lousy place to be an aggressive rider!
but yes, there are many conciderate riders who are just going about their own buisness, and are no threat to anyone. I admire those who have the willingness to bike to work rather than to add to the pollution and traffic jams. Kudos to those.....
sorry for lumpin!
Tiffany
ps- my husband used to work a recycle route in Portland, there was a homeless guy that was always at a certain stop. Every week, he would offer to help my husband (this was when he still had to lift cans by hand) in exchange for any $ or whatever. DH used to pick up redeemable cans/bottles and give him to the guy rather than $, it was a quirky kinda relationship, no harm, no foul.(but of course, he wasnt able to allow the guy to help him at all) Then one day, he wasnt there.....and DH never saw him again...we often wondered what happened to him...

[hymalaia]

Originally Posted by suncat

I'm female and don't feel threatened by the homeless, but just annoyed by the preponderance of the disgruntled pan-handling youth downtown. I've lived here 21 years, and it's gotten progressively worse. I feel bad for the old men, the old veterans and mentally ill, but the young ones around Pioneer Square have such chips on their shoulders. They're the ones I've had it up to here with.

Please don't take offense at this but I think if you don't feel physically threatened by the homeless, just annoyed, it may be more something to do with you internally than a problem with Portland. Are you being personally harassed? Called names when you don't give them money? etc. This rarely happens to me but I understand my experience is just that, my own and perhaps others get different reactions. I can see where that would be annoying. However if they are just asking you for money, simply looking at them and saying "sorry" and getting on with your business usually works fine. It becomes automatic, something you do without thinking about and takes almost no energy.

Seriously unless they are harassing you or somehow otherwise infringing on your life, why do these kids with a "chip on their shoulder" bother you so much? What do you care about them? I don't mean to go off on you personally but all too often complaints of homeless amount to people just not liking that they exist and make themselves visible, rather than something they are doing that is seriously screwing up people's lives. Would you rather we made panhandling illegal and put up "no loitering" signs and laws everywhere? That to me is very un-American and I for one would prefer not to go that route, even if that means dealing with pandhandlers.