Publishing in Portland

[GB1]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

I can't believe you left out Ursula Le Guin! And there are others!

Of course you're right - Ursula LeGuin is almost 80, and she's still publishing, which is great.

As for the original questioner: unless you have something lined up at another university press, or a technical one, there's not much in Portland. I wouldn't go as far as to say there's "no" literary culture, but it's quite a bit smaller than one would expect for a city that likes to read so much.

I picked up a Tin House anthology last year (Tin House is a local small press with tentacles in NYC and other places) and was surprised to find only 2 Portland writers out of maybe 25 writers in the whole thing. Once you get past LeGuin, Palahniuk (who's moved), and Dunn (whose last book was in the mid-80s), it's pretty arid except for the hobbyists.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by cyberdelicat

.
3- There's no actual 'user-friendly' mass transit system, so EVERYONE drives just about everywhere (unless you're a recent college grad ~24 yrs old, then you'll love it here).

Since this is the second time I've read you state this more or less, I'm curious--how can you claim there is no user friendly public transport in Portland and "everyone drives." Where exactly do you live? Granted, I live close to downtown but I've got the MAX, streetcar and about 10 buses within walking distance of my house.

And everyone drives? OK, are we comparing it to NYC where almost no one drives or are we comparing it to more realistic places like the majority of the US?

[Leisesturm]

New York City recently made the number four position of top ten most miserable cities to live in in the U.S. You might think that's not so bad but the first three cities have populations of a million people or less. For a city of NYC's resources, to be so blighted is actually a greater miscarriage of potential than say for Detroit, MI which made the number one spot. Portland, OR and Seattle, WA consistently rank in the top five of best places to live in the U.S. Consistently. Millions of people don't know what they are talking about I suppose based on a number of passionate opinions posted in this and other threads.

Recently I had to pick up a friend at Newark Airport. NYC's JFK airport has for years ranked last in the WORLD as airports are ranked so savvy travelers use LaGuardia or Newark. A trip to either will either cost ~$40.00 for private transport or some complicated combination of bus and train some of which will be semi-municipal. Flying into PDX and taking the MAX into Downtown is something that NYC politicians have dreamed of for years but simply have been unable to make happen. Shopping at Whole Foods and being able to validate your parking ticket and take the elevator downstairs and load up... at NYC's Whole Foods on 14th Street??? How I wish. Not that I care. I live car free, mostly by choice.

I would really like to know how a city (Portland) that consistently ranks in the top five of best places to live in the U.S. can be so awful for some yet for some reason they won't leave but profess admiration for a city that has won distinction for being considered a rather miserable place to exist (unless your gross income is >$100,000/yr. I guess I'm just going to have to come live there and find out for myself. I haven't been able to get any useful consensus from reading these posts.

H

[cyberdelicat]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

Since this is the second time I've read you state this more or less, I'm curious--how can you claim there is no user friendly public transport in Portland and "everyone drives." Where exactly do you live? Granted, I live close to downtown but I've got the MAX, streetcar and about 10 buses within walking distance of my house.

I deliberately moved to the downtown area here so I wouldn't need a car (in NW district). Buses and street cars are infrequent, and every neighbor has a car and has said to me, 'yeah- you really do need a car here in Portland'.

Originally Posted by oldtintype

And everyone drives? OK, are we comparing it to NYC where almost no one drives or are we comparing it to more realistic places like the majority of the US?

Who cares what I compare it to? On it's own merit Portland is deluded for calling itself 'eco-friendly', and for thinking that this city isn't as entrenched in typical US consumer culture as other cities. More realistically (as you put it), PDX is far from progressive in curtailing vehicle use, or in efforts to recycle, and in other urban lifestyle issues that are not size-dependent. You're right-Portland is a lot like other US cities, but people here seem to think it isn't (perhaps they haven't traveled much). Why NOT compare our mass transit to NYC? I hear people compare PDX to NYC when they think there's something better here. Why doesn't PDX recycle as much as NYC? One would surely think it'd be illegal here to NOT recycle, but businesses don't have to! In NYC it's the law; people do it at work and home and don't think it's 'an option'. And the air? Well Portlanders don't mind smoke filling restaurants (or they fear the tobacco lobby) while NYC banned such activity years ago. It's not due to size; it's a mentality.

[oldtintype]

Buses and the streetcar run approximately every 15 minutes. I regularly ride the #15 right by you and the streetcar. Every 15 minutes for a city Portland's size is user friendly. I don't have a car, live near you and have a child. I find it effortless to get around, plus there are a zillion zip cars in the area if you need a car. You're also walking distance to Max. Many of my neighbors (and again, we're probably 1/2 mile apart) are carless as well so I don't know what's up with your neighbors. Where are they from? I doubt it's from a city where they used public transport. Sometimes it's less about where they are NOW and more about where they grew up. My relatives from Southern CA would about die if they had to take a bus. It's culture shock for them and drives me nuts. Walk four blocks when they could drive?

And why not compare Portland's public transport to NYC? Well, we have MAX, the streetcar, buses, and car sharing but I mean come on--Portland is miniscule compared to NYC. Of course the public transport isn't going to be as plentiful or run every five minutes because we don't have the same population. But for the size of the city and ease of use, it's excellent. I've spent time in and travelled in many US cities and Portland is on a very short list of places I could live without a car. Honestly, it's part of the reason I originally chose Portland over Seattle. I didn't want to be tied to owning a car unless I wanted to.


Many (most?) Portlanders do mind smoke in restaurants, that's why the majority don't allow smoking. Now if you're talking about the REST of Oregon...that's often different.

I get the feeling your beef is with everything Portland so really...why stay here? Life's too short!

[zagyzebra]

Google Willamette Writers. It is the largest statewide writers organization in the U.S. This should be a great networking start for you. Also, as an aside, the Oregon Film Commission (or comparable organization) will give you an inside look at what's going on in media production. Hope this helps.