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Portland is in fact becoming like anywhere else. The change in status-flashing behavior just over the last ten years is easy to see. The city has quickly filled up with yuppies who don't think that they're yuppies. Inevitably, everything starts to cater to them because they spend money. The problem with the new tech-bro transplants is that many aren't actually in tune with Portland's old culture and politics. Silicon Valley tech culture is traditionally libertarian and materialistic, not liberal, and that is what's coming/already here. It is a technocratic, winner-take-all culture that doesn't care about how the city changes, or tearing it all down to replace with something which serves their personal needs.
I'm ingrained here with the family and our friends for the foreseeable future. Then I will allow some Californian to pay me way too much for my house and we will get out. And wherever we land, I will not say one word of hype about it to any one. I will not sell it to any old friends or family. I will not tell anyone that it is the "next place" and they should come on out.
Portland is in fact becoming like anywhere else. The change in status-flashing behavior just over the last ten years is easy to see. The city has quickly filled up with yuppies who don't think that they're yuppies. Inevitably, everything starts to cater to them because they spend money. The problem with the new tech-bro transplants is that many aren't actually in tune with Portland's old culture and politics. Silicon Valley tech culture is traditionally libertarian and materialistic, not liberal, and that is what's coming/already here. It is a technocratic, winner-take-all culture that doesn't care about how the city changes, or tearing it all down to replace with something which serves their personal needs.
I'm ingrained here with the family and our friends for the foreseeable future. Then I will allow some Californian to pay me way too much for my house and we will get out. And wherever we land, I will not say one word of hype about it to any one. I will not sell it to any old friends or family. I will not tell anyone that it is the "next place" and they should come on out.
I plan on either retiring here and doing AirBnB in my hometown, SF, which was taken over by asshats or moving back to CA. I do miss it. My neighbors and friends from high school who moved out of the area say we may wait until our kids are grown and move back. Not sure I want to live in a studio though. Maybe we will be snowbirds.
Portland is in fact becoming like anywhere else. The change in status-flashing behavior just over the last ten years is easy to see. The city has quickly filled up with yuppies who don't think that they're yuppies. Inevitably, everything starts to cater to them because they spend money. The problem with the new tech-bro transplants is that many aren't actually in tune with Portland's old culture and politics. Silicon Valley tech culture is traditionally libertarian and materialistic, not liberal, and that is what's coming/already here. It is a technocratic, winner-take-all culture that doesn't care about how the city changes, or tearing it all down to replace with something which serves their personal needs.
I'm ingrained here with the family and our friends for the foreseeable future. Then I will allow some Californian to pay me way too much for my house and we will get out. And wherever we land, I will not say one word of hype about it to any one. I will not sell it to any old friends or family. I will not tell anyone that it is the "next place" and they should come on out.
Very apt description. It's just a matter of time before what you refer to as "the old culture" is completely gone amidst the cries of "Not in my neighborhood."
Ouch you guys
Not everyone moves here b/c it's cool-
People move for jobs, family,significant others... and why should our enthusiasm for the new community be seen as ' fake'?
I'd never even thought of Portland before I came
( why should I? I was from a very comfortable home there ) but circumstances intervened and here I am- there's plenty of culture left/ it moves with the people does it not?
I am starting to wonder when the last time some of these board posters went out- to their corner taqueria/ cafe/ bar and just chilled or shot some pool and chatted with their neighbors...!!!
Ouch you guys
Not everyone moves here b/c it's cool-
People move for jobs, family,significant others... and why should our enthusiasm for the new community be seen as ' fake'?
I'd never even thought of Portland before I came
( why should I? I was from a very comfortable home there ) but circumstances intervened and here I am- there's plenty of culture left/ it moves with the people does it not?
I am starting to wonder when the last time some of these board posters went out- to their corner taqueria/ cafe/ bar and just chilled or shot some pool and chatted with their neighbors...!!!
Playing pool is "culture" to you? I lived in NYC for a long time and East coasters would joke that LA thinks yogurt is culture. I wonder what they would think of playing pool? Is that supposed to be a cultural norm in Portland? Enlighten me, please. I moved here about seven years ago, have met dozens of native Portlanders, never heard that Portland life revolves around the pool table. Interesting.
And I think I was the poster you are responding to about fake enthusiasm. Maybe fake is incorrect. In SF, growing up, we referred the over-the-top ,enthusiastic individuals who recently arrived, as posers.
Getting back to the original post. I wouldn't discourage anyone from moving here...just be prepared for the fact that housing is high in relation to wages. Also, in most places school quality mirrors the wealth of the neighborhood particularly in Portland. Also, what I DO love about Oregon is that it's long time residents know it's a bit quirky compared to other states and it ok with that. People who grow up here tend to have an appreciation for the land, water, sky... and want you to respect the environment you would be moving to. Give people space. Be prepared for people to surprise you. People tend to be more introverted here but that can be a good thing. Don't litter. Don't jaywalk. And yes, it rains or is on the verge of raining often. The green makes up for it. Take 2000 units of Vit D. It helps.
Playing pool is "culture" to you? I lived in NYC for a long time and East coasters would joke that LA thinks yogurt is culture. I wonder what they would think of playing pool? Is that supposed to be a cultural norm in Portland? Enlighten me, please. I moved here about seven years ago, have met dozens of native Portlanders, never heard that Portland life revolves around the pool table. Interesting.
And I think I was the poster you are responding to about fake enthusiasm. Maybe fake is incorrect. In SF, growing up, we referred the over-the-top ,enthusiastic individuals who recently arrived, as posers.
You are correct. I was responding to the poster about Portland being like most other cities. Many people don't believe or want to believe that. They like to think they moved to Portland for it's "quirkiness" or "uniqueness" which hasn't existed for a long time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CAjerseychick
Ouch you guys
Not everyone moves here b/c it's cool-
People move for jobs, family,significant others... and why should our enthusiasm for the new community be seen as ' fake'?
I'd never even thought of Portland before I came
( why should I? I was from a very comfortable home there ) but circumstances intervened and here I am- there's plenty of culture left/ it moves with the people does it not? I am starting to wonder when the last time some of these board posters went out- to their corner taqueria/ cafe/ bar and just chilled or shot some pool and chatted with their neighbors...!!!
No one has said you specifically moved to Portland to be cool but there are those who do. Even with that though, just to show the changes in "culture," no one ever used to call the little corner grocery store a "taqueria." Definitely a recently imported term. As a former long-time resident of Portland, that sounds odd to me, unless of course, the store is actually owned by Hispanic people. Transplants just bring what they know with them and that's what changes a city. It's what changed Portland a lot because there are a lot of people who have moved there over the past ten years or so.
Newbies don't know what the past was like and don't care. It's not a crime or a criticism unless they are like Yankeemama's "posers." That's what typically happens in a city that becomes popular. People bring their former cities' traits with them and transplant it over what is already growing there. Unfortunately, things like community events and spirit are lost in many neighborhoods such as the one in which I used to live. Neighborhood associations are run over roughshod. But that's the way it goes.
Now you will probably tell me that your neighborhood is community minded, friendly, caring and you all get together to sing "Cumbya." I know your area. A good friend of mine was born and raised there over fifty years ago so I can see it is in the process of evolving. It wasn't a very friendly community before so if it is now, that's great. But don't get too attached to it, it can change overnight as others have when newer residents move in and the pool hall turns into a Starbucks.
This is an interesting conversation. I've lived off and on in other towns in the Willamette Valley since the mid-1980s, and have observed Portland from a distance before I moved here (burbs) permanently in 2009. To a lot of people who lived in Oregon outside of Portland, we viewed Portland as "the big city." I never viewed it as particularly trendy or cool--actually quite the opposite. It just seemed like another big city to me--it's where we would go to catch a concert or see an arthouse movie that wasn't playing at the Bijou in Eugene and before the Darkside opened in Corvallis. It's where Henry Weinhard's was brewed--so much better than the big brewery swill! Big city, with a major airport (sorry Eugene!) ships in the harbor, air pollution problems and more going on and more choices simply by virtue of its size. Washington Square and Clackamas Town Center were real malls with more stores. Downtown seemed a little seedy, but the Portlandia statue and Pioneer Place got us to visit. By the mid 90s I had lived in a couple of big cities--I knew what they looked like and Portland looked like them.
I saw the tide turning on the perception of Portland after about 2000. From my quiet neighborhood in Corvallis we got Portland TV stations and started hearing people talk up about how great Portland was. People were attracted by the liberal politics, the mass transit system, good food, MICROBREWS, new bands, and a do-it-yourself attitude! But with all of these things, the city's reputation (thanks in large part by glowing articles in the NYT) started to take over what the city actually was, and in the process, Portland started to become a characature of itself. It became the place that people wanted to escape to--to leave their crappy city and move to, based on its reputation. People like a new start, and Portland seemed like a good place to get it. But it's like the city got reinvented without consciously wanting to reinvent itself. It just kind of happened.
Fred Armisen visited and decided he liked what he saw. When Portlandia came on the air the characature was broadcast for all to see. Homes in marginal neighborhoods that were already on their way up in value skyrocketed in price. People thought, "It's where I can finally, at long last, be me!"
It's been interesting. I'm not saying it's been good or bad because that depends on what you want or need in a city, although I will say the growing pains are very apparent. High rent, bad traffic, marginal economic opportunities for many. For me, Portland is still on the plus side. But in 10 years or so when the kids are out on their own? We'll see...
I moved to Portland back in the 70's because I liked what it was and that was very different from where I was living in Chicago. It certainly wasn't considered "cool" back then. It wasn't considered much of anything. But I really loved what it was and that was definitely different from any other place I had ever been with the possible exception of Seattle.
But all things must change. That's what life is all about.
I moved to Portland back in the 70's because I liked what it was and that was very different from where I was living in Chicago. It certainly wasn't considered "cool" back then. It wasn't considered much of anything. But I really loved what it was and that was definitely different from any other place I had ever been with the possible exception of Seattle.
But all things must change. That's what life is all about.
So true. Portland was the new, shiny object that might be starting to dull a bit.
If you're an Antiques Roadshow fan, you'll know that the patina adds to the value. It will be good when the shine is gone.
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