Is all of Portland really this depressingly bad? (Beaverton, Aloha: camps, living in)

[nwlv]

I've never lived in Portland, but have considered it. I lived in Berkeley from 89-95, and could see the writing on the wall that I would never be able to afford the taxes on a nice home. I shopped in Portland, while attending a computer training course. I could have bought a 3/2 4 blocks from Lake Oswego for 89,900 (would have been a good buy). Fast forward to 2006, and I'm in Chiangmai, Thailand and meet a group of younger adults from Portland. They had lived three adults to a 2 br apt.. They had a man living in their parking lot. None of them had ever had a good paying job. All were well educated (sort of). They were all dedicated pot smokers, and they were always talking about Portland. One day I showed them an article showing Portland as the worst city in America to start a career. Aparently, this had been a long time coming. Portland was supposed to be the green, city of the future.....Well, 30 yeaars later, the future is here. Rent is high, and it's tough to get a decent job.

[Fraulien]

Hi,

we are from Southern California and have been living in the suburbs of Portland (West Linn and Happy Valley) for 14 years now. We get into the city pretty regularly. I have not had the experience you have had and, like one of the previous writers noted, suspect that you may have hit the wrong areas on the wrong day. I think the city itself is one of the nicest things about Oregon. Portland is a beautiful city and it is very accessible (certainly compared to L.A.). Clean air and water and the locals were all very hospitable when we moved (very unlike the reputation Oregon had in Southern Ca.) You know the...."you can visit but don't stay" reputation. In reality, when we first moved here we stopped on a Sunday to ask a shop owner who was sweeping up his parking lot for directions. He put his broom down. Went inside and got a map. Drew out specific directions, etc. etc. I think the city still has a lot to be said for it and hope you will see that side also.

[Minervah]

I have not had the experience you have had and, like one of the previous writers noted, suspect that you may have hit the wrong areas on the wrong day.

Or trying to clear a path to get to work in the very early morning. Silly us.

[ihynes]

Originally Posted by williedogg23

I often hike in the gorge, definately look into it, but if its raining, theres no one out there, like no ones used to the rain.

Yeah, what is it with people? Here in the Chicago suburbs, I like to go to the zoo on mild winter days because it's totally empty, even though the sun could be shining and most of the animals are inside nice, big buildings. Same thing in Tucson, I went out in the desert after the summer rains to see beautiful flowers, but because it was still "summer," some of the most popular hiking trails around town were completely deserted. I didn't go on a record-breaking heatwave, just a nice summer day, and brought lots of water.

[subsound]

Originally Posted by Fraulien

I have not had the experience you have had and, like one of the previous writers noted, suspect that you may have hit the wrong areas on the wrong day.

You can't get down town very often recently, I get this kind of stuff pretty much every time I go out. Usually just some one down on their luck, but it's about a 1 in 10 chance of the person being a real nut job...more likely if the person is on drugs.

Let's see, if I were to go about my day to get away from this kind of thing (or the good possibility).

I couldn't go to work or come home from work, usually when I get hit up...or if I was magically there I couldn't leave my office to get lunch. I couldn't take public transit pretty much anywhere, especially the Max. I couldn't leave my apartment and go get something to eat, or pretty much walk anywhere around the commercial area near where I live in Irvengton. Old Town would be pretty much off limits entirely, and walking around Nob Hill or Pearl District on the weekends.

I really don't think my boss would be impressed if I couldn't go to work because "I was in the wrong place in the wrong time" trying to commute in.

Could be worse though, I live in a second floor apartment. The guy below me gets homeless people yelling into his windows when they are open for cash after they finish rooting through the apartment complexes garbage. They get chased off by the manager and maintenance guys.

It beats the heck out of the major California cities, and most of the large major East Coast cities...but it doesn't mean it's super fantastic.

[ceeglass]

Dude, you're going to meet very few Portlanders that will say or admit "yeah, you're right. And what you're describing is pretty bad." You're going to get a lot of chocolate syrup poured on top of a pile of trash to try to make it look enticing and cover it up. DON'T BUY IT. Trust your instincts. I listened to the spin, went against my instincts and moved to Portland only to start looking to relocate the 2nd year I lived there. At first, I kept telling myself "you're not giving it a chance. Everyone isn't like that." Well, no they're not, but when there are enough like that to keep being so noticable it affects your enjoyment of the place you live, you have to ask if there aren't other places where these things aren't going to affect that enjoyment of supposed "home."

[DreamWeavin]

seriously, why are you trolling the Portland board if you don't live here?
You didn't like it so you left. Now be gone.
Negativity breeds the negative.

Originally Posted by ceeglass

Dude, you're going to meet very few Portlanders that will say or admit "yeah, you're right. And what you're describing is pretty bad." You're going to get a lot of chocolate syrup poured on top of a pile of trash to try to make it look enticing and cover it up. DON'T BUY IT. Trust your instincts. I listened to the spin, went against my instincts and moved to Portland only to start looking to relocate the 2nd year I lived there. At first, I kept telling myself "you're not giving it a chance. Everyone isn't like that." Well, no they're not, but when there are enough like that to keep being so noticable it affects your enjoyment of the place you live, you have to ask if there aren't other places where these things aren't going to affect that enjoyment of supposed "home."

[ceeglass]

I still have family there, so I'm there quite often. I wish they didn't live there, so do they, but they do. So, I have to go to see my 86 year old daddy and to do that - it's Portland here I come every so often.

[Casportsfan]

Originally Posted by ceeglass

Dude, you're going to meet very few Portlanders that will say or admit "yeah, you're right. And what you're describing is pretty bad." You're going to get a lot of chocolate syrup poured on top of a pile of trash to try to make it look enticing and cover it up. DON'T BUY IT. Trust your instincts. I listened to the spin, went against my instincts and moved to Portland only to start looking to relocate the 2nd year I lived there. At first, I kept telling myself "you're not giving it a chance. Everyone isn't like that." Well, no they're not, but when there are enough like that to keep being so noticable it affects your enjoyment of the place you live, you have to ask if there aren't other places where these things aren't going to affect that enjoyment of supposed "home."

I agree with the post above, your comments are absurdly negative and for that reason alone are not an accurate reflection of reality. Your experience was obviously bad, and because of it you assume it was all the fault of this terrible place that you moved too. In reality, even if Portland was not to your liking, there has to be SOME good parts to it, otherwise, why is the population of the metro area lingering above 2 million? Did all of those people "buy into they hype", and are they all just stuck there in an interam period, waiting to leave? Again, that's not realistic thinking.

I lived in Spokane, Wa. for 9 years, and grew to like it. After I moved to California, I took a trip back, and I thought "why would ANYONE ever want to live here? It's ugly, there is zero nightlife, it's bitter cold in the winter . . ", etc. All of those things would keep me away now, but that's because I am not a winter person, I like to be around nightlife, and I like a more scenic, coastal environment.

With all of that said, I'd still never say "Spokane is a terrible place, don't EVER move there", because I know some people love the snow, could care less about nightlife, and actually like Spokane's proximity to the wilderness. The same should hold true for you with respect to Portland.

You didn't like the weather, fine. You didn't make any friends, fine. Obviously, some people there like or at least tolerate the weather and managed to make friends and enjoy the city overall. I have a couple friends that moved to Portland and they LOVE it and say they'll NEVER LEAVE. I happen to really love the feel of the city too. So in short, like I said, your opinions are way too biased and have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Another thing, you need to stop posting this story about your niece. Of course it is terrible and heartbreaking, but honestly, you are just posting that to scare people off. Portland is not South America or some rogue state where you are going to just dissappear. And . . .

I hate to break this to you but similar things have happened in literally EVERY major city in the U.S., without exception, and sometimes even in small cities.

[pdxconvert]

Just chiming in -- I've been in Portland for five years now, and it's a great city, one of the best. But you have to like things a little darker to really appreciate it, and I don't just mean a lack of sunshine. The main negatives anyone moving to Portland needs to know, in my opinion are as follows: a) Portlanders will steal anything that isn't nailed down, even the yuppies in the Pearl. Call it meth addiction, call it a hippie sense of entitlement, call it sociopathy, but it's a fact of life in Portland. Guard your bikes like they're your kids. b) Homeless people are everywhere, outside Starbucks, outside Fred Meyers, etc. just like any other big city. The difference here is they're generally friendlier. Some of them peddle Streets Roots, a tiny newspaper published by the city's homeless. When they ask for change, just say no. Homelessness is a complicated problem, but it's not going to be solved by you handing out quarters, nor is there any reason to feel harangued by it. Grow a backbone. I find the hipster canvassers for Greenpeace far more annoying than any panhandler, by the way. If you ride the MAX late at night, watch your back, but I'm a young female and I've taken the train to the airport in the middle of the night without incident on many occasions. Portland is a VERY safe city, relatively. c) Is meth a problem? You'll hear about it a lot at first, but after a while it just fades into the white noise. When we first moved here, I admit I felt like I was in a zombie video game. Now I don't notice it as much. You will almost never have problems with them unless you leave your bike outside or leave bills and personal information in your garbage can. Get a paper shredder. This is true anywhere. d) Actually visit the strip clubs for fun one night and you'll see that the girls working there are generally smart, tattooed hipster girls. They're harmless. Who cares about having a few strip clubs around? We're all adults here. e) It rains. A lot. And the bad drivers here drive even worse when it does. Be prepared to stop where there are no stop signs, clip cyclists and then honk angrily at them, and go 30mph when entering a freeway and you'll do just fine. Also, the parking meter situation downtown is atrocious. They make you move your car after 3 hours, even if you feed the meter. f) Our mayor has become emblematic of some of Portland's problems. A lot of big ideas, cute and urban, really gay, but kind of a hypocrite. As open-minded as we like to tout ourselves, Portlanders (and Portland transplants) can be very judgmental, and like to sniff their own farts. I know, I've sniffed a few of my own farts for living in a green, progressive, bike-friendly "utopia." Then the winter came and I didn't feel so smug.