Ten Things about Portland... (insurance, buying, pros and cons)

[JonathanLB]

Hmm, ok, this is fun...

Reasons to move:
1) The city is nicely laid out and has a good downtown with a little bit for everyone.
2) The summers are beautiful, I think some of the best summers of any city you will find, while they last (which is very short, but we'll get to that).
3) There are lots of great places to do outdoor activities during nicer days, like hiking trails, lakes, beaches, mountains to ski, etc.
4) Most strip clubs per capita of any city in the United States. Ok, ok, I'm sure you don't care about that. Let's try again, haha. How about the clean air and great tap water?
5) The city is a good size, it's not too big (traffic isn't that bad) and it's not too small, offering enough to do and see but still being easy to get around, so you can live 15 minutes from downtown and be in a relatively quiet area; that's a plus!

Bonus: no state sales tax, you don't have to pump your own gas (big bonus if you ask me, why should someone who pulls up in a nice Mercedes or Ferrari pump his own gas? Forget that!)

5 reasons Portland sucks:
1) Some of the worst weather in the United States in my opinion. True, it's moderate, it's never less than 30 degrees basically and never more than 100, but it's cloudy and overcast seemingly about 300 days per year. It's miserably depressing weather that makes you not want to get out of bed half of the time, and the amount of rain is unbelievable. Sure, upstate New York is worse weather, but as far as just general lack of sunshine, there are a lot of colder climates with a lot more sun, which in my personal opinion is more tolerable (give me cold and clear and sunny over 40s or 50s and rainy, cloudy any day).
2) General lack of fashion or style; Oregonians think you should wear jeans and a t-shirt to the symphony, for instance, a lot of people just are way too casual, to the point where it's kind of offensive. I'm all about the right clothes for the right occasion, people on the East are WAY too formal, you don't need to wear a suit and a tie to dinner, jeez, it's ridiculous, but you also don't have to wear sloppy clothing to nice events. You can wear a nice button-down shirt and slacks, happy medium.
3) Only one professional sports franchise in the entire state, the Blazers, a team I love to watch but that's not much in the way of sports. Here in California we have like 30, who knows, too many to count. Since you might not care much about that, I'll throw in that Oregon has a lack of attractive people, so if you ever break things off with the SO, good luck finding anyone else. Terrible singles scene.
4) Liberal environmentalists can ruin your life. For instance, bikers are treated as if the rules don't apply to them, they are always extremely obnoxious, basically everyone but them wants to kill them all and run them off the road, but we have to tolerate their obnoxious behavior anyway. They have a sense of entitlement that doesn't exist anywhere else and the city bends over backwards to meet their every wish. Also, the city seems to think that your property doesn't actually belong to you, like telling you that you can't plant grass on your property because it's not native to the area, or you can't cut down a tree blocking your view because it's X number of inches around, or any number of other stupid things because the hippie environmentalists run the show and forget that this is a capitalist nation not a dictatorship or something.
5) What good are beaches and hiking trails when it rains constantly and the beaches, even in the summer, are cold and windy? Don't let anyone fool you into thinking going to the beach in Oregon is a very fun activity; we owned a beachhouse all throughout my youth, went a few weekends per month, and I have some fond memories but mostly memories of just sitting inside listening to the wind whistle and hearing the rain pour down. I thought a beach was this deserted place where you see the occasional person walking, and the ocean is freezing cold, but it's just something nice to look at from your window. It was only when I went to REAL beaches in Southern California I realized what a beach really was -- lots of people having fun, beautiful women everywhere, bars, summer year-around.

[Bluesbabe]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

Bonus: no state sales tax, you don't have to pump your own gas (big bonus if you ask me, why should someone who pulls up in a nice Mercedes or Ferrari pump his own gas? Forget that!)

I'm always amazed when people think not having to pump our own gas is a bad thing. I suppose the lines may move a little quicker. But our stations supply jobs to an awful lot of JOBS to people who are happy to do it.

Besides, California damn sure doesn't save on prices for pumping their own.

[nephthys]

I like pumping my own gas, because I hate having to wait for someone to do it for me. Im used to it I guess, but I do like when they sometimes clean your windshield. Another thing someone thought was weird is that I put all my own fluids in my car myself, Im guessing gas attendants do that too?

[JonathanLB]

Originally Posted by Bluesbabe

I'm always amazed when people think not having to pump our own gas is a bad thing. I suppose the lines may move a little quicker. But our stations supply jobs to an awful lot of JOBS to people who are happy to do it.

Besides, California damn sure doesn't save on prices for pumping their own.

Yeah exactly, I don't want to have to get out of my car and touch a nasty gas pump with gas and germs all over it, dick around with my credit card in machines that sometimes don't even work, and pay MORE money for gas. That's my main annoyance in California. Look, if you want me to pump it myself, I SHOULD GET IT CHEAP! It should be WAY cheaper than it is in Oregon. But no, it's actually more expensive AND I have to pump it myself. Ridiculous.

And for the record, it usually takes MUCH LONGER to pump your own gas than to have someone do it for you unless you find the right station right next to your house. I've been to about 10 stations in Los Angeles, I finally decided on overpaying every time downtown, where I live, even though it's 20-30 cents more per gallon. You know why? Because I put my card in, it works. At other stations, they make you go inside to pay, which takes far, far longer than having your gas pumped for you in Oregon, or they make you pay in cash, which is incredibly annoying. Or you put your card in, it doesn't work properly because their card reader is a pile of crap, and you drive to a nearby pump and try again (yes, had this happen), that doesn't work either, now it says "see attendant." Pretty soon you've wasted 10 minutes pumping your own gas. It's way more efficient in Oregon. I don't make my own Subway sandwiches, I shouldn't have to pump my own gas either. There should be at least options for both, at every station.

[adesignforlife]

Reasons TO:
1. Laid back lifestyle. A good portion of the city take time to enjoy the nature and life as a whole.
2. Friendliness. While you'll find unfriendly people in every city, Portlanders generally have a friendlier-disposition.
3. Mass transit. You want to go from Downtown Portland to the suburbs? No problem. Get a ticket and hop on the MAX. You want to go to the Zoo? Take the MAX. The Mall? The MAX again.
4. The nature. It's beautiful in Oregon as a whole. Portland is a city that embraces nature and you'll find trees all over. Gardens are located throughout the city and hills and Mt. Hood tower around it. You're also within a short drive of desert, mountain, wilderness, beach, river, etc.
5. Summer weather. All you hear about Portland is rain, rain, rain. But, the summers are beautiful. It's usually very tolerable (80s most days but occasionally reaching 90s or above) with sunny and clear skies. There is no humidity to speak of, which makes higher temperatures a lot more tolerable than other cities.

EDIT: I have to add a 6th reason to move. Another post reminded me of this.

6. A lot of places have Portland labeled as an excellent example of good urban planning. The city is laid out nicely and is generally well-kept. Portland also has a height limit on the buildings that are put-up, therefore, the streets between the buildings aren't covered in the shadows of skyscrapers.

Reasons to NOT:
1. Homelessness is common in Portland. Not usually Portlanders who have become homeless, but homeless people and runaways come from other cities to Portland.
2. If you don't like rain, it might be hard to tolerate September through May.
3. Meth. It's more of a problem in the east county area than it is in Portland proper. It's getting better due to the laws Oregon has adopted, but it's still easy to spot the meth heads in Portland and the surrounding area.
4. I don't know the prices in PA, but Portland housing is a little more expensive. Actually, the West Coast in general is more expensive as far as housing is concerned than a lot of places. You can find a decent home or apartment for a relatively affordable price though. It just depends on your family size and your preferences.
5. Protesters. If you aren't into activism, then it might become an annoyance to you. On occasion, streets will be shut down due to either a group of protesters or a lone protester who has situated him/herself in a way that disrupts traffic (example: up upon some kind of makeshift structure as is demonstrated in this Portland photograph - http://o2collective.org/archives/Por...ockade_web.jpg)

Overall, I love Portland and I would definitely like to move back to the area sometime soon.

[roneb]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

And for the record, it usually takes MUCH LONGER to pump your own gas than to have someone do it for you unless you find the right station right next to your house. I've been to about 10 stations in Los Angeles, I finally decided on overpaying every time downtown, where I live, even though it's 20-30 cents more per gallon. You know why? Because I put my card in, it works. At other stations, they make you go inside to pay, which takes far, far longer than having your gas pumped for you in Oregon, or they make you pay in cash, which is incredibly annoying. Or you put your card in, it doesn't work properly because their card reader is a pile of crap, and you drive to a nearby pump and try again (yes, had this happen), that doesn't work either, now it says "see attendant." Pretty soon you've wasted 10 minutes pumping your own gas. It's way more efficient in Oregon. I don't make my own Subway sandwiches, I shouldn't have to pump my own gas either. There should be at least options for both, at every station.

Your last sentence sums it up. "These should at least be options for both." Personally, I've had pathetic employees who take forever to get to my car, spill gas on my car, etc. It is very rare for any of them to clean my windshield. If I've got to get out the car anyway to clean my own windshield, I may as well pump my own gas and get out of there twice as fast. In the old days you did have the option of both. You did self serve for cheap, or you payed extra for "full service" and ACTUALLY GOT SERVICE! They'd clean your windshield, check your oil, check tires, etc.

Just so I'm not totally off topic, here's my list:

PLUSES
1. Cleanest city I've been to, bar none.
2. Great public transport and bike friendly
3. Quite possibly the best tap water in the U.S.
4. Great summers
5. Lots of outdoor recreation
6. Soccer City, USA

MINUSES
1. Absolutely unbearable winters. I'd much rather have frigid, below zero temps with snow and sunshine. Far too many DARK days off low clouds and wet pavement.
2. Too much traffic (I'm a small town boy at heart)
3. Poor job market
4. A growing shallow, consumerist, "hipster" population
5. Not being able to pump my own gas (It actually does bother me - If I'm going to have to pay to have some one do it, I want SERVICE)
6. Did I mention the winters?

[subsound]

The big homeless and tweaker population is really a huge turn off for me honestly. It's become less frequent in the winter, but during the summer I would get hassled every time I walked outside at home (Irvington/Lloyd) or work (Downtown)...at least once a week by people who were really aggressive.

It's less often now in total, but only the people who really can't go anywhere else stayed. It feels sometimes like Portland gives more lenience to them then normal citizens and terms it "compassion" If I went running after people and demanded money, if I wouldn't let people pass unless they gave me a handout, if I was doing my business in public, if I even attempted to grab stuff out of peoples hands....I would be in jail. I've seen cops shrug it off, even if they didn't have more important things to do (which they do) people would raise a fuss if they did anything.

I agree with the other positives and negatives adesignforlife points out, though the other negatives to me are not nearly as bad.

[jasminetea3]

Ok, so I'll probably be repeating a lot of what people have already said, but this is really fun!

Reasons to come here:

1) Yes, the summers are AMAZING here - even in May, you start to get some "sun-breaks" and it's really green. If you live in a neighborhood where people have gardens (like in inner SE), the flowers (and just the GREEN) are gorgeous. The flowering trees that you'll see all around the city are lovely as well (unless you have allergies, then they probably are a little less lovely...).

2) For me, food is a big deal. I like to eat healthfully and need to eat gluten-free. This is incredibly easy in Portland, at least compared to anywhere in the midwest. The farmer's markets are wonderful (a few are year-round) and there are plenty of grocery stores that cater to special dietary needs. You can most definitely find a handful of restaurants to suit your preferences (vegan, gluten-free, organic, etc.). Not sure about the quality and authenticity of the ethnic food here, but there's certainly a variety. (I know, I know, but not a proper Jewish deli.) And for an American city, good coffee is easy to find.

3) If you happen to run into health problems, and you want an alternative to what your M.D. wants you to do, there are TONS of natural medicine practicioners here. Naturopaths, acupuncturists, osteopaths, chiropractors, homeopaths, body work specialists, etc. Unlike many cities, you really have a choice.

4) The beauty of the surrounding areas is such a plus. The gorge (with the waterfalls), the beach (I know, it's almost always cold and rainy, but I love it - so peaceful and never crowded), the mountains, and more. There are gardens, parks, and just lots of trees - even within the city.

5) I don't get weird looks when I take my own bags to the store - even Target! Actually, I get smiles sometimes. Seriously, though, it's refreshing to be surrounded by people who give a you-know-what about the environment.

6) You can get by here without a car - the public transportation is quite good, IMO. And Zipcars are readily available, if needed.

Reasons to stay away:

1) It's weird. The first 3 or 4 years the rain was fine - enjoyable, even. I came from Indiana and hated the bitter cold of winter (yes, 10 degrees is bitter cold to me!). I also didn't like how scary it was to drive in the snow. So bring on the rain, I thought, and it never really bothered me. But the past couple of years, I have absolutely suffered through winter. I have all the full-spectrum lightbulbs and take vitamin D. I even try to spend some time outside everyday (rain or shine). Can't seem to shake off the blues. Like to the point that I am not sure I could possibly survive another winter. I try to enjoy it, really - but it's almost like my biochemistry has changed.

2) This is more personal, maybe, but I know that a lot of people on this board talk about the people here being...different? It's probably a matter of what you put out there, but I have never felt at home here. Mostly because of the people. I am pretty open and friendly, but I feel like I'm less so the longer I have lived here. You just don't get it back.

3) The lack of people of color really shocked me when I first moved here. There is more racial diversity along the outskirts, yes, but much of Portland is pretty darn white. It's just bizarre if you aren't used to it.

4) There are a lot of homeless people, and it's just sad to see. Especially all the kids (teenagers). It took a lot of getting used to for me - I guess it depends on where you are coming from, though. I hadn't been around homeless people before moving here.

5) It's hard to be away from family - especially if the darkness of winter makes you depressed!

I could actually write pros all day - the cons were a lot harder to come up with. I came here for grad school and have really enjoyed it. But like I said between the rain/darkness (and it's affect on me), missing my family, and not feeling at home here, I probably won't stay. My sanity, family, and comfort are really important to me!

Good luck with your decision!

[adesignforlife]

Originally Posted by roneb

3. Quite possibly the best tap water in the U.S.

I completely forgot about that. It's true.
I moved from Portland to the St. Louis, MO area a couple of years ago and I felt like I was drinking tap water that just came out of an over-chlorinated swimming pool.
Same story when I visited Orlando, FL. It took me a long time to get used to drinking the water here.

I miss my glorious Portland tap water.

[Wherewillitland]

the long gloomy months are GOOD for some people. I sort of have SAD during early spring and when its too sunny all the time. Why is the job market so poor in Portland? It has enough of a population and activity? Why do so many homeless people and runaways go to Portland? Im noticing that Portland being liberal is good for it in some ways and bad for it in other ways in terms of the strip clubs and stuff like that. My political views are liberal but Im OUTRAGED San Francisco decrimilnalized prostitution and Portland has commercial activity like that. Not all liberals agree with this. Im a liberal who hates drugs and alcohol!