Possible move to Portland. Help.

[ceeglass]

Originally Posted by LeftCoastee

Orange County also has quite a few TV shows based on the shallowness of its people. I'd rather get rained on.

You are absolutely right! I am an interior designer and I work with people
exactly as seen in those shows. The sterotype is typical enough to where it is a true common type. I've done homes in Coto de Caza, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and those "Real Housewives" are unfortunately really real here. All those cities are in South Orange County, Central and North Orange County have pockets of those types but mostly average normal good people. South County, well, I'd say it's 20% true snobs which is outrageous, 20% wannabe snobs who act the part and are financially maxed out and the majority average hardworking people. But, there is enough of those "Orange County Types" for us to have understandably garnered the "shallow" reputation. If my kids weren't grown I wouldn't be living here. My profession, especially in these economic times is doing the best it can do under the circumstances right where I am. They love saying "my designer this and my designer that" even if they don't listen to you and do their own tacky thing anyway. Ventura County and most of LA County are not that way, although you find them in Malibu, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Santa Monica, Encino, Calabasas, Westlake etc. in LA but LA is huge and most people are not in the "Real Housewives" category. We moved from LA County to Ventura County (a great place to raise kids - down to earth good values) to raise our children and when I went to Oregon they were 12, 17 & 20 and had NEVER seen pot in the parking lot at school.

[mommytomy3sons]

You guys are scaring me! My husband is interviewing for a job in Portland and we're from Texas. We don't dress like cowboys, we've never voted for Bush and we talk with only a slight twang. I will confess that I do like to shop at Dillards, Macys, Old Navy and Target but my standard uniform is a t-shirt, Levi's jeans or shorts and a pair of $3 Old Navy flip flops. Also- due to the fact that we are a family of five with two very large dogs, we do drive an SUV. Will people in Portland accept us or will they run us out of town? Frankly all I'm interested in is decent schools in a safe neighborhood, some parks for my youngest son and my dogs, some trails to run and bike on....and maybe some movie theatres.

[subsound]

Originally Posted by mommytomy3sons

You guys are scaring me! My husband is interviewing for a job in Portland and we're from Texas. We don't dress like cowboys, we've never voted for Bush and we talk with only a slight twang. I will confess that I do like to shop at Dillards, Macys, Old Navy and Target but my standard uniform is a t-shirt, Levi's jeans or shorts and a pair of $3 Old Navy flip flops. Also- due to the fact that we are a family of five with two very large dogs, we do drive an SUV. Will people in Portland accept us or will they run us out of town? Frankly all I'm interested in is decent schools in a safe neighborhood, some parks for my youngest son and my dogs, some trails to run and bike on....and maybe some movie theatres.

People will run you out of town 30 times.

What do you think? Do you think Portland is a different planet and run you out of town for buying at a chain store? I would say Beaverton is a good place, for schools, and otherwise it's the same as everywhere else. No one cares where you are from or what your lifestyle is really, unless you shove it in peoples face like a dead skunk and expect people to applaud you like you poop gold.

[mommytomy3sons]

Well, we've lived in Utah- where no one wanted anything to do with us once they realized we weren't LDS. Texas was fine...until they figured out A) we're not native Texans (except my husband) and B) that we're not Republicans and don't worship GWB. Although it did take a few years for those revelations to occur since we don't usually go around advertising our religious or political affiliations. Portland may be exactly what we're looking for.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by ceeglass

.... tan that all of my girls had gotten at the West Linn Tanning Salon along with hundreds of Oregonians or the salon wouldn't have been in business.

Ever think its business primarily comes from ex-Californians? Out of all the places I've been Californians are the only people that seem to be interested in tanning. I really don't understand the appeal, its horrible for your skin. Why subject kids to that sort of thing?

And, yes, we have sales tax...and it shows! Welcome to California!

And income tax, and property tax, etc etc and it was all handed out to special interests. Despite all the taxes California is still bankrupt. Not that Portland does much better.

Are you by chance from Orange County? You sound like an Orange Country brat. You should know too that the rest of Southern California is not much like the superficial wasteland they call Orange County. Angelinos are more likely going to have more in common with Portlanders than not. The folks up in Ventura County are more akind to Texans than people South of Los Angeles, etc. I was born and raised in California and the only people that have your attitude seem to be from Orange County.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by mommytomy3sons

Texas was fine...until they figured out A) we're not native Texans (except my husband) and B) that we're not Republicans and don't worship GWB. Although it did take a few years for those revelations to occur...

These are not revelations, they are baseless generalizations. Texas like many states does not have a uniform political environment. For example, there are plenty of areas of California that are conservative.

44% of Texas voted democrat in 2008, are these folks just outsiders? Texas has had far more democratic governors than republican, in fact more than California has. Were these elections just rigged?

There are certainly many conservative areas of Texas, but to generalize from them to the entire state is silly. Its hard to understand how a state that voted 44% democratic rejects anybody that is not republican or does not like GWB.

[Laney Wilson]

I don't advise Portland if you are an educated minority. The city is VERY liberal, but really, really white apart from very poor latinos and a small number of black and asian people. In the liberal parts of the city nobody will be rude to you but they're clueless. In the suburbs and especially the outlying areas, you'll find it less liberal and more racist.

Be prepared for long (and I mean long) winters with rain and darkness. Don't buy the line "it rains more in XXX than Portland or Seattle". I've lived inboth and I've lived elsewhere and it is grey and cloudy and chilly for months. In Seattle we've had ONE day of sunshine in the past four weeks.

Seattle is a great city and I choose to live here, but I'm a white city girl at heart and I do a lot of travelling for work to Texas, North Carolina and Florida, so I get out of the rain a lot during the winter.

[subsound]

Assuming some one is racist because of the color of their skin or live in a certain area is insane, it matters more what a persons views and attitude are. Off topic though, if you want to talk about race go to Great Debates...it's like every other topic either is about it or degrades into it.

[PDXKompressor]

I most recently moved here from LA area and want to offer you an unbiased opinion. I have found that people in Portland for the most part are very biased against Latinos. I am white so maybe they feel it's an acceptable topic to say some very rude and denigrating things about some of the Mexican families in the area, but it's pretty disgusting and something I DID NOT expect from all the posts I read online before moving here.

I am always reading comments on automotive forums I belong to that say things like "if you have a problem with latino's then don't take your car to this shop" etc. My belief is that even those who believe they are open minded are simply ignorant, and I mean that by the actual definition of the word, and just have never been around people who aren't white. The good news is that Portland is quickly becoming more and more diverse, but I wanted to be very honest with you and my experiences. If I am white and have seen this kind of discrimination, i can't imagine what my Mexican brothers and sisters have to put up with.