The Frugal Traveler reviews Portland (Beaverton, Pendleton: for sale, hotel, house)

[tigerlily]

The Frugal Travel writer from the NYT obviously loves Portland. I've run on the Nike track and I didn't work at Nike. It's wonderful. A lengthy article, but a great recommendation for the Portland area. My experience is that people here are not that hung up on wealth.

Clips:
Once, I even rode the MAX Light Rail to Beaverton, where Nike’s headquarters has a 1.9-mile track encircling it. Non-employees are technically forbidden, but unofficially this pleasant jog past reed-rimmed duck ponds is open to everyone. Plus, you can refuel at Nike’s inexpensive cafeteria. Just don’t wear Adidas running shorts, as I did. Even in informal Portland, that’s a faux pas.
...
What this Frugal Traveler loved more than the free suds, however, was the utter normality. No one seemed surprised that drinks would be given away, let alone that they’d actually be worth drinking. And in that casual acceptance, I discerned a characteristic of Portland that would enchant me over the course of a week, as I explored restaurants and bars, artisanal cafes and mushrooming food carts, funky neighborhoods and weird little museums. Amid economic catastrophe — Oregon has the country’s second-highest unemployment rate — there was a general indifference to wealth. In its place was a dedication to the things that really matter: hearty food and drink, cultural pursuits both high and low, days in the outdoors and evenings out with friends. It’s the good life, and in Portland it still comes cheap.
Frugal Portland - NYTimes.com

[brubaker]

Interesting little piece for the visitors...wish he'd gone into more detail about housing and such but I understand that's not what he does with his articles.

thanks.

[suncat]

I'm glad the writer paid attention to the foodcarts. There are so many good ones in Portland, and they continue to grow in popularity.

Two things, though:

1. Adidas is also based in Portland

2. Did you notice how he casually mentioned that the Mayor had had an affair with a minor? It was tossed off as a cool kitschy item.

[keith talent]

Hey, that article stayed high on The Times' e-mail list for a few days, I guess because the Portland vibe struck a chord with us harried and jaded New Yorkers.

I found myself wondering how it would be to live out there, drink all that good beer and forget about New York-style finance and space problems.

Then again, years ago I did spend 3 days in late October not so far up the road, in Tacoma, and have doubts I could keep a shred of sanity if I had to deal with 7 or 8 months of that drip, drip, drip! But the rest of it sounds more than OK.

[argo69]

The New York Times has had a love affair with Portland for some time now. Whenever they have a profile on the Pacific Northwest it seems to inevitably focus on Portland rather than Seattle. I think for stressed, overworked New Yorkers Portland represents a kind of escape to a more mellow, relaxed lifestyle and with it's public transit and modest cost of living Portland seems to appeal to the editors of the Times more than Seattle.

As someone who adores Portland I am always happy to see articles that depict it in a positive light, but I was amused by the authors continual exclamation of how "cheap" everything was. For someone on a Manhattan salary, I'm sure Portland is indeed very cheap, but I suspect for locals the prices aren't quite so unbelievable. In fact, salary adjusted, Portland scored at spot #12 on a recent Forbes Most Overpriced Cities list ahead of even San Francisco (#18).

[PNW-type-gal]

The NYT has been high on the list of creators of the Culture of Impossible Expectations for Portland. People visit or move expecting some sort of perfect place and are shocked - shocked! - to find that it has downsides like any other metro area.

[argo69]

Yes, definitely! There was an article I remember reading from the Times a year or so ago about a Manhattan couple who sold their tiny apt. and were able to buy a house in Portland, two upscale cars and have money remaining to open their own restaurant all from the sale of their New York pad. It'd be interesting to see how things turned out for them...

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by argo69

Yes, definitely! There was an article I remember reading from the Times a year or so ago about a Manhattan couple who sold their tiny apt. and were able to buy a house in Portland, two upscale cars and have money remaining to open their own restaurant all from the sale of their New York pad. It'd be interesting to see how things turned out for them...

The higher-end restaurant turnover rate, especially in the city area, is pretty high. That's not unusual in the "foodie" world in any city, especially on the trendy end of the food culture world. Restaurants in the Pearl and NW come and go.

ETA: found the article you mentioned
http://www.commissionersam.com/node/2832 (broken link)

That was the Paley's of the very successful Paley's Place and they picked just the right time (1994) to move, before the start of the housing bubble but well after the beginning of the rise of Portland's foodie movement.

[argo69]

Yep, that's the New York Times article I had read.

PNW-type-gal, I am going to be visiting Portland in a few weeks (I live in Seattle) with friends and we are going to be staying at the ACE Hotel downtown. Do you happen to know if those cool Pendleton wool blankets (with the elk and Portland text on them) the hotel uses on all its beds are available for sale at the hotel?

[John Shaft]

I find it so strange that PDX is almost psychotically interested in validation from NYC. Today's Oregonian had a blurb about that article too...in the Business section of all places. Big hairy deal. Somebody in NYC thinks things are value priced here...duh, it's NYC. Every place will be cheap to the columnist.