Gloomy season pics - photos ONLY (Portland, Bend: airport, cars, weather)

[Dual Citizen CA-OR]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Thank you, but I do know the definition of gloomy. I fail to see where those gorgeous pictures are either DEPRESSING or DARK. I'd be very interested if you could point me to your poll by which you've determined what "the vast majority" likes? Personally, I do think it's possible for people to like both.

I have no poll to point you to and I would agree that many like both. My opinion on the weather is only based on my experience over the years.

But I would argue that it’s a major reason why California has ten times the population of Oregon…

[Ryant]

I think people want both. How many people from the desert come on here saying they love rain?

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by Ryant

I think people want both. How many people from the desert come on here saying they love rain?

It may be that many people from the desert come here saying they love rain...based on their familiarity with transient rain storms in the southwest that last an hour or two (after which the sun then reemerges). But many of them don't stay and head back to bluer skies after a year or two. What they didn't count on is the gloom: long expanses of sun starvation that lead to melancholy and Vitamin D deficiency.

I came from the desert and I find that rain and gloom is much like heat. I don't mind it getting up over 100F now and then and cooling off at night. What I don't care for is day after day after day when you wake up and it is already 95F and you haven't had breakfast yet -- no relief from the heat. Similarly, rain that passes through and returns to sunshine (as we often see in April) is pleasant. But the unending gloom of waking up to dark gray brooding skies every single day (rain or not) is tough on one psychologically. Again, it is the lack of relief, not the hardship of any given moment, that breeds dissatisfaction.

One only needs to look at where the great waves of discretionary migration were in the late 20th century to see what most people prefer. Sunbelt cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin, etc. had record rates of growth. Areas north of 35 degrees north grew at a much more modest rate, and a great many saw negative population growth.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Dual Citizen CA-OR

I have no poll to point you to and I would agree that many like both. My opinion on the weather is only based on my experience over the years.

But I would argue that it’s a major reason why California has ten times the population of Oregon…

Well, let's factor in that California has about double the space of Oregon first. Then, do you want to tell me that in the U.S., more people live in a California-type climate than in a more Oregon-type climate?

People choose to live in a location for a variety of reasons. Climate is probably a small factor for most of them. I'd guess that jobs, economic conditions, proximity to family, recreational and educational opportunity, etc. all would factor more heavily.

[Dual Citizen CA-OR]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Well, let's factor in that California has about double the space of Oregon first. Then, do you want to tell me that in the U.S., more people live in a California-type climate than in a more Oregon-type climate?...

I don't believe that size it's much of a factor. The vast majority of people live in the metropolitan areas just like they do in Oregon and everywhere else.

...People choose to live in a location for a variety of reasons. Climate is probably a small factor for most of them. I'd guess that jobs, economic conditions, proximity to family, recreational and educational opportunity, etc. all would factor more heavily.

I agree that there’re many reasons why people live where they do, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on how much the weather plays a part.

[palvar]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

People choose to live in a location for a variety of reasons. Climate is probably a small factor for most of them. I'd guess that jobs, economic conditions, proximity to family, recreational and educational opportunity, etc. all would factor more heavily.

The rapid growth of the Sun Belt is a pretty good counter argument to this point. Though, I'll admit that low cost of living in Georgia, Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Florida do play into it as well.

[EnricoV]

Can we agree on "lower" cost of living. I'm not sure anywhere has low cost of living.

Based on most recent figures (according to Wikipedia) though, you're off on where people are moving. California, Florida, Hawaii all have lower rates of growth than Oregon. Looks like the mountain states are the latest hot-spots for growth. And then there's poor old Michigan.

Even going back 10 years, growth was lower in New Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi ... all part of that same sun belt. But with less a attractive economic climate.

[sunscribble]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

People choose to live in a location for a variety of reasons. Climate is probably a small factor for most of them. I'd guess that jobs, economic conditions, proximity to family, recreational and educational opportunity, etc. all would factor more heavily.

I would agree that most people living in the United States (including those living in Oregon) have chosen their location for reasons other than climate.

However, that doesn't mean that people don't have climate preferences. A substantial amount of research has been done on the subject of climate preference, and every study that I have seen reveals a preference for warm or sunny weather:

"Older individuals are uniformly attracted to warmer climates" (1).

"These migrants tend to be strongly attracted by states with warm winters...Elderly migrants tend to choose states with fewer cloudy days" (2).

"Summer temperature at the destination is potentially the most important determinant of destination choice, with very hot summers being repulsive. Migrants are strongly attracted to sunny locations and strongly repulsed by very cold winters" (3).

So yes, people do have climate preferences, and studies show that most people prefer sunny weather, as long as it is not accompanied by oppressive heat. Does that mean that ALL people prefer sunny days to overcast days? Of course not!

Whether a person views an overcast day as "gloomy" or not will vary, as demonstrated in this thread by Brenda-by-the-sea and Dual Citizen CA-OR. It is a matter of subjective opinion, and arguing about whether a photo looks "gloomy" will get us nowhere. I vote we stay on topic and post more "gloomy season" (non-summer) pics of Portland, as per the OP's request.

SOURCES:
(1) Journals of Gerontology:
Place Characteristics and Residential Location Choice Among the Retirement-Age Population

(2) International Journal of Population Geography:
State magnets for different elderly migrant types in the United States

(3) Annals of Regional Science:
Location-specific amenities, topography, and population migration

[EnricoV]

I'll 100% give you that "elderly migrant types" --- that is, older people who move --- primarily move for weather reasons. But California is not their destination. And that's only a small portion of the migrating population, and only a small portion of the elderly population. Most prefer to stay right where they are. But that has nothing to do with the entire migrating population. Those trends can be found in the link in my last post. That does not translate into most people preferring to live in everlasting summer.

[GoBeavs!]

The fog video was filmed in Corvallis, not Portland. They drive right by OSU and take a left on Monroe Ave at the very end.