Portland compared to Toronto/NY/San Diego

[SN74]

I live in san diego and am thinking of moving to portland. SD has the best climate but you pay for it and some times more than what it is worth. NYC is also expensive but alot of fun. if you are young and would not mind sharing a room with 4 people then you might enjoy NYC better . as portland I am in the same shoes as you..can not decide SD or portland

[JakeDog]

Originally Posted by SN74

I live in san diego and am thinking of moving to portland. SD has the best climate but you pay for it and some times more than what it is worth. NYC is also expensive but alot of fun. if you are young and would not mind sharing a room with 4 people then you might enjoy NYC better . as portland I am in the same shoes as you..can not decide SD or portland

Portland is expensive.

[TheseGoTo11]

I live in the middle of Washington, DC, and can never believe how many more homeless people I see in SF, Seattle, and Portland than I do walking out my door here. I think the mild weather out there might have something to do with it, but as previous poster mentioned many are harmless.

[JakeDog]

Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11

I live in the middle of Washington, DC, and can never believe how many more homeless people I see in SF, Seattle, and Portland than I do walking out my door here. I think the mild weather out there might have something to do with it, but as previous poster mentioned many are harmless.

The weather is part of it, as are the politics. Until recently, SF was actually paying homeless people cash for nothing without any strings attached. Portland doesn't enforce any kind of loitering laws and also has cheap heroin which attracts young addicts. Many of the homeless appear harmless, and most are just addicts- but some have serious criminal records that prevent them from obtaining a job or housing.

[kander63]

I've lived in Portland for 5 years now, lived in NYC when I was younger for three years. I've only visited San Diego a couple of times. Have only been to Toronto once.

Portland is kind of the anti-NYC - I can't think of any two cities that are more different. It strikes me as odd to even consider both of them as living options at the same time, because they're so different. Of the three, I'd say New York is probably closest to Toronto because Toronto is a big city, after all and Portland and SD really are not. I would imagine life in NYC is more intense than in Toronto though.

San Diego has perfect weather, and is close to the ocean and much natural beauty, but it's too conservative and suburban for my tastes. Other than a 4 block stretch in Hillcrest, there is little resembling urban life there. If you're into Republican surfers, though, you'd probably love it there.

Portland has fantastic quality of life, a lousy economy, and fairly miserable winters. If you are independently wealthy or have the kind of job you can do from anywhere it is a great place to live, as long as you don't mind kissing the sun goodbye from October to April.