Visiting PDX right now (considering a move) and wondering what I'm missing (Portland: appointed, fit in)

[phxbelle]

To Phil and Isotope: I do actually have an internship interview at a site that has placements in Milwaukee, Madison, and the Greenbay area. So, I will be going there at the end of the month. I just don't see myself wanting to live in either of those cities. I really want the art and culture, plus openess to diversity. I heard Milwaukee has a lot of racial problems. I'm thinking about WI because if I end up there, it won't be hard for me to move to MN/find opportunities there if I decide to move there after. At this point I'm leaning toward the Twin Cities more than PDX. I'll be there for the the third week of Jan, so I'll fully make my decision then. Just wanting to make sure I have an accurate interpretation of PDX before I leave.

[Isotope-C14]

PHXbelle: Sounds great, I wouldn't rule out Milwaukee though, you also have the side benefit of being in the public transit range of Chicago, I think the train is about an hour and a half of a trip. In CHI you get the Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art, Adler Planetarium, Field Museum and tons of other cultural activities. I know of many, many different independent art scene folk still in Chicago and it has stayed fairly unpretentious which is unfortunately unusual with most art communities.

Best of luck PHXbelle, you certainly will have some fun planning and deciding where exactly to land.

[philwithbeard]

Phx Belle:

Madison is not Milwaukee or Green Bay. I would emphatically urge you to stay away from Green Bay. That place has nothing you are looking for. Madison is a Gem of a cultural city. On par with the Twin Cities IMHO. Very strong intelligent / educational driven city. Good strong economic base of high-end employment (biological, pharmacology, etc.) Milwaukee is a blue collar industrial town with loads of high skilled craftsman and machine tool types from strong Germanic ethnic background.

But you will make up your own mind.

Lord, I just hope you don't take up Green Bay without spending a weekend during Jan or Feb in that place. Oh, please, PLEASE don't do that without a visit first. It's even cold in Summer up in that corner of the Great Lakes. And if the summer temperature ever gets above 60 degrees you could become covered in as many as 20 small deer flies all having a short drink of your blood at the same time; the bites are horrible.

Madison is great. Whole different culture and social climate. Winter in Madison is hard. But you can survive with good friends and such.

--

Your post abut Portland makes me cautious about rooting for and about Portland. Your experiences with the few contacts you made here didn't sound like Portland would ever be the ideal city in your mind. 1st impressions are very important in a place like Portland with its long gray winters. Portland is unique, and not for everyone.

[phxbelle]

Phil, thanks for all the feedback. I'm about 70/30 (for/against) PDX. I've enjoyed several things here including:

Scenery
Intelligent, nice, and fun people
Fine with weather
lots of activity going on
Art/Culture
Liberal/Progressive Attitude
No sales Tax
Local businesses not just chains
good public transport if I chose to use it

Cons:
Beer Scene (not a drinker so not for me)
Hipsters/Scenesters
Seeming abundance of recreational drug use (tho will keep me in a job, haha)
Roads are confusing (but that would go away with time)

So, I have a lot to think about. I'll have to see how I feel after visiting the Twin Cities and other places on my list.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by Isotope-C14

Oh, so Vancouver WA is like a totally different place than Portland? Her license plate proves that she's not a native Portlander who moved to Vancouver for the tax breaks? So you got hit and the person drove off, in Portland? So this is the smoking gun that proves drivers here are courteous?

Why is it that almost all of the defenders of Portland take one example, the only one they can think of, and believe that the generalization is somehow disproven? Oh yeah, I drove on this one highway and one day two years ago the left lane was open, see, you are wrong. Is there a class in creating straw man arguments that is offered somewhere in the pearl district?

Why is it courteous to endanger motorists by driving below the speed limit in the left lane and thus encouraging passing on the right? Can you explain this one? Why is it courteous to block traffic by driving the same speed as the person(s) in the adjacent two lanes? Why is it that immediately "it must be the transplants" since nearly every time I see it happen it is a Pacific North-West plate?

PHXbelle: Check out Madison, it's a great town if you can get internships there. Madison is by far a superior city to Portland in nearly every way.

LOL..... I used one example. We lived in Portland over two years and on a daily basis I found the drivers great.

After a few weeks I noticed, the drivers here are very courteous. They do the speed limit, use turn signals, and let you into traffic.

Try driving in Florida for awhile...especially Miami..they actually hit moving cars and keep going.

And if you hate slow left lane drivers you would love it here...it is either an senior doing 30mph in the left hand lane when it is 45mph OR someone doing 65mph when it is 45mph...no one here seems to be able to just drive the speed limit.

They drive as if they're the only car on the road...it is beyond frustrating.

Prior to coming to FL.....I enjoyed driving.

If you hate Oregon so much, why are you still there??????

And what is your point about Vancouver???? You have a huge chip on your shoulder.

My point was an elderly woman from Vancouver( who proably should not have been driving...FL is filled with them) hit our car and then took off.

I just mentioned she was from Vancouver because thanks to the people who got her license plate we were able to track her down.

THANKS to the people of Oregon(who do go out of their way to help strangers) two cars stopped as did a clerk in a store who came out to see if we were ok.

Down in here in FL( the land of "me first") it would be highly unlikely anybody would come to your aid.

I miss that about Oregon.

And I miss the better drivers.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Isotope-C14

@Leisesturm So what coast is Chicago on again? I'm very curious if you've ever looked at a map, or for that sake lived anywhere else. Or is everything east of the cascades the east coast?

I get that you have a beef with PDX. Don't drag me into your war with 'apologists'. Look at my post history. At least I have one, this is not some ID I fire up when I want to take shots at a town... or people. I am not who you think you are addressing. I post very little in Oregon or Portland these days. If you don't agree with my points about drivers in Oregon, take it up with the AAA. They are among the large number of reporting agencies that list Oregon at the top of state rankings. Why don't you use this user ID and report back on how different driving is in Chi town. I wouldn't know. I am not from Chicago, I am from NYC. It is on the East Coast last time I looked at a map. I have, however, spent time in he Michigan, and both you and phxbelle (if she decides to go that way) can enjoy Midwest winters with my blessing. Me, and mine will enjoy the rain and clouds and relatively mild winter temps and our car lite lifestyle will benefit from the excellent public transportation and bicycle and pedestrian friendliness.

H

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by Isotope-C14

There is ample animosity if you aren't a "native" or "local" and if you are a recent transplant you should expect to be treated somewhat poorly but mainly by the "natives" who are the real problem in the state. The folks here generally are pretty insecure about people who have lived in real cities or in states that are not Oregon or Washington.

Yeah...........OK.
Whatever makes you feel better about your superior self.

[phxbelle]

I'm sorry this thread has sparked fighting between some of you. I made this thread to insure that I had an accurate perception of Portland. I've honestly had a good time here, found the people and atmosphere pleasant. But when you are making a decision on where to live you have to take everything into consideration. I won't be making any final decisions until the end of the month, so I'll try to update here and let you guys know whether I preferred the Twin Cities or Portland. I'll definitely have to see if I can handle the winter. I've lived in SC which gets in the 20's and Maryland which can get pretty cold and snow a lot and I haven't had a problem with it. So we'll see if it continues that way. Thank you those who tried to give me good advice and did not just come here to fight! Everyone has diff. preferences as to where they want to live, heck, some people like living in North Dakota but you won't ever catch me there.

[philwithbeard]

Phx Belle:

Good luck on your interviews. Enjoy the trips, you will remember them for a L-o-n-g time.

Phil

[Rob Allen]

phxbelle,

Have you connected with the local literary community? Places like Reading Frenzy and the Independent Publishing Resource Center and Tin House?

Also, my perception is that the worst day of winter in Maryland would be considered a pleasant spring or fall day in Minnesota.