Is Portland starting to lose it's allure? (house, school)

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by jrkliny

As someone who only visited for a brief period, I don't understand many of your comments about Portland politics and culture. The last sentence seemed to sum up a general vibe I felt: "Very often it feels like there are no adults in charge here."

Indeed. I have said it before, but I sure hope Portland grows up someday. Not that I want more people to visit, but I hope it matures. I feel like the perhaps it's going through its final growth spurt now and hopefully losing its allure so that it can stabilize and "grow up."

I love Portland, and Oregon will always be home, but if I have it my way, I'll be heading to Seattle or LA or maybe somewhere back east in a couple years.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

There sure have been a lot of negative leaning posts about Portland lately.
I think all those people that bought into the Portland hype two or three years back have lost their rose colored glasses and are beginning to see the real side of Portland.
I guess it takes about a year and a half for the excitement of living in a new city to wear off.
You've seen the sights, settled in, and realized the PR doesn't live up to the day to day reality.

Either that or SAD has set in and they don't realize it. February and March are the roughest months IMHO.

[philwithbeard]

Mike:

Thanks for that post.

Phil

[classicanne]

You know, I often think these forums are just a venue for griping, complaining and venting. You can pick any forum for any U.S. city and find all manner of "ain't it awful" posts. I could certainly post a few about where I've been living the past 25 years, in far-right, ultraconservative, evangelical Christian (and all the accompanying pressures thereof), soccer mom/dad-populated, backwards, extremely car-and-money-dependent Hillsborough County, Florida, east of Tampa.

Florida has long been touted as a great place to retire; it is if you are very conservative, have plenty of money, enjoy the golfing/churchy/ceramics set, and don't mind the sweltering summers, fire ants, Africanized bees, snakes, daily thunderstorms, threat of hurricanes and the very real water shortages.

Now, that's enough complaining. I'm moving to Portland in 4 weeks, because I finally have a chance to leave Florida. I've been planning this move for a very long time. The traffic doesn't bother me; I telecommute to work, and I've found a place where I can walk/bike/bus to everything I need. I don't mind the ultra-liberal outlook; it will be very refreshing after living among a sea of vehicles that still have "McCain-Palin" bumper stickers on them. The rents in Portland are much more reasonable than in the Tampa Bay area. I don't expect the rainy gloominess to bother me; I've never been a fan of Tampa's endless heat and sun. As for making friends? I don't expect to have any real trouble there, either, as it doesn't worry me if it takes time to get to know people. And as for Portland not having much for older people, it depends on what kind of older person you are, I would guess.

Moving to Portland is a huge change, and I do not expect it to be Shangri-La. It will have its own aggravations and problems, and I won't like everything about it every day, but I feel I'll find more of what I want, at a price I can afford, than anywhere else. My friend in Japan says, "Sume ba miyako" -- one can live anywhere -- it's what you make of it that counts.

[jrkliny]

classicann,

I am curious about the amount of time you were able to spend visiting Portland before deciding to move there. Thanks.

[classicanne]

Originally Posted by jrkliny

classicann,

I am curious about the amount of time you were able to spend visiting Portland before deciding to move there. Thanks.

I haven't visited Portland in person, but that's par for the course for me, because I wasn't able to visit any of the places I've lived before actually moving there. Fortunately, much can be gleaned from the internet and the experiences of local friends; I have likely spent many more hours, days and weeks researching everything I can about the area than most people will ever do. Online, I immerse myself in the city as much as possible from 3000 miles away. However, I appreciate that it's no substitute for actual, in-person experience. All I can do is go there armed with a lot of research and a good attitude.

I HAVE moved places sight unseen and regretted it after; one such move was the move to Florida in the first place, and I spent the first 6 months hating it in the small town we'd moved to. I wanted us to move away, but circumstances demanded that I stay, so over time I learned to like some aspects of it, though it's never been my cup of tea, and now I'm glad to finally be able to leave.

Anyway, check back with me in about 6 months to see if I like Portland as much as I think I will!

[jrkliny]

Yup. I guessed as much.

I advise you to visit before deciding to move. I had done quite a bit of research including long conversations with relatives who live in Portland. My preconceived ideas were unfortunately a long way from reality.

[philwithbeard]

Classicanne:

Welcome to Portland.

As you know, it will take a bit of time to learn to fit into a community, but it will be an adventure. Enjoy.

Phil

[LeftCoastee]

Originally Posted by jrkliny

Yup. I guessed as much.

I advise you to visit before deciding to move. I had done quite a bit of research including long conversations with relatives who live in Portland. My preconceived ideas were unfortunately a long way from reality.

This person has already made up their mind to move and will be doing so in four weeks. Just let them move and find out for themselves. They may have a completely different experience than you had. What if they are pleasantly surprised when their preconceived notions don't pan out? And I'm sorry, no amount of visiting is going to give you insight in to the important aspects of living here. You may get an inkling of the weather or what there is to do recreationally, but the day-in / day-out things that make up most of your life won't show themselves until you live here.

I visited many times between staying with friends and coming here for work. I probably spent eight weeks in total visitng during different times of the year. You know what? Living here is NOTHING like it was when I was visiting. I don't go to the cool farmers markets as much as I thought I would. I'm not riding public transportation as much as I thought I would. I'm not going to the coast or mountains every weekend. I am not drinking stumptown coffee from morning till night. Instead, I have a very normal life. But I love it. I love where I live...more than I thought I would actually.

Getting back to the topic of this thread, I don't think Portland is losing its true allure at all. Maybe some of the Money magazine "Best Places to live" BS has worn off, but that doesn't mean that its no longer a great place to move for people with a realstic mindset. I didn't move here because I'm a young hip artsy progressive guy looking for mecca. I'm an average middle-aged moderate IT guy living in the suburbs who happens to love this part of the country. I moved here primarily for the geography and weather. Those things do not change no matter how many articles, good or bad, are written about Portland. Politically, I don't fit in with Portland. I'm by no means ultra-anything, just more of a boring moderate. However, I truly appreciate how passionate a large percentage of the people are here about their politics. To me, it shows that people care about where they live and that there is still an allure for them.

[jrkliny]

Moving across the country without visiting!! I can't believe anyone would do that except maybe out of desperation. I know I learned a lot by visiting. Sure there are both positive and negative aspects that I would not have noticed, but at least I experienced some of the big issues.