I'm Considering Moving From Seattle to Portland. Thoughts? (population, place)

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

I had a friend who had moved to the big, bad city from Tillamook. He was like that. He hadn't even been across the river into Washington. Ever! I couldn't believe he hadn't done it just to say he'd been in Washington.

Yeah I hear alot of that also from natives to this area. I realize there may not be a reason to go to Vancouver for some, but gee this acting like its a million miles away makes me wonder some times. Its only about 8 miles from where I live, I like to go over now and then just to get out of the urban area inner city sometimes. There are several decent restaurants over there also.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by ksgator

I agree. When I moved here I found it very strange that many people I met didnt leave their side of the city. They were proud of it too. I met people who had lived here for 5 years and had never been to Beaverton, Vancouver, Hillsborough and such. They only stay in Portland and everything else is off limits. I would also hear people say how they try not to cross the river or they havent been across the river in months. It is very bizarre.

I can understand not wanting to go to Vancouver because the traffic sucks and pretty much anything you can do in Vancouver you can do in Portland or a nearby suburb. There's not a lot of draw to Vancouver really given that you never know when you're going to get stuck on the freeway, plus you have to show your ID to get taxes waived, etc.

I've explored downtown Vancouver a bit and there are some nice things but there's so much sprawl in Vancouver it's hard to get around, hard to find your way around and requires a lot of driving/gas....

Same goes for Beaverton and Hillsboro, particularly if you live on the east side. When I did I rarely, if ever, went out there. If I wanted to go to a mall or chain stores there was Lloyd Center, 82nd Ave. or Clackamas. Now that I live on the west side my suburban ventures are to Beaverton or Tigard and I rarely, if ever, go to Clackamas or outer SE suburbs now, unless I'm going somewhere scenic along 84. I personally don't want to spend the gas to go to a suburb if I can go to the same stores that are closer...I think that's more what it's about...what is the point of going to Hillsboro if you live in Portland? What is there to do that you can't do in Portland or what can you buy there you can't buy closer in in Beaverton? I'm not knocking the towns, I just don't see the reason to spend gas and time to go there and I don't think I'm alone in that. Now if there is a particular festival or event going on...that would be a reason.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by semi-sweet

So. Apparently, some people believe that "conservative" is synonymous with rednecks, ignorance, racism, bigotry, and greed.

Yup, there's that famous liberal tolerance and open-mindedness, again...
Tolerant of everyone who thinks exactly like you do.

The Pacific Northwest is overwhelmingly liberal. What people describe as "extremely conservative" here, would probably be described as "moderate" in other parts of the country.

I'm sorry, but this Seattle versus Portland debate strikes me as being
"Well, which part of this far-left region is farthest to the left?"

Either way, it's not exactly Texas, people. If there's anybody who feels genuinely excluded, censored, or outnumbered around here, it's people who are located anywhere to the right of Karl Marx....

Thanks for putting things in the right perspective.

[Tesaje]

There's aggressive provincialism and then there's just taking advantage of a compact city. I've traveled all over this country and really can't understand people who encourage me to go to the local mall. Why would I want to go to the same stores I can get at home to schlep something home on an airplane when I can get the exact same thing in the same store as at home?

In my forays in the Portland-Vancouver area, I could not see a particular reason to go into another's shopping area. Now, going up to the mountains, over to the coast, up the gorge and maybe stopping to do a little shopping on the way back makes sense.

In the area I live in now, I spend 98% of my time in the local city to do my shopping and occasional dinners out and commute to my workplace. I did the tourist stuff and wandered all over the place when I first got there, but now, I've done that and mostly just do the things that keep life going. On the other hand, I enjoy accompanying friends and relatives who come here because I rarely go to the interesting places around here otherwise. Does that make me stupid? No, just going thru the daily grind of life.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

A few years back I had occassion to visit a large manufacturing facility in Iowa. When the HR Manager told me that 75% of her 1,000+ employees had not ventured out of the county/adjoining county at any time in their lives. It was hard for me to imagine.

It is hard for me to imagine that a HR Manager of 1000+ employees would know this particular detail.

[Nell Plotts]

She was a life long resident of the area and knew many of their extended families. The facility had very little turnover in a plant that ran 24/7. Break down that workforce by shift and department, it wasn't difficult to know them well.

One of the important skills of an HR Manager is to know your community - both in the plant and surrounding towns. This corporation wasn't in the habit of moving managers just for the heck of it, the HR staff was very stable.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

She was a life long resident of the area and knew many of their extended families. The facility had very little turnover in a plant that ran 24/7. Break down that workforce by shift and department, it wasn't difficult to know them well.

You are probably right because we all know that Iowans measure distance in counties, not miles.

I suppose this more or less describes the travels of one of these Iowa employees:

A beat up pickup truck is chugging down the blacktop. Inside is a family of five typical white people. Of course they are all wearing Dickies bib overalls and their boots smell of pig manure. They are on their way to a new feed store they heard about down at the Grange.

Pretty soon they see a wide white stripe painted across the road. They screech to a halt.

The woman says: “Pa, ain’t that the county line? Is the new feed store in the next county?”

Pa says: “you must be right.”

The kids start screaming, “Ma, Pa, let’s turn around. We ain’t never been over the county line.”

Pa says: “ OK, we’ll go back home. Instead of going to the feed store we can shoot our guns, cling to our religion, and hate immigrants and people who aren’t like us.”

[Nell Plotts]

This insular life is typical of the local Blacks too. I don't recall many Asians or Hispanics in that census.

What got me is that at a popular local restaurant they called margarine 'butter' and were stunned when I asked for the real thing - from a cow. Nice people, good family people, but not my culture.

[Mubid]

ha,ha I have been thinking about moving to Seattle from Portland. All I can say is Portland for the most part is fun. Now from what I have been told Seattle's transit is a joke. That puts a little fear into me because of living in Portland I never bothered even getting a car. Though be warned what you read about our "diversity" is very true. Seattle has a better mix of people over Portland. Though Seattle is a tad larger.

[NorthernCalifornia]

Seattle is a much more business-oriented and worldly city. The two are really not in the same category in that sense. Their similarities relate to the PNW and little else.