Rugged, outdoorsy types in Portland? (Bend: live in, moving to, bike)

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by grlintheworld

Just got back from visiting Portland, and for a place that boasts all of it's wonderful outdoor opportunities, I was surprised to see more hipsters than rugged, outdoorsy type people. Plenty of outdoors stores, but not the people I'd expect to see in them. Are they out there and I just didn't see them? Was I in typically hipster neighborhoods (Pearl, NW, downtown)? I'm considering Portland as a place to move, but skinny jeans on guys isn't for me, and just wondering if I'd have a hard time finding like-minded people to befriend...

Yes, possibly, probably. So, you learned something. Your visit cleared up some misconceptions for you. That's a good thing. Maybe Billings or Laramie.

H

[rhodan653]

On an outdoorsy scale of 1 to 10 I would rate Portland a 6. As a comparison I would rate Denver an 8 or 9. Denver "feels" outdoorsy - it is much more apparent that there are far more die-hard outdoor enthusiasts living downtown (and in the 'burbs) and wandering around. These are people who ski EVERY weekend in the winter and hike/bike/fish EVERY weekend in the summer. This is where the competetive cyclists live and train, where U.S. ski team members live and train, etc.

Portland does not "feel" outdoorsy, and really, compared to mountain cities (Denver, Reno, Salt Lake, etc.) it is not. I think the real issue is Portland is a West COAST city and Denver or Reno are MOUNTAIN cities and the die-hards go there and ratchet up the overall cultural feel.

Portland certainly has lots of outdoor activities to offer but a larger percentage of the people are occasional/casual users, not die-hards. The skiing is okay on Mt. Hood but not spectacular. Hiking is good, mountain biking is okay, fishing is good to great (if you can drive to central oregon) but none of these activities are at top tier levels nor do they attract the hard-core, obsessed people. Portlanders will hike/bike forest park, drive to the coast to walk on the beach, ski at Mt. hood occasionally, etc. It's much more casual and Portland is just as focused on more "coastal" type issues like progressive/liberal urban ideals versus being singularly focused on outdoor pursuits and lifestyle.

In summary - if you are expecting a Denver type environment where all of your co-workers race up to the mountain every Friday evening, you will be let down. If you want opportunity for occasional forays then you should be just fine. There are PLENTY of opportunties.

[roneb]

Great summary rhodan! Sorry I could not give rep points again!

[Ophelia42008]

I've only been to Portland on vacation but it seemed to me that people were very into the outdoors, but it is a very urban city so it can't be as "outdoorsy" as smaller cities. However it's easy to get to the outdoors since there are mountians and the beach within a few hours away from the city. My family is from West Virginia and if you are looking for an educated yet nature friendly city, I would say Portland is a great place for it. I live in San Antonio Texas now, and it is REALLY not that type of a city. I would give it a 2 whereas Portland would get a 10 out of LARGE cities.

[rainierman]

Portland's pretty 'metro'. I know a few outdoorsy dudes who try to go on excursions as much as time permits, not as many as 10 years ago, and none of them rugged and scruffy. All yuppie campers like me. I presume they're at home playing XBox. haha In the past, you found hikers on Yahoo Groups, probably moved on to FB. I go mountain biking and bar lounging with my college buddies up in Seattle yapping about politics and their kids (hint), so my social circle is up there, not so much in Portland. I think I'm not the only one who does that. Many Portlanders are the chain-smoking vegetarian persuasion. Anyone looking at Portland should also give Seattle a look because some newbies move to Portland with Seattle-size expectations. Look at Bend, Redmond, Hood River for the outdoor life. PDX is a bedroom community while Seattle is far from it.

Oregon Outdoors - Susan Marthens Portland Real Estate (http://www.movingtoportland.net/oregon_outdoors.htm - broken link)
Oregon Hiking and Backpacking Clubs
Mazamas | Your Adventure Starts Here
Portland State Campus Recreation | Outdoor Program

[Deezus]

Sometimes I wish there were less people into the outdoors around Portland... I went up to Mt Hood Meadows last weekend for an epic 3 feet of fresh powder in Heather Canyon...The parking lot was completely full by 10 am(as it is most winter/spring weekends with decent snow), and most of the freshies were tracked out by 11 am... Same thing with the masses going kayaking or rafting down the Clackamas or climbing Hood in the summer...even surfing at Short Sands gets crowded these days due to all us Portlanders crowding the break.

I think Portland might not feel as outdoorsy as Denver, but compared to anywhere east of the Rockies, Portland has a lot of folks into the outdoors--but since the best activities are outiside of town, there's no reason you would get that feeling. People into skiing or mountain biking don't just concentrate in one part of Portland so it doesn't feel like a place like Bend---unlike the concentration of upwardly mobile trendsters in inner-Portland, which seems to be our current visual stereotype to the rest of the nation...

Even in the most outdoors oriented big cities, the best stuff is usually an hour or so away. In Denver you're driving a couple of hours away to get to the prime offerings of the Rockies. I lived in Tahoe for 3 years as well, and I wouldn't call a lot of the fat chain-smoking hicks in much of Reno to be outdoorsy by any standard, although you've got a lot of hardcore skiers and climbers who live there too.

Maybe I'm just biased because the majority of my social network in Portland, in addition to a lot of the people I work with seem pretty focused on hiking, climbing, skiing, camping, fishing, etc...In fact if I didn't enjoy the natural landscape of the Pacific NW so much, I would never even remotely consider living in either Portland or Seattle. I don't really hang out much with the whole Portland transplant crowd that finds riding their fixies down to a vegan cafe to be the ultimate highlight of living in this city.

The outdoors in Portland is what you make of it...the skiing isn't as good as Salt Lake City---but on a good snow day (like we've had the past week) Mt. Hood being an hour away offers days as good as places I used to ski in Tahoe. The beach is too cold for most of the year and can't compare to California in terms of conditions, but I still know a lot of people who surf practically year round. Oregon has plenty of awesome outdoors opportunities if you know where to look and have the cojones to deal with the Pacific Northwest weather.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by rainierman

PDX is a bedroom community while Seattle is far from it.

What do you consider Portland to be a bedroom community to? Clark County? Beaverton? I don't know anyone who commutes to Seattle from here on a daily basis, so maybe you've got the wrong term to describe us...

[John Shaft]

The lumberjacks ain't too into micorbrews or lattes, so they don't venture into Portland much, but they are definitely out there...

[rainierman]

Originally Posted by Deezus

What do you consider Portland to be a bedroom community to? Clark County? Beaverton? I don't know anyone who commutes to Seattle from here on a daily basis, so maybe you've got the wrong term to describe us...

Bedroom community compared to Seattle. Portland social climate is more neighborhood-oriented than Seattle with very active neighborhood associations here. I commute to Seattle regularly and therefore view Seattle-Portland to be a 'metroplex' like Dallas-Fort Worth, especially after they expanded I-5 to 6-lanes through most of the corridor now.

[jjmorgan]

You will be disapointed if you expect to find many people like you in Portland. Try the East side of the Cascades or the more rural parts of Oregon such as the Columbia river Gorge.