What is the Seattle impression of Portland, OR? (Tacoma, Vancouver: rental, condo)

[DavidY]

I like Portland, and I go there quite often, but really there are WAY too many homeless people on the streets. You can't get away from them. Rats run freely in the downtown streets late at night (its quite a site to see), and the whole city is laid out like someone really F'd up a game of Sim City.

[WikiAdam]

Originally Posted by Benzito

Please ... if you live in Portland or spend any time here, you can't get away from the theme that "we need to put Portland on the international map" or "we need to develop a national identity as an eco-friendly village" or "we need to be better than Seattle and Vancouver (B.C., of course)." Portland is NOT content to be what it is. The Max, the OHSU tram, the $4.2B bridge that the mayor insists be a "postcard opportunity." Like a bridge, other than the Golden Gate, is a tourist attraction.

Oh, and the light rail system being "functional for neighborhoods?" Not quite. It misses damn near every large neighborhood in the established city limits and really only spurred development in the outermost western and eastern suburbs. I live three or four miles away from downtown and wouldn't think of taking the light rail, because the stop is about two miles away and completely inconvenience. Yes, I concede that I don't reflect everyone in the city, but I think I represent everyone else in my general vicinity.

I used to live in Portland. I agree that the light rail system was far from functional, and completely, utterly useless for anyone living in SE Portland, and for a very large chunk of NE Portland as well. I hear they're adding a Green Line to run into the east end of SE (near 99th), but that still wouldn't have helped me when I lived there...on the west side of SE.

I don't agree with the long-perpetrated myth that Portland has some sort of inferiority complex and that it's constantly trying to put itself on the map. I never once witnessed anyone acting in this manner. I'm not saying there isn't anyone in the city who feels that way (and hey, there probably are quite a few of them), but I don't think they speak for the majority.

And as for the mayor wanting a "Postcard Opportunity" bridge...what exactly is wrong with that? I'm all for city officials beautifying the city instead of throwing up another ghastly concrete slab with no artistic merit whatsoever to it. Why wouldn't you want your city to look nice?

And DavidY, your comment about Portland being "laid out like someone really F'd up a game of Sim City" had me in stitches. It's true! I don't know who designed Portland's transporation grid, but sweet mother of Gandhi it's a mess. It's almost as bad as the way Seattle's streets are numbered (why there must be a 2nd Ave W four blocks from a totally separate 2nd Ave N is mind-numbing).

[BellevueGuy]

Originally Posted by WikiAdam

I used to live in Portland. I agree that the light rail system was far from functional, and completely, utterly useless for anyone living in SE Portland, and for a very large chunk of NE Portland as well. I hear they're adding a Green Line to run into the east end of SE (near 99th), but that still wouldn't have helped me when I lived there...on the west side of SE.

Well in all fairness, a light rail costs billions to build so it can't reach every single neighborhoods of the city. At least you guys have a great MAX system while people in Seattle are still bickering about our streetcar design.

[argo69]

Portland has MAX and Seattle has the **** (South Lake Union Trolley).

[SonicsFan93]

Well, if Portland does have an inferiority complex, it doesn't help if we keep taking or buying out their local companies:

AVI Biopharma Bolts from Portland to Seattle to Tap Biotech Talent | Xconomy

AVI Biopharma Bolts from Portland to Seattle to Tap Biotech Talent
Luke Timmerman 7/30/09

AVI Biopharma, the developer of RNA-based drugs, is moving its headquarters and part of its scientific operations north a couple hundred miles from Portland, OR, to Bothell, WA, in an effort to mine the Seattle area’s bigger biotech talent pool.

Starbucks may move Portland's Tazo Tea to Seattle - OregonLive.com

Starbucks may move Portland's Tazo Tea to Seattle
by Richard Read, The Oregonian
Monday June 01, 2009, 7:37 PM

Seattle is to Portland what coffee is to tea, and the brawnier, more caffeinated city may soon absorb one of the mellower mixes brewed here.

Starbucks, which bought Portland's Tazo Tea Co. 10 years ago, is considering moving the tea division's headquarters to Seattle, Mayor Sam Adams and Tazo's landlord confirmed Monday.
Michael Lloyd/ The OregonianVines wreathe the front entrance of Tazo Tea Co.'s Southeast Portland headquarters. Starbucks could move its Tazo division, which it bought in 1999, to Seattle where the coffee giant has empty space.

The potential move, which Starbucks dismisses as rumor and speculation, would claim about 80 jobs and an enterprise that grew from an empty Portland warehouse into a global brand.

[BellevueGuy]

Originally Posted by argo69

Portland has MAX and Seattle has the **** (South Lake Union Trolley).

I am actually beginning to see the bigger picture of it.

Light rail going to UW is being built, capitol hill streetcar is being built.

If they can build a First Ave street car through Queen Anne, Belltown, Pike Place, Pioneer Square (linking with S.L.U.T and Capitol Hill lines), it actually would work for most people downtown. And we can say "Beat you Portland! Lol"

Of course being Seattle... we will take 3 years discussing the pros & cons & pros & cons & pros & cons of it.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by DavidY

I like Portland, and I go there quite often, but really there are WAY too many homeless people on the streets. You can't get away from them. Rats run freely in the downtown streets late at night (its quite a site to see), and the whole city is laid out like someone really F'd up a game of Sim City.

Rats in the downtown streets? Are you joking? Lived in Portland for over six years, I've seen the occasional chipmunk downtown, but never a rat. I also fail to see how the city is laid out like an f'd game of Sim City.... Yeah, it can be hard to find your way back to the freeway if you're a tourist, but that's just as true in Seattle and San Francisco as well..

[WikiAdam]

Originally Posted by Deezus

I also fail to see how the city is laid out like an f'd game of Sim City.... Yeah, it can be hard to find your way back to the freeway if you're a tourist, but that's just as true in Seattle and San Francisco as well..

Don't get me wrong: Seattle and San Francisco are also laid out pretty sloppily, with little regard to convenience or logic. Most cities are.

That said, Seattle, Portland, and SF are NOTHING compared to Boston. That city's like a web spun by a spider after sinking a fifth of Jack.

Seriously, check out the Google map of Boston and see for yourself.

[pw72]

Originally Posted by WikiAdam

Don't get me wrong: Seattle and San Francisco are also laid out pretty sloppily, with little regard to convenience or logic. Most cities are.

That said, Seattle, Portland, and SF are NOTHING compared to Boston. That city's like a web spun by a spider after sinking a fifth of Jack.

Seriously, check out the Google map of Boston and see for yourself.

True, but Boston was laid out well over a hundred years before automobiles even existed! That is the true reason for the "web spun".

[WikiAdam]

Originally Posted by pw72

True, but Boston was laid out well over a hundred years before automobiles even existed! That is the true reason for the "web spun".

Oh believe me, I know. But I'm not talking about why or when a city was built, just the finished product. And driving in Boston is an absolute nightmare.