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I live in Seattle and I eventually want to move and experience living somewhere else. Right now I am thinking that I will eventually move to either Pittsburgh or Portland, Maine. I am not interested in Boston or Portland, Oregon.
I want something not too different from Seattle but yet not too much like Seattle. Pittsburgh seems more like Seattle and Portland, Maine less like Seattle due to it being so much smaller.
I can't decide if I would prefer the smaller city of Portland, Maine which would be more different than Seattle or the bigger Pittsburgh which would be more similar to Seattle. Pittsburgh and Portland, Maine both seem like great cities. I like how Pittsburgh has professional sports teams and is bigger and has more to do but I also like the smaller and cozy feel and vibe of Portland, Maine. So I am torn between the two.
I am single with no kids and I have plenty of money saved up and I can do sales and many different types of jobs so I'm not worried about money and work. I can handle things regardless of where I go. I'm a simple person so I don't need much money to be happy anyway.
I feel as I get older I will start to prefer a smaller place like Portland, Maine. I am in my late 30's and I don't care to party and get drunk anymore. I am more into the simple things now.
I have visited both cities but have not spent much time in either place. I don't have any family or friends in either city but that's not something that I'm concerned with. I tend to make new friends really easy.
I like how Portland does not feel very corporate. It's got more of a mom and pop kind of feel. However, I do like some of the hustle and bustle of bigger cities so it's still a hard one for me.
I guess I'm not sure what I really want but at least I feel like I finally have it narrowed down to just two cities which are Pittsburgh and Portland, Maine.
Feel free to give me any of your thoughts and opinions regarding these two cities. I welcome any of your thoughts. Thanks!
Pittsburgh and Seattle are very different cities. Portland is 110 miles from Boston, a reasonable day or weekend trip (and there's regular train or bus service between the two cities), so you won't be too isolated. Portland, Maine is near the White Mountains and beaches — New England has a nice coastline. Be prepared for long, snowy winters in Portland, Pittsburgh will feel cold coming from Seattle, Portland even colder. Portland, Maine is rather sunny and its summers comfortable. Pittsburgh isn't really any sunnier than Seattle.
I was young and single and came from a larger city to Portland because of all the reasons you mentioned. I was miserable. The dating scene is going to be limited already due to the population, but culturally, Portland is a family city. You won't find the masses of 20-30 something professional singles in Portland like you would in a larger city. Most people settle down in their early/ mid 20's. It's a small town that feels smaller once you live there. I felt it was suffocating and isolated after a while. Yes, Boston isn't too far, but it's far enough to be more than just a wake up and go for a few hours type destination. 2 hours with no traffic (which is rare).
It's a pretty little town, it's nice to visit, it's charming, and it's great for families. I'd avoid it like the plague if you're 30, single, and used to living in a major metro area. Providence RI is a better New England alternative. Pittsburgh is also a safer bet.
I live in Seattle and I eventually want to move and experience living somewhere else. Right now I am thinking that I will eventually move to either Pittsburgh or Portland, Maine. I am not interested in Boston or Portland, Oregon.
I want something not too different from Seattle but yet not too much like Seattle.
Other then number of cloudy days and both having hills Pittsburgh and Seattle are not much alike.
Generally speaking Pittsburgh is:
Conservative Democrat.
Filled with blunt, yet friendly people.
A bar & sports town. (Although there's plenty of culture if you go looking for it.)
Gritty and compact.
Probably more humid in the summer and cold/snowy in the winter.
Affordable.
As for Portland I had/have a similar problem. Asheville is too small for me, but I'm still open to smaller cities (compared to others I've lived in).
However, I didn't know where the line was between too small and small that could work. For me that was Charleston, SC. With a city population of 128,000 (North Charleston has another 104,000) and 697,000 in the metro it felt like a small city compared to places like Asheville or Greenville that seem more like big towns.
So that's the population line for me.
As to places like Seattle I often hear comparisons between Seattle and Minneapolis. I believe this mainly has to do with ancestry and the polite, yet standoffish nature of the people in those cities.
To me the Twin Cities felt Midwestern with a dash of PacNW.
If money is not an issue and being around students doesn't bother you Cambridge might be an idea or Vancouver, BC, which is probably your best bet for "most like Seattle" cities.
Olympia might be another idea. A little different, smaller, and close enough that if you find yourself missing Seattle you can drive on up.
Last edited by Port Pitt Ash; 03-30-2015 at 07:19 AM..
I love Pittsburgh, but the only things that are particularly similar to Seattle is the weather (overcast and rainy, albeit with hotter summers and colder winters) and the demographics (Seattle, Portland, and Pittsburgh are the whitest medium-to-large size core cities in the country).
Pittsburgh does have more similarities to Portland, Oregon than Seattle though - or rather, the way Portland was 20-30 years ago. Both are riverfront cities with a strong blue-collar union history. Pittsburgh is a far older city than Portland or Seattle though. There are plenty of 19th century rowhouse neighborhoods remaining in the core, some of which are among the hottest neighborhoods to live in. IMHO Shadyside is the neighborhood which has a vibe most similar to the Pacific Northwest.
However, I didn't know where the line was between too small and small that could work. For me that was Charleston, SC. With a city population of 128,000 (North Charleston has another 104,000) and 697,000 in the metro it felt like a small city compared to places like Asheville or Greenville that seem more like big towns.
So that's the population line for me.
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This is a good point. Portland ME's metro area is officially somewhere around 500,000 people. The problem is that it doesn't feel anywhere near that big. Those 500,000 people are spread over an area more than double the size of Rhode Island. The problem is with Census Bureau's use of counties and the general irrelevance of counties in New England. Portland, Maine's urbanized area is 188,000, and it realistically feels like a metro area of somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000. It's not exactly busting at the seams. The largest neighbors are South Portland (25k) and Westbrook (18k), the latter of which is fairly woodsy. It's a low density, spread out area. The Southern portion of the metro (Kittery, York, Berwicks, Wells, etc.) are even aligned more to a degree with places like Portsmouth NH and Boston (particularly the northern suburban office area of Route 128).
I always felt that Portland was like a "big town" rather than a city right down to the "Main St" (Congress Street) and lack of urban neighborhood centers outside of downtown. Again, it's a cute place and it's definitely charming, but it gets small quickly when you live there. One of my favorite things about living in a city is exploring neighborhoods and getting a feel for the culture and atmosphere in different nooks of the urban environment. It's not possible in Portland. Downtown is the only game in town and even that's small enough to cover in depth in just a few hours.
I visited there on a summer weekend and thought it was surprisingly lively; seemed like a decent amount of nightlife and live music too. But Irfox has actually lived there. The neighborhoods immediately nearby are very attractive and lively looking. As the largest city in Northern New England, I'd guess few residents have moved from another, most are people from Maine or New Hampshire who wanted a bit more of a city life without leaving the region, so it may still be a bit parochial.
This is a good point. Portland ME's metro area is officially somewhere around 500,000 people. The problem is that it doesn't feel anywhere near that big. Those 500,000 people are spread over an area more than double the size of Rhode Island. The problem is with Census Bureau's use of counties and the general irrelevance of counties in New England. Portland, Maine's urbanized area is 188,000, and it realistically feels like a metro area of somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000. It's not exactly busting at the seams. The largest neighbors are South Portland (25k) and Westbrook (18k), the latter of which is fairly woodsy. It's a low density, spread out area. The Southern portion of the metro (Kittery, York, Berwicks, Wells, etc.) are even aligned more to a degree with places like Portsmouth NH and Boston (particularly the northern suburban office area of Route 128).
Yea, I found Portland's metro population puzzlingly high. It does have a nice city for its size, but 200,000 sounds like a more reasonable number.
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