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Im surprised Denver is so far ahead. Portland captures a certain urbanity that Denver lacks. It is also far more walkable, bikeable, and has better transit.
It's no surprise to me. Portland is going to get whammed in 2 ways. The culture and the climate. that is why people are voting Denver. They are going to be a turn off for a lot of people. Where as, Denver is pretty moderate on all aspects... I think a lot of people could make Denver work. Portland, not so much, it caters to a too one sided crowd if the metro wasn't already substantially smaller. It's not like Portland is some urban wonderland either that you are mentioning walkable/bikeable/better transit. It's okay for it's size but nothing to write home about. I found quite a bit to do in Denver and the surrounding metro also, Boulder is cool and so are the various mountain and old west towns. The recreation in the rockies and around Denver beats the pants off Portland also (which is often one of Portland's "things") so... yep. For anybody who in any way likes professional sports, Portland would be a deal killer. Whereas Denver has all 4 major sports, with good fan bases as well. It also gets a lot more of your typical venues/arts etc that make the round in other big cities where Portland has this whole we are out of the mainstream thing with it.
Last edited by Garfieldian; 10-24-2011 at 12:13 AM..
I like visiting both cities but I like Denver better than Portland. Both cities have a vibrant music, art, and gay culture, and amazing surrounding nature. The only draw back with Portland is that it is less diverse - mostly white people, and it is constantly drizzling and gray... Also Denver has an infinite amount of cool old kitchy dive bars and great venue spaces for live music...
I think Portland has better old kitschy dive bars than Denver. Portland has tons of bars per capita - it reminds me of a mini-chicago in that you can find crappy old dives on nearly every block (and, unlike Seattle, most of them are not hipster-dominated, especially when get more into the peripheral areas)
It's no surprise to me. Portland is going to get whammed in 2 ways. The culture and the climate. that is why people are voting Denver. They are going to be a turn off for a lot of people. Where as, Denver is pretty moderate on all aspects... I think a lot of people could make Denver work. Portland, not so much, it caters to a too one sided crowd if the metro wasn't already substantially smaller. It's not like Portland is some urban wonderland either that you are mentioning walkable/bikeable/better transit. It's okay for it's size but nothing to write home about. I found quite a bit to do in Denver and the surrounding metro also, Boulder is cool and so are the various mountain and old west towns. The recreation in the rockies and around Denver beats the pants off Portland also (which is often one of Portland's "things") so... yep. For anybody who in any way likes professional sports, Portland would be a deal killer. Whereas Denver has all 4 major sports, with good fan bases as well. It also gets a lot more of your typical venues/arts etc that make the round in other big cities where Portland has this whole we are out of the mainstream thing with it.
Portland's culture is very misunderstood - yes, there are a lot of hipsters, but there are also a lot of blue-collar redneck types in the area. It really has much more of a balance than you would imagine.
As for urbanity - Portland has a far better and more cohesive streetscape than Denver (see links below). There's a reason its a model for urban planners - great, lively small blocks, neighborhoods blend right into each other, everything is right up on the street, and the transit is more fluid.
Also, Portland has a more exciting feel to me, believe it or not. There are more strip clubs per capita than anywhere else in the country (I'm not a huge fan, but it adds an exciting vibe), there is actually a pretty bustling nightlife - albeit, very specific types of bars, but there are tons of them, and they have a ton of character.
Overall, its this -
Most of downtown and inner neighborhoods in Portland look like this:
I like the fact when i visit portland I can take a train or plain and get downtown easy . Last time I went to Denver they didnt have a train or light rail from the air port . Was annoying and the airport is far from downtown. Portlands downtown was way more alive more shops department stores and resteraunts. Denver seemed more like a city that once was great. Well to be fair I mostly spent time on 16th street . The vibe was like an off price mall I didnt see any major department stores like other cities only off price box stores. I was expecting alot more . I would assume one of Portlands large department stores would almost equal all the retail in 16th street . I could be wrong maybe I just misssed the major spopping area of downtown Denver, Most cities have at least Nordstroms, and Macys. It did have lots of kool resteraunts The Hard Rock was kool. But have to go with Portland Theres alot more to do in portland.
I like the fact when i visit portland I can take a train or plain and get downtown easy . Last time I went to Denver they didnt have a train or light rail from the air port . Was annoying and the airport is far from downtown. Portlands downtown was way more alive more shops department stores and resteraunts. Denver seemed more like a city that once was great. Well to be fair I mostly spent time on 16th street . The vibe was like an off price mall I didnt see any major department stores like other cities only off price box stores. I was expecting alot more . I would assume one of Portlands large department stores would almost equal all the retail in 16th street . I could be wrong maybe I just misssed the major spopping area of downtown Denver, Most cities have at least Nordstroms, and Macys. It did have lots of kool resteraunts The Hard Rock was kool. But have to go with Portland Theres alot more to do in portland.
Like What? Can someone please tell me what there is to do in Portland that you can't do in Denver!?
Portland's culture is very misunderstood - yes, there are a lot of hipsters, but there are also a lot of blue-collar redneck types in the area. It really has much more of a balance than you would imagine.
As for urbanity - Portland has a far better and more cohesive streetscape than Denver (see links below). There's a reason its a model for urban planners - great, lively small blocks, neighborhoods blend right into each other, everything is right up on the street, and the transit is more fluid.
Also, Portland has a more exciting feel to me, believe it or not. There are more strip clubs per capita than anywhere else in the country (I'm not a huge fan, but it adds an exciting vibe), there is actually a pretty bustling nightlife - albeit, very specific types of bars, but there are tons of them, and they have a ton of character.
Overall, its this -
Most of downtown and inner neighborhoods in Portland look like this:
Like What? Can someone please tell me what there is to do in Portland that you can't do in Denver!?
I don't know ... maybe ... fish for salmon in the middle of downtown? Take a riverboat cruise? Take a jetboat tour? Snow ski in the middle of summer (granted ... can't do this one within the city limits)? Water ski on your lunch hour? Attend, or row in, dragon boat races. Rock climb within the city limits? Picnic on top of the cinder cone of an extinct volcano? Zoobomb? Ride the tram? Eat on a floating restaurant? Live on a houseboat? Visit an authentic Chinese garden? Visit an authentic Japanese garden? Hike or mountain bike in an old growth forest from downtown?
Not sure of all of them, maybe you can do some of those in Denver, and I imagine there are many that I don't know of.
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