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The old Portland is where the new Portland is. It hasn't gone anywhere.
I would strongly disagree with you there. I relocated to Portland in the late 70's from Chicago. I relocated to Cleveland about a year and a half ago. Portland then does not even faintly resemble the Portland of today.
Even Cleveland resembles the Portland of yesteryear more than today's Portland although not quite that far back.
I never understood threads like these. Cities are unique in many ways and you won't ever find another exact version of the same city elsewhere. You can find similar cities but there will always be something different about them that will make a huge difference.
In the case of Portland, it's in one of the cloudiest and rainiest parts of the country. I imagine that Portland is gloomy often. Lots of people suggest Austin as being similar to Portland but Austin is probably much sunnier, and this is a huge difference. Not to mention that Austin is in Texas which is way different than Oregon... Heck they even talk different over there.
The only way you could find an "old" Portland would be some other "weird, hipster" town in the Pacific Northwest. Even other places in the West, while we do share some similarities culturally, will have a big different cultural element. The West may be the closest outside of the "west of the Cascades" region but it's still different. And it will become even more different the further you get, whether its to the Midwest, the South, or the Northeast.
Wouldn't old Portland be pre-1970s Portland when it was sort of industrial/working class port/lumber town? The whole kind of artsy and weird Portland deal seems to be something that started in the 70s and 80s(from what I've heard and read) when the city was cheap and losing population before it picked up in the 90s and then peaked in the last decade with transplants moving from places that were suddenly way more expensive.
You can still find working class/middle class old Portland on the outskirts of the N and NE/SE Portland. Once you get east of 60th or 82nd or north of Killingsworth you still have a lot of the older residents and some more lowkey or grittier areas and kind of charming dive bars(even if those neighborhoods have been slowly gentrified). Though in the last couple years even those areas haven't been cheap. But it's still there even as things change. Like St Johns in North Portland still has that sort of feel.
The slogan "Keep Portland Weird" was brought to Portland in 2003 by Terry Currier, owner of the store "Music Millennium. Currier used it to create a business campaign for his store. It took hold and became a Portland slogan.
I moved to Portland in 1978, it was a unique city that looked nothing at all as it is today. There were artists, musicians, playwrights and many creative people who couldn't afford LA or even Seattle so they made their own venues. I was a part of local theater in those days some of which still exist.
If you knew where to go and what to do, Portland was really a mecca of entertainment and fun. Very low key though. That's what attracted the first flow of creative people who moved there from all parts of the US. That and the fact it was so cheap. Where else could poor actors rent an old theater to run by themselves (The Columbia-now CineMagic Movie Theater or Artists Repertory which literally began in ground floor side of a building) or small storefronts for a UFO or Hat Museum? Old Town was jumpin' with jazz places.
That was "old Portland." Just a piece. Which is nothing like "new Portland." Time marches on. It was fun while it lasted.
Should be interesting to see how things play out when Portland prices start to even out with Seattle.
Almost all my friends who live in Portland ***** about it all the time, but I guess it isn't bad enough to get them to move yet.
Wish there were more cities out there to pick from as I do enjoy the PacNW a great deal.
I don't know if they'll even out with Seattle any time soon though since Seattle prices are still climbing upwards also. It's like asking when Seattle will even out with the Bay Area--prices are still going up(or were) in the Bay Area.
I don't know if they'll even out with Seattle any time soon though since Seattle prices are still climbing upwards also. It's like asking when Seattle will even out with the Bay Area--prices are still going up(or were) in the Bay Area.
Well, yeah, but there has to be a point where someone looks at Portland's diminishing charm and lower wages and comes to the decision Seattle's better due to higher pay. In the past Portland had the lifestyle differentiator, but with the new development and the lack of historical preservation I don't really see what that big difference will be in the future.
Light rail? Seattle's beefing theirs up.
Setting? Seattle has always had a leg up here (although not sure on accessibility).
Traffic? If they add the million to the Portland metro it'll be just as bad as Seattle.
Well, yeah, but there has to be a point where someone looks at Portland's diminishing charm and lower wages and comes to the decision Seattle's better due to higher pay. In the past Portland had the lifestyle differentiator, but with the new development and the lack of historical preservation I don't really see what that big difference will be in the future.
Light rail? Seattle's beefing theirs up.
Setting? Seattle has always had a leg up here (although not sure on accessibility).
Traffic? If they add the million to the Portland metro it'll be just as bad as Seattle.
So what will it be?
People already make that decision though--Seattle grows just as fast if not faster than Portland in terms of % increase and much more in terms of total people who move there and move to the metro as a whole. Both are growing at the same time and both are getting more expensive. Living in Portland it's interesting the perception that Portland and Oregon are the fastest growing places in the US, when in fact most of the Western US is growing at similar or faster rates(Washington still has way more people that move to it)--Portland just has surprisingly high prices(to some) because construction hasn't kept up with demand--and there's a limited supply of "Old Portland" style neighborhoods.
It's not like people ever stopped moving to Seattle because more made the choice to move to Portland. Seattle could be as expensive as the Bay Area someday, Portland will still most likely be cheaper. If Portland prices were the same as Seattle you'd see a slowing of growth in Portland, yest, though at that point prices in Portland would also level off. And then Portland might be considered a comparable bargain still to the Bay Area or Seattle. It's all kind of relative.
Last edited by CanuckInPortland; 03-03-2016 at 11:46 AM..
People already make that decision though--Seattle grows just as fast if not faster than Portland in terms of % increase and much more in terms of total people who move there and move to the metro as a whole. Both are growing at the same time and both are getting more expensive. Living in Portland it's interesting the perception that Portland and Oregon are the fastest growing places in the US, when in fact most of the Western US is growing at similar or faster rates(Washington still has way more people that move to it)--Portland just has surprisingly high prices(to some) because construction hasn't kept up with demand--and there's a limited supply of "Old Portland" style neighborhoods.
It's not like people ever stopped moving to Seattle because more made the choice to move to Portland. Seattle could be as expensive as the Bay Area someday, Portland will still most likely be cheaper. If Portland prices were the same as Seattle you'd see a slowing of growth in Portland, yest, though at that point prices in Portland would also level off. And then Portland might be considered a comparable bargain still to the Bay Area or Seattle. It's all kind of relative.
Bahh I hate to hear that. I hope it never gets as expensive as the bay area. The displacement is so sad. These are people's homes!! Hopefully tech will move to or start up in cheaper cities. Actually, hopefully we all move to sustainable, local economies and care more about the earth we continue to destroy.
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