Questions from an East Coaster moving to PDX (Portland, Clackamas: rentals, homes)

[mreece]

Originally Posted by BaconCrispyPDX

Most certainly not into dance clubs. For me, I'm always looking for a good brewpub, British pub, dive bar, etc. Love good live music, and good food. Will never turn down checking out a good dive bar...usually they have damn good karaoke.

in that case:

Brit-style pubs:
the aforementioned Horse Brass is the tops. Followed closely by The Moon & Sixpence in Hollywood.

brewpubs and breweries, you will find, are everywhere in Portland. Here are a few of my favorites:
Alameda Brewing - NE 47th-ish & Fremont
The Mash Tun - NE 21st & Alberta
Deschutes - NW 11th & Davis
Gigantic - SE 26th & Steele

Beer bars: Portland has the best in the country.
Apex: SE 12th & Division
Belmont Station: SE 45th & Stark
Saraveza: N Michigan & Killingsworth

Dive bars: also everywhere.
The Know: NE 19thish & Alberta
The Vern: SE 26th & Belmont
Red Flag: NE 28th & Flanders

Great food: too many to list. check the mercury website. or pdx.eater.com

live music: look at the mercury.

[VTHokieFan]

Originally Posted by BaconCrispyPDX

OK, I am going to do my best to not sound like a complete dork on this...(and yes, I fully realize that there are tons of people moving from the East who want to hang on to their old ways 1000% and not try to adapt to living there. I am NOT one of them!)

So I am packing up and relocating to Portland in Early January, 2013. I'm 28 yr old straight single guy, and have lived my whole life on the East Coast, most of it in the North-East. Just spent the last year and a half in Pittsburgh, PA (side note...never recommend living there. The yinzers are an interesting bunch, to say the least). Anyway, so after tons of research and all in where I think I'd like to live & have a fresh start on all the aspects of my life, Portland, for me at least, seeming like the best idea. Really liking what I've seen as far as it being not an overly big city, big on embracing the arts & outdoors, a mecca for good beer opportunities, a seemingly "foodie" city, not afraid to show it's hippie side now and then, and all in all, people seeming to embrace a bit of a slower paced life as opposed to the North-East, while embracing their "weird". Seems like a good mix for me (and yes, I fully realize that living in Portland is not like the show Portlandia)

NOW...

Seeing as I've never lived there, would love to get some insight from locals as to the good, bad, interesting, indifferent, etc. parts of Portland. What areas would you recommend? Events to check out? Places to avoid? Any specific thing in January-March that are really worth checking out? What is the dating scene like there? Nightlife? Daytime activities? Any information would be helpful! Also, being that I am partially deaf...is there much of a deaf community there in Portland? Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

ALSO..by no means do I want to be one of "those people" who sits there and says "Wow...that's not how we do things back where I come from!". I am READILY looking forward to blending in to Portland and becoming a native!

Highly recommend the move my man. Lower COL, outsdoorsy, people are great, and the women are much better than the east coast IMO. I made the move myself at age 25 about 2 months ago. Best of luck

[BaconCrispyPDX]

all this info is awesome! Thanks already to everyone who has given me some tidbits of info already! Now..I do have a bit of a weird question. I've gathered from what I read that at least some Portlandians aren't too keen on the people moving there from California..how about the people like me coming from the East?

[hamellr]

We don't care where you're from. What we care about is when people come here and say "I *HATE* the rain!" "Why is xxx so screwed up? We don't do that where I'm from!" "Why isn't there <insert random chain store/dining> here?"

[BaconCrispyPDX]

haha well I guess it's good that I in fact LOVE the rain, and can't wait to leave "how things are done where I'm from" behind me then! haha

[FSF]

Originally Posted by hamellr

We don't care where you're from. What we care about is when people come here and say "I *HATE* the rain!" "Why is xxx so screwed up? We don't do that where I'm from!" "Why isn't there <insert random chain store/dining> here?"

I think most people tend to do that to some extent when they are in a new environment and find themselves having to adjust their daily habits. Having said that, I think you're more inclined to see that type of "attitude" from a person that comes from an area that they think is superior somehow, be it the intellect of the community or the housing prices in their area or whatever. In other words, I can see it happening much more from someone coming from LA, NYC, San Francisco or DC than someone coming from Nebraska. Pittsburgh is a smallish city so I think Portland will be a smoother transition for someone from that area.

[hamellr]

That and I think Pittsburg and Portland are close enough that the transition won't be so bad.

[Steve Pickering]

There is a lot to do in Portland that does not involve booze.

One of my favorites is just walking through town.

[Minervah]

Well here's a helpful hint, most people here use the term "Portlanders" when refering to themseleves.

No it is not a wierd question it is typical of the transplantee asking if people from a certain area will be accepted.

Trust me, you have asked nothing that hasn't ever been asked before. So relax. When you get here, just chat with people here as you would anywhere else. People here are not over eager to make friends but they are nice and will warm up to newcomers after a time. If you are genuine and pleasant enough and don't remind them you are from someplace else be that California or Pittsburgh every five minutes you will be fine.

I mentioned the Horse Brass Pub a while back. It's one of the most friendly places I have been to in Portland. Brew pubs tend to be that way. Meeting people in a casual setting usually is a good way to find friends.

The topic of converstaion anyplace is really important. When I moved here about a million years ago, I found that best way to break the ice anywhere I went was to get people talking about their city.

Compliment what you have found or seen. "I visited Forest Park today, it was really beautiful. "I ate at Rhyad's, nice place, ever been there?" Or ask how to get to the library/zoo/a gym etc. Sometimes in the right atmosphere, someone will open up and talk about their relocation experiernce and what it was like when they moved here or maybe you have run into that rare bird, a native who will tell you all about what things were like before "all this happened."

[Steve Pickering]

I also like to just get on the LiteRail and go from end to end. Good way to get to know people and see the city.