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I do love this city in many ways, but lately a few things have really irked me.
1) The transit sucks
Sometimes it takes 2 hours to travel ten miles, and the MAX is really just a showpiece. Lines have been cut, prices raised. Some hours it's typical for the busier lines to be double capacity. Sometimes it's actually quicker to just walk than to wait for the next ride.
2) Poverty
Oregon has a lot of poverty. While I appreciate that the homeless are welcome here and not driven out of town, I wish they were better taken care of. I also find that if I go downtown for any period of time it's almost inevitable I will be asked for money. I'm not rich myself and while often I am willing to give them a dollar or at least a quarter or two, sometimes I feel like it's a tax. The job market also sucks; Portland isn't a good place to live if you want to make decent money.
3) The food, music and nightlife aren't that great
This town totally shuts down at 2:30 AM, and even though there are a lot of bars, they're honestly all pretty much the same as the next. Same with the food carts - I like gyros, but how many gyro carts do there really need to be? The Chinese food sucks too, now that Fujin is gonna be gone I'll pretty much be "done" with Chinese food.
Also what famous bands does Portland have that still make music or are relevant? None?
4) THE WEATHER
In theory I should like Portland's weather, but in practice I do not. The rainfall distribution is horrible for your health. I wish there was more winter sunshine and more summer rain. The mildewy winter gives me bronchitis and then when summer comes I get horrible allergies and can't breathe which is even worse.
It's also not as mild a climate as you'd think. While winter is usually above freezing, it's only a few degrees warmer than cities like New York and DC on average, and unlike back east you don't get days that are actually warm during the winter. The winters are LONG too - sure extreme cold is almost unheard of, but you can go like 5-6 months without it ever reaching 70F. The snowlessness is depressing, snow is fun and I feel like a climate as chilly as Portland deserves more of it.
Summer can also get quite hot and muggy at times, despite popular belief. 90 degree days that fail to get below 60 at night are quite common and the humidity tends to be around 35-50% during the day. The fact AC is rare in Portland and houses are poorly insulated combined with my allergies mean that July, August and most of September are not a good time for me. I am always aware of how the heat makes me unhappy during those months. By August it gets really brown and dusty too, I wish Portland had more summer rain.
1) So walk. It's better for you. Drive. Ride a bike. Stay home.
2) Don't like the homeless or the poverty they represent? It's a worldwide problem. But as for Portland's ... what are you doing to alleviate it? Why not invite a homeless person to come and live with you. Or just over for dinner. don't make decent money in Portland ... how, and who, is it you expect to be supporting everyone who doesn't want to (or can't) work?
3) Aren't that great? Please. No one expects "great" nightlife in Portland. Besides, no one needs to be out after 2:30 drinking and carousing. Perhaps that's why you're having problems with #2. Go to bed, get some rest, so you can get up and go to work.
Gyros carts? I've never been to one. If you think there are too many, don't go to them. Why worry about something you're not forced to go to. Chinese? Not one of my favorites, but maybe try Shandong, Wong's King Seafood, Lucky Strike. As for bands? Again, who cares if the bands are from Portland, or passing through town from elsewhere. Or even if they're "famous." There's plenty of good music to be heard.
4. Oh dear. If you have health problems, visit a doctor. I have no ill effects from the winters. Or from the summers. Or from the lack of snow. I'm not depressed. I have heat and air conditioning, and have had in almost every house I've ever lived in.
5. It's obvious you're just trolling with yet more "complaints" about Portland. If you don't like it in Portland ... MOVE. Find somewhere else you think is more perfect for you. Seriously, life is too short to spend so much time dwelling on what you don't like about people, places, things.
1) This is totally dependent on where you live. If you live along the Max line, or along a frequent bus route it can be great. But if you're trying to get from anywhere to the PCC Sylvania Campus, it really is a hassle. I would say, though, that PCC is really a suburban car-oriented campus.
2) I wish panhandlers wouldn't approach me downtown. I also wish I didn't have to see them at intersections and offramps. But what are you gonna do? It's part of Portland.
3) I'm not too much of a "nightlife" guy, and the kind of nightlife that is prevalent in Portland suits me well, so I guess I'd disagree. And while I agree that it's hard to find really great Chinese food, there's a lot of passable Chinese, and some other really great restaurants. But it depends on what you're looking for. And if you define good bands as having to be famous, you have a very high standard.
4) I would change the weather if I could, but I can't so again, what are you gonna do? And you definitely can't do anything about the freezing temperature of water. That big ol' Pacific Ocean really moderates our temperatures. Oh, and "muggy" is not how I would classify probably 80 of the 90 days of summer.
So now that you've created this thread, time to post some of the things you love about Portland!
5. It's obvious you're just trolling with yet more "complaints" about Portland. If you don't like it in Portland ... MOVE. Find somewhere else you think is more perfect for you. Seriously, life is too short to spend so much time dwelling on what you don't like about people, places, things.
Way to disrespect someone for having an opinion who is sharing it on a forum where that kind of info is very relevant to people who are considering a move. You sound like you haven't eaten a square meal recently. Grumpy McGrumbleson.
Let people post their experiences. No one is saying you have to agree.
Op thanks for this. People are always telling me to move o Portland because its so hip and young and "urban planning!" But Ive always suspected it's not for me (yes Ive visited). Thanks for giving me one more persons perspective on the city - it kind of affirms what I already suspected in my gut.
The transportation does not suck. I exclusively use public transport and while sometimes certain places are hard to get to, for the most part transportation in the CITY itself is very good. Now if you live out in the suburbs then yes, transport isn't as good, but that's anywhere. Max is not "just a show piece" thousands of people use it daily.
And you know, if you don't like Portland then you can always move. Each to his own.
1) So walk. It's better for you. Drive. Ride a bike. Stay home.
Sylvania is eight miles away. Actually it's kind of funny, I did the math and realized it would actually be faster to jog there than to take the bus some days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
2) Don't like the homeless or the poverty they represent? It's a worldwide problem. But as for Portland's ... what are you doing to alleviate it? Why not invite a homeless person to come and live with you. Or just over for dinner. don't make decent money in Portland ... how, and who, is it you expect to be supporting everyone who doesn't want to (or can't) work?
I never said I didn't like the homeless, I just said I'm not fond of being hassled every time I go downtown. Sometimes I don't even have anything to give them. It's not only annoying it's also sad.
I give them money sometimes, if I have it and feel generous. Hosting them in my own home is out of the question, I share an apartment with two other people (family) and I can't just have a stranger live with us. They tend to have problems and be unpredictable and it's very risky to take them in, it's not because I'm a snob. I'm just not trained for that kind of hosting. I think our system should take better care of veterans, the mentally ill, etc so they are not out on the street forlorn and forgotten.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
3) Aren't that great? Please. No one expects "great" nightlife in Portland. Besides, no one needs to be out after 2:30 drinking and carousing. Perhaps that's why you're having problems with #2. Go to bed, get some rest, so you can get up and go to work.
Maybe they should expect more? I'm not just talking about bars either, there's really almost nowhere in town, aside from Plaid Pantry, QFC and the Roxy that's even open after 2:30. And if you are out somewhere past that hour in a different part of town, well you better wait until sunrise or be up for walking home.
The only nightlife worth bothering for in Portland IMO is Baby Ketten Karaoke, probably the best karaoke in the country if not on the planet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
Gyros carts? I've never been to one. If you think there are too many, don't go to them. Why worry about something you're not forced to go to. Chinese? Not one of my favorites, but maybe try Shandong, Wong's King Seafood, Lucky Strike. As for bands? Again, who cares if the bands are from Portland, or passing through town from elsewhere. Or even if they're "famous." There's plenty of good music to be heard.
I like gyros, all I was saying is that the foodie scene here is very repetitive. Especially the dozens of Thai restaurants that all have exactly the same menu pretty much. There's towns a lot smaller than Portland that have better or comparable food scenes. As for the music, all I'm saying is I can't think of a single Portland band or artist that's doing anything big right now. That says a lot about the ill health of the music scene here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
4. Oh dear. If you have health problems, visit a doctor. I have no ill effects from the winters. Or from the summers. Or from the lack of snow. I'm not depressed. I have heat and air conditioning, and have had in almost every house I've ever lived in.
Just because you have these things and have no problems, doesn't mean that everyone is as fortunate as you are. I got pneumonia after I visited British Columbia a couple of years ago and it took me 4 months to recover. Earlier that year I was already developing bronchitis so you can't pin this all down on Canada. The summer is incredibly allergenic and even worse than the 8 month long winter. All I have is a window unit and until recently, nothing at all. July and August in Portland are miserable without AC. It's oppressively sunny and not as dry air as you'd think, 100 days without rain like someone said is an exaggeration but you can indeed go a whole month without rain and the pollen is killer. Humidity is fairly low but still muggy enough that quite a few nights are stuffy and sleepless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
5. It's obvious you're just trolling with yet more "complaints" about Portland. If you don't like it in Portland ... MOVE. Find somewhere else you think is more perfect for you. Seriously, life is too short to spend so much time dwelling on what you don't like about people, places, things.
I like this city, all I'm saying is it's not perfect and it actually has some pretty huge flaws. I'd much rather live here than in say Texas, but I'm not blind to its faults either.
1) This is totally dependent on where you live. If you live along the Max line, or along a frequent bus route it can be great. But if you're trying to get from anywhere to the PCC Sylvania Campus, it really is a hassle. I would say, though, that PCC is really a suburban car-oriented campus.
True I used to live on NE Glisan and the MAX was very handy for getting downtown (as long as I got home before say midnight) and it's good if you need to go west or to Gresham, but realistically for 90% of Portlanders it's pretty much useless. I think we would have done better with a subway system though the terrain here doesn't really make that possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjpop
2) I wish panhandlers wouldn't approach me downtown. I also wish I didn't have to see them at intersections and offramps. But what are you gonna do? It's part of Portland.
Not gonna disagree here. Like I said I'm glad we don't drive them out, but I feel like their meets aren't being met either. And I see more and more ordinary looking people on the street, it's not just the crazies who are stuck out there anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjpop
3) I'm not too much of a "nightlife" guy, and the kind of nightlife that is prevalent in Portland suits me well, so I guess I'd disagree. And while I agree that it's hard to find really great Chinese food, there's a lot of passable Chinese, and some other really great restaurants. But it depends on what you're looking for. And if you define good bands as having to be famous, you have a very high standard.
Portland nightlife pretty much just consists of drinking PBR. I mean honestly this city is almost devoid of a street culture in general. Compared to Columbus, Ohio it's great, but compared to somewhere like Toronto or just about anywhere in Europe it's pretty much on the same level as Oklahoma City for vibrancy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjpop
4) I would change the weather if I could, but I can't so again, what are you gonna do? And you definitely can't do anything about the freezing temperature of water. That big ol' Pacific Ocean really moderates our temperatures. Oh, and "muggy" is not how I would classify probably 80 of the 90 days of summer.
The summer mostly just feels hot. This summer was unusually muggy, but that's not my main issue, I actually prefer muggy overcast heat over baking sun. My main issue with summer here is the allergies and the fact most homes including mine lack central AC since the summer is relatively short compared to most places. I pretty much just accept that in July and August I'm gonna be grumpier, unhappier, and shorter of breath.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjpop
So now that you've created this thread, time to post some of the things you love about Portland!
The forests, Baby Ketten Karaoke, Kolbeh Restaurant, Hawthorne Boulevard, Powell's Books, my atheism not being an issue I ever have to think about, the bridges over the river, lots of stuff really.
Maybe they should expect more? I'm not just talking about bars either, there's really almost nowhere in town, aside from Plaid Pantry, QFC and the Roxy that's even open after 2:30. And if you are out somewhere past that hour in a different part of town, well you better wait until sunrise or be up for walking home.
If it were economically viable for some businesses to be open all night, they would be.
Op thanks for this. People are always telling me to move to Portland because its so hip and young and "urban planning!" But Ive always suspected it's not for me (yes Ive visited). Thanks for giving me one more persons perspective on the city - it kind of affirms what I already suspected in my gut.
I wouldn't suggest moving here, honestly. I do like Portland, despite this being a complaint thread, but honestly I just get so tired of living here sometimes. I think its progressive reputation is vastly overblown and it's really not that different from your garden variety Midwestern city in many regards.
Portlanders have delusions about their city that I myself shared the first couple years I lived here. One being it has a mild climate. It doesn't, it has mildewy bone chilling 35-55 degree cold 8-9 months of the year and then stifling allergenic heat the other 3-4 months. Basically you get a temperate climate with none of the cool perks (pretty snow, fun thunderstorms, etc) and all of the drawbacks, it's not the subtropical paradise people believe it to be no matter how many windmill palms are planted in hipsters' yards.
Another is the delusion that Portland and more broadly Oregon are progressive. Didn't Oregon vote for Bush in 2004 and strike down gay marriage and legal weed? Race relations are not that great either and the history is ugly, most Portlanders are anti-racist and will chastise people who use the wrong lexicon but deep inside harbor racist feelings they are trying to mask. I'm sure that PC vegan over there wouldn't want to leave Division St. and their white privilege and go north to live in King. Recycling is huge here yes but we also have the 8th worst traffic in the country, Trimet is a joke and I would never feel safe biking in many parts of town. Portland's "green" reputation is built upon tokens. Oregon is really just as conservative as your average state, it's just a little bit less Christian.
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Way to be a total Deutschmark...
Recycling is huge here yes but we also have the 8th worst traffic in the country, Trimet is a joke and I would never feel safe biking in many parts of town. Portland's "green" reputation is built upon tokens. Oregon is really just as conservative as your average state, it's just a little bit less Christian.
