Anyone else who has moved to Portland find it vastly overrated? (Burns: home, employment)

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by patches403

Of course they don't want to work. Many of these panhandlers make more than minimum wage standing on a street corner begging for hand-outs. If they can make more begging than working, why would they work?

They are working. Have you tried begging? I'd rather be a telemarketer.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by bler144

Couple seemingly important differences:

1) NYC/Boston, etc. have "always" been dense, or at least they've had time to come through many of their growing pains.

NYC has roughly the same population density today it had in 1950. The real boom in density in NYC came between 1890-1930, but the modern city as we know it was built at least to a significant extent in the post-war years through a combo of Wall St. dollars and federal investment.

The question isn't whether you'd live in Union City now, but whether you'd have enjoyed it between 1920-1930 when it grew from 21k to 59k. Note that the population today is only around 67k. It's barely budged in 85 years. Over the decades it has "grown" primarily in the sense of better accommodating the population it has.

2) That level of density requires infrastructure. Infrastructure requires capital. We have some industry, but it's no post-war Wall St, and likewise for federal dollars there's no reason to think it's going to rain federal money here either.

Just picking on transit, in terms of managing that level of population the MAX would be a bad joke, and even the layout provides slim/no service to significant swaths of SE/NE where in theory there's the most terrain for infill.

Yes, high density can be done well, but not every place that's high-density is one you'd actually want to live.

This is my biggest concern with the growth expected for this city and metro. The region needs to be doing more to expand throughout the eastside, as well as the westside or at least have it set up to where we have a strong foundation that can be added on to as expansion is needed.

I also think the city has dropped the ball with the bicycle infrastructure in this city for several years now.

I am definitely looking forward to the growth that is expected for Portland, and what Portland will become over that time, but I would like to see us have more leaders that are forward thinking like the ones that brought us the MAX.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

They are working. Have you tried begging? I'd rather be a telemarketer.

Isn't that just another form of begging?

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Isn't that just another form of begging?

Exactly, but at least you are dry.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Gotcha! A number of your posts had me wondering if, in fact, you actually left Portland like you claim. You just don't want anyone else to come here. Why would you think Portland is immune from the effects of Climate Change? Or the Subduction Big One, for that matter?

In Eugene now, but still visit fairly often.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by classicanne

Well, here I go again, one of the exceptions. I've been here in Portland almost 6 years now. What I came here for is still here, and I haven't been disappointed. I came here for cool, rainy weather much of the time and year-round temps that would seldom keep me indoors, plentiful public transportation, a veg-friendly environment and a writer's mecca. I've found all that; I also have an interesting group of thinking friends here, the kind I never had during my 25 years in Florida.

I came here with a telecommuting job; I still work for the same company and it could pay a bit better, but it meets my needs. The rent increases have been a bit disheartening, but I'm still holding my own and got a better deal on my upcoming lease renewal than I was expecting.

I do think about what it would be like to live elsewhere when I see how low housing costs are in other parts of the country, but moving to one of those places would seriously impact my quality of life, so after a few minutes I stop considering that. I guess you could say I'm one of the successful transplant stories; I wanted very much to move here, did my due diligence, was not disappointed and I'm happy to still be here. So yay!

You and I moved here the same time and it's nice to hear that you are still happy with your move. This is my seventh Winter here and I finally have gotten my Winter groove on instead of hibernating. For example, I force myself to get out and be around people and natural light. Someone on this forum actually wrote on a post here that I was suffering SAD. It was true. I now am REALLY enjoying my life here in the PNW! My kids are having balanced childhoods here in Oregon and love living here. My little Oregonians are completely unfazed by rain, drizzle, gray skies and wear layers like pros! I am happy to say I am not disappointed by my move to this beautiful GREEN state, either. Happy Holidays!

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

This is my biggest concern with the growth expected for this city and metro. The region needs to be doing more to expand throughout the eastside, as well as the westside or at least have it set up to where we have a strong foundation that can be added on to as expansion is needed.

I also think the city has dropped the ball with the bicycle infrastructure in this city for several years now.

I am definitely looking forward to the growth that is expected for Portland, and what Portland will become over that time, but I would like to see us have more leaders that are forward thinking like the ones that brought us the MAX.

I don't understand why people think that GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH is always a good thing.

IMHO, Portland and Oregon don't need to "grow" anymore.
Enough is enough.

We can barely handle what we have, and as far as political leadership, the state is in a shambles (both R & D).
Good luck finding "forward thinking" leaders.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

I don't understand why people think that GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH is always a good thing.

IMHO, Portland and Oregon don't need to "grow" anymore.
Enough is enough.

We can barely handle what we have, and as far as political leadership, the state is in a shambles (both R & D).
Good luck finding "forward thinking" leaders.

It isn't about if growth is good or bad, growth is going to happen whether you like it or not. It is more important to push for smart growth that properly handles these changes. I also don't think the state is in shambles politically, but that is my opinion.

Time will tell about the forward thinking leaders, I don't think any of them sit on the Portland City Council right now.

[Minervah]

Portland was hoping for forward thinking leaders way back in 1978 when I moved there. They're still hoping.

BTW, MAX wasn't wanted by most people when it first was imposed back in the 80's. It's a mixed blessing. It eliminated much of the great bus service Portland used to have with graduated fares. Bye, bye Fareless Square. But it brought with it big fat government grants from the Feds so that was a nice incentive to have it.

But it does get some people some places some of the time.

[SyraBrian]

According to the Bureau of Labor Stats, from October 2014 to October 2015, the average hourly wage in Portland metro went from $24.99 to $26.74. That's a shocking increase.

Part of the reason may be that workers no longer love Portland enough to live and work there without getting raises.