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Well, I guess one of the primary attractions to Portland, versus other cities, is the feasibility of living a car-free lifestyle. I like living in a place where one can take public transportation to get to all of the conveniences provided by a city, yet also be able to access natural areas just as easily. Sadly, in my experience, most other cities don't have very good public transportation to allow one to live a relatively full lifestyle without owning a car. Portland seems to fit this profile as best as any other city that I've researched.
That said, I've managed to find a nice balance here on Staten Island, between the amenities of city life and ensconcement in nature. It's a stretch sometimes, but my long-distance walking/running abilities help out a lot to fill in gaps with public transit! Basically my main hobbies of running, walking, and accessing the outdoors are fulfilled, and without needing a car to drive a few hours away. The ocean and beaches are just a couple of miles away, via a bus outside my apartment or a pleasant run/walk. Plus Staten Island is the hilliest area right on the coast between Maine and Florida- I have fallen in love with these hills, and from the maps downtown Portland looks pretty flat. Regardless, I'm sure there are lots of great places for running and walking around Portland, this is like an apples to oranges discussion. From what I gather, one can live a "city" life in Portland, and yet still feel at least some experience of the outdoors, without owning a car. Right?
OK, so I do like it a lot where I live already- this discussion thread, wonderfully, has helped me to realize that. Oh yeah, and there's like no hipsters on Staten Island! We love our peace and quiet here, but again sometimes the social life can be a little lacking. I've thought that if we can't find some kind of like-minded group or place to hang out here in *NEW YORK CITY* then we're probably screwed for anywhere we go. But maybe somewhere smaller, and with a different cultural mix and slower pace of life than NYC, could actually offer something a little bit different than this. I'm not getting my hopes up, but we'll be heading to Portland in October to spend a week with a friend and run the marathon.
Your posts have been very helpful.
~Adam
Portland is usually nice in October, so do visit if you can.
It's pretty heavy here on hipsters/hippies/skinny jeans crowd, but mostly they hang out/live on the "east side" of the river in the grid districts... Hawthorne, Laurelhurst, Hollywood, Mt Tabor, etcetera, etcetera. Not unlike NYC or SF, this place is somewhat of a magnet for the "alternative lifestyle" crowd and is basically a liberal mecca. Hippies/hipsters, gays, starving artist types. Like NYC, lots of people don't have jobs here right now or are just getting by working crap jobs to pay the bills. The Wall St. crowd is very sparse here.
If you're drawn to the glamor and hustle-bustle of NYC you'll be thoroughly bored. The bars close early, attractive women are in short supply, lots of young families...a little boring if you're of a certain persuasion that likes city chaos and go-go lifestyle, but if you spend most of your time on Staten Island and prefer a smaller scene you'd probably like it here. Outdoorsy stuff like jogging and bike riding is practically religion, and there are tons of places to do that in or around the city center. Portland is very pedestrian friendly and it's easy/convenient to hike around downtown like it is in Manhattan. Hills are adjacent and in the background. The city center slopes downwards toward the river on the downtown side, and is pretty flat on the east side.
Public transportation is good...not NYC good but very servicable. I took the train almost every day from Beaverton to downtown for school and it worked fine. I wouldn't say it's heavily mass transit oriented like NYC is...more people will have cars here, but it's not totally car culture here the way it is in L.A.
Last edited by Brandon26pdx; 04-20-2009 at 04:05 PM..
its like that here in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, NC too. When I walk into Open Eye Cafe I get the hardest stares from people who think I am weird because one, I am neither a Hippie or a Hipster but an average Joe Blow guy and two, because I am Black. Pretty shocking isn't it.
Last edited by eyeofset; 05-25-2009 at 09:17 AM..
Reason: Spelling error
I heard so much about Portland (I lived in Brooklyn) and decided to try it out. It is by far the worst place I've ever lived.
The transportation is actually decent.
Moving from New York, I am continually disappointed by Portland. And sure, I am a little bitter because I hate it here, but every opinion can help you make your own.
It is mostly white and it is west coast white out here. Your girlfriend will probably feel completely out of place. I knew plenty of spanish people up in Queens, great people, great community. You won't find that here very easily, if at all.
And there are a lot of Williamsburg-ish hipsters, except they are even worse out here somehow.
I can't stand the people out here. I don't even know how to explain it because I am baffled by it every single day that I go out. The city/town itself isn't that bad- it has a lot of fun independent stores, etc.- but the people are just off.
So if you love New York people, love the variety, the different cultures, please VISIT here before you decide to move. Make sure you act like you are living here, try to get delivery, etc.
LAdd's addition is beautiful but the homes are very expensive. I would love to live there myself. It is a neighborhood full of trees and flowers. There is no open space there, the houses are pretty close together. The people I know who live there are professionals like a pharmacist who owns his own business and a businessman who owns his own accounting firm. There is little to rent there and what there is is very expensive. You won't find open space in the Hawthorne area either; it is too built up with "skinny" houses crammed in every once-vacant lot or yard.
I know this is an old post, but noticed this statement about Ladd's Addition and couldn't let it pass. Ladd's Addition is an area 10 blocks by 8 blocks. Within that space, there are 4 rose gardens, Ladd's Circle Square Park, two schools (one public, one parochial) one having all the requisite playgrounds (I don't think the parochial school does), and gorgeous tree-lined streets filled with houses with great gardens. If that's not enough open space, I don't know what is.
man Im so fed up with the white people crying "diversity" and ex-brooklynites like jgee making assumptions about "portlanders" and "oregonians" off of hanging out in the inner-core of the city with a bunch of fools who I bet aren't even from here (yep, most folks who grew up here have the joy of living east of 82nd or deep in Beav/hilsboro or Gresham)...I was born brown in the Portland area and have since lived in the Willamette valley and Hood River, I have visited a lot of places in this country and its honestly no more racist or 'accepting' of diversity than anywhere else (aka theres racist idiots everywhere unfortunately) I don't understand why white folks talk about diversity like it's some kind of scorecard, I don't know if you realize, but that sort of attitude is racist in itself. It treats ethnic communities like a freakin tourist attraction where you sample "exotic" cuisine and leave with a sense that your white guilt has been assuaged...as for the guy whose gf is spanish...there isn't much caribbean culture here (aside from pambiche, where you can get desayuno tipico con platanos y frijoles) but there's plenty of latin american/spanish speaking people and events around town, especially in the outlying areas. For example, the burb Beaverton is actually around 50% white non-foreign born with sizable Latino, SE asian, Arab, African and Russian/Ukranian immigrant communities.anyway, despite what some haters might be saying TRUE PORTLANDERS, OREGONIANS and all her allies are in general are good, laid back people who are down to grab a beer, smoke an L, watch the clouds roll by and scream like fools at the tv during Blazers games when BRoy slices another dagger...
RipCity, I agree that Portland is far more diverse than I was led to expect before moving here. (I'm a Latina, for reference, and have lived most of my life in Los Angeles, with a brief stint in NYC.)
I recommend that anyone who thinks that Portland is all white visit the Wal-Mart on SE 82nd, where you'll see African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and lots of white people on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum (which is weird for me, because I rarely saw African Americans, Latinos, and poorer white people shopping in the same place in L.A. proper -- although it's probably a different story in Riverside or Lancaster).
Sure, I don't see Latinos around Hawthorne so much (except for the nice people working at Cha Cha Cha and the dude who walks up and down every morning selling tamales), but it seems to me that there's a lot more to Portland than what you'll find super close-in.
Last edited by Astrolabe; 06-02-2009 at 04:24 PM..
I know this is an old post, but noticed this statement about Ladd's Addition and couldn't let it pass. Ladd's Addition is an area 10 blocks by 8 blocks. Within that space, there are 4 rose gardens, Ladd's Circle Square Park, two schools (one public, one parochial) one having all the requisite playgrounds (I don't think the parochial school does), and gorgeous tree-lined streets filled with houses with great gardens. If that's not enough open space, I don't know what is.
True, but I believe the original OP was talking about acres because she or she wanted a large piece of land. All those places you mention are public areas. I could be wrong though.
True, but I believe the original OP was talking about acres because she or she wanted a large piece of land. All those places you mention are public areas. I could be wrong though.
Not sure about that. Whomever you quoted had said:
Quote:
The friend we stayed with lives in the SE by Hawthorne, near Ladd's Addition. We're looking for jobs and a home in that general area, give or take a couple miles, with lots of trees and access to open space.
But I don't know what the original post was, or whose . . .
I just didn't want to leave the impression that there was no "open space" in Ladd's Addition, because there's actually lots its relatively small size.
Not sure about that. Whomever you quoted had said:
But I don't know what the original post was, or whose . . .
I just didn't want to leave the impression that there was no "open space" in Ladd's Addition, because there's actually lots its relatively small size.
OK I concede. When I first read it I did get the impression that they were talking about land to buy or open space as in the size of a large empty area with nothing on it. I guess it's all a matter of interpretation. I live near Ladd's Addition and I know about it's parks and such.
As an nyc-er (in brooklyn...NOT williamsburg. don't worry, that place gives me the creeps, too. except, of course, for BARC. that place is awesome) who grew up in the Portland area, my advice to you would be to visit the actual city of Portland more so than the suburbs. The suburbs can be great and all, but Portland is really an amazing place. Even though it is not as diverse as it is here in NYC, the embrace of other cultures and the general mindset regarding the beauty of diversity is, for the most part, very apparent and very beautiful. It has a little bit of a big city feel, but without sacrificing a little bit of the small town friendliness. It is the only place that I have ever been where you can smile at strangers without being regarded as a total d-bag. When I forget where I am and accidentally smile at people here, let's just say "results may vary." Portland is, or has always been in my experience, extremely friendly to the homeless and very environmentally conscious. The Max (our public transportation) is free within the city. The city buses, which are something like $2 to get into the city on from the suburbs, have bike racks on the front of them. There are free water fountains (benson bubblers - simon benson put in 20 fountains so that portlanders would have fresh water a long time ago and they still run today. it's been a long time since i have learned about it so the details are lost from my memory) and if you enjoy reading you should definitely hit up the downtown location of Powell's (city of) books in the pearl district. I think that it's the biggest used and new bookstore in the country, or maybe even the world. I'm not exaggerating. Also, check out Chuck Palahniuk's book, Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon, if you feel so inclined. It's not exactly a city guide, but it may give you some sense of certain aspects of the city? Portland is weird. The hipsters exist, but they are not really rude like the Williamsburg ones. The music scene is fun. The microbreweries are awesome. The Willamette Valley has created some delicious wine. I'm trying to think of what else to say about it... I guess, if you like NYC, then you will probably like Portland from the sounds of your post. If you are the kind of person who concentrates on the negative aspects of NY, then you will probably run into the same problems in the great land of manifest destiny as well. Also, the chemistry of you two and the city could either click or it may not. I bet that you will like it, but that's just my bet.
p.s. the coffee is delicious. oh, and no sales tax. boo-ya
Good luck!
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Fellow NYC to Portland
