Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Oregon > Portland
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-12-2009, 02:01 AM
 
Location: Macao
16,257 posts, read 43,168,834 times
Reputation: 10257

Advertisements

Okay, nothing against generic suburbs, as they are everywhere across the United States and ever growing.

But anyways, I use to live in the Portland city limits and loved the city immensily.

Recently one of my friends got married and they bought a house out in Aloha. I went to visit him there, and Aloha is nice. But suddenly I was just in the car all the time...and Portland became MUCH bigger than I remembered when I was just in the city limits all of the time. Now, I like bigger, but it actually equated more into 'just plain spread out and bland' feel...of just being the car all the time...and what's the point of this city and its uniqueness to be way out here?

Anyways...wondering if others felt that too...and if so, if Seattle would be any different? Or same ol...or if that is just universal suburban feeling all across the United States of no real importance.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-12-2009, 07:09 AM
 
63 posts, read 222,071 times
Reputation: 57
Tiger Beer:

I have lived in Portland my entire life and I remember when Portland did not merge into Beaverton into Aloha, into Hillsboro, etc. etc. etc. This is not unusual, however and populations increase, infill occurs.

In all actuality, Portland and the surrounding cities have done a pretty good job, in cooperation with Metro to keep urban sprawl from occurring. The Urban Growth Boundary has limited where development can occur around the Tri-County (Multnomah, Clackamas & Washington) area. Think of any other metropolitan area with a population of 1.5 Million and driving out from the city center for 30 minutes (traffic being semi-normal).

North: Into Washington past Vancouver and heading towards Woodland
South: Past Tualatin/Wilsonville and now towards Woodburn and farm land
East: Out I-84 into the unspoiled Gorge
West: Past Aloha/Hillsboro and looking at farmland as you head towards Forest Grove and the coast.
Southwest: Past Sherwood and into Newberg/Dundee and the vineyards.

I would say we are pretty well dialed in. Is it perfect...absolutely not. I think that Hwy 26 west of the city is deplorable and you would not find me living out that direction but for people who work for Nike, Intel, etc. it makes sense to live closer to work.

I, like you have always lived in the city limits; first growing up in close in SW by Burlingame/Lewis & Clark, and now close in SE near Reed College. I love being in the action and knowing that my family can ride our bikes to church, the market, OMSI, downtown, etc and we can walk to ten different parks with in 3 miles of our house.

I am a city guy and will stay here as long as I can. If you don't like the feel of being in a car, get out of it and find a place to live where you can rely more on foot/bike/public transportations to get around. Aloha is, after all, a suburb and will tend to have more housing tracts with the occasional strip mall for everyone’s convenience. I mean, heaven forbid you don't have a Safeway, Blockbuster, McDonalds, Starbucks, and Target all crammed together. How would you ever survive???
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 08:10 AM
 
3,805 posts, read 6,353,637 times
Reputation: 7861
I've lived in close-in SW Portland for the last 20 years, but right now (long story) I'm living in Aloha temporarily until I can move back. And I completely agree! It feels like such a long way into downtown. It used to be that I would just jump in the car and be wherever I needed to be in minutes. Now I feel like I need to pack a lunch before I head out anywhere! I'm a city girl at heart and the 'burbs are just not for me. Can't wait until September when I can move back.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 01:13 PM
 
43 posts, read 143,126 times
Reputation: 27
Yeah, suburbs suck. It's all about the city, baby.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 03:14 PM
 
Location: Greater PDX
1,018 posts, read 4,108,675 times
Reputation: 954
While I sit in my quiet backyard enjoying food I grilled on my porch, I will think about all of you living in your overpriced shoeboxes with the homeless puking and shooting up on your doorsteps, and I'm sure I will be insanely jealous.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 03:25 PM
 
3,805 posts, read 6,353,637 times
Reputation: 7861
Boy do you have a warped view of the 'burbs vs. close-in! Have you ever been to any of the neighborhoods that are within 5 miles on the city center? Or do you just stay home - grillin' and bitchin'? I have a 1500 sq.ft. house that I bought for $123m. It has a porch AND a deck AND a yard. Surrounded by trees and great neighbors. Not a homeless person in sight.
You might try taking your blinders off once in a while and get a dose of reality.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 03:28 PM
 
Location: Southwest Washington
2,316 posts, read 7,817,845 times
Reputation: 1746
Suburbs are suburbs no matter where you go in North America. They're not going to be any different whether they're the suburbs of Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Fe, San Antonio, or Scranton, Pennsylvania. They're all soulless places full of strip malls and cookie cutter housing tracts that rely totally on the automobile.

Oregon is not immune to suburbia, sadly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 03:39 PM
 
3,805 posts, read 6,353,637 times
Reputation: 7861
Just to clarify backdrifter, I was replying to John Shaft and his jabs about "overpriced shoeboxes" and puking homeless". I live in Hillsdale (which is very close to downtown) but am temporarily living out here in the suburbs. What you say is pretty spot on, but still a lot of nice folks live in the "burbs. But I guess some a pretty judgemental as well.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Oregon
1,457 posts, read 6,029,082 times
Reputation: 1419
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger Beer View Post
Okay, nothing against generic suburbs, as they are everywhere across the United States and ever growing.

But anyways, I use to live in the Portland city limits and loved the city immensily.

Recently one of my friends got married and they bought a house out in Aloha. I went to visit him there, and Aloha is nice. But suddenly I was just in the car all the time...and Portland became MUCH bigger than I remembered when I was just in the city limits all of the time. Now, I like bigger, but it actually equated more into 'just plain spread out and bland' feel...of just being the car all the time...and what's the point of this city and its uniqueness to be way out here?

Anyways...wondering if others felt that too...and if so, if Seattle would be any different? Or same ol...or if that is just universal suburban feeling all across the United States of no real importance.
Aloha huh ...

About the only suburb I would never live in. What spot in Washington County could be more trapped.

It's sort of drab area all-in-all.

Probably the worst area to keep in mind when judging the west side.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2009, 04:53 PM
 
Location: Greater PDX
1,018 posts, read 4,108,675 times
Reputation: 954
Quote:
Originally Posted by sayulita View Post
Boy do you have a warped view of the 'burbs vs. close-in! Have you ever been to any of the neighborhoods that are within 5 miles on the city center? Or do you just stay home - grillin' and bitchin'? I have a 1500 sq.ft. house that I bought for $123m. It has a porch AND a deck AND a yard. Surrounded by trees and great neighbors. Not a homeless person in sight.
You might try taking your blinders off once in a while and get a dose of reality.
So in other words, it's perfectly acceptable for you to stereotype suburb life, but it's NOT okay for me to stereotype city life?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Oregon > Portland
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top