What I Love, Hate, Like, Dislike about Portland Oregon (neighborhood, to buy)

[wandering_starseed]

Thanks, Minervah and philwithbeard.

[kickinit]

Hope you have better Luck Elsewhere. I grew up in Portland. It is not as great as people seem to think. I keep hearing that Portland is a model city! Uhhggg!

[bluevelo]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Except for the Mormon part, my experiences have been similar to Pathrunner's. Although I did work at a company once that was run by a very Christian management that tried to push their religion on the employees while being very sexist; certain jobs were for men and certain ones for women. After they took over from the previous owner, they demoted all the women holding the "men's" jobs and put in newly graduated men with no experience.

Also I always had to work mass quantities of overtime because everywhere I worked they would never keep a complete staff. We were on production for one job but were expected to do many more. If you didn't make your production with perfection accuracy you were fired.

I have had my vacation cancelled at the last minute because suddenly it was determined they couldn't do without me due to some crisis or other. And there were always crises. Even when I was in a union, they did nothing to protect the members. I have told the story how the union allowed the investment firm it used to rob members of their 401ks and pension funds even though the union had been repeatedly told this was taking place.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Nowadays employers are even more nasty. My company pretty much hires only temp to hires for the lower level jobs so they don't have to pay benefits. When the hiree's contract is up, out they go to be replaced by someone else from the temp agency leaving those who are actually permanent employees having to train yet another newbie.

With one exception, I have always worked for insurance companies but from what my friends tell me, it's pretty much the same where they work in other fields as well. That includes hospitals and schools.

I would like to know the good things you have heard people talk about regarding employment and where these employers are. I think that for the most part, there are so many over-qualified people willing to work at demanding jobs for low wages employers know they can exploite those who are desparate for jobs.

That's not Christian, that's simply mean (and moronic).

[pathrunner]

My experience at various places of employment where employers wear their religion on their sleeve has been far less than stellar. If you drink their Kool Aid you're treated well. If not, well, you're not.

[vipaka]

Attn: philwithbeard

You are so right about the bus drivers!

[DoctorRain]

I have a question that has to do with Portland people on the whole.

WHY do people constantly advertise green living WHEN there clearly seems to be traffic problems with many guzzling vehicles on the road (and some debate even worse than LA is now)?
Is it possible some people are hypocrites or making money off going green? Just an honest question.

[iamscott]

It's trendy to say you're living green, it takes commitment to actually do it!

[Yankeemama]

There are a great deal of people who use their bikes to commute to work, use public transportation regularly, and walk neighborhood to neighborhood. It is very safe to be a pedestrian here. We chose to buy in the neighborhood that we did so we could do all of the above if needed without a great deal of stress. We use one car regularly for a family of four. People are moving here specifically because Portland makes it a lot easier to do these things than other cities. The great local, organic produce, meats, cheeses, dairy, and other grocery items are so plentiful here and makes living the "buy local" lifestyle possible. We moved from a place where groceries were more than twice the price so we wound up shopping at Costco and using two refrigerators so we could afford quality food. I shop regularly at Whole Foods, New Seasons, and other speciality markets and it is still cheaper than our last City and State. Portland is by no means perfect, but I do feel that the "green lifestyle" is alive and well.

[philwithbeard]

Originally Posted by DoctorRain

I have a question that has to do with Portland people on the whole.

WHY do people constantly advertise green living WHEN there clearly seems to be traffic problems with many guzzling vehicles on the road (and some debate even worse than LA is now)?
Is it possible some people are hypocrites or making money off going green? Just an honest question.

IMHO,
People in Portland are just people. There ARE some very green; some who are almost (and proudly so) anti-green; and I think more than 62% are somewhere in-between. I also am in that middle group.

HOWEVER, compared to where I lived before, I am living way, way more green in the city of Portland since the city's infrastructure permits me to do so. In the 'burbs of Detroit, I found it basically impossible to survive on a day-to-day basis without consuming vast amounts of non-renewable energy and petroleum based products.

Oh, and yes, there are communities around Portland where bus service is almost non-existent, you will need to drive a car for everything, and consumption of basic non-renewable energy is your only option. But living either green or non-green is the choice of the individual. You have the option in Portland. And providing the option costs taxpayer dollars, requires a specifically directed public policy to maintain it, and a long term political will to continue going against the "nominal" trends elsewhere. This is where the Portland-is-Green comes from, the city of Portland infrastructure permits the individual to make the choice. Portland is not unique in this.

It is possible that any, or all three, of the above (tax dollars, public policy, politicians) could change and the Green lifestyle option would wither and die in Portland. Portland would end up just another cookie cutter town, with Mt Hood in the skyline.

You will have to just take my word for it, the Holier-Than-Thou-Ultra-Green-Fanatics do exist in Portland, are gloriously and righteously obnoxious. But they are also human beings, and tend not to ride their bicycles in the freezing rains of January.

Phil

PS: Also, what Yankeemama said. She beat me to the posting.

[Lunar Delta]

We moved from a place where groceries were more than twice the price so we wound up shopping at Costco and using two refrigerators so we could afford quality food.

Man, I have trouble believing such a place could even exist. Groceries here are more expensive than anywhere I've ever been!