Tell Me About Portland,OR

[Mike Andrew]

The wife is applying for a job in Portland and I know nothing about the area except there is skiing close at hand.

Educate me.

[WolfeMacleod]

Don't drive there. You'll get lost. I was told by a bus driver once (during the Portland Porsche Parade) that city planners make it impossible to navigate or get on/off the freeways easily, on purpose, to force people into mass transit.
Got off the freeway there once to get gas. Big mistake. Took an hour to find the on-ramp.

[kanadary]

just came back from a trip there for tgiving. don't speed there too.. too many motorcycle cops around.. plus the speed limit is 50 or 55 thru the city. the good points, amazing science center compared to the one in seattle. no tax, save 10% on everything, atleast for wa residents. i agree with the streets, its abit better with gps.

[on2wheels52]

I spent a year there in the '70's, it rained from September to July.
Jim

[gtc]

Lots of great breweries. Lots of strip clubs.
No sales tax plus a crappy economy means everything seems cheap to us up here in WA.
Funny that 3 seattle people chime in before any oregonians... though I guess it is the middle of lunch right now.

Another OT thread on portland:
Tell Me about Portland Oregon.....

[herr_oberst]

Nothin' to see here, move along.

Actually, it is a nice place to live, clean and friendly, BUT, since you are from Chicago, I will let you know that driving is, uh, different here. Folks just have no idea how to move efficiently through traffic. I was flabbergasted last time I was in Chicago - even little old ladies know where the front corners of their cars are, and can shoot the gap with aplomb. Here, people who should know better wait for an invitation to change lanes. Patience helps.

Plenty to do year 'round - ski, hike, bring your Porsche, great driving close by, LOTS and Lots of great restaurants and brewpubs.

[Tobra]

I vaguely recall from college a lot of good weed and mushrooms up there.

Columbia River Gorge is beautiful, great place for wind surfing/sail boarding.

the NW, SW, SE, NE stuff helps to figure out where you are I thought.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by gtc

Lots of great breweries. Lots of strip clubs.
No sales tax plus a crappy economy means everything seems cheap to us up here in WA.
Funny that 3 seattle people chime in before any oregonians... though I guess it is the middle of lunch right now.

Another OT thread on portland:
Tell Me about Portland Oregon.....

Yep, more breweries. & strip clubs than any other city, but it does get cold...

[scottmandue]

Good people, Lots of great beer, coffee shops, food, book stores, cold and rainy a lot but if you are from Chitown it shouldn't bother you.

[RWebb]

yes, blustery weather blows off the northern Pacific and right up the Gorge to PDX

what do you want in a City? that's the real question

Portland has great food, xlnt mass transit and a fair amt. of pedestrians and bicyclists - car use in the city is de-emphasized tho I never had any problem like the above posts

Mt. Hood is nearby, traffic is bad but not by Chicago stds. - the snow is wet and heavy "Cascade Crud"

beer is great except by comparison to Europe & a lot of wine is nearby -- the wine, Oregon Pinot, is like a giant fruit bomb; Burgandy w/o any complexity

[herr_oberst]

One other thing, it "feels" very liberal here,but that can sometimes be misleading. For the most part, people are pretty open minded.

[scottmandue]

Funny about that getting lost thing... G/F lives there and is constantly getting lost... who knew?

[Noah930]

I lived there for a year and really enjoyed it. I never understood what people meant when they used the term "livable city." Well, that describes it (to me, at least) perfectly. You have most of the conveniences of a big city, but just about everything is within about 20 minutes. There's just a managable feel to it. And housing prices are reasonable.

Rains a bit during the winter. But even then I found it to be a bit deceiving. Even with "3 weeks of rain," it's not literally raining for 21 days, 24 hours per day. And the summers are spectacular. Snows for maybe a couple days per year.

Decent P-car community, as well. And there's a racetrack (PIR) within a 15 minute drive from downtown. I'd be willing to live there, again, if the opportunity presented itself.

[GH85Carrera]

I could never handle that traffic on a daily basis. It is probably no worse than many big cities. I just remember it took us over an hour to get to go just a few miles with traffic moving at 5 to 0 MPH.

[HardDrive]

Portland sucks.

Horrible weather (yes, coming from a guy that lives in Seattle)
Horrible drivers.
Eco-douchebaggery at every turn
HORRIBLE state government (my mother was a judge there, trust me on this one.....)
The mayor is a homosexual pedophile, admited it publicly, and he's still in office!!!!

I'm sure I will think of more later...

[pwd72s]

If you think Chicago politics stink...wait until you live in Portland.

[Casket]

The last two posts are dead nuts on..... Portland is aspiring to be the next San Francisco.

Oregon in general has huge problems.

[URY914]

We were there a few years ago. They don't let you pump your own gas. Has to be the last place in the USA for this. Mt Hood is cool.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by URY914

They don't let you pump your own gas. Has to be the last place in the USA for this..

New Joisey won't letcha either.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Noah930

...

Rains a bit during the winter. But even then I found it to be a bit deceiving. Even with "3 weeks of rain," it's not literally raining for 21 days, 24 hours per day...

Unh! Highly misleading - the PNW has the most dismal "winter" climate you can imagine - I say winter cuz you may not see the sun for 8 months.

That is why the suicide rate is so high.

But it's a great place if you enjoy breathing fungus spores all year.