No

[red-beard]

Is the answer. The question: Does it ever stop raining in Portland?

And no wonder the freeways slow down! I've wider, less winding roads in San Francisco, than Portland freeways.

50 mph in the Left lane? No problem...

Back to Houston

[pwd72s]

I'm quite grateful that I no longer have a need to drive in the Portland megatropolis area. The highway funds are being diverted to light rail and bicycle lanes...

Just keeping Portland weird...

[red-beard]

Next time I'm back, I'll try for a meet up. Quick, 4 day trip. Corbett, Eugene, Vancouver...

[Arizona_928]

No means no, unless you're Muslim in Sweden.

Wait this isn't parf

[Don Ro]

I spent two years in the Portland area (Gresham) from '08 - '10.
I avoided local hwy travel like the plague...I was retired.
There was a stretch of 32 days where it was either drizzle or rain.
No wonder it's so green up there...and moss growing in the grass and all over the houses.
Happy to have left.
.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Just keeping Portland weird...

Definitely weirder than Austin. But then again, this Ain't Texas.

Corbett could be Texas, except for all of the serious hills and ridges...

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

No wonder it's so green up there...and moss growing in the grass and all over the houses.

I kept looking at all of the concrete and kept thinking how old it seemed. I expect it just goes like that after a year or so...

Beer's good!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I enjoyed my time there (2002-3) but I enjoyed leaving and going back to a warm, sunny climate a lot more.

In the summer it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen - lush green everywhere, waterfalls, beautiful rugged coastal areas, etc. but it comes at a price for the other 8-9 months of the year. No thanks. Maybe a summer home someday... Maybe.

It is one of the most economically challenged areas I've ever seen. There is very little in the way of opportunity or growth there other than basic entry-level / minimum-wage stuff. Apparently Portland was heavily invested in tech and got pounded during the dot-com crash and never recovered. Sad - it's got a nice character but I can't do the dreary, cold, dark, perpetually damp thing. Where I am now is bad enough but at least we get half a year of decent as opposed to 2-3 months.

It was some of the best, most fun and most challenging flying I've ever done however - flying in / out of KPDX will make you either a really, really good IFR pilot or a really, really dead one.

[GH85Carrera]

I was there for a week in 2006. I could not believe the slow moving traffic. I kept expecting to come up on a wreck. I am pretty much convinced most of the folks don't ever go home, they just get on the highway and poke around slow to see and be seen by the other homeless people with cars.

[LWJ]

Traffic has gotten really bad since the recession went away.

[scottmandue]

I LOVE Portland... great food, great beer, great entertainment, friendly people, you can get around pretty easily on light rail.

But yeah... all that rain (but don't tell a local that!) sure it keeps the foliage green and the streets clean... but dang.

I would move there in a heartbeat but a born and raised SoCal boy I just don't see it happening.

Wish I had the profits from the vitamin D sales in Portland thou.

{My wife is from Portland}

[BeyGon]

It rained twice here last week, that was enough.

[vash]

my wife wants to move to portland!!

she keeps visiting in the summer..i need to drag her there now.

however, right out my door it feels like portland..it is dumping....my fault totally..i brought a bike to ride home.

[J P Stein]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I'm quite grateful that I no longer have a need to drive in the Portland megatropolis area. The highway funds are being diverted to light rail and bicycle lanes...

Just keeping Portland weird...

+1
I've lived all my life in the PNW. I never get used to the GD rain....but I got used to being weird.
Drinking beer is one of the few bad habits I don't have.

[Pazuzu]

Portland in winter:


drip drip drip drip drip
click click click click click
drip drip drip drip
click click click click


They don't like to remove the studded tires when they get to lowlands, I can't believe the streets survive more than a few months.

but walking 2 blocks and hitting 15 or 16 kick butt craft beer places was OK.

[vash]

one thing about Portland. even when the weather was awesome..the folks i talked to would still talk about the rainy season..like it was waiting for "the other foot to drop".

[Tobra]

In my experience, a heavy rain in Oregon is like a gentle shower in Texas. It may rain every day for a month, but it does not rain hard like it did in Houston.

[Charles Freeborn]

Yes, we've had a wet one this year. Last year was the opposite. We do need the water, though, as soon we'll be feeding half the world as California returns to desert. Also why traffic is getting so bad - people moving here in droves. There are nice backroads to drive if you know where to find them, and we've got a racetrack within the city limits (PIR). Best coffee, beer and food for the money I've found anywhere in the world, and I've been around a bit.
You'll mos def be happier in Texas on account of all the liberals. Better stay there....

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Charles Freeborn

You'll mos def be happier in Texas on account of all the liberals. Better stay there....

We have PLENTY here...

[jyl]

Freeway traffic in the Portland city and across the river to Vancouver is bad. But, not worse than other areas with bad traffic - LA, SF, Seattle, etc.

If you are a local, you know when to take surface streets, and for most routes you have that option. It's not like SF where there is only one way to drive from Oakland to SF. It takes an hour to drive from a parking garage in downtown SF to the onramp to the Bay Bridge at rush hour, that is about twelve blocks. Portland isn't like that.

In fact, many locals don't drive much at all. Light rail, bus, bike, soon bike share, Uber - if you are physically fit, you don't actually need to drive on a daily basis here. It's not as car-optional as Manhattan, but it's getting there.

The reason freeways are not being expanded is partly by choice, but partly because the city is dense enough that there isn't room for new or wider freeways. And the worst traffic is to/from Vancouver WA, which is a misery for Washingtonians commuting into Portland, but not really for Portlanders since there is very little reason to go to Vancouver if you don't live there. So Portland, and Oregon in general, is not particularly motivated to do anything about it. The cost of building a new bridge across the Columbia is stratospheric anyway. The last effort to do so was abandoned a few years ago. Washington didn't help things by refusing to extend the MAX light rail system to and through Vancouver. Oregon said, why should we spend hundreds of billions so Washingtonians can commute more easily while leaving their property tax dollars in Washington?

On a multi decade basis, I think the need for wider freeways will go away. Driverless cars will be wide-spread in 10 or 20 years. Without a human driver, the cost of a taxi ride will fall, a lot. The driverless cars will be small, since they only need to hold a couple of passengers. It will be standard to summon a driverless car, share it with another passenger going to a similar location (like UberPool today). With driverless cars providing the last-mile, it will be easy to use light rail for the longer trips. We'll probably own personal cars, but fewer per family, and they'll be used less - for vacations, long trips, hauling stuff. And at that point, it might make sense to simply rent one or use a car share service. That sounds good to me. Driving in the city is a chore, there is nothing pleasurable about it at all. And spending $40K every five years to buy a car for that chore is starting to look like a waste of money. Cars used to be status symbols and self expression, that will continue but 99% of cars out there are just for chore driving. In 2036 I expect to own only one car, and my Hyundai Porsche-Edition convertible will get driven maybe once a week. I might skip the car and simply have my fun on my electric Ducati mobility scooter.