From a Naive Native
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3/25/2007
Portland is a wonderful city! I have lived here all my life and I have never needed a driver's license because our public transportation is so good and relatively inexpensive. An All-Zone bus pass runs about $80 a month and you can get from Gresham to Hillsboro and anywhere in between (although it will take you longer than driving)!
The rain in the area west of the Cascades can be oppressive for some people, myself included. I try to make an escape to either a sunny climate or the east side of the state for at least one week in the winter, and that helps immensely! Many people do not realize that the east side (the high-dessert) of the state typically sees 300 days of sunshine each year!
Portland can be a difficult place to break into until you have found your niche. The "club" scene is pretty much for traditional aged college students, so it is hard for someone new to the area in their late twenties and up to meet people... at first. The key to meeting people in Portland is to join a group (there are crafting groups, recreational league sports, food groups, community development groups... you get the idea). Most of these organizations post in the local weekly papers. If you are trying to meet people at a bar, you will have a much more difficult time. Once you have made some connections, meeting people becomes a breeze! We joke here that in Portland there are really just two degrees of separation between people, once you meet a few folks, familiar faces start popping up everywhere!
Everything else everyone says about how pretty, close to mountains, lakes, rivers, dessert and the beach; that is all true. The beach is cold (water is around 56 degrees), but beautiful and the coast is all public land, thanks to our forward thinking former Gov.Tom McCall. If you are into outdoor recreation and you don't mid the drizzle that comes with living in a temperate rain forest (yes, west of the cascades is essentially rain-forest), then the cascades and coast range offer tracts of trails and camping, much of it free and wild.
There are bad parts of every city. If you chose to live in the burbs, expect traffic, but better schools. If you chose to live in the city, expect higher taxes and to have your car broken into at least once every few years. Housing prices are ok for renters, incredibly steep for buyers. I feel lucky to have purchased my home before they really started climbing as I would not be able to afford it now.
Oregon does have a his
stedman | Portland, OR