ive been looking at relocating to the portland area (live in nyc now), and wanted to hear some opinions about living there. i have heard many conflicting stories from friends of mine, and would like to know more. the archinect thread on best places to live somewhat touched on this subject, this thread will hopefully be more focused. thanks in advance!
it rains a lot. seriously. many people can't handle the gloominess. if you can handle it, it's a beautiful place to live, with lots of cute little neighborhoods.
i helped complete a construction project in portland several years ago. i lived in california all these times and had never been to portland until the move. i was amazed how resilient people could be in harsh climatic environment. i guess i could say the same thing about people who live where snow is prevalent.
my whole month of stay in portland was reduced to driving from the airport, to the job site and to my hotel and vice versa on fridays.
people in portland did everything in the rain, which i found very interesting. construction did not stop during a rain storm. they just covered the whole structure in tarp/plastic and they work under it. people walked without umbrellas, they wait for busses in the rain and they wash their cars in the rain.
coming from a city where we see a few days of rain a year, it was a difficult transition. if you are an outdoor person who likes to perform activities under the sun, then portland is not for you. if you don't mind the many rainy days, then you should give it a shot.
lived here for 3.5 years now and just f.cking love it here! personally the grey doesn't bother me (i dislike the sun more) but you do get 3-4 months of good sun if that's what you need. the rain isn't THAT bad. it will really drizzle from october until april at least most days of the week, but it's really not so bad as to keep you from going out. more likely that you'll stay "moist" and moss will grow on you and everything else around you.
june thru sept is mostly sunny. aprrox 10-15 of those days will be over 90 degrees i think. the rest hover between 70 and 90. maybe after a particularly long week of HOT, it'll drop down to 70 for a few days. i like that...
the neighborhoods are quirky, kitschy and definitely have personality. actually that's a good way to describe the people of this fine city... mostly left of center politically, open-minded, quirky, a little-standoffish until you get to know them. get tattoos and like pabst blue ribbon and indie rock and you'll instantly fit in at many bars. or don't and you'll still find yr fit somewhere.
great food. not the best mexican, but very great for thai, chinese, japanese. decent indian.
play soccer? you'll love it here! also camping, biking, etc. it's a very outdoorsy place.
job market took at serious hammering during the 9-11/dotcom crash. mainly because the market is largely manufacturing and then hightech. i've been laid off twice in 3.5 years, but i have to say that the whole fabric of the society seems more "supportive" for lack of a better word to the less-employed. it's just easier to get by here on less... not saying it's cheaper, it's just not quite as judgemental/high-pressure about work as i imagine places out east are (or denver was).
get more specific and i'll see if i can't help more...
thanks for the responses so far- i honestly dont care if it rains or not-ive lived in upstate ny where it was gloomy most of the time and snowed the rest- except in the summer when its decent if theres not a thunderstorm. in any event i wlak around nyc when it rains without an umbrella. weatherwise im more sick of the humidity and the gerneal skankk of commuting in the hot subways.
crillywazzy - im big into indie music so its comforting to hear and i do like to get out and run hike etc when i can.
anatomical gift- hows the snowboarding at mount hood? ive only gone boarding a few times but loved every second of it
the overall disparity in opinions from those ive talked to, is many see portland as a 'dirty' city- though most dont elaborate im attributing most of these comments to the grey skies rain, more so thean over abundance of crackheads and prostitutes. esentially what i want in a city is a place where i can do outdoor activities, preferably run/hike all year, have a decent higher ed if idecide to take extra classes at some point, and have entertainmen/dining options. oh yeah and a job. it doesnt have to be of the same instantaneous nature of nyc- (although i do find comfort in the fact that i can do almost anything at anytime, i dont exactly go out for sushi at 2am) i wouldnt want to live in a place that closes at 9pm and has blue laws.
My experience with Portland is in two week intervals while visiting friends. I've never lived there so I can't comment first hand but I know a number of people who do live there. If you are an outdoors person Portland is THE place to be. If you love REI then you'd be in heaven.
Unfortunately I actually have never snowboarded Mt. Hood. I do snowboard regularly but being from the mid-west, I have never seen anything like Mt. Hood. My friends say it's amazing and laugh at me when I take them to our "hills" in Michigan. So I imagine it is quite good.
After reading this thread, I sort of want to move to Portland. My question is: how hard is it for a NYer, who is stereotypically impatient and accustomed to a certain pace, to assimilate?
good question design geek-girl...im often infuriated by how slow people move in nj. also since i'm assuming the cost of living is alot cheaper, whats a decent salary? whereas 40k may be ok here, it could be comparable to 30k there. i was also informed theres no sales tax at all in the entire state- any comments?
People in Portland are different. Dressing up for nighlife means putting on your best pair of Timberland hiking boots and a flannel. You don't notice it right away until you feel way overdressed at the bar and everyone comments on how "different" your shoes are while waiting in line for the unisex bathroom in the basement.
re: the dirty city thing... i can sorta see that. color-wise portland is green grey and rust. i think the rain actually servs to keep things technically clean. the dirtiness is possibly a perception issue tied in with the more blue-collar nature of the city. overall the city seems (very) mildly dilapidated. a lot of the homes are built with wood and shingles (not brick like most other cities i've lived in) and you could argue that in a moist climate like pdx, that kind of stuff will age prematurely, which also makes things look old and dirty. paints get all peel-y quickly too.
good air quality here. this places actually smells like somewhere i wanna be. denver smelled like pollution to me all the time. pdx just smells nice usually.
there is a fair homeless population, but that's largely because the city and community takes better care of them than other cities, so they like it here. plus the climate is bearable to the homeless i've heard. this isn't a crackhead city, rather it's smackheads. obviously the methheads are making in-roads like they are in all cities. and pot... jeezuz. this place is pot heaven if that's yr thing. it could well be the state plant.
if you wanted to hike/run all year long i think you could. in the rainy season, you'll need a nike clima-lite water repellent thing (or the like) and you'll need to be tolerant of the whole rain experience, but i see no reason why you couldn't go year-round. we play soccer year-round. sure it's a mudfest at times, but just go into it knowing this...
entertainment-wise it's not new york, but there's a lot of live music, a small to moderate art/cultural scene, pretty great alternative cinemas (not NYC, but yr still pretty covered there), one of the best dvd/video rental stores anywhere (movie madness), one of the country's great bookstores (powells)... several colleges in town. i just started at PSU last month so it's a bit early to comment on the quality, but there are options for that too. the city is also porn/strip club mecca... lots of adult theatres, stores, etc too. sometimes things do close a bit early (i've driven around looking for a place to eat at 10:30pm, complaining about this before), but maybe drive downtown and that'll fix itself.
oh yeah, pdx is really more of a big town than a small city in a lot of respects. after we drive hoem from a trip to seattle, we feel so much more relaxed when we pull into town. it's just homier to me...
re: work. i really couldn't say.
make sure if you move here, you fill out the card so i get credit with the city for this ringing endorsement! actually my wife and i really think we'll never live anywhere else in the u.s. than portland. after this it's overseas...
this is strange, i have been debating between portland and NYC for the whole summer. finally got a job in NYC and decided to go with that. mistake? i've never been to portland. always wanted to live in NYC. i've only heard good things of portland. can anyone give a a comparison of the two?
i moved from nyc and have been in portland 4 yrs. you will slow down eventually. you may even wait at an intersection to cross at a light.
people will talk to you here. they smile. just because they do this doesn't mean they want anything from you. [well, they may want you to sign a petition] there are far fewer homeless. the street kids like portland's summers so they show up downtown.
people come into the office on mondays and talk about mountaineering or camping or skiing or some family event, not how many renderings they cranked out or how much overtime they put in. many people ride bikes to work, summer and winter. despite this, we are all pasty white.
i guess it should also be said that portland is very white. unlike nyc, there is a dominant culture and it's decidedly white.
culture is 2nd tier and not nearly as avant garde as nyc, but it is improving every year.
i still miss nyc but the advantages of owning 2600sf vs renting 300sf are huge. being an hour from the beach and the mountain is fabulous. some years you can even ski in july.
anatomical gift- does that mean that the locals distrust those from outside of town? as much as id like to move there i dont want to be ostricized in some strange stephen king-esque like way. im all for the casual look, but i dont want to be excluded because i like to wear diesel of have cool eyeglass frames. is this the standoffishness that crillywazzy eluded to?
oregon: i wouldn't say there aren't significant problems. yeah affordable housing is tough, but i figured that's a general US trend. am i wrong? city government is struggling with focus at the moment too.
i should mention that the standoffishness is more with regards to making serious friends as opposed to casual ones. we've had more trouble in this respect than anywhere else we've lived...
the people in general are friendly as hell. about 50% of the people thank the bus driver and wish him a nice day as they get off on my morning ride. i sit on my front step and more than 50% of the folks who walk by on the sidewalk will smile and say hi too. that never happened to me in other cities.
wear pretty much anything you like and no one will bat an eye...
I never said they weren't friendly. I'm sorry if I said it wrong. Most people actually liked the shoes but the fact that I got so many comments was a little strange. They were all complimentary though. Seriously, I must have been approached at least 5 times while at one bar. I'm just observing, not judging.
there's definitely a hipster niche here
you won't be shunned
in fact, oregonians are probably more accepting of weirdness than most places, a carryover from the hippy days, i guess
proto- i think the people in nyc are friendly you just have to know who to talk and why. if someone form out of town asks me for help i give it without reservation, but if you bother me on the subway with my quarterfolded nytimes while listening to music im just going to sourly glare at you. i went to university in a small town setting and although they were nice and full of smiles there was alot of resentment- that could have been attributed to the town/gown realtions but i think it was partially just outlanders. how is rent there? ive been told a decent 1br can cost about $600 which isnt bad, as long as its proportinal to income...
I never really think of NYC as being unfriendly. Of course, being born and raised here, I'm probably just desensitized to nastiness.
If I did go to Portland it would probably result in sensory overload, I wouldn't know how to cope with an onslaught of greetings and well wishes. Perhaps I should stay put, and recede further into my little hate cave.
The idea of not getting dressed up for nightlife does appeal to me, and I'm thinking, $50 will buy more than 4 drinks. Hmm, lots to think about.
you could take that to the grocery store, buy 4 6-packs of trippel, some munchies and maybe even have a little left over for some sushi for lunch the next day. head to yr friend's, have them get you high, really really high, drink 2 bottles of that potent beer and then stumble your way to a show... or just sit on the step and watch skateboarders on the next block.
crillywazzy - have they abandoned the urban growth boundaries yet or is it beginning to lose its edge? I mean i'm all for smart development and i think wendell cox's take on things is a bit extreme, but the growth boundaries are just ridiculous - that needs to go.
there seems to be alot of interest in relocating to portland from the look of this thread, so for those already lving in the portland area, could you answer the following, if you dont mind:
Yes, a decent 1 br can cost around 600, depending on the area. Realisitically more like 700 or 800 in some of the better areas. unfortunately the salaries totally suck in Portland, while the cost of living is average for a half million person city.
it is a dirty city if you want to call it that. personally, 'clean' cities such as vancouver, toronto, phoenix, make me totally sick. there's a huge divide of personalities in Portland......those who grew up in Oregon, and those who moved here from the midwest or east coast. The latter being less hyper-sensitive, driving faster, and couldn't give a shit about louis kahn.
basically portland is amsterdam in the US, without the fancy buildings or legal pot. It's incredibly liberal here, and the relaxed mood is intoxicating, along with the proximity to MtHood, the beaches, Bend, and tons of other beautiful outdoors places.
There's a lot of heroin junkies and street kids who just don't understand that dressing like an anarchist isn't anarchy.
it's still a badass city.....just wish the rest of oregon cities didn't suck so bad
everyone I know who's come here from the east coast has loved it....it'd definitely be a good choice since a lot of firms are hiring now
blank & dgg - no diss to nyc, but the comparison is jarring in regard to niceties. don't get me wrong...i love nyc. even with all our activists here, we're just not as assertive/aggressive as your average new yorker. i'm still adjusting (subtly, now).
i left nyc at $1850 for a 750sf doorman 1BR on the upper west side to come to portland for an 800sf 1BR at $825. The trim was not painted over; the floors were gorgeous; no a/c, but you don't need it here. i now have a house and my mortgage is $1300.
the rental savings alone allowed me to take 11 weeks off before looking for a job when i arrived
blank: can't really give accurate $ info since mine would be all skewed. we moved in with my mom when we moved out here (to get on our feet again), but things worked out and we've opted to stay here.
we pay $350/month rent, but if we were to move into something else around here, $650-750 easy for a 1-2 BR apt.
food: we eat cheap since we're poor, but we usually spend 10-15 bucks for 2 of us to eat out (per night) at cheap burrito joints ($3.50 for the biggest burrito you've ever seen), thai places (maybe $15), or off the indian truck downtown ($10). there's a lot of cheap food around here.
utilities: not sure, we split half the house total. i know heating oil and electricity are more expensive here by 50% over what we paid in denver. gas is also v. expensive here. $2.09 at the moment. it hit $2.50 or 2.60 during the spring. you can't pump yr own here so it's all full-service.
bus/train service is good here. i take the bus into downtown for school. $1.30 each way. can't help you on the insurance thing, sorry...
there is no sales tax. they should vote one in though so the city won't be so damned broke. they're actually releasing prisoners from jails because they can't afford to keep them.
vancouver washington (just over the river/state line to the north by 10 miles) has sales tax and though it's kind of a festering suburban nightmare, it might be attractive to you economically. they seem to have more parks and amenities since they have taxes... just a thought. your commute would be a 20-30 minutes longer but the tradeoff might work out in other ways... me? i'd never live there.
I love Portland and have friends out there whom I visit often. There is a thriving microbrewing climate and as a beer lover that is of course something that keeps me coming back. I'm not quite sure what all the love affair with the city is. There is some decent architecture and I wouldn't call it 'dirty' compared to comprable cities like Seattle. The street kid culture pisses me off. I'd rather deal with the junkies I see all the time in Chicago than some runaway punk. From what I've heard from my friends is that cost of living isn't terrible. More expensive than the midwest but nothing like NYC. Comparing it to Chicago I'd say there are about equal. When people say a decent 1 bedroom is $600 - $800 they must have a different definition of decent than I do. A good friend pays $1000 and it's nice but nothing extravagant - and that's in the burbs. Of course if you have roommates you can afford much more. Real estate is kinda ridiculous but that's happened all over. The MAX light rail is nice but very lacking compared to the mass transit in New York, Boston, Chicago, etc. You will need a car for sure. Architecture jobs are quite sparse from what I've been told. MulvannyG2 is about the only ones I've been told are hiring. If you are into the arts scene or professional sports Portland is lacking but it really isn't that big of a city. Also I've been quite dissapointed in the service at PDX. Not a cheap place to fly in and out of. Then again, if you live in Oregon you'll fall in love with the scenery and get 'soft' as compared to the rest of us.
totally wrong about the car thing. the bus system is excellent, and the max and streetcar system are good and still improving. true, they're nothing like the systems in boston and new york. i feel that the overall transportation efficiency is as dependable and versatile as that in chicago however.
again, many firms in portland are hiring....and i've seen this over the last couple months.
depending on what your taste in arts is, portland is one of the best. However, if you're in into the highes forms, than the locan talent is sub par.
the local indie/underground music, design, and arts scene is one of the best in the nation though. it has avoided the gelled, homogenization that occurs in most supposedly artsy towns. (ignore the pearl district bs)
the car thing is a big one. you absoulutely don't need a car, unless you want to go to the beach, etc. there is nothing you need that you can't easily get to by MAX, streetcar , or bus.
For god's sake people, PLEASE stop talking about how nice PDX is or everyone and their idiot brother-in-law will uproot and start moving there (those that aren't already, that is)!!!!! I left my western upbringing (Portland and Phoenix) to move east in a single-handed attempt to reverse the flood of people ruining the west, hoping that I can then retire back home someday. But if all you easterners (yes I've lived in Philly for nine years and still call easterners "they" not "we") keep moving there it'll all go to hell - try staying where you grew up and fixing the rampant problems on the right coast, that's my embittered opinion!
i wont have a car- at least not for a while. i would like to center in on portland but it seemsas though the bus/light rail is servicable and runs easily to beaverton and vancouver.
after hearing all these comments as well as what ive found personally, i think that portland sounds like a kick ass place. can anyone freference headhunters/recruiters/portland specific job boards that are of any good? monster and hotjobs suck, and ive looked at jobdango, americas job bank OR and the oregon employment dept.
are you in architecture? unfortunately there really aren't any good headhunters or job listings in the area. the best way is through people you know who work here.
i got a lot of interviews through one name, just told people over and over that so and so a so and so firm had referred me to them, and that always got me in the door. And of course if they tell you they're busy , just insist that you'd like to at least meet to put a name with the face.
i'd be interested to know for the future , if anybody know s of some credible job listings for architects in Portland.
you can go to the portland aia website and look under member resources for the job board to find job info. Like anywhere else there are lots of unposted jobs, so don't settle for just the listed openings.
I would say you definitely don't need a car in portland, but parking is really cheap for a largish town so lots of people drive everywhere. The bus system might also get on your nerves if you are traveling from say North Portland to Southeast, or some other route that doesn't involve dowtown as a start or finish.
Summer is definitely the best time to be here, the weather aspect that bothers most people not from the area (me included) is not so much the rain in the winter but the endless gray days. If you can live with that, you'll be fine. Other comments seem to hold true for me.
Almost no one is from Portland, so I wouldn't worry about being ostracized for being an outsider.
lived there for eight years and left. it is great is you are in your early career and want to basically slack off for a while. I loved portland, being able to walk everywhere was huge, there is definitely a west side east side segregation though. the wilametter river cuts portland in half, and the people are very different. west side are your city types and many gay men, east side are your rei folk (as some of you have called them) and many gay women.
I have some beefs with the place and that's why i left. Portland is small in size as well as mentality. people there love the laid backedness of it, and want it to stay that way. the local govt wants it to stay that way as well. There is not much to do in the city besides drink. there are many galleries, but 85% of the far east import variety, 5% suck, and 10% are cool. The architecture community is weak (sorry it's the truth). there is just a lot of mediocre work in that town, save for the usual suspects allied works, colab, and a few others.
They pride themselves on what a great planning dept they have, but they put so many design restricitons on work there, that it is becoming like seaside, FL. cheesy cartoony, etc.
if you're an indie rocker type, you'll love it.. if you are a surfer stay in caly, if you're into urban life go somehwhere else. if you like a very slow lifestyle, it's all you.
when you visit, immediately check out north west. it's just what they call it and it's great. a little more expensive than other parts of town, but very walkable. next would be the hawthorne area. it's between hawthorne and belmont and between se 25th to about 45th i think. both places are good for average income single young people. next would be the pearl district but that's really expensive. good study in urban design. i didn't say good study though. kind of bland in my opinion.
green and sustainable design here is huge. people recycle everything. in my office, we don't get garbage cans. we have worm bins for composting food waste.
i live in north portland and bought a house last year. mortgage is just under $1300. many people in my firm bike to work and i willl be soon.
rent in northwest is anywhere from $600 (400 sf studio)-$1300 (1200 sf 3br). hawthorne is a little less. pearl district is expensive.
my girlfriend and i spend $250 a month on groceries and about $100 a month eating out. these might be a little low, depending on your style of food and amount of eating out. utilites are about $150-200 a month, but i own a house.
it rains from november to march. it's been sunny and dry from april. my brown lawn can attest to that.
outdoor activities is where it's at! camping, hiking, fishing, mountain biking, road cycling, running, trail running, road trips, skiing, snowboarding, xcountry skiing, snowshoeing, water skiing, wake boarding, boating.
if you like craft beer, this is the place. bridgeport is great, lucky lab is great too (hawthorne). too many to list, those are just my favorite.
dam fine state. i grew up in oregon, but not in portland. i left for a while, now i'm back. it's home.
im actually not an architect- i do multimedia development and consulting. i am very much the indie rocker type so im more concerned of the intiail fitting in as opposed to long run. the outdoor activities are definitely a plus, that cost of living. ive pretty much decided that it has the quality of life i am looking for, so all i need now is a job and the some understanding of salary and costs.
I moved to Portland a little more than a month ago from upstate New York. I really like the big town feel of PDX although sometimes I do miss the density and faster pace of life of NYC. But I am young and just looking to bum around a bit. I do think it's nice that there are so many neighborhood bars and cafes here in the SE. (I pay $450 for a room in a house on 16th off of Morrison. You can definitely live for cheaper than that if you're willing to share a place with others).
It's too bad that I have a crappy job that doesn't pay enough along with lots of other underemployed kids. If I had a regular job that's half way decent, then I would definitely enjoy this place more. It's also a bit hard to meet people... although that's not really a Portland complaint and more of a personality issue I suppose.
hey sewage- spent some years up at albany where were you upstate?
and for a place with less than average rent (compartively speaking from nyc), it seems as though everyone ive talked to, and those on this thread, are really pushing the roommate idea. whats up with that? does everyone in pdx have a roommate?
It seems that most of the housing stock in PDX are individual houses and not apartments, at least here in the SE. There are probably more apartments on the other side of the river. After re-reading my post, it sounds like I live in a one bedroom... I do not, I have roommates. I also have a fairly large room (400 sq feet) in an attic, so a regular sized room would probably be a bit cheaper. Although I am new to the area so who knows. :-\
I'm from Poughkeepsie, NY, so it's not that far away. Though I've only been to Albany once.
There are plenty of apartments for rent on both the east and west side. I think most people live in house because a) you can get a room for under 300 dollars, b) you meet people, c) often times larger communal space and a yard in the summer.
given the wealth of information shared, and the housesharing situation in pdx, what would you consider a livable salary there? and by livable i mean able to pay off your rent, utilities, have some scratch to save for entertainment, and ultimately a house.
thanks again to everyone who has answered- youve definitely confirmed my thoughts on the area and have been an immeasurable help.
portland OR
ive been looking at relocating to the portland area (live in nyc now), and wanted to hear some opinions about living there. i have heard many conflicting stories from friends of mine, and would like to know more. the archinect thread on best places to live somewhat touched on this subject, this thread will hopefully be more focused. thanks in advance!
it rains a lot. seriously. many people can't handle the gloominess. if you can handle it, it's a beautiful place to live, with lots of cute little neighborhoods.
i helped complete a construction project in portland several years ago. i lived in california all these times and had never been to portland until the move. i was amazed how resilient people could be in harsh climatic environment. i guess i could say the same thing about people who live where snow is prevalent.
my whole month of stay in portland was reduced to driving from the airport, to the job site and to my hotel and vice versa on fridays.
people in portland did everything in the rain, which i found very interesting. construction did not stop during a rain storm. they just covered the whole structure in tarp/plastic and they work under it. people walked without umbrellas, they wait for busses in the rain and they wash their cars in the rain.
coming from a city where we see a few days of rain a year, it was a difficult transition. if you are an outdoor person who likes to perform activities under the sun, then portland is not for you. if you don't mind the many rainy days, then you should give it a shot.
It rains mostly in the winter. The summers are fairly calm. Besides, when it's raining in Portland, it's snowing on Mount Hood - Go Snowboarding!
lived here for 3.5 years now and just f.cking love it here! personally the grey doesn't bother me (i dislike the sun more) but you do get 3-4 months of good sun if that's what you need. the rain isn't THAT bad. it will really drizzle from october until april at least most days of the week, but it's really not so bad as to keep you from going out. more likely that you'll stay "moist" and moss will grow on you and everything else around you.
june thru sept is mostly sunny. aprrox 10-15 of those days will be over 90 degrees i think. the rest hover between 70 and 90. maybe after a particularly long week of HOT, it'll drop down to 70 for a few days. i like that...
the neighborhoods are quirky, kitschy and definitely have personality. actually that's a good way to describe the people of this fine city... mostly left of center politically, open-minded, quirky, a little-standoffish until you get to know them. get tattoos and like pabst blue ribbon and indie rock and you'll instantly fit in at many bars. or don't and you'll still find yr fit somewhere.
great food. not the best mexican, but very great for thai, chinese, japanese. decent indian.
play soccer? you'll love it here! also camping, biking, etc. it's a very outdoorsy place.
job market took at serious hammering during the 9-11/dotcom crash. mainly because the market is largely manufacturing and then hightech. i've been laid off twice in 3.5 years, but i have to say that the whole fabric of the society seems more "supportive" for lack of a better word to the less-employed. it's just easier to get by here on less... not saying it's cheaper, it's just not quite as judgemental/high-pressure about work as i imagine places out east are (or denver was).
get more specific and i'll see if i can't help more...
wow crillywazzy- now i want to move to portland!
thanks for the responses so far- i honestly dont care if it rains or not-ive lived in upstate ny where it was gloomy most of the time and snowed the rest- except in the summer when its decent if theres not a thunderstorm. in any event i wlak around nyc when it rains without an umbrella. weatherwise im more sick of the humidity and the gerneal skankk of commuting in the hot subways.
crillywazzy - im big into indie music so its comforting to hear and i do like to get out and run hike etc when i can.
anatomical gift- hows the snowboarding at mount hood? ive only gone boarding a few times but loved every second of it
the overall disparity in opinions from those ive talked to, is many see portland as a 'dirty' city- though most dont elaborate im attributing most of these comments to the grey skies rain, more so thean over abundance of crackheads and prostitutes. esentially what i want in a city is a place where i can do outdoor activities, preferably run/hike all year, have a decent higher ed if idecide to take extra classes at some point, and have entertainmen/dining options. oh yeah and a job. it doesnt have to be of the same instantaneous nature of nyc- (although i do find comfort in the fact that i can do almost anything at anytime, i dont exactly go out for sushi at 2am) i wouldnt want to live in a place that closes at 9pm and has blue laws.
My experience with Portland is in two week intervals while visiting friends. I've never lived there so I can't comment first hand but I know a number of people who do live there. If you are an outdoors person Portland is THE place to be. If you love REI then you'd be in heaven.
Unfortunately I actually have never snowboarded Mt. Hood. I do snowboard regularly but being from the mid-west, I have never seen anything like Mt. Hood. My friends say it's amazing and laugh at me when I take them to our "hills" in Michigan. So I imagine it is quite good.
blank:
andrew kudless, an archinect member, has lived and worked in portland. look him up and email him. he is in london at the AA now.
After reading this thread, I sort of want to move to Portland. My question is: how hard is it for a NYer, who is stereotypically impatient and accustomed to a certain pace, to assimilate?
good question design geek-girl...im often infuriated by how slow people move in nj. also since i'm assuming the cost of living is alot cheaper, whats a decent salary? whereas 40k may be ok here, it could be comparable to 30k there. i was also informed theres no sales tax at all in the entire state- any comments?
People in Portland are different. Dressing up for nighlife means putting on your best pair of Timberland hiking boots and a flannel. You don't notice it right away until you feel way overdressed at the bar and everyone comments on how "different" your shoes are while waiting in line for the unisex bathroom in the basement.
blank:
re: the dirty city thing... i can sorta see that. color-wise portland is green grey and rust. i think the rain actually servs to keep things technically clean. the dirtiness is possibly a perception issue tied in with the more blue-collar nature of the city. overall the city seems (very) mildly dilapidated. a lot of the homes are built with wood and shingles (not brick like most other cities i've lived in) and you could argue that in a moist climate like pdx, that kind of stuff will age prematurely, which also makes things look old and dirty. paints get all peel-y quickly too.
good air quality here. this places actually smells like somewhere i wanna be. denver smelled like pollution to me all the time. pdx just smells nice usually.
there is a fair homeless population, but that's largely because the city and community takes better care of them than other cities, so they like it here. plus the climate is bearable to the homeless i've heard. this isn't a crackhead city, rather it's smackheads. obviously the methheads are making in-roads like they are in all cities. and pot... jeezuz. this place is pot heaven if that's yr thing. it could well be the state plant.
if you wanted to hike/run all year long i think you could. in the rainy season, you'll need a nike clima-lite water repellent thing (or the like) and you'll need to be tolerant of the whole rain experience, but i see no reason why you couldn't go year-round. we play soccer year-round. sure it's a mudfest at times, but just go into it knowing this...
entertainment-wise it's not new york, but there's a lot of live music, a small to moderate art/cultural scene, pretty great alternative cinemas (not NYC, but yr still pretty covered there), one of the best dvd/video rental stores anywhere (movie madness), one of the country's great bookstores (powells)... several colleges in town. i just started at PSU last month so it's a bit early to comment on the quality, but there are options for that too. the city is also porn/strip club mecca... lots of adult theatres, stores, etc too. sometimes things do close a bit early (i've driven around looking for a place to eat at 10:30pm, complaining about this before), but maybe drive downtown and that'll fix itself.
oh yeah, pdx is really more of a big town than a small city in a lot of respects. after we drive hoem from a trip to seattle, we feel so much more relaxed when we pull into town. it's just homier to me...
re: work. i really couldn't say.
make sure if you move here, you fill out the card so i get credit with the city for this ringing endorsement! actually my wife and i really think we'll never live anywhere else in the u.s. than portland. after this it's overseas...
What do you think about your fake land scarcity
http://www.demographia.com/db-porla.htm
http://www.demographia.com/db-pornahb0001.htm
http://www.demographia.com/db-por-reloca.htm
this is strange, i have been debating between portland and NYC for the whole summer. finally got a job in NYC and decided to go with that. mistake? i've never been to portland. always wanted to live in NYC. i've only heard good things of portland. can anyone give a a comparison of the two?
(best alt newspaper here)
www.wweek.com (yuppie version of same)
beer too... did i mention this place really likes its beer?
pace of life is slower for sure. is it the pace you hate or just NJ?
dgg
i moved from nyc and have been in portland 4 yrs. you will slow down eventually. you may even wait at an intersection to cross at a light.
people will talk to you here. they smile. just because they do this doesn't mean they want anything from you. [well, they may want you to sign a petition] there are far fewer homeless. the street kids like portland's summers so they show up downtown.
people come into the office on mondays and talk about mountaineering or camping or skiing or some family event, not how many renderings they cranked out or how much overtime they put in. many people ride bikes to work, summer and winter. despite this, we are all pasty white.
i guess it should also be said that portland is very white. unlike nyc, there is a dominant culture and it's decidedly white.
culture is 2nd tier and not nearly as avant garde as nyc, but it is improving every year.
i still miss nyc but the advantages of owning 2600sf vs renting 300sf are huge. being an hour from the beach and the mountain is fabulous. some years you can even ski in july.
anatomical gift- does that mean that the locals distrust those from outside of town? as much as id like to move there i dont want to be ostricized in some strange stephen king-esque like way. im all for the casual look, but i dont want to be excluded because i like to wear diesel of have cool eyeglass frames. is this the standoffishness that crillywazzy eluded to?
oregon: i wouldn't say there aren't significant problems. yeah affordable housing is tough, but i figured that's a general US trend. am i wrong? city government is struggling with focus at the moment too.
anatomical gift - how is the AIC exhibit coming?
blank & anatomical gift
i don't know where you've been, but portland is waaaay friendlier than nyc
no contest
i should mention that the standoffishness is more with regards to making serious friends as opposed to casual ones. we've had more trouble in this respect than anywhere else we've lived...
the people in general are friendly as hell. about 50% of the people thank the bus driver and wish him a nice day as they get off on my morning ride. i sit on my front step and more than 50% of the folks who walk by on the sidewalk will smile and say hi too. that never happened to me in other cities.
wear pretty much anything you like and no one will bat an eye...
the architecture circles are pretty small
you know how you meet friends of friends of friends. those circles close a lot quicker in portland than anywhere else i've lived
a downside to portland
even a trip to seattle makes portland seem small
I never said they weren't friendly. I'm sorry if I said it wrong. Most people actually liked the shoes but the fact that I got so many comments was a little strange. They were all complimentary though. Seriously, I must have been approached at least 5 times while at one bar. I'm just observing, not judging.
oregon - do I know you?
proto: where do you live? we're in SE pretty close to 28th and burnside.
there's definitely a hipster niche here
you won't be shunned
in fact, oregonians are probably more accepting of weirdness than most places, a carryover from the hippy days, i guess
as the bumper sticker says, "keep portland weird"
proto- i think the people in nyc are friendly you just have to know who to talk and why. if someone form out of town asks me for help i give it without reservation, but if you bother me on the subway with my quarterfolded nytimes while listening to music im just going to sourly glare at you. i went to university in a small town setting and although they were nice and full of smiles there was alot of resentment- that could have been attributed to the town/gown realtions but i think it was partially just outlanders. how is rent there? ive been told a decent 1br can cost about $600 which isnt bad, as long as its proportinal to income...
I never really think of NYC as being unfriendly. Of course, being born and raised here, I'm probably just desensitized to nastiness.
If I did go to Portland it would probably result in sensory overload, I wouldn't know how to cope with an onslaught of greetings and well wishes. Perhaps I should stay put, and recede further into my little hate cave.
The idea of not getting dressed up for nightlife does appeal to me, and I'm thinking, $50 will buy more than 4 drinks. Hmm, lots to think about.
50 bucks for 4 drinks?!?!
you could take that to the grocery store, buy 4 6-packs of trippel, some munchies and maybe even have a little left over for some sushi for lunch the next day. head to yr friend's, have them get you high, really really high, drink 2 bottles of that potent beer and then stumble your way to a show... or just sit on the step and watch skateboarders on the next block.
crillywazzy - have they abandoned the urban growth boundaries yet or is it beginning to lose its edge? I mean i'm all for smart development and i think wendell cox's take on things is a bit extreme, but the growth boundaries are just ridiculous - that needs to go.
there seems to be alot of interest in relocating to portland from the look of this thread, so for those already lving in the portland area, could you answer the following, if you dont mind:
whats yr rent?
weekly food expense(for 1 person)?
avg monthly utilities?
i think this will help in gauging cost of living and salary. thanks.
oh and one more thing- auto insurance or general transportation costs.
Yes, a decent 1 br can cost around 600, depending on the area. Realisitically more like 700 or 800 in some of the better areas. unfortunately the salaries totally suck in Portland, while the cost of living is average for a half million person city.
it is a dirty city if you want to call it that. personally, 'clean' cities such as vancouver, toronto, phoenix, make me totally sick. there's a huge divide of personalities in Portland......those who grew up in Oregon, and those who moved here from the midwest or east coast. The latter being less hyper-sensitive, driving faster, and couldn't give a shit about louis kahn.
basically portland is amsterdam in the US, without the fancy buildings or legal pot. It's incredibly liberal here, and the relaxed mood is intoxicating, along with the proximity to MtHood, the beaches, Bend, and tons of other beautiful outdoors places.
There's a lot of heroin junkies and street kids who just don't understand that dressing like an anarchist isn't anarchy.
it's still a badass city.....just wish the rest of oregon cities didn't suck so bad
everyone I know who's come here from the east coast has loved it....it'd definitely be a good choice since a lot of firms are hiring now
crillywazzy - i'm just north of irvington
blank & dgg - no diss to nyc, but the comparison is jarring in regard to niceties. don't get me wrong...i love nyc. even with all our activists here, we're just not as assertive/aggressive as your average new yorker. i'm still adjusting (subtly, now).
i left nyc at $1850 for a 750sf doorman 1BR on the upper west side to come to portland for an 800sf 1BR at $825. The trim was not painted over; the floors were gorgeous; no a/c, but you don't need it here. i now have a house and my mortgage is $1300.
the rental savings alone allowed me to take 11 weeks off before looking for a job when i arrived
blank: can't really give accurate $ info since mine would be all skewed. we moved in with my mom when we moved out here (to get on our feet again), but things worked out and we've opted to stay here.
we pay $350/month rent, but if we were to move into something else around here, $650-750 easy for a 1-2 BR apt.
food: we eat cheap since we're poor, but we usually spend 10-15 bucks for 2 of us to eat out (per night) at cheap burrito joints ($3.50 for the biggest burrito you've ever seen), thai places (maybe $15), or off the indian truck downtown ($10). there's a lot of cheap food around here.
utilities: not sure, we split half the house total. i know heating oil and electricity are more expensive here by 50% over what we paid in denver. gas is also v. expensive here. $2.09 at the moment. it hit $2.50 or 2.60 during the spring. you can't pump yr own here so it's all full-service.
bus/train service is good here. i take the bus into downtown for school. $1.30 each way. can't help you on the insurance thing, sorry...
there is no sales tax. they should vote one in though so the city won't be so damned broke. they're actually releasing prisoners from jails because they can't afford to keep them.
vancouver washington (just over the river/state line to the north by 10 miles) has sales tax and though it's kind of a festering suburban nightmare, it might be attractive to you economically. they seem to have more parks and amenities since they have taxes... just a thought. your commute would be a 20-30 minutes longer but the tradeoff might work out in other ways... me? i'd never live there.
I love Portland and have friends out there whom I visit often. There is a thriving microbrewing climate and as a beer lover that is of course something that keeps me coming back. I'm not quite sure what all the love affair with the city is. There is some decent architecture and I wouldn't call it 'dirty' compared to comprable cities like Seattle. The street kid culture pisses me off. I'd rather deal with the junkies I see all the time in Chicago than some runaway punk. From what I've heard from my friends is that cost of living isn't terrible. More expensive than the midwest but nothing like NYC. Comparing it to Chicago I'd say there are about equal. When people say a decent 1 bedroom is $600 - $800 they must have a different definition of decent than I do. A good friend pays $1000 and it's nice but nothing extravagant - and that's in the burbs. Of course if you have roommates you can afford much more. Real estate is kinda ridiculous but that's happened all over. The MAX light rail is nice but very lacking compared to the mass transit in New York, Boston, Chicago, etc. You will need a car for sure. Architecture jobs are quite sparse from what I've been told. MulvannyG2 is about the only ones I've been told are hiring. If you are into the arts scene or professional sports Portland is lacking but it really isn't that big of a city. Also I've been quite dissapointed in the service at PDX. Not a cheap place to fly in and out of. Then again, if you live in Oregon you'll fall in love with the scenery and get 'soft' as compared to the rest of us.
totally wrong about the car thing. the bus system is excellent, and the max and streetcar system are good and still improving. true, they're nothing like the systems in boston and new york. i feel that the overall transportation efficiency is as dependable and versatile as that in chicago however.
again, many firms in portland are hiring....and i've seen this over the last couple months.
depending on what your taste in arts is, portland is one of the best. However, if you're in into the highes forms, than the locan talent is sub par.
the local indie/underground music, design, and arts scene is one of the best in the nation though. it has avoided the gelled, homogenization that occurs in most supposedly artsy towns. (ignore the pearl district bs)
the car thing is a big one. you absoulutely don't need a car, unless you want to go to the beach, etc. there is nothing you need that you can't easily get to by MAX, streetcar , or bus.
For god's sake people, PLEASE stop talking about how nice PDX is or everyone and their idiot brother-in-law will uproot and start moving there (those that aren't already, that is)!!!!! I left my western upbringing (Portland and Phoenix) to move east in a single-handed attempt to reverse the flood of people ruining the west, hoping that I can then retire back home someday. But if all you easterners (yes I've lived in Philly for nine years and still call easterners "they" not "we") keep moving there it'll all go to hell - try staying where you grew up and fixing the rampant problems on the right coast, that's my embittered opinion!
Rant, rant, rant rant.....
i wont have a car- at least not for a while. i would like to center in on portland but it seemsas though the bus/light rail is servicable and runs easily to beaverton and vancouver.
after hearing all these comments as well as what ive found personally, i think that portland sounds like a kick ass place. can anyone freference headhunters/recruiters/portland specific job boards that are of any good? monster and hotjobs suck, and ive looked at jobdango, americas job bank OR and the oregon employment dept.
are you in architecture? unfortunately there really aren't any good headhunters or job listings in the area. the best way is through people you know who work here.
i got a lot of interviews through one name, just told people over and over that so and so a so and so firm had referred me to them, and that always got me in the door. And of course if they tell you they're busy , just insist that you'd like to at least meet to put a name with the face.
i'd be interested to know for the future , if anybody know s of some credible job listings for architects in Portland.
you can go to the portland aia website and look under member resources for the job board to find job info. Like anywhere else there are lots of unposted jobs, so don't settle for just the listed openings.
I would say you definitely don't need a car in portland, but parking is really cheap for a largish town so lots of people drive everywhere. The bus system might also get on your nerves if you are traveling from say North Portland to Southeast, or some other route that doesn't involve dowtown as a start or finish.
Summer is definitely the best time to be here, the weather aspect that bothers most people not from the area (me included) is not so much the rain in the winter but the endless gray days. If you can live with that, you'll be fine. Other comments seem to hold true for me.
Almost no one is from Portland, so I wouldn't worry about being ostracized for being an outsider.
lived there for eight years and left. it is great is you are in your early career and want to basically slack off for a while. I loved portland, being able to walk everywhere was huge, there is definitely a west side east side segregation though. the wilametter river cuts portland in half, and the people are very different. west side are your city types and many gay men, east side are your rei folk (as some of you have called them) and many gay women.
I have some beefs with the place and that's why i left. Portland is small in size as well as mentality. people there love the laid backedness of it, and want it to stay that way. the local govt wants it to stay that way as well. There is not much to do in the city besides drink. there are many galleries, but 85% of the far east import variety, 5% suck, and 10% are cool. The architecture community is weak (sorry it's the truth). there is just a lot of mediocre work in that town, save for the usual suspects allied works, colab, and a few others.
They pride themselves on what a great planning dept they have, but they put so many design restricitons on work there, that it is becoming like seaside, FL. cheesy cartoony, etc.
if you're an indie rocker type, you'll love it.. if you are a surfer stay in caly, if you're into urban life go somehwhere else. if you like a very slow lifestyle, it's all you.
blank,
when you visit, immediately check out north west. it's just what they call it and it's great. a little more expensive than other parts of town, but very walkable. next would be the hawthorne area. it's between hawthorne and belmont and between se 25th to about 45th i think. both places are good for average income single young people. next would be the pearl district but that's really expensive. good study in urban design. i didn't say good study though. kind of bland in my opinion.
green and sustainable design here is huge. people recycle everything. in my office, we don't get garbage cans. we have worm bins for composting food waste.
i live in north portland and bought a house last year. mortgage is just under $1300. many people in my firm bike to work and i willl be soon.
rent in northwest is anywhere from $600 (400 sf studio)-$1300 (1200 sf 3br). hawthorne is a little less. pearl district is expensive.
my girlfriend and i spend $250 a month on groceries and about $100 a month eating out. these might be a little low, depending on your style of food and amount of eating out. utilites are about $150-200 a month, but i own a house.
it rains from november to march. it's been sunny and dry from april. my brown lawn can attest to that.
outdoor activities is where it's at! camping, hiking, fishing, mountain biking, road cycling, running, trail running, road trips, skiing, snowboarding, xcountry skiing, snowshoeing, water skiing, wake boarding, boating.
if you like craft beer, this is the place. bridgeport is great, lucky lab is great too (hawthorne). too many to list, those are just my favorite.
dam fine state. i grew up in oregon, but not in portland. i left for a while, now i'm back. it's home.
im actually not an architect- i do multimedia development and consulting. i am very much the indie rocker type so im more concerned of the intiail fitting in as opposed to long run. the outdoor activities are definitely a plus, that cost of living. ive pretty much decided that it has the quality of life i am looking for, so all i need now is a job and the some understanding of salary and costs.
I moved to Portland a little more than a month ago from upstate New York. I really like the big town feel of PDX although sometimes I do miss the density and faster pace of life of NYC. But I am young and just looking to bum around a bit. I do think it's nice that there are so many neighborhood bars and cafes here in the SE. (I pay $450 for a room in a house on 16th off of Morrison. You can definitely live for cheaper than that if you're willing to share a place with others).
It's too bad that I have a crappy job that doesn't pay enough along with lots of other underemployed kids. If I had a regular job that's half way decent, then I would definitely enjoy this place more. It's also a bit hard to meet people... although that's not really a Portland complaint and more of a personality issue I suppose.
hey sewage- spent some years up at albany where were you upstate?
and for a place with less than average rent (compartively speaking from nyc), it seems as though everyone ive talked to, and those on this thread, are really pushing the roommate idea. whats up with that? does everyone in pdx have a roommate?
a lot of people do, yeah...
It seems that most of the housing stock in PDX are individual houses and not apartments, at least here in the SE. There are probably more apartments on the other side of the river. After re-reading my post, it sounds like I live in a one bedroom... I do not, I have roommates. I also have a fairly large room (400 sq feet) in an attic, so a regular sized room would probably be a bit cheaper. Although I am new to the area so who knows. :-\
I'm from Poughkeepsie, NY, so it's not that far away. Though I've only been to Albany once.
There are plenty of apartments for rent on both the east and west side. I think most people live in house because a) you can get a room for under 300 dollars, b) you meet people, c) often times larger communal space and a yard in the summer.
ok - last question (i think):
given the wealth of information shared, and the housesharing situation in pdx, what would you consider a livable salary there? and by livable i mean able to pay off your rent, utilities, have some scratch to save for entertainment, and ultimately a house.
thanks again to everyone who has answered- youve definitely confirmed my thoughts on the area and have been an immeasurable help.
I think you can live comfortably here for $30,000.
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