I do the CRJs SFO to EUG all the time. Not bad planes.

SFO to the Eug is a 50 minute flight, I could handle that. Coming from Denver is at least 2.5, and the last half hour coming down to PDX through the gorge when it's raining is not fun.

i just flew through denver and realized that i was crazy for thinking about moving away from portland. i have been in portland 5 years now and the rain has been tempting me to make a run for it...but there are few places (in this country) i would rather live. i thought about chicago, brooklyn, louisville (to be close to family)

i would never live in flat suburbia again...or denver...whats the diff...

besides, there is plenty of mexican food in stumptown

stay and play on mount hood
or mount adams
or mount st helens
or mt jefferson
or mt rainier
or mt bachelor
or mt baker
or at the coast

wow, there's a 'nector in GJ???

Thanks again everyone. This has been great. If family and all of that were not an issue it'd either be portland, or durango/telluride. (Un)fortunately family is so I've gotta be relatively close to Denver. Grand Junction is about the furthest distance it could be. Assuming someone here works in GJ - how do you like the architecture scene? Anything new and exciting. Possibility for advanced thinking in the near future? Good mountain biking? Etc?

P.S. If you know where there is good mexican food in portland let me know, cuz i've tried everywhere and haven't gotten past mediocre.

I've got a friend who lives in Colorado Springs and I've gone riding with him. The climbing and biking is super good and super close. Any architects live there?

And finally, anyone here work, have worked, at Anderson Mason Dale?

What are you nutz, ...don't go to CO Springs, unless you are churchey army private. Jus Kiddin. (No offense to you Christian military folks out there...)

My GF wants us to move to Portland. We are designers in Boulder currently. We love CO and for being an entrepreneur it works well for me. I have said this on other threads..that CO needs more modern.

Um..it snows a lot here but , it is so sunny many days (333 to be exact), that no one minds. Actually calling - in - sick for powder days are a corner stone of the work week.

So uh it rains alot in Oregon ,huhh?
In the spring we are visiting PDX to see about GSkool options...will the rain be a problem for me if I am not used to it, I wonder?

it's not so much rain as drizzle. Make sure you have a decent gore-tex (or similar) jacket and you'll be fine. As far as getting used to it? I'm from California and it took about a year,after I stayed in Oregon for the summer and following fall. There's no better place than Oregon in the summer.

so is University of Oregon a decent Grad school, then...you think? < i guess i'll search the threads>

farce-itect, i think the small mexican places are the best in portland. there is mazatlan the chain but not so great. i am talking downtown, nopo...there is a cool place on mississippi and fremont called porque no? there is a decent place downtown on 2nd and pine near the mazatlan. there is a really good place on nw 21st next to coffee time that is about a year old. ne alberta has la serinita...or maybe it's the other one next to it...can never remember the names...

the reason i was seriously considering moving was not the rain or my gf wanting sun or whatever...it was family too...parents getting old and wanting to see them more often without having to fly far and use my vacation.

psycho-mullet, i agree with you probably being the most literate person in town. i think the reason it is the most literate (the city, not the state) is that smtg like 75% of the people have univ education but most people i have met in pdx use words like "boughten" and "dranken".

i been making my own portland past tenses. if people us boughten as past tense of buy then invotten would be the past tense of invite. invite, invote, invotten. eg, "you invote jimmy to the party, but you havent invotten me yet!"

I think we are the most literate because Powell's rules. It's no Peter Miller but it is a great place to kill a lunch break when it is too wet to play outside.
As far as Colorado to portland - I came here for grad school (University of Oregon at Portland), the first winter was really tuff. It's not the rain, it's the lack of sun. It is hard. Then you start to get used to it until you see the sun one day in February and remember it like an old friend. Then it goes away til July.
U of O Portland was good, but it is what you make of it, if you don't know what you want to do, and aren't going to work hard at making it happen by yourself it's not gonna happen. The adjunct staff is hit and miss as are the students. They are moving in to a new location this spring, it should be good for the program.

So ff33 - can you recommend firms in Boulder, how's about possibility of buying a house on an architects salary?
I went to undergrad there, but that was quite a while ago and I'm sure being a real person there is different than being a student there.

La Serenita is close to good. But it only starts to hint at what I remember in CO.

peter miller's overpriced and he's kind of a prick to his employees.

wow- so much colorado/oregon banter!
I lived in south-west colorado for 5 years and then portland for 5 years. I left 1.5 years ago for grad school, and now that graduation is looming I am wondering where I should go next...
I definitely don't want to get stuck designing log cabins in denver. I love portland but think that if i move back then i might not ever leave again. so I am considering Burlington VT, NYC, or San Fran.
but if the choice is portland or denver, i would definitely choose portland.

what do you mean, log cabins, bridgetown? Denver may not be the cliche epicenter of convivial modernism , but it is getting pretty hip and with a high quality of life , and h a decent architectural economy.

farce-itect, I'll email you about firms. your comment of U of O , reminds me of assorted CU Denver comments...I continually struggle to find good logic to go there, thus my own plight with Grad School and good locale.

but i should also add, that if i were to move to colorado, i certainly would live in the mountains, not in denver. If i move to another large city, I would certainly not choose Denver. no offense-

Bridgetown: You've hit my connundrum on the head. I'm in the same boat (or moving van) I too would not choose Denver as the #1 big city, in fact I'd choose Portland, but that's beside the point. Unfortunately as a non log cabin architect I feel my choices of CO locale are limited. Which mountain town to choose....

Carbondale got pockets of green design.

the best mexican in portland was mentioned in this thread. tough choice, denver at #15 vs. portland at #19...

One of my favourite NZ bands, The Mint Chicks are moving to Portland, so all you guys go out there and support them when they play

damn, just cos you live in a city with a ton of cowboys drinking swill doesn't make it a good place to party.

i'd take portland over denver or seattle any day.

there is a strip club per every 5k people in portland, 1 per 1 million in seattle. not to mention the music scene.

Why are there no chicks in the band? Ah well, I might go see em anyway.

.... wait a minute... what's with that apostrophe?

If it's a noun that the S is added to in order to make it plural the apostraphe does not go on the end. That means this is a word that naturally ends in s. As in they belong to Chicks? Mint Chicks? But who or what is Chicks?

Nevermind... I don't think that's in thier name... I think that was just the punctuation the journalist was using in the title of the article....

trying to convince the lady (tumbles) that Portland is the place to be

my gf is trying to get me to check it out too.

Screw this debate. The real questions is Utah / Idaho???

sweet!

exgf/future wife is innerviewing with university of colorado so i may be livin in boulder soon. or not.

vado

Im in the Nati!!! What do you say we get some Steak+Shake with LB and DubK?

yay vado!

I grew up in Fort Collins, went to CU Boulder freshman for architecture, and just moved to eugene this past september for school, but like you, Colorado is calling me back, and I think I'm going back to CU. The mountains, skiing, the people, everything. And CU isn't as bad as I thought they were. I would HIGHLY recommend Fort Collins for you to consider. Its an amazing town (#1 city in the country to live in by money mag, although i hate those ratings systems). Its got really really amazing schools, some of the best in the country actually. the science bowl team at poudre high just won the entire national competition a year or two ago. Theres a pretty happenin and hip downtown/old town area for a small university town, with awesome planning and a pedestrain block, check out www.downtownfortcollins.com, living downtown is a little pricey (300-400k for a fixer upper, but there are really good neighborhoods that are within biking distance that aren't as expensive. and its only an hour north of denver and hour from boulder. There are a couple nice arch firms in town (Neenan co for one), although we could use an infusion of innovation. I think maybe one of the problems of Colorado seeming to not have as much modern stuff going on is that people shy away from it because its not there, and its so easy to fall into the market and make money designing mountainmansions. If you end up going to Boulder (wayy expensive but neat) OZ architecture (also in denver) is a fairly big firm doing alot in the mountains and in boulder/denver. They are doing some interesting stuff, but could use a little push out of the comfort zone and they could be great.

ff33 - As for the University of Oregon, graduate and upper level undergraduate studios are mixed in the eugene campus, which is really where the good profs are at. I'd recommend it even though I think I'm coming back to CO. theres some neat stuff with 'green' architecture. The city of Eugene isn't that great though. There is a lack of urban feeling and downtown life, but they do get alot of good bands going from seattle/portland/SF. I think I'd rather be living in Boulder, but spending two years in a grad program would be alot more manageable than 5 for the undergrad.

Plenty of good shit in Eugene. You just gotta be off campus. 'Downtown' has been forced since VRM ruined it in the late 80's.

bump

so i just got residency in oregon and am accepted to the arch program. although before i found out i re-registered at cu boulder. could still switch tho. its good and bad since am i forced to decide between to great places.. and it seems to me the two programs are about even in faculty and student design quality ie both have good and bad profs, although it also seems boulder may be heading in a good direction, where lots of design work at oregon looks very conservative and they are kind of lacking in furthering both hand and digital media.. just thought i'd throw that out there for anyone searching the threads..

i've met tons of UofO kids doing great work in the NW.