I like Portland

pdx is small. however i know a few kids working in really good firms. i think there are more firms doing interesting work there. seattle's really kinda tame, as noted by JPR et al during the AIA honor awards. no one here is really pushing any envelopes. but there are a lot of strong firms.

when do you need to decide by?

the problem with portland is that it's in oregon. you won't ever want to leave the city.

Seattle, because then you could hang out with me!

I dont need to decided anytime soon...I was thinking about Portland because of Laika Animation Studio, but I am constantly changing my mind about what I want to do with my life...

LA is starting to really depress me

that's how i feel about seattle. i am constantly having to restrain myself from fleeing to germany or moving back east...

holz.box

at least you can go for a swim in Lake Union when you are depressed

especially since it's a 3 block walk.

i prefer to kayak, though.

i wouldn't jump in the willlamette. or columbia... or the la river, but ya got venice beach and an apple store.

Swimming in the Columbia is great fun, as long as your up-river from where the Willmette dumps into it. Coming from a Portlander I'd say Seattle.

will tumbles be coming with?

holz.box

I would take Lake Union over Venice Beach any day of the week...




citrus.grey

what is your take on Portland???

Didn’t mean to sound too down on Portland, Don't get me wrong I love it here. But I'm off to school next year and itching to leave. It just gets a little small after awhile, beautiful city, very laid back people, and it seems like you'd have plenty of options to pursue whatever you want (arch, graphics, animation, etc). And I've always thought Seattle had a better collection of interesting little neighborhoods. The best thing about Portland though is of course powell's in fact after thinking about powell's I take back my vote for Seattle, move to Portland.

I love Seattle...granted, the times that i have visited have been to stay with my friends who have a floating house on Lake Union

holz.box
could you tell which firms are the really good firms? curious about firms in Portland. maybe move there for a job.

really good. ha. maybe i can't qualify that very well

my very biased and incomplete list...

skylab
holst
sum design studio
emmons
william kaven
works partnership
allied works
paul mckean
rick potestio
seed llc
hacker
colab
architecturew

then there is zgf, mahlum, boora, sera, gbd, yost grube hall, opsis

looking at local winners for the pdx courtyard competition, some upcomers as well... dangermond keane architecture

one of the things i really like about pdx is there seem to be a lot of small studios doing really modern work. maybe i'm connecting w/ the more industrial feel of their projects v. the northwest backwoods i'm slowly getting really tired of...

Ha citrus.

I have to say that for the short time I was couch-surfing in the region everyone in Seattle says that Portland gets more sun, and people in Portland swears the opposite.

They both have a nice feel, but Seattle does feel much more like a big city and Portland seems very, well, nice. If you get annoyed by nice people like I do, you'll probably like Seattle better.

The architecture biz in Portland is noticeable smaller but seems to be not taking a hit like seattle from what I hear in the grapevine, but the speed of responses to resumes should prove quickly if what I hear holds water.

Also, both places you'll probably be ready to blow your brains out come late spring when you haven't seen the sun for months.

But there is also a lot of good beer around there.

And most importantly - don't be from anyplace south of where you happen to be at the moment. They all hate that. Choose someplace non-descript and not on the west coast. Montana or further east should be fine.

definitely. you've got to get some SAD lamps, and learn to enjoy hiking through the rain or spending the day on some cloudy slopes.

Holz.box thanks alot for your post.
I am sort of deciding the location on the west coast. like SF, Portland, and Seattle. (am in Boston now)
One thing that makes me worried is that there are lots of small firms in Portland and I don't know how they are doing in this time (economy is not good like nowadays)-I assume that they are doing lots of the residential projects-plz correct if I am wrong). and if that is true, they don't get many projects and don't hire much. Also, a good firm like allied works doesn't seem to do much recently.
What would you say about those small firms about regarding their projects when the economy is not good like nowadays?

I'm happy to see this post. I haven't posted on here lately, but i've been reading a lot of old posts as i contemplate a move from the other Portland (Maine) to the north west. My move wouldn't be till this summer at the earliest as a house being sold is involved, but it would be beneficial to hear from anyone else how the job market seems so far in both places.

Also i've heard, as someone eluded to in a previous post, people in both cities tend to shy away from hiring "outsiders". Possibly due to gloomy weather having driven out previous hires?

Of course any updated information about firms and well anything is always welcome since most of the threads on here are 2 or 3 years old. But i don't want to push my luck in a semi thread hijack.

allied works is pretty busy. just not a lot is being published. most of the smaller firms in portland seem pretty insulated.

So how depressing is the rainy season in portland really? I'm planning a trip out there at the end of the summer to get a better idea of the city as a prospective moving spot, but I've heard from people who used to live there (a few of which did move, one because of the weather) that I'll have a biased opinion visiting in the nicest part of the year. Is it really that bad? I can't imagine it's worse then this last nyc winter with no snow, bitter cold, winds, and gloomy skies...

Guys the weather is really not that bad. It rains a lot here, during the winter I’d say there's probably one sunny day a week if that. It doesn't rain hard though, just a light on-and-off drizzle and it rarely gets below 40F almost never gets below 30F except in the coldest winter nights, so no bundling up before you leave the house. No snow, no ice, no bitter cold like the east coast gets, plenty of gloomy skies but I can't imagine it bothering someone enough to avoid a move here.

holz.box

any good design/build/fabrication offices up there???

maybe all of us archinectours who are planning to move to PDX should get together and open an office called TRANS_plant

Well, there's no windows facing the street and a solid wall and gate - not terribly friendly. I hate it too.

But it is their land.

Uh, and there is this thing in the NW called a "sunbreak" where they announce it during the weather report, and if it happens people stop whatever they are doing and go outside just to get a little sun.

Sure, its not like stepping off a plane in N. Dakota in february where you are contemplating immolation just to feel warmth again, but its more of a slow debilitating death.

Also, people in the Northwest cannot drive in inclement weather. People abandon their cars in the rare case when there's 1/8" of snow on the ground.

People in the Northwest can't drive period.

Can't argue with that.

Yes, by far the worst drivers I have ever seen. I was more comfortable driving in downtown seoul, when there weren’t any demarcations in the road. Effing clowns.

Mdler-
Check those firms websites, I’m familiar w/ the work more than the process. I would imagine so, but can’t think of any offhand. Wait, are you talking sea or pdx?

PDX probably...unless someone wants to bankroll a floating house on Lake Union for me

Seattle is big city, Portland is big town.

Both have grey weather that is dramatic - here in the Midwest a grey day is grey. In the PacNW, a grey day has deep charcoals ranging to bright white in the sky, the ground is dark with big trees silhouetted and reaching upward, and everything is set off by the occasional view of a snow-capped volcano on the horizon. Dramatic is the best word, though the word "gloaming" also comes to mind, like a constant dusk. Near sublime.

That said, there is a lot of drizzle, which can spoil the otherwise magnificent view, and make bike riding a pain in the ass, but you just adjust.

holz.box: is Architropolis still doing architecture, or just designing motorcycles?

what up LB?

Hi mdler. Good luck, I think you'll be happy to get out of LA.

I would agree with LB, except to say that Seattle is a small city, and Portland is a big town. Seattle does manage to feel a bit bigger than it is, though.

Sometimes up here, I feel like I live in the sky. The clouds move so fast, it's beautiful. You can just sit here and let it mesmerize you.

yes I will...to damn expensive and not much to do

define much to do…

seattle can be mighty dull at times. i really miss being in a place w/ good art. but the access to nature is unbelievable.

holz

at least where I live in LA there isnt much to do...you cant walk anywhere (WHICH REALLY BUGS ME). You can go to a club, I suppose, but that really isnt my thing

I really would like to be able to be outside, in the woods...ski...sail...fish...

I also would like to have more access to arts facilities (glass blowing, wood working and metal fabrication)

would like to have good resturants (which LA really lacks, suprisingly)

Anyways, my mind has been made up for some time to head north...

That's so funny, holz - I read the Stranger's Slog art listings and I swear everything I see looks at least consistently interesting, even great!

Just for gods sake mdler don't tell them that you're from L.A. - they might kill you on the spot. Its like those cartoons where the cute fuzzy ball suddenly turns into a snarling tooth eating machine. I've seen it happen.

hmm, is that why I'm having such trouble getting to know people here?

we got all those, as does pdx.

seattle has a lot of hot shops. i saw a really great lecture @ arthur erickson’s glass museum recently by lino tagliapietra…

all the metal guys i know are swamped.

e seems to have the lock down on good restaurants. they’re seem to be a bunch popping up lately, though i’ve got a handful i regularly visit.

Slog. Ha. Yeah, I’m really not digging the NW arts scene.

Sounds like LA may be a really bad choice for me after all.

I've been thinking about moving to PacNW myself, I am getting so frustrated living in New York and I really hate the winters here.

That said, is Pac NW really worse that NE winters as far as grayness is concerned?

Apu

lots of people like LA...i am over it myself. I want more out of life that living in an overpriced apartment and having to drive all over the place

last winter (06-07) we had 29 days of straight rain, then a dry day or two, and another 5 weeks of rainy/overcast weather.

hiring in louisville. only slightly southeast of portland/seattle.

holz.box

we had rain like that in LA during the rainy season...washes the shit out of the air

Louisville KY, SW?

Yeah, I'd say that's slightly south and east.

yeah...that's what i said.

kill your family and move to portland...from a dead milkman song.

If I ever jumped ship, I'd probably want to join this marketing company based out of Seattle. They do quite a bit of innovative branding and design work. Foundation Design