Comments on: 10 Reasons Why I am Moving to Portland, Oregon

By: Jenni Simonis

Jenni Simonis — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:55:03 +0000

Welcome from a native Texan! I grew up in Santa Fe and lived off the loop for about a year while I worked at the Galleria and went to UH.

I now very happily live in Gresham.

I must say you’re more likely to have a white Thanksgiving than a white Christmas. We’ve even had snow on my birthday (the “true” Christmas - Jan 6) and even on St. Patty’s Day.

By: jake

jake — Thu, 31 May 2007 22:59:43 +0000

yea, i heard all that stuff too before i moved here — and fell for it just as hard as you did. you’re screwed if you dont live/work on the straight line that MAX is …… the suburbs and inner residential areas are SORELY underserved. These supposed ‘cool’ people that you remark of are just as closed-minded and judgemental as the texans you’re getting away from. sure, they may be close minded liberals, (i would define myself as a ‘liberal’) but once you have to constantly being assaulted by their crazy ideas (and then fund them with your property taxes), you’ll be thinking differently. the people of portland love portland because they like being ‘big fish in a little pond’ and are too scared to actually move away and try the other great cities in america. as for the ‘not homophobic’ thing, think again - i am a gay man living in a state that voted down gay marriage by a wide margin. sure, they have domestic partnership laws, but they dont start for another year , and the conservatives in this state (there are TONS) have sworn to get it on the ballot, which they will. as for the economy …….. i’ll let you find that out on your own. it is so up and down it could change 10 times before you get here — my point is portland, and oregon for that matter, is not that nirvana that people say it is. i moved here from the midwest and have been struggling with the whole reality vs. reputation since i have been here. so, good luck! bring your bike and your raincoat………

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:08:03 +0000

I’m glad you enjoyed our city! People are right about the snowy Christmases, if we do get snow it tends to be in the early part of the year. You’re right on about all the others though, Portland is a small but not too small, it’s green, we’re polite, we’re tolerant, we like to get outdoors, we have cool shops, we have a young hip alterna-vibe in many parts of the city, and in time Portland is going to be a great place to do business. And you really can’t find many better spots to raise a family.

By: nuovorecord

nuovorecord — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:02:25 +0000

Hey, glad to hear you’re moving to Stumptown. Hope you like riding a bicycle, ’cause that’s the easiest way to get around town. It isn’t perfect here, but I think we’re a long way ahead of most other places in many aspects. Welcome.

By: Samuel John Klein

Samuel John Klein — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:26:02 +0000

Welcome (in advance) to Portland from an Oregon native. I was going to point out that here, on the Valley floor, we don’t get snow so much, but someone already pointed that out, and besides, you have the mountains at your back door (which someone else pointed out).

Bear in mind that nothing works perfectly anywhere: Portland gets it right most of the time. And while we, in the main, refuse to hound our gay friends and neighbors into silence, we unfortunately are afflicted with a sizeable-enough contingent of the small and simple-minded that they try to make everyone else discriminate against them. A sizable number of us, however, refuse to go along. There’s still work to do on that front.

Anywhoozle, welcome to the Rose City, the Great Northwet. I’m thinking you’ll enjoy being one of us. Or, as someone else once said “If I owned Hell and Texas, I’d live in Hell and rent out Texas.”

By: ComputerGuyCJ

ComputerGuyCJ — Fri, 25 May 2007 21:29:14 +0000

C’mon up! I moved here from West Michigan a couple years ago, and I love it! It rarely snows here, but it’s only a couple hours drive to the mountains where there’s plenty of snow. As for the rest of what you had to say, right on target. We also have the most civil road-ragers.

By: RabidCureFan

RabidCureFan — Wed, 23 May 2007 02:52:06 +0000

I look forward to your arrival! Portland is a badass town, if I do say so myself. My boyfriend and I are native Portlanders, you can ask me anything about the city and I’ll probably know the answer, and if I don’t, the boy usually will.

RabidCureFan

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 22 May 2007 18:01:30 +0000

Kyle,

Those are some good reasons. Although, I think you you’d be wise to not hold your breath waiting for a white Christmas in Portland. These only really happen inland and in the northeastern US and Canada… where they are rare there too.

-Anon