Portland, Oregon

AlethiaSi · #1 08-07-2007, 09:26 AM

Hey,
Ok so my roommates and I are thinking/ going to move out to Portland in about March or so (our lease is up in October, and we're not ready to move so soon, so hopefully we can do a 6 month lease). We've been doing some research, and none of us has ever been there, but that doesn't really matter, we just want to go. (I know it sounds crazy...)

Anyway, what do you know about the area?

What are the best places (i.e. neighborhoods/ areas) to live? (best meaning fun, safe and cheap lol) There will be 4 of us going, we've already been looking up places on Craigslist, but it's a little too soon for it.

What are the best schools (colleges, etc)

What is the nightlife like? the people?

These are just some preliminary questions... We don't even know anyone that lives there, but I know I trust your opinions/ advice

Thank you so much!!!

PeppyGPhiB · #2 08-07-2007, 04:53 PM

Portland is a cool little city. To tell you the truth I don't know much about the neighborhoods, other than that the Pearl District is the trendy spot.

Why your question about schools? Are you a current college student? University of Portland is a private school, there's Oregon Health Sciences University, and I think there's a Portland State University (correct me if i'm wrong, Oregonians). There are lots of other private Oregon schools relatively close by (Linfield, Willamette, Lewis & Clark, Reed), but Univ. of Oregon and Oregon State are both quite a drive from Portland.

macallan25 · #3 08-07-2007, 05:20 PM

Lot of degenerates.

VandalSquirrel · #4 08-07-2007, 08:11 PM

That's where I was coming from when I entered bat country and woke up outside Pendleton this morning

Give me a couple days to recover from the horrors and I can give you the scoop.

I will tell you this, Oregon has the worst drivers ANYWHERE. I was almost killed every 15 minutes, and I thank the Baby Jesus it wasn't raining because they suck at driving and it would only made things worse. The driving gets worse the closer one gets to Portland, but it is bad all over the state.

couggirl · #5 08-07-2007, 09:02 PM

Portland is a great city, Seattle is better. The best school i have to say is Reed, but have heard good things about Portland State. PSu is really small campus, but nice. I am honestly not sure what the best areas are because I live about an hour away. I do go to the malls in pdx a lot and they have a great public transit situation. Also, Powells bookstore in portland is the greatest place in the world.

justabeachbrat · #6 08-08-2007, 12:45 AM

Can't spell it, another brain freeze, but a great neighborhood is one that also has the name of the county. Cute shops, places to eat, big Starbucks, great bakery, all within walking distance of apts and homes.
Try a relocating to Portland web search, and in it look for neighborhoods, the are several, and some sites give the bad and good.
Great public transportation. Driving, I wasn't real keen on the bridges, no matter what, I seemed to be on the wrong one.
I intended to go there, for grad school, then out of state tuition went nuts.

AKA_Monet · #7 08-08-2007, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by couggirl

Portland is a great city, Seattle is better.

HAAAY! That was what I was gonna say!!!

I thought, Oregon has state income taxes. Washington does not. Theoretically, you can live in Vancouver, WA and drive across the Columbia to Portland to work...

Yeah, if you like to HANG, go to Seattle. But it is very expensive to live in Seattle Proper. Like a Studio Condo is running ~$850 per month... However there is A LOT to do up here.

I dunno about the weather in Portland, but it is rainy most of the time in Seattle... Like today out in Microsoftville.

justabeachbrat · #8 08-08-2007, 01:15 AM

I believe Oregon lacks sales tax, was out of stater, so don't think it was state taxes. Problem with that is, with the timber industry really limited, and the bad past few salmon seasons, small counties are hurting. Retiring Californians are moving up in force, especially the southern part of the state, putting a drain on smaller counties resources. Portland, being metro, it isn't that as big of a problem.

The few months of winter I was there I really didn't find the rain that bad, but the weekend I left, I was just ahead of, going south to CA, of what was a big blizzard in Portland, it basically shutdown the city for days. But it was one of those "storm of the century" of 50 or 100 years.

AKA_Monet · #9 08-08-2007, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justabeachbrat

I believe Oregon lacks sales tax, was out of stater, so don't think it was state taxes. Problem with that is, with the timber industry really limited, and the bad past few salmon seasons, small counties are hurting. Retiring Californians are moving up in force, especially the southern part of the state, putting a drain on smaller counties resources. Portland, being metro, it isn't that as big of a problem.

The few months of winter I was there I really didn't find the rain that bad, but the weekend I left, I was just ahead of, going south to CA, of what was a big blizzard in Portland, it basically shutdown the city for days. But it was one of those "storm of the century" of 50 or 100 years.

Yeah, this past year's winter was pretty bad for the PacNW... But, I KNOW Portland was digging out with a lot of ice. I am unsure if they had the bad windstorms like we had up here...

Kevin · #10 08-08-2007, 01:34 AM

A very good friend of mine (best man at my wedding) went to Reed. It's a great liberal arts school if that's what you're into. My biggest complaint is that it's a real hippie breeding ground (as the rest of the city is).

Look for a lot of women who don't shave their armpits as well as a lot of folks who don't comprehend the value of regular bathing and deodorant. Aside from those sorts of things, my impression of folks at Reed was that they were decent people so long as I didn't bring up the fact that I'm a Republican.

And if you think I'm making generalizations about Reed, I'm not. I went to my buddy's graduation. There were few (if any) people who would pass for normal in my part of the country... but I guess I can chalk that up to Reed being an elite west coast liberal arts college.

VandalSquirrel · #11 08-08-2007, 02:01 AM

Multnomah County is a nice area, and really, Portland isn't that bad of a place. It is much higher on my list of places to live than other cities, especially Boise or Salt Lake City. My family is from near Salem, and my mom's side lived in Oregon City before heading south, and my dad's side settled in the Willamette Valley. We stay out of the fugly eastern side for the most part. It has charm in places, but all the beautiful scenery on the Columbia is from Hood River to Astoria, and down the coast into California. Bend is tolerable though, and yes, I know I am a geography snob. I like greenery, trees, and not hitting tumbleweed with my car.

The weather can be gorgeous, and yes, it gets miserable rain, but the winters aren't too heinous, there can be snow and ice but if you head east it makes for amazing skiing just an hour away, and the coast is about an hour west, and is very beautiful any time of year. Day trips are really easy to do, and there's an interstate running north and south, as well as east and west which makes travel easy. The public transportation (Max) is great, and the light rail runs to the airport as well as the suburbs. The suburbs are pretty cool because they aren't all subdivisions and malls, but charming towns that have personality and are affordable and convenient.

As far as schools go, Lewis & Clark is a good liberal arts school with less crunchy granola action than Reed, and both my sister and father really enjoyed their undergraduate time there, and they are definitely not dirty hippies. A friend attended Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) and had a good time. My mom went to OSU in Corvallis, but did externship action through the Health Sciences University. To the south there's Willamette U and Western Oregon in Salem, and even further is OSU in Corvallis, and U of O in Eugene. However OSU has a Portland Metro Campus, and WSU Vancouver is just across the bridge. Be aware, if you move and want instate tuition, you cannot attend any public school for a year, even a community college. They do not allow you to become a resident while attending school.

There's no state sales tax, and they are big into recycling, so you pay a deposit on bottles and cans and get five cents upon return. However the machines are smart and you can't bring your recycling from Idaho and Washington ala Seinfeld and a mail truck, it will reject them (tried this last weekend). You cannot pump your own gas which can be a hassle if you're traveling at night, but is nice because Oregon has some caca wet weather and you can stay warm and dry. For entertainment you can go berry or apple picking, which no lie, is a lot of fun and is productive since you don't need to go buy produce since you got exercise and food.

There are lots of good restaurants, and lots of small breweries, so if you're into beer it is a great town. You can get regular good old "American" food, a lot of gourmet food and all kinds of varieties of ethnic foods. I saw a taco truck next to an Indian food truck, but didn't try either. There are also a million local coffee places, and the old standby Starbucks. However one of my favorite places of all time is Fred Meyer. You can get everything in that store, even gas. We got a rolling cart for our grill, veggie dogs, a marionberry coffee cake, sushi (fresh made), olives and fresh mozzarella from the olive bar, organic nectarines, Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls for my nephew, 700 thread count sheets, and all kinds of other random stuff, including gas. It is my favorite store of all time, even more than Target.

Plus you can live in Oregon City, the end of the Oregon Trail, providing your oxen don't die while fording the river

justabeachbrat · #12 08-08-2007, 02:27 PM

thanx, vanda squirrel....the cute neighborhood I was thinking of, same name as county. everything, restaurants, stores, right there, and market nearby.

PeppyGPhiB · #13 08-10-2007, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I will tell you this, Oregon has the worst drivers ANYWHERE. I was almost killed every 15 minutes, and I thank the Baby Jesus it wasn't raining because they suck at driving and it would only made things worse. The driving gets worse the closer one gets to Portland, but it is bad all over the state.

This is so true. Washingtonians are passive and distracted drivers, but even we make fun of Oregon and British Columbia drivers. Oregon drivers are slooooow and indecisive. But what really drives me nuts about driving through Portland (within the downtown area) is all the bicyclists on the road! It's like an obstacle course.