Originally Posted by MrNemo
apologies; long rant but stick around for the positives..
Cons:
1) It has been nearly impossible for me to find a job without a network. A company was stringing me along for months and then pulled the req which was devastating. 10 months later, recruiters won't even talk to me because I'm "spoiled goods." The companies move so slowly. My experience and education are top notch and it doesn't matter because there are so few jobs available. I'm likely going to accept a state job in Salem that pays $50K less and commute.
DON'T MOVE HERE WITHOUT A JOB LINED UP OR YOU WILL REGRET IT.
2) The salaries are low! I do not understand how the salaries are 10-20% lower here when the cost of living is twice what it is in the South, especially considering the high state income taxes. The huge pool of qualified candidates locally and the hipster hoard beating on the walls to get here is depressing wages I think.
3) The roads are terrible. I see why everyone has a Subaru. I hit a pot hole so large it hurt my neck.
4) Aggressive homeless people everywhere. A guy grabbed my hand and arm a few days ago and wouldn't let go and it frankly scared the shit out of me. Where I live, the whole area smells like human urine and excrement. I have stepped in human faces and stepped on a used needle.
5) Ramen is $16. Lots of hipster restaurants that cost $65 for two people with small plates, sub-par food. Bus your own table, asshole!
6) Pok Pok tastes like shit and smells like cat piss. I swear it was really good when I tried it about 4 years ago. Water tastes gross and they put soy sauce in their drinks.
7) Groceries are expensive. Except Safeway, every other grocer preys on hipsters. I wanted orange juice the other day and this place Market of Choice had 64 oz of OJ for $15.99.
8) Everyone in this town either has social anxiety disorder or they want nothing to do with other human beings. Hailing from the South (I do not have any accent to give myself away) it's not uncommon to acknowledge strangers or strike up conversations, but if I appear to be looking at a girl here they recoil in fear like I'm going to follow them into an alley. Guys here are quite obsessed with whatever cookie-cutter personality they've latched onto and seem to get nervous if I say "hello" in the elevator. It seems like those Barbara Bush stranger danger initiatives really caught on here. So many awkward people.
9) The self-aggrandizement is too damn high. On paper, Portland is the national leader of progressivism, yet the open hypocrisy is staggering. All these houses with BLM signs are owned by white people who bought or bulldozed the housing where black people used to live. I interviewed at the "most diverse company in America." The panel was 6 white guys. Lots of limousine liberals who spout derogatory things about corporations and even quote Marx while wearing Arcteryx jackets and driving a Tesla.
10) My apartment with parking costs $2,000 for 695 sq. ft. I rent out my 1,300 sq. ft. gated condo in FL in a nice area for $1,100 a month. So the rent is too damn high.
11) The "locals" tribalism is so strong. I've only witnessed something like it in Hawaii. There are no jobs in shitty rural areas so people are flocking to cities. This is happening in every city, not just Portland and has happened everywhere on the planet since Rome had an empire. I know they feel like their past is being erased when they see big new apartments springing up but everybody in every growing city in America feels the exact same way.
12) The PC police can be intense. I consider myself far left of center politically and socially which is why I was open to moving here, but I caused a rift recently by suggesting Hillary was not a good candidate and giving evidence for it. I received some cold stares and a lecture. The talking points I brought up were from a discussion I had with my friend who is a history professor at UCLA which isn't exactly a conservative university. Also I got in trouble for saying "Hey guys."
13) Traffic sucks. Cars don't pay attention to basic laws and neither do pedestrians or bikes. They all get pissed at each other because they seem to think "everyone else" is the problem and ignore the reality that THEY are traffic, too!
14) Smugness from service people (who don't even have to bus tables).
15) The rain.
16) Antiquated service delivery models. Lots of "cash only." Substandard services for high prices. I bought food the other day with a credit card and the place actually used one of those 1980s card sliders with a carbon receipt. Also some places have a "you get what you get" policy. Like ordering food and they bring you the wrong thing and they're just like, "Oh well. Sorry." I've only experienced that kind of dismissive attitude in NYC or overseas.
17) The woo in everything. The open embrace of hippy dippy nonsense by otherwise intelligent people around here is almost self-parody. My hope is they just do it for fun and recognize that a "seminar by Dr. Moonrise on the healing property of bitters" is probably not to be taken seriously.
18) Oh yeah, the donuts suck. Also the Mexican food sucks. And you can't get chicken biscuits for breakfast. I had no idea this wasn't a national food offering.
Pros:
1) It is the most beautiful place I've ever lived. If I'm having a bad day and am on the highway, I sometimes see towering mountains emerge from the clouds with beautiful reds and yellows and purples and I'm awestruck.
2) People here do things. Maybe not with Outlanders like me but with each other. They're always hiking, kayaking, whatever.
3) Aside from the folks way on the left side of the spectrum, there is a live-and-let-live attitude.
4) The people who are not trying to out-cool each other are nice. Like, disarmingly nice. I've had to decompress a bit after existing in a paranoid corporate atmosphere for so long that I have trouble accepting kindness. Examples are people asking me what I'm up to today and being genuinely interested in my answer, and offering feedback and recommendations.
5) Screw the haters- I like someone else pumping my gas for a change. Keeps me out of the rain, and I've had a few neat conversations with pump clerks who often have a hell of a cheery disposition for making minimum wage.
6) Service people in "normal" (non-hipster) places like McDonald's or T-Mobile are really nice.
7) Some genuine egalitarian constructs. For instance, I don't see people openly abusing service people here, and folks who work at service jobs seem happier in general because people don't treat them like "losers."
8) People may be aloof but I don't see people who are outright douchebags. Everywhere else I've lived, there's always loud, boisterous guys with gold chains and sateen purple shirts who want to be seen and treat people like trash. That attitude seems uncommon here. An example- most people here dress casually. There could be a CEO standing next to you and he or she looks like anyone else. People aren't flashy or showy. I almost never see exotic cars here. I've seen Maseratis (which moved down market) and 911s, but I've not seen any Rolls Royce, Bentley. Ferrari, or Lamborghini. But there are Teslas on every street corner. I owned a VW Phaeton so I definitely appreciated the "don't flaunt your wealth" mentality. I much prefer it. Lots of stealth-weslth Audi and Volvo people around here.
9) No rednecks open carrying ARs to "make a point."
10) No redneck lifted coal roller trucks
11) No Hummers.
12) No open racism.
13) You're allowed to openly admit to being non-religious or not being a Republican without losing your job or being cut off from family.
14) People are healthier in general and that's good for everyone.
15) People are extremely proud of their community and try to keep it nice (although I think they need to be a bit less nice to the known aggressive or violent homeless people). They respect nature and invest in it.
16) People here are smart. It's nice to be around intelligent, interesting people. People in the South can be (often by no fault of their own) extremely dumb, and combined with their obsession with guns, that can be frightening. My brother in FL owns about 40 guns and my father-in-law at one point owned over 100 to give you an idea.
17) People are generally way more laid-back than East Coasters. I mean this so honestly- people on the East Coast all seem to be one bad latte away from shooting up an office building. They have serious anger issues.
18) In the South, big churches can almost run entire cities. I'm glad to get away from that.
19) Every band I've ever wanted to see comes here.
20) In general, the quality of food here is way above the South. Some of the restaurants are world class.
21) The "look" of the city is so unique and tells a story. My company wanted me to move to Charlotte and the entire downtown is brand new. Charlotte looks like Epcot version of a city. Portland is real.
22) Some of the small businesses are simply shitty, but having such a robust small business sector allows for some unique stores and quality products you're not going to find in most cities. Hobby stores you would never find elsewhere are plentiful here. Endless options that would take years to explore.
23) Public transportation. I rarely use it but it is still one of the best systems I've used in the US.
24) Weed is legal. I don't smoke but it but it brings in much needed tax revenue and is far less dangerous than alcohol. I'd rather be around stoners than alcoholics.
25) Progressive social politics. People should be allowed to be themselves without being discriminated against. Some of this stuff gets on my nerves when they start going overboard with the Olympics of competitive victimhood, but generally people should have the right to live how they want.
That's enough for now. Let me know how accurate my observations are so far.
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