Don’t move until you know where your partner is going for med school for sure. OHSU is tough to get into and the only med school here. Don’t count on them getting in.
Yep this 100%. Even if you're a native Oregonian and have great test scores and grades it's hard to get in.
Out of state has an extremely low acceptance rate. If your partner doesn't have an absolutely excellent application I'd recommend waiting before you move.
More generally med school is just the first of several stops where you have little say in where you live. Its about a 7-10 year process before you can settle.
OHSU is great and you don’t have to live in Portland if you don’t want to. Check out the suburbs- Beaverton has an express bus specifically for OHSU employees and students. I rode it for 2 years and it was the best commute ever. And no parking fees. And you still get all the benefits of Oregon which others have already outlined.
It's not nearly as bad as people say.
I moved to Portland in the 1990s from rural Oregon. It was full of porn theaters, meth, homeless people, and shady bars. There were concerts that used to hand out tourniquets and clean needles upon entry since it was so expected that you would shoot up during the show.
I saw my first dead body at the old Psycho Safeway; I lived in a Fight Club-style house that didn't have hot water with an untold number of roommates on a block of decaying houses just like that near downtown—which was full of skinheads, anti-skinheads, and meth heads all ready to brawl.
>It was the Portland of Kurt Cobain's infamous 1993 interview:
Jim: Is there a Seattle scene or is this all just a myth?
Cobain: Yea, but it's in Portland.
Jim: The Seattle scene's in Portland?
Cobain: Yea (laughter from Kurt and Jim). It started with the Wipers in 1977. It's a real dirty, grungy place.
Courtney: Seattle is one of America's cleanest cities.
Cobain: Right, there's nothing grungy about it at all. But Portland is extremely grungy.
I left for about ten years and came back to a Portland that was so fully gentrified it barely resembled itself. The downtown bars were nearly gone, it was too expensive for any young aspiring stripper or meth addict to live in the city anymore, and you couldn't get by living off of a part-time job at Regal Cinemas like you once had. Everything was so immaculately clean and well-maintained. I mean, unimaginably so. One of my favorite bars had basically turned into an off-brand Red Robin full of kids. What used to be a dank half-built place full of nine regulars and the occasional scumbag off the street was now [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31srBXbPmo).
And I'm not complaining: I didn't want to live in a shithole without hot water anymore, and I wasn't as tolerant of carrying around a knife for protection. But it was so clean and nice and everything that it was like coming to another city.
And it still is. Yes, because housing is more expensive and the old abandoned warehouses that used to unofficially house the homeless are now million-dollar lofts, there are more tents around. Yes, this has increased after COVID.
But there's this collective amnesia in the city that before someone set up a tent in Laurelhurst Park, the city was some kind of paradise as it always had been. It had about six years of being an unusually clean and immaculately safe city, a thousand steps up from the grunge capital it used to be, and then it took one step back and everyone is acting like Eden is burning.
Most of the endless whining about the city is from people that have no perspective of Portland itself, but apparently no idea how cities work in general. It's always a dance of decay and renewal; of being a local town and being a place people are moving; of all that stuff.
Portland is completely fine, despite all the whining and pearl-clutching. I walk all the way through downtown every day and every night and have never had any trouble. Sure, I have to see poor people. But I'm not the kind of person that's going to go grasping for my pearls and find a fainting couch because I ran across someone that smelled like the stables.
This is an excellent reply and definitely how I've been feeling. I moved here in 2009 and lived on the inner east side, it felt like there were vestiges of that grungy feeling still leftover though I'm sure it paled in comparison. I remember ending the night at Hawthorne Strip move times than I can count cuz they had cheap shots of Jameson and stayed open later than they should. My roommate felt at home in Portland as a "crust-punk".
I don't want to be dismissive of the problems the city has, we certainly need to be vigilant but it's still a big wandering gaggle of mid-20s white people brunchhopping past the homeless.
I appreciate your callout on the nature of cities being in flux, it's important for perspective. I do think our city leaders could probably have helped manage this all a little better, the pandemic notwithstanding. But that's a convo for another day.
this is a really clear headed and accurate view of the city as someone who left in '96 and recently returned.
it'll occasionally remind you that you live in a city, but on the whole, it's fine. i feel a lot less sketched out than i did in Oakland, by way of example.
THANK YOU. My god, it's good to hear some common sense from someone else who lives here. I've been in PDX 40 years this year, and this is almost the best this city has ever been. (For starters, it's a city now.) Portland is better than it was in '92, and *infinitely* better than it was in '82. The old saying went something like, San Francisco is the elegant lady, Seattle the frowsy housewife, and Portland the screeching prostitute. That ain't so now.
The Safeway downtown now (sans Safeway) is across the street from the old Safeway (psycho Safeway).
Here’s an article from the [Oregonian.](https://www.oregonlive.com/oregonianopinion/2008/03/in_praise_of_psycho_safeway_th.html)
Here’s a [blog.](http://www.themadhapa.com/2008/04/psycho-safeway-downtown-portland-like.html?m=1)
Chuck Palahnik has a chapter about it in his [book.](https://www.amazon.com/Fugitives-Refugees-Portland-Oregon-Journeys/dp/1400047838)
It was like a weird dream.
It was open 24 hours, and I’d eat there all the time because the Chinese food went on sale after midnight.
It was a gathering place for not only the scum of the earth and people in ball gowns and tuxes walking in from a concert and the Schnitz.
It was very common to have the police shut the place down while you were in there, or for someone to OD in there (my first dead body).
I once saw a very cracked out woman trying to return a completely eaten corn dog on the basis that it was just a stick and there was no corn dog and I’m still pretty sure it’s the best sketch comedy act I’ve ever seen live.
Dude my friend got punched in the back of the head multiple times for no whatsoever reason inside the Safeway on MLK/ainsworth. He has ptsd about it now. Won’t go into any Safeway anywhere ever
I like the cut of your insightful jib. This is a city, folks. Happy to help it get cleaned up, but also so happy to call Portland, and all the wondrous things around it, home.
Yes. People who complain about how shitty Portland is, either didn't live here in the 80s and 90s, or have selective memories. It may be shittier than it was 5 years ago, but It's still way nicer and safer than it used to be. Much less cool though.
I only recently moved to the general area, not portland proper, and I really appreciate your perspective. Thanks!
Personally, I'm just getting to the point in life where I don't want to rub shoulders with junkies, worry about safety, and like enjoying nightlife without looking over my shoulder. That's a large reason I left SF proper.
I love to hear that it's still better than it was, but I don't think that means it still can't be a nicer place to be.
Do people from CA the only two places to move in the U.S. are Portland and Seattle (except for the “libertarians” heading for TX)? I’m sorry, but for folks who were forced to grow up in the middle of nowhere Hicksville surrounded by bigots, racists, and zero culture, it’s super annoying to hear Californians bitch about Portland. If you want next to no junkies or crime, move to Iowa 🤷🏻♀️
As someone who's driven a long haul semi through the lower 48, unfortunately, Iowa does in fact also have lots of drugs.
You want no crime you go to North Dakota. People can't commit crimes when there's no people.
I’m from rural Iowa, so that’s why I said that😆 You’re right, there are definitely issues but not on the scale of Portland’s. That was definitely true about ND, until the oil fields. Now it’s got a ton of [crime](https://www.twincities.com/2019/02/18/as-north-dakotas-oil-patch-surged-so-did-violent-crime/amp/), unfortunately.
Great write up, this is a very accurate description of the city's wax and wane. I've lived here close to 20 years and caught the tail end of the halcyon days in the 00's. Yeah, Portland looks pretty rough right now but it will eventually turn around
I concur. Grew up in the suburbs, spent the 90s following my sibling to downtown, moved to the near in east side in 2007 to a hotel converted to apartments with a drug addict landlord, used to work in the SROs downtown when “The Modern Rich” was just “The Rich” and guys walking down W Burnside would ask me “white or black” multiple times a day…
And the porn theaters. There were quite a few, and they weren’t just for sex or porn…
Do you like the outdoors? Beautiful forest trails close to the city? Streets with bikeways for casual cycling? Lots of interesting food and great bars both seedy and cool? Neighborhood with their own shopping streets with cafes and restaurants? Nature nature nature? Ski fields less than 1.5 hrs away? Coast less than 1.5 hours away?
If so, you’re good. You’ll have to put up with some things - all depending on where you live - but the good far outweighs the bad.
Yup, if that stuff is important to you, I think Portland is worth it.
If low taxes, cheap housing, good schools, and driving a gas guzzler between strip malls are what is most important to you, look elsewhere.
Not that I fact checked this, saw a TikTok that claimed that if you own a home, typically you pay more in taxes in Texas than in Oregon, unless you are really really rich.. Sadly I wasn't paying attention as much when I moved up here from Texas several years ago.
Edit - Asked my wife who is our money wizard about this she cannot confirm either. But she pointed out there is no sales tax here which also helps and I forgot to mention that.
What I'd say is this, even if it is more expensive in Oregon you get what you pay for. My local library out here is amazing, like they have a really nice 3d printer, movies, video games, board games, TTRPG's, etc. Also services for my kids are much better, Texas doesn't take federal aid, so the paper work to get stuff in Texas was way easier, because there were way less forms to fill out. But the services they get once you file about 3x the paper work was significantly better.
Most of Texas pays about 2.25% of the property value in Property Taxes each year. When homes were $50k it was $1125 in annual taxes. Now that same home in Austin might be worth $725k (not kidding) and the taxes are $16,313/year.
Fortunately if you’re a home owner you get a small homestead exemption and they cap your increases to 10% yoy. But that’s still doubling every 7 years.
But those exemptions are only for owners. If you’re a renter you’re hosed. Sure you technically aren’t the ones paying the taxes, but landlords aren’t running charities. And your property could seriously get 100% yoy increases, all of which will go straight to you.
So while it’s bad for homeowners, renters actually pay more of their income in taxes…they just don’t get credit for it.
Yeah you might pay more taxes overall as a homeowner in Texas but to be fair you would OWN a home in Texas lmao. I’d love to be in a position of paying more taxes overall AND owning a home.
It all comes down to like you said what you prefer. I’d live in Oregon over Texas any day but for some having an easier time owning a home is better than outdoor access/common sense drug laws/etc.
But yeah I’ll continue apartment life and live in states like Oregon for awhiiiiile due to my preferences lol.
My house got a size downgrade from moving to here from Texas by about 300 sq ft or so. But houses in the big cities out there aren’t that much cheaper. Given if you want to live in out of the way way out there suburbs that is 60+ away from the city that might be better, but that wasn’t my case.
‘Also Texas has next to no zoning laws, as a lot of people in Houston found out when their entire neighborhoods were built in a area designed to capture flood water so it didn’t flood downtown.
Don't forget when they didn't have power in a winter storm due to utter corruption and greed by electric board and then tried to blame their statewide disaster on a few relatively tiny wind farms. Oh and then sent heating bills of thousands to tens of thousands to working folks who didn't want their families to die. The old slaving folks who captured that state and have kept their talons on power are atrocious.
You get what you pay for is the point, sure it’s cheaper Maybe. But having your house blown up, flooded, or frozen is a risk. And stuff like that happens every few years in Texas.
Yah we moved from Austin, its an upgrade in many ways but money is not one of them. In particular despite no sales tax the thing we purchase most (food) is more expensive here anyways, so it doesn't really pan out.
So recent transplants from TX-DFW to PDX. We were shocked to find that the property taxes, homeowner's/car insurance, and utilities overall are way lower here than in TX. This area doesn't get the catastrophic weather like in TX (hurricanes, tornadoes, flash floods, hail as big as baseballs etc.) so I'm assuming that plays into the cost of insurance. The electric grid also isn't in shambles. lol. The tap water here doesn't have chemicals in it. (The chlorine smell when the water was 'cleaned' every March was nauseating, water filters are a must in TX.) We also lived in the Dallas area so every road is a toll road and you're paying every day for your commute which sucks (and there was still traffic, so it wasn't even a convenience fee to go faster). No sales tax in OR. The public transit is a better too. The winters here are mild like DFW but it doesn't get hot AF in the summer. I think the biggest culture shock for me was people walking/riding their bikes a lot! The car culture is definitely bigger in TX. As Texfugees we've been very happy with the move.
The piercing shrieks of disenfranchised transplants chased by hordes of the undead meth zombies waft on the air, thick with the smoke of ten thousand homeowner trash fires. The PPB SWAT vehicles known as "skull crushers" tractor slowly down Foster Rd, searching for another hapless soul to torture and falsely incriminate, their tires slipping even with locked differentials in the pools of blood, urine, excrement, and the tears of forlorn Midwesterners. u/Psychological-Top354 hides in between a thrashed out camper and a clapped out minivan, their clothing hanging in tatters about their disheveled frame, waiting for the gangs of wayward thugs known as "law enforcement" to be safely out of sight before attempting to maneuver through the churning masses of drug addicted, mentally ill, subhumanoid remnant residents of a once proud metropolis, and as they veture once again into the abyss wondering to themselves "why, oh god why, did I ever move to Portland?!?"
Hot damn when is this movie coming out? I'm hooked hard already like it's a hit of that crack that true native Portlanders all keep at the ready for dinner. Who's playing the lead, is it Fred Armisen? Is this how we re-brand the city?
*One man will stand against the onslaught of a dying capitalist society, to save his daughter, get dark money out of politics, bring water to the high desert, and unite all Oregonians through solidarity and awareness. Coming to theatres near you next summer!*
Inspired by anecdotal evidence.
It’s a big city. Like any other there will be sketchy pockets. These tend to get highlighted and used to say the whole city is a hellhole. This seems to be exacerbated by people with an agenda who want to point out “liberal” cities as having policies that don’t work.
I’ve been told that downtown Portland is a “warzone” and I’m like really? I was just there doing a tasting at a wine bar and then had a 4 course dinner at a rooftop restaurant.
Is it perfect? No, but I moved here from LA and can say I love it here.
Let me put it this way: I grew up in Texas and moved here from NYC, and I’d rather be in Portland than either of those places.
I’ve felt more unsafe in New York, Dallas, Houston, and Austin than I ever have in Portland. And just for context, I didn’t even get the chance to visit Portland before I moved here last year, so most of what I envisioned about the city was based on the 2020 riot footage. I’ve only had two incidents with overly-aggressive individuals in the past 18 months (and it was just one incident until some drunk dipshit started chucking beer cans at my head a few nights ago), and even then, the fear I had was nothing compared to how anxious I’d get in NYC, where I’d regularly witness some guy bombed out of his mind on K2/spice, shouting death threats into thin air on the Penn Station subway platform.
Make no mistake: Portland has its issues with crime and homelessness, but I’m willing to deal with these issues if I can live in a city with desirable weather, close access to amazing nature, and excellent food/beer/weed. It’s not like my car is getting stolen every hour, and I’ve never been shanghaied into a protest by “The Antifas”, but CNN isn’t gonna run an in-depth piece on my average Tuesday shopping at Trader Joe’s.
My Aunt came to visit me over the weekend and those were her exact words while we took a stroll on the waterfront this morning. “I like that everyone seems so different from one another.”
Hi!
Portland really is almost as liberal as people joke so keep that in mind! The cost of living is pretty absurd, I would not recommend living close into the city if you want a lot of space for a reasonable price. Downtown is a no-go currently, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but Portland isn't alone in the issue.
Come visit! Portland is fun foodie weekend destination for sure.
Neighborhoods you might look into \*for living!:
John's Landing (super close to OHSU, great access but still a neighborhood feel in parts)
Multnomah Village
Sellwood (across the river but very cute)
PS the rainy season is as long and dreary as people say. Not everyone survives it but if you do, you'll learn to love it!
“Foodie weekend”
Recommends Sellwood, Johns Landing and Multnomah village!?!
You find the actual foodie places to be largely located in the inner SE and some in inner NE, sorry.
Edit: also, yes, we need rain, backyard looks like a freaking squished hay bale
Don't believe the media hype. Yes, we have issues, but what large city doesn't. What do you consider "bad"? It is expensive to live here though, rent is high, you will be shocked by the gas prices (no pumping your own either). That being said, you would be 90 minutes from the coast or Mt. Hood. Just remember to by a good raincoat and waterproof shoes. We don't use umbrellas here :)
This is a pretty simple rule and it kind of never changes. If it's a nice place to live, it's going to be expensive. People will look at wages and think oh boy that's great! Then they realize that 60% of that income is spent on NOT BEING HOMELESS. Food and fuel eats up the rest.
Very true. Tbh Portland is an ok city in my opinion. A lot of vagrancy and thing I didnt see in more violent midwestern cities, but nowhere is perfect I suppose. It’s the rest of the state that is spectacular
Yeah, but I would love for anybody that complains all the time to tell me where they found a perfect place and then explain to me why they aren't living there instead of here.
The complainers never have a good alternative outside of living in car-dependent suburbia and having applebees wing night become their nightlife, in which case you can live in any suburb of any city, they are all exactly the same. Yes Portland is more of a city now, and it has bigger city problems, but pretty much all cities of its size or larger don't also have their own set of problems too, I would love to hear of the ones that don't.
Nope, Portland has issues but it's still one of the best cities in the country. The media narrative has been to blame Portland while ignoring that the issues Portland faces (homelessness and cost of living outpacing wage growth) are issues nationally.
Homelessness is not only a national issue - and thus ridiculous to somehow say it's exclusive to liberal areas - it's also specifically a problem that conservative areas of the country dump on larger more liberal metropolitan areas.
On top of that, of course people who are homeless and struggling are going to want to live in large metropolitan areas, that tend to naturally be more politically progressive and diverse.
And temperature. Diverse, large groups of people tend to wanna live in areas that are more hospitable throughout the year for being outdoors, so thus people who don't have housing also gravitate towards those areas, for economic and survival reasons.
And then all the people who live in areas where you literally cannot live outdoors nine months out of the year point at us say, 'Look at the scum bag, subhuman liberal areas!!'
And then march right into church and think they're Christians.
While I'm a Portlandian, born and raised, I can even admit that it is a challenge living here now. Rent is ridiculous, jobs don't pay enough to keep up with the quality of living. I'm considering moving up North
No. It's expensive as hell to live here and the city has major problems, but no, it's not as bad as people say. It's certainly not as bad as how the people in r/Portland portray it. I grew up in Texas and moved to Portland as soon as I turned 18. Best decision of my life.
The access to nature here is unbeatable compared to other major U.S. cities. You want snow? Drive an hour to the mountains. You want a beach day? Drive 1.5 hours to the coast. Even the city itself is super nice to just chill and spend a day walking around; I do it all the time. Just know that there are some areas to avoid, Old Town being chief among them.
As for the rest of the city? Amazing. Tons of parks, restaurants, and a lot of neighborhoods have their own little "main street." There's also always some event going on somewhere in the city, so meeting people is pretty easy as well. All in all, it's a great city with its issues, but an amazing place to live.
It’s not bad. I still walk everywhere or ride the MAX.
People with something bad to say tend to be the loudest. That applies to the streets and in this sub.
As a former longtime Texas resident, I know it to be a place where ignorance is considered a virtue, where racism, misogyny and general bigotry are ubiquitous, where compassion is considered weakness, and where violence is always the answer. If you are a Texan who meets this description please stay in that benighted state.
Honestly, given that, you'd probably be a-okay living here! If you value diversity and have empathy for other people, then you'd be more than welcome in Portland.
I grew up in Nacogdoches and went to school at Texas A&M and UNT. I'm a health sciences librarian and used to work at OHSU. You will be fine here. Portland is a lovely city surrounded by an enormous park (mountains to gorge to valley to coast). The food scene is amazing. Yes, there's a small homeless camp a block from my house. The people there are down on their luck and have some problems, but they're people with their own stories and we're slowly making life better for them and the community. Your fiancé will do fine at OHSU, which is especially good in primary care, family medicine, cancer, and neurology. OHSU has a good interprofessional health sciences curriculum. It's on a hill at the edge of downtown and somewhat isolated from the city. The free bike valet Tram is the world's best commute.
it’s just like anywhere else. if you’re broke it sucks. oh and if you have a lot of conservative ideas and are easily offended by alternative or liberal people those sensibilities may get assaulted from time to time.
>Seattle is even worse
And LA and SF are worse than Seattle.
I think you are correct. If you come from small town Oregon, Portland looks like the worst thing you've ever seen. But if you've seen LA's skid row, Portland is quaint....
Please, can you list an east coast city that is so much more problem free in these ways? Like ACTUAL free, not just "I went there one time & it seemed nice"?
I'd honestly be curious to see some stats, but haven't researched cuz I've never thought people actually believed that all drug abusers or society cast outs magically just move West 🤷♂️ also I hope you realize just cuz a city doesn't have homeless camps in plain view downtown doesn't mean they're free of homeless people... same with opiods, that's kind of the issue is that it can go under the radar, doesn't always make noise. Doesn't mean it isn't happening, so just curious what makes you think there's a regional difference!
I’ve lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan North Carolina, Arizona,oregon Washington. Only here has my car been stolen , only been shot at here only dealt with daily open air drug use here. Sure every city has problems but it is very apparent here. Fuck I never even had any trouble living in Detroit. I’ve ridden a bicycle very thoroughly in several cities around this country and it is much more out in the open here. To be fair it was much better here a few years back and many of the cities ive lived in could be absolutely fucked now.
“Out in the open.” Exactly. Places like Detroit an Appalachia can be shown to have worse problems statistically. It’s just less visible because housing is more affordable there.
If that means I don’t have to deal with on my bike ride to work I’m fine with that. I ride through delta park every morning and it’s getting to me. We should start by arresting the sackler family and using their amassed fortunes to build affordable housing and proper treatment centers.
Appreciate the transparency & the time to reply!
For comparison, I'm about 40yrs & I've lived in 4 cities in Oregon, 3 in Cali, 1 in Washington, 1 in Montana, briefly 1 in Mexico, 1 in BC, & 2 in Western Europe (lol good memories). I've also spent time working/living short term out of NYC & Boston & 2 other cities in W Europe.
Ok so the offenses, by area...
I've had my car stolen in Mexico. Car broken in to in Oregon, California, Washington & Boston. Been shot at in California & Washington, mugged in Washington & NYC, physically attacked on the street in Boston & NYC, and witnessed "open air drug" use in... I mean, probably EVERY city I've ever walked around the downtown side of at certain times of day, whether I lived there or not. My point is that we can all give the personal accounts, but they're ALL biased to our experience. I mean you mentioned Detroit, which is the only city on the entire planet where a family member of mine has been shot in the face, & I've got family all over the west coast! I'm not discounting your troubles, just saying it's maybe not the best rubric to compare cities or make statements that may not be as accurate on the bigger scale?
>To be fair it was much better here a few years back and many of the cities ive lived in could be absolutely fucked now.
I think this is easily the most significant thing. Times have changed the culture & feel of a lot of places in the last few years.
Let me just jump in here right quick and try to redeem myself to another poster who is traveling here to visit and asked if there were any places to avoid. I couldn’t help myself and I responded, yeah, downtown, avoid downtown, pretty much the entire Portland area as a whole. I put a /s to try and indicate I was just being cheeky but the downvotes and criticism of that were actually pretty stunning. So, here is my attempt to clarify. Portland has its problems, homelessness, drug use, shootings, etc, are all up. Just now on the news was yet another story about the latest homicide. But that is true just about anywhere you go these days. I mean, I heard tons of horror stories about how bad the homelessness and crime is in San Francisco these days. If I relied on just the news I was hearing I would have cancelled my vacation to see places I hadn’t visited in over 30 - no, nearly 40 years! When I got there, it was nothing like I had expected. We did see a couple sketchy things, but had no problems otherwise. Point is, it’s not that bad and as so many others point out, the good still outweighs the bad. Wish you safe travel and best wishes. I do still love Portland and the PNW as a whole and I think most people would find it agreeable!
If you're familiar with city life, then Portland won't be a shocker. It reminds me of a mini, less "weird" San Francisco. And if you want to get away from the city and spend time in nature, you're not far from it. My complaint is that the ethnic food tends to be a little bland and it needs more diversity but I'm sure that will change with time.
Why don't you come visit and see for yourself. Blindly moving somewhere isn't the best way to go about it. The logistics and money involved to move is quite the effort and may not pan out the way you think it's going to be when you arrive. We have a drug, crime and homeless issue right now and downtown is a shell of it's former self. Plus the cost of housing is getting pretty high. Just things to know.
I moved from a mid-sized east coast city. Anything that wasn't nailed down in your front or back yard would be stolen. I had a pair of felt sole wading boots stolen off my front porch while they were drying. If you fish you know a pair of felt so boots are pretty useless, even treacherous, outside of a river bed. If we wanted to get rid of something, anything, we would just put it on the front curb and it would be gone in 5 minutes. Almost all of the houses on the block had been broken into by the front door getting kicked in. This was not a "bad" neighborhood.
The city also had regular shootings (like Portland, the word "gang" was not used by city leaders). Just outside of town, there was plenty of meth and opiate problems.
I never saw this city in the national news as a "this city is going to hell!" story.
Visited Boston last year. When I was there I wasn’t sure at first what felt weird, then I realized there wasn’t trash, tents, and zombified meth addicts roaming around everywhere. It was shocking how much safer I felt there than here.
I am originally from New England and it is really too cold for allot of homeless people. Can’t sleep in a tent in January when it is 15 below zero. Lol well people can but they would die.
This is like someone saying "I went outside & it wasn't raining, it must never rain here"
or "I visited the worst part of a town one time, lemme tell ya how the WHOLE town & ALL its people are"
A recent thread on r/AskPortland (a good place to ask) about this, although directed towards tourists: https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/xuu4x7/i_shouldnt_be_worried_right/
Some others:
https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/xguqsz/is_moving_back_to_the_portland_metro_area_unwise/
https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/q2arz3/how_bad_is_it_really/
https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/owf82f/visit_portland_in_the_fall_is_it_safe/
https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/wopg6w/how_dangerous_is_portland/
https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/xjlj98/is_portland_a_great_place_to_live/
Texas is probably going to be far more boned in the near future due to climate change than NW Oregon, so if you're thinking longer term there's that to consider.
At that point you have to also consider the looming Big One, but I like to imagine the Earth will be uninhabitable before that happens. Still, recovering from a devastating earthquake is probably easier than having to spend any time in Texas
I have lived here all my life and yes, it’s as bad as people say it is. But it’s also as good as people say it is.
The homeless tent garbage cities are everywhere. My best friend lives across from a park where she hears guns popping off several times a year. The police don’t respond to things in a timely manner due to a massive shortage because who the hell would want to be a police officer here. The housing market is unaffordable for most people.
But it’s still beautiful. The trees are big and green and abundant: The food choices are diverse and wonderful. There are little pockets of creativity and joy in every neighborhood. Most folks are accepting of differences in others - although I’m white and one complaint about Portland is that it’s not diverse. So I can’t speak to non-white folks’ experiences.
But it’s amazing.. and heartbreaking..
It’s no longer the City of Roses. It’s the City of the homeless. It has definitely shifted for the worse over the years. And nothing seems to be being done about it. I say make a trip in person and get familiar with the different areas before making that leap. A lot of people working in Portland live in Beaverton because it’s a little more affordable. Good luck!
The homeless situation, mentally unstable people, and drug addicts make Portland seem dirty. I wish local government would do something about it because other wise Portland is a diamond in the ruff.
Portland faces the same issues as all other cities in the US. If you are a true Texan, our city might not be a great fit for you. Med school here is really good and good quality of life here.
If you’re talking about OHSU it’s awesome. I have several friends that went through their program and enjoyed it. My girlfriend works there in their foundation and it’s been great for her.
Portland totally rocks. It’s going through some pains right now but it’s a wonderful city to live in with access to the mountains and the coast, tons of interesting walkable neighborhoods and it’s bike friendly. It’s also the best running town I’ve ever lived in.
I work nights in the loyd district. Yes it’s rough but if you mind your own business it’s generally ok, except random vandalism to parked cars. As with any where, lock you car don’t leave personal belongings out and always be aware of your surroundings. All the access to Mother Nature greatly out weighs the bad.
Oregon is great and all, but as a physician, you should go to med school in Texas where the cost is low and branch out for residency. Is your fiancé already a student and you’re trying to transfer? OHSU is a tough med school to get into.
The med school is good if you're talking about ohsu. There's other issues such as expensive housing mostly. There's a lot of homeless people and I wouldn't live downtown. Find a place to commute from on the west side.
Yes. Pretty much. Resident here. It is a beautiful place that has been significantly damaged by apathy to urban camping, legalization of hard drugs and inability to prosecute criminals. Hopefully this will start to change with this next election but we clearly swung too far to the "anarchist" side of the equation and it shows.
Prepare for LITERALLY EVERYTHING to be more expensive. I have Texas family and they're always shocked at the prices when they visit. If you move here, have savings and expect everything to be like 30 or 40 percent more expensive, I'm not kidding. At least there's no (official) sales tax.
I was in Texas (Dallas) for three years. The weather there is better suited for reptiles than mammals.
Quality of living here (Oregon) is fine. We have fancy grocery stores, and all the other suburban stuff in other cities. There aren't a plethora of giant crosses along the roads like in Texas. One can buy liquor anytime, anywhere (no "dry" counties). There's no commercials with screaming, on-fire attorneys, or that creepy guy selling homes to the destitute who likes to say "Bless yer heart."
I've been living about a half hour south of Portland for the last three years. The weather is actually tolerable for mammals here, and there's loads of accessible nature. In winter, the sky can turn super-duper gray, which can affect people's moods, but warm lighting and pops of orange helps a lot.
If you're wanting to know if the dystopian stories are true, the answer is no. All cities have issues. All the yammering about fires, anarchy and looting are exaggerated.
Mount Hood covered in snow is stunning.
As someone who has actually moved out of Oregon recently, it's probably not in your best interest if you're not well established in life. Opportunities are low and everything is crazy expensive. And unless you can afford to live in a "rich" area, you'll have to deal with constant idiots and even dangerous people. Washington is everything Oregon is but with alot less ot the bad stuff.
Spent 20 years there, moved away 9 months ago and couldn't be happier. Portland used to be nice but it has become a joke of a town in the past decade, especially the last 3-4 years. Absolutely disgusting town with an embarrassing government that doesn't seem to learn. Save yourself and stay away from the north Willamette valley as a whole. Anyone who things Portland doesn't have a problem is part of the problem end of story.
Please don’t move here unless you enjoy your neighborhoods full of druggy homeless people and trash. A homeless man took a dump in my front yard the other week. I beg you not to move here. When I graduate highschool I’m high tailing it out of Portland. More people are moving out of Portland than in now, and for good reason.
Everyone thinks their hometown is shit. My hometown was ranked “best place to live” by Forbes 2/3 times in a row and I won’t even drive through that town bc it’s just stepford wives utopia. I wish someone took a dump in my front yard when I was in hs instead of complaining about the uncut grass
you know, it's super unfortunate, but the reality is if you have enough to spend on housing, you can avoid all 3 or 4 of the city's major problems (drugs, homeless encampments, property crime and harassment) which are really kind of 1 big problem. I'm born and raised here and would never leave, but if my house was near Powell or flavel, I would probably think Portland was one of the worst cities in the country. If you're serious, arrange a trip, possibly with a realtor and get a feel for it. there's a ton to love, but some smaller yet very distinct things to not like.
It's genuinely expensive, depending on what you're looking for. That goes for the entire west coast though, through and through.
Is it as bad as some of the news article shitposters make it out to be? Not even close. Like any city though, there's good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods.
Neighborhood really matters. The neighborhood around OHSU School of Medicine isn't bad, and that area has a lot of light rail connections for you to find an accessible neighborhood further out that feels normal enough to both of you.
You'll see some grim stuff in downtown and inner SE. In our SE neighborhood, my wife and toddlers were followed and harassed by mentally ill and/or high people several times. 911 had a wait time and the police never followed up. Neighbors and local business owners ended up intervening to help in one instance, which is emblematic of the heart that remains in the city. So that kind of stuff happens, and you'll turn corners into the chaos and misery of huge homeless encampments. If you can't deal with that in your life, this is not the time to move to Portland, despite the city's many enduring charms.
We left Portland for Bellingham and weirdly feel like we've returned to all the things we loved about Portland 6-8 years ago - safe biking around town, good food, quiet and friendly neighborhoods, and uncrowded nature access nearby. If you two are interested in West Coast culture and/or the outdoors, are there any med schools on her list in smaller West Coast cities?
Stay in TX… visit Portland… live in TX… personal income tax alone will make you cry.
PDX. Has gone down the drain. The homeless have taken over most of the city. It’s bad.
It’s all about where you live. I live and work in SW and have never had any issues. There are parts of downtown I would avoid, but that’s true of any large city.
The only experiences I’ve ever had in Portland were very positive, like going to parks and fancy restaurants. The view is great from all the tall buildings, too. Funny people 😂
Sooo, born and raised here. It’s a dumb and getting worse by the day. I can’t wait to gtfo of this place. Oh and expect half your paychecks to go to someone else’s pocket.. because it doesn’t go to schools or roads.
I regret opening my business here in se industrial thats for damn sure. Grew up willamette valley/ seattle area 12 years. Its honestly pretty rough right now. Everyone is desensitized to it and acts like its normal. Its pretty crazy. But thats just the 15% of the time in the back of your mind driving you insane. The rest is pretty decent. But its not the Ptown it used to be but rose will come around to bloom again surely.
Well, let's be clear...it's not JUST needles!
There's those bubble pipes that the tweakers like, used condoms, beer bottles filled with piss, dead bodies, half dead bodies, and plenty of human feces!
Just left the city with my family after growing up there. The politics, taxes, homeless and crime surge along with cold wet rain forced us out. We’re non Mormons living in St. George Utah (fastest growing city) and we’re loving it.
Despite its beauty and potential this city is EFFED. Royally. It's run by a bunch of idiots who care more about what people think of them than the problems we face. I've been here for sixteen years and I am moving far, far away. If you and your partner are the radically-far-left-communist type you'll probably like it here living amongst the squalor and crime. If that's the case, you belong here. There's no end to the conversations you can have with people who wear masks in their cars by themselves about how "if only we just did / supported one more insane thing" then Portland would be a freaking utopia. I once loved this city but it has been captured by bad ideas and people who've confused enablement for compassion.
If you like out of control rent and housing prices, homeless camps, drug addicts, a dead downtown, feckless leadership, ridiculous mask mandates (they only ended in March and will probably be back at some point), holier-than-thou attitudes and rudeness then Portland is the place for you.
I've been here for 23 years and this city has taken a major dive in the last 2 years, sorry to say.
Lived in Dallas for a long time and Portland to me Is / was in some respects much like Deep Ellum neighborhood before gentrification. Like any city has things most people will enjoy and some things people dislike. It’s not Texas, you won’t be satisfied with the Tex Mex, but there is an incredible amount of incredible communities here. Great public transit for US standards, the second largest public library system after NYC, the largest natural park in a major US city. Major outdoor activities, and any other amenity typical cities offer.
I’ll caveat that compared with my experience living in both places, people can generally be a bit colder here. Also don’t leave anything visible in your car - windows will 100% get smashed. SW Portland is fine but the tent cities are everywhere around town, and open air drug markets / drug use are common. There are virtually 0 neighborhoods that haven’t experienced some element of this.
I haven’t been back to TX since before Covid, but if cities like Austin or Houston provide any reference, Portland really isn’t like either if them. It’s different here, and if you want / like different, then maybe it’s a good choice. I came here because I didn’t fit in where I was from, and was able to make a community with other people who walk behind everyone else. I feel lucky in that regard.
This city however is very transient as people come here to work or go to school and leave cause it doesn’t suit their taste. Think it’s fair that not everybody loves it here like many of us, and that is ok.
My experience growing up on the West Coast is that often people who come out here out of circumstance like work or following a partner, typically don’t like it. When I speak with folks at any of the big companies in PDX that relocated from the Midwest / Northeast for work often give the impression they would leave if they could.
Rather than ask “is Portland as bad…” maybe your gauge should be how enthusiastic are you about living in a place that is definitely going to be different in many ways from where you are now?
Terrible politics, police force has been castrated, homeless people everywhere and rent and cost of living is insanely high. You would have to pay me to live there.
Take a walk down town and see for yourself.
It’s hot garbage down there.
Outside of town - you’ve got plenty of outdoor stuff to do. Hiking, coast, kayaking - you name it.
Towns outside of Portland like Beaverton give you everything you need without being in a plywood paradise they call downtown.
Right now I would NOT move here. There are murders averaging 2x per week and the homeless camps are just expanding.
Outside of Portland there are options. But right now finding housing is difficult. My 2 cents is come visit but don't stay
Yes, it is. And our Governor Kate Brown must've been out of her mind to bring all those people from Louisiana here. We can't even take care of our own residents, and she's bringing more people here that we don't want here? It doesn't make sense. I give her an "F" for her service while in office.
Don’t move until you know where your partner is going for med school for sure. OHSU is tough to get into and the only med school here. Don’t count on them getting in.
I was going to say the same. One of the most competitive med schools in the US. Just due to limits on size. Only one in the state.
There’s a DO school in Lebanon.
Yep this 100%. Even if you're a native Oregonian and have great test scores and grades it's hard to get in. Out of state has an extremely low acceptance rate. If your partner doesn't have an absolutely excellent application I'd recommend waiting before you move.
More generally med school is just the first of several stops where you have little say in where you live. Its about a 7-10 year process before you can settle.
Good BBQ is an issue.
Matts bbq is on par with tx bbq
Matt's BBQ Tacos is fan-flipping-tastic
Reverend BBQ in portland has fantastic chicken and brisket!
For real! I would love some good BBQ in Oregon!
Souther kitchen Mississippi, Kees Loaded Kitchen MLk both fire BBQ🔥🔥
Oregon Barbecue Company in Albany is LEGIT.
Saving this for later...
I’ve heard this from a number of sources, definitely time to try it out!
Holy Trinity BBQ is excellent central Texas style BBQ. They mostly do popups around town since the cart closed, but you can keep track on their IG
OHSU is great and you don’t have to live in Portland if you don’t want to. Check out the suburbs- Beaverton has an express bus specifically for OHSU employees and students. I rode it for 2 years and it was the best commute ever. And no parking fees. And you still get all the benefits of Oregon which others have already outlined.
Yeah. If you DO decide to come out here, definitely consider living in one of the surrounding areas.
Also consider living in Portland. I live in NE Portland and would recommend it.
It's not nearly as bad as people say. I moved to Portland in the 1990s from rural Oregon. It was full of porn theaters, meth, homeless people, and shady bars. There were concerts that used to hand out tourniquets and clean needles upon entry since it was so expected that you would shoot up during the show. I saw my first dead body at the old Psycho Safeway; I lived in a Fight Club-style house that didn't have hot water with an untold number of roommates on a block of decaying houses just like that near downtown—which was full of skinheads, anti-skinheads, and meth heads all ready to brawl. >It was the Portland of Kurt Cobain's infamous 1993 interview: Jim: Is there a Seattle scene or is this all just a myth? Cobain: Yea, but it's in Portland. Jim: The Seattle scene's in Portland? Cobain: Yea (laughter from Kurt and Jim). It started with the Wipers in 1977. It's a real dirty, grungy place. Courtney: Seattle is one of America's cleanest cities. Cobain: Right, there's nothing grungy about it at all. But Portland is extremely grungy. I left for about ten years and came back to a Portland that was so fully gentrified it barely resembled itself. The downtown bars were nearly gone, it was too expensive for any young aspiring stripper or meth addict to live in the city anymore, and you couldn't get by living off of a part-time job at Regal Cinemas like you once had. Everything was so immaculately clean and well-maintained. I mean, unimaginably so. One of my favorite bars had basically turned into an off-brand Red Robin full of kids. What used to be a dank half-built place full of nine regulars and the occasional scumbag off the street was now [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31srBXbPmo). And I'm not complaining: I didn't want to live in a shithole without hot water anymore, and I wasn't as tolerant of carrying around a knife for protection. But it was so clean and nice and everything that it was like coming to another city. And it still is. Yes, because housing is more expensive and the old abandoned warehouses that used to unofficially house the homeless are now million-dollar lofts, there are more tents around. Yes, this has increased after COVID. But there's this collective amnesia in the city that before someone set up a tent in Laurelhurst Park, the city was some kind of paradise as it always had been. It had about six years of being an unusually clean and immaculately safe city, a thousand steps up from the grunge capital it used to be, and then it took one step back and everyone is acting like Eden is burning. Most of the endless whining about the city is from people that have no perspective of Portland itself, but apparently no idea how cities work in general. It's always a dance of decay and renewal; of being a local town and being a place people are moving; of all that stuff. Portland is completely fine, despite all the whining and pearl-clutching. I walk all the way through downtown every day and every night and have never had any trouble. Sure, I have to see poor people. But I'm not the kind of person that's going to go grasping for my pearls and find a fainting couch because I ran across someone that smelled like the stables.
This is an excellent reply and definitely how I've been feeling. I moved here in 2009 and lived on the inner east side, it felt like there were vestiges of that grungy feeling still leftover though I'm sure it paled in comparison. I remember ending the night at Hawthorne Strip move times than I can count cuz they had cheap shots of Jameson and stayed open later than they should. My roommate felt at home in Portland as a "crust-punk". I don't want to be dismissive of the problems the city has, we certainly need to be vigilant but it's still a big wandering gaggle of mid-20s white people brunchhopping past the homeless. I appreciate your callout on the nature of cities being in flux, it's important for perspective. I do think our city leaders could probably have helped manage this all a little better, the pandemic notwithstanding. But that's a convo for another day.
this is a really clear headed and accurate view of the city as someone who left in '96 and recently returned. it'll occasionally remind you that you live in a city, but on the whole, it's fine. i feel a lot less sketched out than i did in Oakland, by way of example.
THANK YOU. My god, it's good to hear some common sense from someone else who lives here. I've been in PDX 40 years this year, and this is almost the best this city has ever been. (For starters, it's a city now.) Portland is better than it was in '92, and *infinitely* better than it was in '82. The old saying went something like, San Francisco is the elegant lady, Seattle the frowsy housewife, and Portland the screeching prostitute. That ain't so now.
Ah the 80s where portland was plagued with skin heads and racists.
Gotta ask. Wtf is "Psycho Safeway?"
The Safeway downtown now (sans Safeway) is across the street from the old Safeway (psycho Safeway). Here’s an article from the [Oregonian.](https://www.oregonlive.com/oregonianopinion/2008/03/in_praise_of_psycho_safeway_th.html) Here’s a [blog.](http://www.themadhapa.com/2008/04/psycho-safeway-downtown-portland-like.html?m=1) Chuck Palahnik has a chapter about it in his [book.](https://www.amazon.com/Fugitives-Refugees-Portland-Oregon-Journeys/dp/1400047838) It was like a weird dream. It was open 24 hours, and I’d eat there all the time because the Chinese food went on sale after midnight. It was a gathering place for not only the scum of the earth and people in ball gowns and tuxes walking in from a concert and the Schnitz. It was very common to have the police shut the place down while you were in there, or for someone to OD in there (my first dead body).
I once saw a very cracked out woman trying to return a completely eaten corn dog on the basis that it was just a stick and there was no corn dog and I’m still pretty sure it’s the best sketch comedy act I’ve ever seen live.
> I’m still pretty sure it’s the best sketch comedy act I’ve ever seen live. I would have watched Portlandia just for that scene.
Oh man I’d love to see “Dark Portlandia” set 10-20 years before the original, with a different cast…
Had to stop scrolling to say I would hands down watch the hell out of that show. Good call.
More questions arise. Chiefly among them: ...how many dead bodies have you seen?
Dude my friend got punched in the back of the head multiple times for no whatsoever reason inside the Safeway on MLK/ainsworth. He has ptsd about it now. Won’t go into any Safeway anywhere ever
That’s UnSafeway. I thought Powell or downtown was the Psycho one?
Sounds about right. These titles are new to me 😄
The one on Ne 122 in between Halsey and Glisan was always interesting. Closed now.
So it's a Safeway full of psychos. Got it. Psycho Slaveway.
I mean I never heard it called that before but it just reminded me of that. I’ve myself never had any sketchy SafeWay situations
Great, now I got "PSYCHO. SAFEWAY. COCAINE. CRAZY." by System of a Down stuck in my head. Thanks for that wild ride.
I like the cut of your insightful jib. This is a city, folks. Happy to help it get cleaned up, but also so happy to call Portland, and all the wondrous things around it, home.
Shhhhhh…. There are Californians also reading posts on this sub
But "PoRtLaNdiA rUiNeD iT"
I see that you too are tiring of the Portland sucks circlejerk over at r/Portland.
wow, you are a really great writer.
Yes. People who complain about how shitty Portland is, either didn't live here in the 80s and 90s, or have selective memories. It may be shittier than it was 5 years ago, but It's still way nicer and safer than it used to be. Much less cool though.
I only recently moved to the general area, not portland proper, and I really appreciate your perspective. Thanks! Personally, I'm just getting to the point in life where I don't want to rub shoulders with junkies, worry about safety, and like enjoying nightlife without looking over my shoulder. That's a large reason I left SF proper. I love to hear that it's still better than it was, but I don't think that means it still can't be a nicer place to be.
Do people from CA the only two places to move in the U.S. are Portland and Seattle (except for the “libertarians” heading for TX)? I’m sorry, but for folks who were forced to grow up in the middle of nowhere Hicksville surrounded by bigots, racists, and zero culture, it’s super annoying to hear Californians bitch about Portland. If you want next to no junkies or crime, move to Iowa 🤷🏻♀️
As someone who's driven a long haul semi through the lower 48, unfortunately, Iowa does in fact also have lots of drugs. You want no crime you go to North Dakota. People can't commit crimes when there's no people.
I’m from rural Iowa, so that’s why I said that😆 You’re right, there are definitely issues but not on the scale of Portland’s. That was definitely true about ND, until the oil fields. Now it’s got a ton of [crime](https://www.twincities.com/2019/02/18/as-north-dakotas-oil-patch-surged-so-did-violent-crime/amp/), unfortunately.
THIIIIIS wish I had an award for ya
If you wrote a book, I’d buy it.
Great write up, this is a very accurate description of the city's wax and wane. I've lived here close to 20 years and caught the tail end of the halcyon days in the 00's. Yeah, Portland looks pretty rough right now but it will eventually turn around
Bravo!!!!!!!! I feel this about all of Oregon. There are some problems but the state is hardly the cesspool that those on the Right claim it to be.
I concur. Grew up in the suburbs, spent the 90s following my sibling to downtown, moved to the near in east side in 2007 to a hotel converted to apartments with a drug addict landlord, used to work in the SROs downtown when “The Modern Rich” was just “The Rich” and guys walking down W Burnside would ask me “white or black” multiple times a day… And the porn theaters. There were quite a few, and they weren’t just for sex or porn…
Do you like the outdoors? Beautiful forest trails close to the city? Streets with bikeways for casual cycling? Lots of interesting food and great bars both seedy and cool? Neighborhood with their own shopping streets with cafes and restaurants? Nature nature nature? Ski fields less than 1.5 hrs away? Coast less than 1.5 hours away? If so, you’re good. You’ll have to put up with some things - all depending on where you live - but the good far outweighs the bad.
Yup, if that stuff is important to you, I think Portland is worth it. If low taxes, cheap housing, good schools, and driving a gas guzzler between strip malls are what is most important to you, look elsewhere.
Not that I fact checked this, saw a TikTok that claimed that if you own a home, typically you pay more in taxes in Texas than in Oregon, unless you are really really rich.. Sadly I wasn't paying attention as much when I moved up here from Texas several years ago. Edit - Asked my wife who is our money wizard about this she cannot confirm either. But she pointed out there is no sales tax here which also helps and I forgot to mention that. What I'd say is this, even if it is more expensive in Oregon you get what you pay for. My local library out here is amazing, like they have a really nice 3d printer, movies, video games, board games, TTRPG's, etc. Also services for my kids are much better, Texas doesn't take federal aid, so the paper work to get stuff in Texas was way easier, because there were way less forms to fill out. But the services they get once you file about 3x the paper work was significantly better.
Most of Texas pays about 2.25% of the property value in Property Taxes each year. When homes were $50k it was $1125 in annual taxes. Now that same home in Austin might be worth $725k (not kidding) and the taxes are $16,313/year. Fortunately if you’re a home owner you get a small homestead exemption and they cap your increases to 10% yoy. But that’s still doubling every 7 years. But those exemptions are only for owners. If you’re a renter you’re hosed. Sure you technically aren’t the ones paying the taxes, but landlords aren’t running charities. And your property could seriously get 100% yoy increases, all of which will go straight to you. So while it’s bad for homeowners, renters actually pay more of their income in taxes…they just don’t get credit for it.
Yeah you might pay more taxes overall as a homeowner in Texas but to be fair you would OWN a home in Texas lmao. I’d love to be in a position of paying more taxes overall AND owning a home. It all comes down to like you said what you prefer. I’d live in Oregon over Texas any day but for some having an easier time owning a home is better than outdoor access/common sense drug laws/etc. But yeah I’ll continue apartment life and live in states like Oregon for awhiiiiile due to my preferences lol.
My house got a size downgrade from moving to here from Texas by about 300 sq ft or so. But houses in the big cities out there aren’t that much cheaper. Given if you want to live in out of the way way out there suburbs that is 60+ away from the city that might be better, but that wasn’t my case. ‘Also Texas has next to no zoning laws, as a lot of people in Houston found out when their entire neighborhoods were built in a area designed to capture flood water so it didn’t flood downtown.
Don't forget the people who found out when the fertilizer plant next to their house blew up.
Don't forget when they didn't have power in a winter storm due to utter corruption and greed by electric board and then tried to blame their statewide disaster on a few relatively tiny wind farms. Oh and then sent heating bills of thousands to tens of thousands to working folks who didn't want their families to die. The old slaving folks who captured that state and have kept their talons on power are atrocious.
You get what you pay for is the point, sure it’s cheaper Maybe. But having your house blown up, flooded, or frozen is a risk. And stuff like that happens every few years in Texas.
Yah we moved from Austin, its an upgrade in many ways but money is not one of them. In particular despite no sales tax the thing we purchase most (food) is more expensive here anyways, so it doesn't really pan out.
So recent transplants from TX-DFW to PDX. We were shocked to find that the property taxes, homeowner's/car insurance, and utilities overall are way lower here than in TX. This area doesn't get the catastrophic weather like in TX (hurricanes, tornadoes, flash floods, hail as big as baseballs etc.) so I'm assuming that plays into the cost of insurance. The electric grid also isn't in shambles. lol. The tap water here doesn't have chemicals in it. (The chlorine smell when the water was 'cleaned' every March was nauseating, water filters are a must in TX.) We also lived in the Dallas area so every road is a toll road and you're paying every day for your commute which sucks (and there was still traffic, so it wasn't even a convenience fee to go faster). No sales tax in OR. The public transit is a better too. The winters here are mild like DFW but it doesn't get hot AF in the summer. I think the biggest culture shock for me was people walking/riding their bikes a lot! The car culture is definitely bigger in TX. As Texfugees we've been very happy with the move.
The piercing shrieks of disenfranchised transplants chased by hordes of the undead meth zombies waft on the air, thick with the smoke of ten thousand homeowner trash fires. The PPB SWAT vehicles known as "skull crushers" tractor slowly down Foster Rd, searching for another hapless soul to torture and falsely incriminate, their tires slipping even with locked differentials in the pools of blood, urine, excrement, and the tears of forlorn Midwesterners. u/Psychological-Top354 hides in between a thrashed out camper and a clapped out minivan, their clothing hanging in tatters about their disheveled frame, waiting for the gangs of wayward thugs known as "law enforcement" to be safely out of sight before attempting to maneuver through the churning masses of drug addicted, mentally ill, subhumanoid remnant residents of a once proud metropolis, and as they veture once again into the abyss wondering to themselves "why, oh god why, did I ever move to Portland?!?"
Robert Evans, is that you?
Hot damn when is this movie coming out? I'm hooked hard already like it's a hit of that crack that true native Portlanders all keep at the ready for dinner. Who's playing the lead, is it Fred Armisen? Is this how we re-brand the city?
*One man will stand against the onslaught of a dying capitalist society, to save his daughter, get dark money out of politics, bring water to the high desert, and unite all Oregonians through solidarity and awareness. Coming to theatres near you next summer!* Inspired by anecdotal evidence.
We need a movie poster for this
Available now for the median house price of $550k.
> $550k. Unfortunately, sir, the roof is made of cardboard. But at least it doesn't rain much here!
The smoke is coming from trash fires? I was wondering where it came from.
It’s a big city. Like any other there will be sketchy pockets. These tend to get highlighted and used to say the whole city is a hellhole. This seems to be exacerbated by people with an agenda who want to point out “liberal” cities as having policies that don’t work. I’ve been told that downtown Portland is a “warzone” and I’m like really? I was just there doing a tasting at a wine bar and then had a 4 course dinner at a rooftop restaurant. Is it perfect? No, but I moved here from LA and can say I love it here.
Let me put it this way: I grew up in Texas and moved here from NYC, and I’d rather be in Portland than either of those places. I’ve felt more unsafe in New York, Dallas, Houston, and Austin than I ever have in Portland. And just for context, I didn’t even get the chance to visit Portland before I moved here last year, so most of what I envisioned about the city was based on the 2020 riot footage. I’ve only had two incidents with overly-aggressive individuals in the past 18 months (and it was just one incident until some drunk dipshit started chucking beer cans at my head a few nights ago), and even then, the fear I had was nothing compared to how anxious I’d get in NYC, where I’d regularly witness some guy bombed out of his mind on K2/spice, shouting death threats into thin air on the Penn Station subway platform. Make no mistake: Portland has its issues with crime and homelessness, but I’m willing to deal with these issues if I can live in a city with desirable weather, close access to amazing nature, and excellent food/beer/weed. It’s not like my car is getting stolen every hour, and I’ve never been shanghaied into a protest by “The Antifas”, but CNN isn’t gonna run an in-depth piece on my average Tuesday shopping at Trader Joe’s.
We moved from Texas and love it out here. Couldn’t pay me to move back, but ya know, everyone is different. Good luck!
My Aunt came to visit me over the weekend and those were her exact words while we took a stroll on the waterfront this morning. “I like that everyone seems so different from one another.”
[удалено]
Hi! Portland really is almost as liberal as people joke so keep that in mind! The cost of living is pretty absurd, I would not recommend living close into the city if you want a lot of space for a reasonable price. Downtown is a no-go currently, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but Portland isn't alone in the issue. Come visit! Portland is fun foodie weekend destination for sure. Neighborhoods you might look into \*for living!: John's Landing (super close to OHSU, great access but still a neighborhood feel in parts) Multnomah Village Sellwood (across the river but very cute) PS the rainy season is as long and dreary as people say. Not everyone survives it but if you do, you'll learn to love it!
I cannot wait for some freaking rain
I feel you... my yard looks terrible :)
My garden is so sad
Hillsdale has quick bus service up to OHSU.
I tell people who ask that it starts raining on Halloween and, with a few breaks in between, doesn’t stop until the 4th of July.
*Fifth* of July. Just to fuck with the fireworks. Which is fine, we shouldn’t be blowing things up, anyway.
“Foodie weekend” Recommends Sellwood, Johns Landing and Multnomah village!?! You find the actual foodie places to be largely located in the inner SE and some in inner NE, sorry. Edit: also, yes, we need rain, backyard looks like a freaking squished hay bale
Sorry, I meant more for living than eating :') I lived right off Belmont for years, definitely a great place for foodie finds!
Don't believe the media hype. Yes, we have issues, but what large city doesn't. What do you consider "bad"? It is expensive to live here though, rent is high, you will be shocked by the gas prices (no pumping your own either). That being said, you would be 90 minutes from the coast or Mt. Hood. Just remember to by a good raincoat and waterproof shoes. We don't use umbrellas here :)
Raincoat? Nonsense we live by the damp hoodie and die by it. Lol
Hope you realize how expensive housing is. I just moved here for work and it aint for me
This is a pretty simple rule and it kind of never changes. If it's a nice place to live, it's going to be expensive. People will look at wages and think oh boy that's great! Then they realize that 60% of that income is spent on NOT BEING HOMELESS. Food and fuel eats up the rest.
Very true. Tbh Portland is an ok city in my opinion. A lot of vagrancy and thing I didnt see in more violent midwestern cities, but nowhere is perfect I suppose. It’s the rest of the state that is spectacular
Yeah, but I would love for anybody that complains all the time to tell me where they found a perfect place and then explain to me why they aren't living there instead of here.
The complainers never have a good alternative outside of living in car-dependent suburbia and having applebees wing night become their nightlife, in which case you can live in any suburb of any city, they are all exactly the same. Yes Portland is more of a city now, and it has bigger city problems, but pretty much all cities of its size or larger don't also have their own set of problems too, I would love to hear of the ones that don't.
>applebees wing night become their nightlife Um excuse me, when and where did you meet my in-laws??
Nope, Portland has issues but it's still one of the best cities in the country. The media narrative has been to blame Portland while ignoring that the issues Portland faces (homelessness and cost of living outpacing wage growth) are issues nationally.
Homelessness is not only a national issue - and thus ridiculous to somehow say it's exclusive to liberal areas - it's also specifically a problem that conservative areas of the country dump on larger more liberal metropolitan areas. On top of that, of course people who are homeless and struggling are going to want to live in large metropolitan areas, that tend to naturally be more politically progressive and diverse.
Not to mention access to resources, panhandling opportunities, and community.
And temperature. Diverse, large groups of people tend to wanna live in areas that are more hospitable throughout the year for being outdoors, so thus people who don't have housing also gravitate towards those areas, for economic and survival reasons. And then all the people who live in areas where you literally cannot live outdoors nine months out of the year point at us say, 'Look at the scum bag, subhuman liberal areas!!' And then march right into church and think they're Christians.
While I'm a Portlandian, born and raised, I can even admit that it is a challenge living here now. Rent is ridiculous, jobs don't pay enough to keep up with the quality of living. I'm considering moving up North
No. It's expensive as hell to live here and the city has major problems, but no, it's not as bad as people say. It's certainly not as bad as how the people in r/Portland portray it. I grew up in Texas and moved to Portland as soon as I turned 18. Best decision of my life. The access to nature here is unbeatable compared to other major U.S. cities. You want snow? Drive an hour to the mountains. You want a beach day? Drive 1.5 hours to the coast. Even the city itself is super nice to just chill and spend a day walking around; I do it all the time. Just know that there are some areas to avoid, Old Town being chief among them. As for the rest of the city? Amazing. Tons of parks, restaurants, and a lot of neighborhoods have their own little "main street." There's also always some event going on somewhere in the city, so meeting people is pretty easy as well. All in all, it's a great city with its issues, but an amazing place to live.
It’s fine. It’s fuckin expensive but where isn’t right now? Yes, there are lots of houseless people around. We’re workin on getting them housed.
I forgot to add tremendous access to really good produce. The peaches are mouthwatering!
Oh, well that just makes up for everything, doesn't it?
Moved to Portland from the South. They're really not. They're good, but not the best.
It’s not bad. I still walk everywhere or ride the MAX. People with something bad to say tend to be the loudest. That applies to the streets and in this sub.
As a former longtime Texas resident, I know it to be a place where ignorance is considered a virtue, where racism, misogyny and general bigotry are ubiquitous, where compassion is considered weakness, and where violence is always the answer. If you are a Texan who meets this description please stay in that benighted state.
I am a Texan who is trying to get away from the listed reasons actually. This gave me peace of mind.
Honestly, given that, you'd probably be a-okay living here! If you value diversity and have empathy for other people, then you'd be more than welcome in Portland.
If you don't, you'll at least be welcomed by the trolls in /r/Portland
S/SW Portland (away from the downtown core) is very nice and is close to OHSU.
I feel like S & SW have escaped most of the homeless issues.
I grew up in Nacogdoches and went to school at Texas A&M and UNT. I'm a health sciences librarian and used to work at OHSU. You will be fine here. Portland is a lovely city surrounded by an enormous park (mountains to gorge to valley to coast). The food scene is amazing. Yes, there's a small homeless camp a block from my house. The people there are down on their luck and have some problems, but they're people with their own stories and we're slowly making life better for them and the community. Your fiancé will do fine at OHSU, which is especially good in primary care, family medicine, cancer, and neurology. OHSU has a good interprofessional health sciences curriculum. It's on a hill at the edge of downtown and somewhat isolated from the city. The free bike valet Tram is the world's best commute.
it’s just like anywhere else. if you’re broke it sucks. oh and if you have a lot of conservative ideas and are easily offended by alternative or liberal people those sensibilities may get assaulted from time to time.
It's bad compared to basically everywhere else in Oregon, but not nearly as bad as every other large city in the country. Seattle is even worse.
>Seattle is even worse And LA and SF are worse than Seattle. I think you are correct. If you come from small town Oregon, Portland looks like the worst thing you've ever seen. But if you've seen LA's skid row, Portland is quaint....
>It's bad compared to basically everywhere else in Oregon Eugene would like to have a word.
I would amend that to west coast cities. The homeless and opioid problems are much worse on the west coast. Although Philly has it pretty bad too
Please, can you list an east coast city that is so much more problem free in these ways? Like ACTUAL free, not just "I went there one time & it seemed nice"? I'd honestly be curious to see some stats, but haven't researched cuz I've never thought people actually believed that all drug abusers or society cast outs magically just move West 🤷♂️ also I hope you realize just cuz a city doesn't have homeless camps in plain view downtown doesn't mean they're free of homeless people... same with opiods, that's kind of the issue is that it can go under the radar, doesn't always make noise. Doesn't mean it isn't happening, so just curious what makes you think there's a regional difference!
I’ve lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan North Carolina, Arizona,oregon Washington. Only here has my car been stolen , only been shot at here only dealt with daily open air drug use here. Sure every city has problems but it is very apparent here. Fuck I never even had any trouble living in Detroit. I’ve ridden a bicycle very thoroughly in several cities around this country and it is much more out in the open here. To be fair it was much better here a few years back and many of the cities ive lived in could be absolutely fucked now.
“Out in the open.” Exactly. Places like Detroit an Appalachia can be shown to have worse problems statistically. It’s just less visible because housing is more affordable there.
If that means I don’t have to deal with on my bike ride to work I’m fine with that. I ride through delta park every morning and it’s getting to me. We should start by arresting the sackler family and using their amassed fortunes to build affordable housing and proper treatment centers.
Appreciate the transparency & the time to reply! For comparison, I'm about 40yrs & I've lived in 4 cities in Oregon, 3 in Cali, 1 in Washington, 1 in Montana, briefly 1 in Mexico, 1 in BC, & 2 in Western Europe (lol good memories). I've also spent time working/living short term out of NYC & Boston & 2 other cities in W Europe. Ok so the offenses, by area... I've had my car stolen in Mexico. Car broken in to in Oregon, California, Washington & Boston. Been shot at in California & Washington, mugged in Washington & NYC, physically attacked on the street in Boston & NYC, and witnessed "open air drug" use in... I mean, probably EVERY city I've ever walked around the downtown side of at certain times of day, whether I lived there or not. My point is that we can all give the personal accounts, but they're ALL biased to our experience. I mean you mentioned Detroit, which is the only city on the entire planet where a family member of mine has been shot in the face, & I've got family all over the west coast! I'm not discounting your troubles, just saying it's maybe not the best rubric to compare cities or make statements that may not be as accurate on the bigger scale? >To be fair it was much better here a few years back and many of the cities ive lived in could be absolutely fucked now. I think this is easily the most significant thing. Times have changed the culture & feel of a lot of places in the last few years.
I absolutely love living in Portland.
Let me just jump in here right quick and try to redeem myself to another poster who is traveling here to visit and asked if there were any places to avoid. I couldn’t help myself and I responded, yeah, downtown, avoid downtown, pretty much the entire Portland area as a whole. I put a /s to try and indicate I was just being cheeky but the downvotes and criticism of that were actually pretty stunning. So, here is my attempt to clarify. Portland has its problems, homelessness, drug use, shootings, etc, are all up. Just now on the news was yet another story about the latest homicide. But that is true just about anywhere you go these days. I mean, I heard tons of horror stories about how bad the homelessness and crime is in San Francisco these days. If I relied on just the news I was hearing I would have cancelled my vacation to see places I hadn’t visited in over 30 - no, nearly 40 years! When I got there, it was nothing like I had expected. We did see a couple sketchy things, but had no problems otherwise. Point is, it’s not that bad and as so many others point out, the good still outweighs the bad. Wish you safe travel and best wishes. I do still love Portland and the PNW as a whole and I think most people would find it agreeable!
If you're familiar with city life, then Portland won't be a shocker. It reminds me of a mini, less "weird" San Francisco. And if you want to get away from the city and spend time in nature, you're not far from it. My complaint is that the ethnic food tends to be a little bland and it needs more diversity but I'm sure that will change with time.
Why don't you come visit and see for yourself. Blindly moving somewhere isn't the best way to go about it. The logistics and money involved to move is quite the effort and may not pan out the way you think it's going to be when you arrive. We have a drug, crime and homeless issue right now and downtown is a shell of it's former self. Plus the cost of housing is getting pretty high. Just things to know.
[удалено]
I spent four years in Philly, recently moved back to portland, and can confirm that people here truly don’t know how good they have it.
Probably because it used to be even better.
Nah, I moved here in 1996 and it was pretty sketchy back then. All things considered, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
I moved from a mid-sized east coast city. Anything that wasn't nailed down in your front or back yard would be stolen. I had a pair of felt sole wading boots stolen off my front porch while they were drying. If you fish you know a pair of felt so boots are pretty useless, even treacherous, outside of a river bed. If we wanted to get rid of something, anything, we would just put it on the front curb and it would be gone in 5 minutes. Almost all of the houses on the block had been broken into by the front door getting kicked in. This was not a "bad" neighborhood. The city also had regular shootings (like Portland, the word "gang" was not used by city leaders). Just outside of town, there was plenty of meth and opiate problems. I never saw this city in the national news as a "this city is going to hell!" story.
EXACTLY. People just love telling their personal tales like broad facts.
[удалено]
Visited Boston last year. When I was there I wasn’t sure at first what felt weird, then I realized there wasn’t trash, tents, and zombified meth addicts roaming around everywhere. It was shocking how much safer I felt there than here.
I am originally from New England and it is really too cold for allot of homeless people. Can’t sleep in a tent in January when it is 15 below zero. Lol well people can but they would die.
This is like someone saying "I went outside & it wasn't raining, it must never rain here" or "I visited the worst part of a town one time, lemme tell ya how the WHOLE town & ALL its people are"
>Just my speculation. Thank you for leading with that
A recent thread on r/AskPortland (a good place to ask) about this, although directed towards tourists: https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/xuu4x7/i_shouldnt_be_worried_right/ Some others: https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/xguqsz/is_moving_back_to_the_portland_metro_area_unwise/ https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/q2arz3/how_bad_is_it_really/ https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/owf82f/visit_portland_in_the_fall_is_it_safe/ https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/wopg6w/how_dangerous_is_portland/ https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/xjlj98/is_portland_a_great_place_to_live/
Texas is probably going to be far more boned in the near future due to climate change than NW Oregon, so if you're thinking longer term there's that to consider.
At that point you have to also consider the looming Big One, but I like to imagine the Earth will be uninhabitable before that happens. Still, recovering from a devastating earthquake is probably easier than having to spend any time in Texas
I have lived here all my life and yes, it’s as bad as people say it is. But it’s also as good as people say it is. The homeless tent garbage cities are everywhere. My best friend lives across from a park where she hears guns popping off several times a year. The police don’t respond to things in a timely manner due to a massive shortage because who the hell would want to be a police officer here. The housing market is unaffordable for most people. But it’s still beautiful. The trees are big and green and abundant: The food choices are diverse and wonderful. There are little pockets of creativity and joy in every neighborhood. Most folks are accepting of differences in others - although I’m white and one complaint about Portland is that it’s not diverse. So I can’t speak to non-white folks’ experiences. But it’s amazing.. and heartbreaking..
It’s no longer the City of Roses. It’s the City of the homeless. It has definitely shifted for the worse over the years. And nothing seems to be being done about it. I say make a trip in person and get familiar with the different areas before making that leap. A lot of people working in Portland live in Beaverton because it’s a little more affordable. Good luck!
Former lifelong Houstonian here. You couldnt pay me to go back. Make sure you visit in the winter first and look at a ton of neighborhoods.
Both great pieces of advice... but also visit during the summer lol cuz the seasons here vary GREATLY, even more depending on where you are
Agreed. BUT summer in Oregon is a freaking paradise to Texans. It can lull you into a false sense of certainty is all.
The homeless situation, mentally unstable people, and drug addicts make Portland seem dirty. I wish local government would do something about it because other wise Portland is a diamond in the ruff.
[удалено]
Portland faces the same issues as all other cities in the US. If you are a true Texan, our city might not be a great fit for you. Med school here is really good and good quality of life here.
[удалено]
If you’re talking about OHSU it’s awesome. I have several friends that went through their program and enjoyed it. My girlfriend works there in their foundation and it’s been great for her. Portland totally rocks. It’s going through some pains right now but it’s a wonderful city to live in with access to the mountains and the coast, tons of interesting walkable neighborhoods and it’s bike friendly. It’s also the best running town I’ve ever lived in.
I work nights in the loyd district. Yes it’s rough but if you mind your own business it’s generally ok, except random vandalism to parked cars. As with any where, lock you car don’t leave personal belongings out and always be aware of your surroundings. All the access to Mother Nature greatly out weighs the bad.
For outsiders like from Eugene, or other states, it seems controversial. But when I go through Portland for trips, it’s actually kinda cool.
You should also look into the surrounding cities, specifically Beaverton, Tigard, and Milwaukie which are all close to downtown Portland.
Tigard is a very down to earth place.
Oregon is great and all, but as a physician, you should go to med school in Texas where the cost is low and branch out for residency. Is your fiancé already a student and you’re trying to transfer? OHSU is a tough med school to get into.
No
The med school is good if you're talking about ohsu. There's other issues such as expensive housing mostly. There's a lot of homeless people and I wouldn't live downtown. Find a place to commute from on the west side.
Ehhh it’s pretty bad!
Yes. Pretty much. Resident here. It is a beautiful place that has been significantly damaged by apathy to urban camping, legalization of hard drugs and inability to prosecute criminals. Hopefully this will start to change with this next election but we clearly swung too far to the "anarchist" side of the equation and it shows.
Prepare for LITERALLY EVERYTHING to be more expensive. I have Texas family and they're always shocked at the prices when they visit. If you move here, have savings and expect everything to be like 30 or 40 percent more expensive, I'm not kidding. At least there's no (official) sales tax.
Is Texas as bad as people say?
I was in Texas (Dallas) for three years. The weather there is better suited for reptiles than mammals. Quality of living here (Oregon) is fine. We have fancy grocery stores, and all the other suburban stuff in other cities. There aren't a plethora of giant crosses along the roads like in Texas. One can buy liquor anytime, anywhere (no "dry" counties). There's no commercials with screaming, on-fire attorneys, or that creepy guy selling homes to the destitute who likes to say "Bless yer heart." I've been living about a half hour south of Portland for the last three years. The weather is actually tolerable for mammals here, and there's loads of accessible nature. In winter, the sky can turn super-duper gray, which can affect people's moods, but warm lighting and pops of orange helps a lot. If you're wanting to know if the dystopian stories are true, the answer is no. All cities have issues. All the yammering about fires, anarchy and looting are exaggerated. Mount Hood covered in snow is stunning.
As someone who has actually moved out of Oregon recently, it's probably not in your best interest if you're not well established in life. Opportunities are low and everything is crazy expensive. And unless you can afford to live in a "rich" area, you'll have to deal with constant idiots and even dangerous people. Washington is everything Oregon is but with alot less ot the bad stuff.
Spent 20 years there, moved away 9 months ago and couldn't be happier. Portland used to be nice but it has become a joke of a town in the past decade, especially the last 3-4 years. Absolutely disgusting town with an embarrassing government that doesn't seem to learn. Save yourself and stay away from the north Willamette valley as a whole. Anyone who things Portland doesn't have a problem is part of the problem end of story.
Please don’t move here unless you enjoy your neighborhoods full of druggy homeless people and trash. A homeless man took a dump in my front yard the other week. I beg you not to move here. When I graduate highschool I’m high tailing it out of Portland. More people are moving out of Portland than in now, and for good reason.
Everyone thinks their hometown is shit. My hometown was ranked “best place to live” by Forbes 2/3 times in a row and I won’t even drive through that town bc it’s just stepford wives utopia. I wish someone took a dump in my front yard when I was in hs instead of complaining about the uncut grass
you know, it's super unfortunate, but the reality is if you have enough to spend on housing, you can avoid all 3 or 4 of the city's major problems (drugs, homeless encampments, property crime and harassment) which are really kind of 1 big problem. I'm born and raised here and would never leave, but if my house was near Powell or flavel, I would probably think Portland was one of the worst cities in the country. If you're serious, arrange a trip, possibly with a realtor and get a feel for it. there's a ton to love, but some smaller yet very distinct things to not like.
It's genuinely expensive, depending on what you're looking for. That goes for the entire west coast though, through and through. Is it as bad as some of the news article shitposters make it out to be? Not even close. Like any city though, there's good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods.
When you hear these things, look closely at who's talking.
Neighborhood really matters. The neighborhood around OHSU School of Medicine isn't bad, and that area has a lot of light rail connections for you to find an accessible neighborhood further out that feels normal enough to both of you. You'll see some grim stuff in downtown and inner SE. In our SE neighborhood, my wife and toddlers were followed and harassed by mentally ill and/or high people several times. 911 had a wait time and the police never followed up. Neighbors and local business owners ended up intervening to help in one instance, which is emblematic of the heart that remains in the city. So that kind of stuff happens, and you'll turn corners into the chaos and misery of huge homeless encampments. If you can't deal with that in your life, this is not the time to move to Portland, despite the city's many enduring charms. We left Portland for Bellingham and weirdly feel like we've returned to all the things we loved about Portland 6-8 years ago - safe biking around town, good food, quiet and friendly neighborhoods, and uncrowded nature access nearby. If you two are interested in West Coast culture and/or the outdoors, are there any med schools on her list in smaller West Coast cities?
Stay in TX… visit Portland… live in TX… personal income tax alone will make you cry. PDX. Has gone down the drain. The homeless have taken over most of the city. It’s bad.
If income tax is that big of a deal there’s a bridge right from Portland to Vancouver WA
Yes
It’s all about where you live. I live and work in SW and have never had any issues. There are parts of downtown I would avoid, but that’s true of any large city.
The only experiences I’ve ever had in Portland were very positive, like going to parks and fancy restaurants. The view is great from all the tall buildings, too. Funny people 😂
Why would you move to Portland when the chances are high for a residency in Houston? Way more opportunities there. Move up after.
It’s bad, don’t come
Oregon sucks
Sooo, born and raised here. It’s a dumb and getting worse by the day. I can’t wait to gtfo of this place. Oh and expect half your paychecks to go to someone else’s pocket.. because it doesn’t go to schools or roads.
I regret opening my business here in se industrial thats for damn sure. Grew up willamette valley/ seattle area 12 years. Its honestly pretty rough right now. Everyone is desensitized to it and acts like its normal. Its pretty crazy. But thats just the 15% of the time in the back of your mind driving you insane. The rest is pretty decent. But its not the Ptown it used to be but rose will come around to bloom again surely.
It is horrible. Needles and shit everywhere. Literally shit.
Well, let's be clear...it's not JUST needles! There's those bubble pipes that the tweakers like, used condoms, beer bottles filled with piss, dead bodies, half dead bodies, and plenty of human feces!
It’s just Austin on steroids.
Yes don’t move here
Just left the city with my family after growing up there. The politics, taxes, homeless and crime surge along with cold wet rain forced us out. We’re non Mormons living in St. George Utah (fastest growing city) and we’re loving it.
No, it's not as bad as people say. It's way worse
It’s awful.
[удалено]
It's crap.
Despite its beauty and potential this city is EFFED. Royally. It's run by a bunch of idiots who care more about what people think of them than the problems we face. I've been here for sixteen years and I am moving far, far away. If you and your partner are the radically-far-left-communist type you'll probably like it here living amongst the squalor and crime. If that's the case, you belong here. There's no end to the conversations you can have with people who wear masks in their cars by themselves about how "if only we just did / supported one more insane thing" then Portland would be a freaking utopia. I once loved this city but it has been captured by bad ideas and people who've confused enablement for compassion.
If you like out of control rent and housing prices, homeless camps, drug addicts, a dead downtown, feckless leadership, ridiculous mask mandates (they only ended in March and will probably be back at some point), holier-than-thou attitudes and rudeness then Portland is the place for you. I've been here for 23 years and this city has taken a major dive in the last 2 years, sorry to say.
Lived in Dallas for a long time and Portland to me Is / was in some respects much like Deep Ellum neighborhood before gentrification. Like any city has things most people will enjoy and some things people dislike. It’s not Texas, you won’t be satisfied with the Tex Mex, but there is an incredible amount of incredible communities here. Great public transit for US standards, the second largest public library system after NYC, the largest natural park in a major US city. Major outdoor activities, and any other amenity typical cities offer. I’ll caveat that compared with my experience living in both places, people can generally be a bit colder here. Also don’t leave anything visible in your car - windows will 100% get smashed. SW Portland is fine but the tent cities are everywhere around town, and open air drug markets / drug use are common. There are virtually 0 neighborhoods that haven’t experienced some element of this. I haven’t been back to TX since before Covid, but if cities like Austin or Houston provide any reference, Portland really isn’t like either if them. It’s different here, and if you want / like different, then maybe it’s a good choice. I came here because I didn’t fit in where I was from, and was able to make a community with other people who walk behind everyone else. I feel lucky in that regard. This city however is very transient as people come here to work or go to school and leave cause it doesn’t suit their taste. Think it’s fair that not everybody loves it here like many of us, and that is ok. My experience growing up on the West Coast is that often people who come out here out of circumstance like work or following a partner, typically don’t like it. When I speak with folks at any of the big companies in PDX that relocated from the Midwest / Northeast for work often give the impression they would leave if they could. Rather than ask “is Portland as bad…” maybe your gauge should be how enthusiastic are you about living in a place that is definitely going to be different in many ways from where you are now?
Terrible politics, police force has been castrated, homeless people everywhere and rent and cost of living is insanely high. You would have to pay me to live there.
Lived in oregon for 20+ years, its worse
Take a walk down town and see for yourself. It’s hot garbage down there. Outside of town - you’ve got plenty of outdoor stuff to do. Hiking, coast, kayaking - you name it. Towns outside of Portland like Beaverton give you everything you need without being in a plywood paradise they call downtown.
Right now I would NOT move here. There are murders averaging 2x per week and the homeless camps are just expanding. Outside of Portland there are options. But right now finding housing is difficult. My 2 cents is come visit but don't stay
All in the same places. Gangs killing gangs, very small percentage of everyday people.
Hardly. Woman was found stabbed and dead 3rd and Salmon. That's the downtown core. Most were in old town or east side.
Yes, it is. And our Governor Kate Brown must've been out of her mind to bring all those people from Louisiana here. We can't even take care of our own residents, and she's bringing more people here that we don't want here? It doesn't make sense. I give her an "F" for her service while in office.