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| *Travel Tips>>>Portland Travel Tips |
Looking at a job in Portland, OR. What are the pros and cons I should consider for relocating? |
Travel Info I currently live in Madison, WI. I am trying to find out what makes Portland unique, why I would want to live there, what might keep me away. Any recommendations on what I should do while I am out there for the job interview? Travel Tips I don't understand why so many people in this question hate Portland. It's beautiful here! There are certainly more than 2 months of sunshine. We are sunny from May through September. Quite often September is the hottest month of the year. The rain isn't so bad, you get used to it. In reality it doesn't rain THAT much. Last year we had 155 days of rain (total, not in a row). It it rarely rains in the summer time, in fact summer is gets really really hot. Check out this wiki for an accurate picture of Portland weather: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/portland,_o... Are winters will certainly be better than your WI winters. Even though it rains, it really doesn't get that cold here. Again, probably warmer year round than your home state of WI. There are many many things to do in Portland. We have one of the largest bookstores in the country, Powells Books. You could get lost there for hours on the rainiest day. We have more coffee houses than should probably be legal. Quite a few of them have live music, poetry readings and an over all cheerful friendly atmosphere. We have a huge museum and many different art houses. Arcades galore, even one downtown that specializes in games from the '80s/early '90s. There are a lot of locally owned businesses, Portland is big on that. So there is a lot of shopping and antique shops that are fun on rainly days. We have Oaks Park which is our very own mini-theme park. It also has a roller skating rink if you have kids. We also have many theaters and art houses to take in a play, lots offer plays for kids too. Downtown has a lot to offer in the ways of entertainment. We have the Japanese and Chinese gardens that are beautiful. As I said, many art houses and museums. The water front hosts a lot of events and parties from the Rose Festival in June (along with a parade and night time light parade), we celebrate with a carnival for CInco de Mayo. They host a Jazz festival every year and the Bite of Portland which has lots of yummy food. The Saturday Market is HUGE and lots of fun. They have live music, street preformers and hand made goodies for sale. All food there is also hand made: http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com/... Portland also has lots of Pubs, bars, Taverns and Karaoke bars that are good for rainy days with good company and pool: http://www.barflymag.com/. We always have concerts going on at the Rose Garden along with different sporting events. Rent is NOT that bad here. I live in a nice two bedroom apartment for $575 a month. Rent can run the gamut from terribly expensive if you are in a certain area to really affordable. I lived in a huge apartment on NE 24th for two years. It was close to down town, shopping, public transportation and in a nice school district. Real estate also isn't that bad compared to the rest of the country. Again it depends on the area. A competent real estate agent would be able to find you what you were looking for. If it were as bad as the other answers have stated, all the Californians wouldn't be moving here. If the weather was so awful, Portlanders wouldn't be so bit on the outdoors as we are. We are an hour and half from the beach, an hour away from Mt. Hood and snow, a few hours drive south east and you're in the desert. There are also many many rivers and forests for hiking, swimming and fun. This is why Portland is so outdoor and environmentally conscious, we love our state and want to keep it healthy and pretty. We've had problems in the past when it comes to employment, but it has been on the rise. Look on the oregonian website and other employment sites. They are there. Portland has a very unique feel to it. We are big into the arts, the environment, local businesses and Portland itself. We take pride in our city and like to keep it up. I've lived many places and I've never found a city I've loved more. I also don't know what people are are thinking when we say we aren't friendly or friendly to outsiders. When I've had people come to visit out of state all they do is talk about how friendly the people are. I've had one visitor say it was 'odd' because he wasn't used to it. We joke about Californians moving here for real estate, but it's all good natured ribbing. Portlanders on average are kind and helpful. While you're out here go to Multnomah Falls, visit down town and just walk around. Especially NW 21st and 23rd with all the shops there. Visit Powells Books (4 floors!) and grab some coffee at Stump Town then swing through the Japanese Gardens.. If you are here on the weekend visit the Saturday Market. Definitely hit up the Portland Art Museum and perhaps catch a play at the Portland Center Stage. OOOH I forgot OMSI! Visit OMSI and the World Forestry Center! OMSI is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. (I'll just link you at the bottom because this has gotten so huge but it's amazing fun, they currently have the human body works showing. It's creepy and cool!). So move here, you'll not regret it!!! If I listed to much to do on your visit, come back for more, we aren't going anywhere. And for everything I listed there are hundreds of other things not listed. So see, there is PLENTY to do and see in Portland despite what other answerers have said. I think they just don't know about the city and haven't gotten out enough. Source(s): Powells Books (they also have many live readings by autors): http://www.powells.com/ Japanese Gardens http://www.japanesegarden.com/ Saturday Market http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com/... Portland Art Museum http://portlandartmuseum.org/ Portland Center Stage: http://www.pcs.org/ OMSI: http://www.omsi.edu/ About OMSI:; http://www.omsi.edu/info/about/... World Forestry Center: http://www.worldforestry.org/ Ground Kontrol ('80s arcade!) http://www.groundkontrol.com/events/arch... Multnomah Falls: http://trips.stateoforegon.com/multnomah... The Barfly, find music, pubs and places to meet people: http://www.thebarflymag.com Galaxy Karaoke Bar: http://www.barflymag.com/bar/galaxy.html... Other Travel Tips Thanks for the nice advice...I had a pretty nice weekend out there after the interview. I will say, the people are indeed friendly and there was plenty to do. Not sure I fell in love with Portland, but I liked it. If you're really serious about living there. Check with a local real estate agent on home prices. Very expensive!!! Even in the outlying areas. Renting isn't cheap, although somewhat affordable. not much here ,mild winters and too much traffic. drive to cannon beach or up the columbia river From a native Oregonian you are probably better off staying where you are at. The economy is not great the price of living is gotten rediculous and long 9 months of rain. I finally moved out of Oregon last year after 30 plus years because it is overpriced and no jobs |
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