QuoteThanks Melissa! That really helps me out. I haven't talked to anyone who has lived in Portland and NOT liked it.
Sorry to rain on your parade. Here is the other side.
If you are from back east, and lived in fast-paced SoCal, than you are in for a shock when you come here. Half the people are either drunk or stoned 90% of the time, and the other half are passive-aggressive and easily perturbed and act disturbed a lot of the time. Lots of people come here to escape something, and then get caught up in the energy of the city. It's like a nexus of negative energy. Lots of folks that like to take advantage of your good nature, or live off of other people.
If you want four seasons, this ain't the place for you. Maybe two and a quarter seasons. Raining, not raining, and summer. Summer usually lasts about a solid three months, the only time you will see the sun all year. The rest of the time it is either raining, or super duper overcast ~ sometimes daytime is like dusk, the clouds are so thick. It snows maybe two days a year here - actually, more like 'ices' two days a year. A half inch of frozen anything and the city shuts down, which is a good idea because of the hilly topography, and the fact that Portlanders cannot drive.
Worst drivers I have ever seen. Seriously. I have driven a tractor trailer through many states and the drivers in Portland would fail the driving test just about anywhere I've been. Horrid. Plus you have the militant walkers, joggers, and especially bicyclists to deal with. They will ride, run, and step right in front of you and expect you to stop at their whim. They are suicidal.
Speaking of suicidal, PDX has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. People live on coffee, and Meth is a huge problem here. Portlanders consume more "coffee per capita" than people in Seattle. People get depressed by the weather and try to find any means to climb out of their depression. By the end of Spring, everyone is losing their mind, waiting for the sun to come back. It doesn't usually arrive and stay until late June to early July. This year, it's even more fickle. Worst summer since I moved here.
While the SE part of town where I dwell is known for it's dykes, lipstick lesbo's, dykes with dogs and every other category you can think of, Gay men really rule here. There is a whole section of downtown known as the Burnside triangle where men traditionally congregate to go at it with each other. I will say this for PDX. I've never been a place before where you can't go anywhere without bumping into someone or something that 'says queer.' There is a huge network of transfolk all over the place. They actually have a following in the str8 community. Couples looking for a third, gay guys that want a butt buddy, and then there is the '->-bleeped-<-' phenomenon. At one point a few years ago, there were almost as many ads for she-males in the local alternative rags as there were for regular call girls. Never seen anything like that before I moved here either, and I used to get around Manhattan back before Guillianni.
PDX is also known for it's strip clubs and bars. Supposedly, more per capita than anywhere else in amerika. I think the reason that queers and str8's get along so well here is because everyone is more interested in getting high or getting off than about any kind of discrimination. There are some rather rabid white supremicists and christian holier than thou folks around the outlying areas, but for the most part, if you stay in the city, you are safe.
Portland is also the least diverse place I have ever been. It is scary, Wonder-Bread, cover your eyes in the summer because fat white bellied people are going to blind you in the sun!
Most people here are overweight and many are proud of that fact. Now, back to temperment for a moment. People 'act' really polite, but many do not mean it, and if you question anything they say or do, or even give the slightest hint that you are being disagreeable with them, they will shut you out. Many people have chip on their shoulder, and publically disagreing with someone is seen as abject criticism. You have to walk on eggshells to be sure not to get anyone riled up, or to keep from insulting anyone.
I think a lot of it has to do with the cycle of caffeine binge and depletion regimen most people follow here. They are moody. I don't mean like 'bitchy' the way Tink jokes about it. I mean like psychotically moody ~ up and down moody ~ laughing and then crying moody. I think most of the population is mentally disturbed. I think that is why so many queer and transitioning people like it here. The 'normal' people are so nuts, they make the GLBT people look absolutely stable in comparison.
I think PDX is a good place to visit, and maybe even live for a while. I am glad that I spent my time here. No regrets. But don't stay too long, or you will lose the ability to function in the real world. I think that PDX would be an ideal climate for kids on the west coast looking for a place to work, network, study, and yes, transition. But then you need to get the hell out.
I am moving south in the near future to be amongst people that are a bit more emotionally stable. And where the sun shines, and it gets hot in the summer and stays that way. Portland is weird, and has it's charm, but it's no place to settle down IMO.
Oh, and one last thing. Never, ever, ever say anything negative about Portland or Portlanders in public. You will not be admonished ~ you will be excoriated and isolated. Seriously.
