Comments on: 10 Things I Love About The People of Portland, Oregon

By: Mandi

Mandi — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:06:01 +0000

Haha.. awesome comment Erika. Portland wants you back!

By: Erika

Erika — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 02:55:50 +0000

Hi Mandi,
I lived in OR since I was 8 months old, PDX for the past 10 years. (Though now The Huz and I live in California.)

PDX is PARADISE! I miss the restaurants, the creativity, and the entrepreneurial spirit so prevalent in that sweet little city. I love the acceptance of my gay and lesbian friends, and the intellectual nature of the city’s residents. I love the affordability – as a 23 year old single waitress (at the time) I was able to purchase my first home in an up and coming neighborhood. (I don’t miss the rain, of course….;)

And Jennifer (above)??? Just because you’re not progressive does not mean that everyone else “lacks common sense”. (Sounds like a FAUX “NEWS” quote!) You can respect other people’s political beliefs even if they don’t happen to coincide with your own. It’s unfortunate that you couldn’t see the beauty in a city so accepting of lifestyles and ideas outside of the mainstream.

By: Mandi

Mandi — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:49:39 +0000

Hey Jenifer -

It’s unfortunate that you hate Portland so much, and I am glad for you that you are moving. I agree about the weather – it is horrible. I am a sunshine girl and the lack of it makes me miserable. However, I couldn’t imagine getting angry at anybody for looking on the bright side of things.
Right now I am staying in Charlotte, NC for a few months and I miss Portland like crazy. It seems like you value conformity and predictability as well as hot weather, so you would probably love it here!
I do have to disagree about the lack of education comment.I don’t know where you are hanging out, but have never met so many intelligent people in passing in my life.
Good luck with your move, I hope that you find a place that suits you better.

By: Jenifer

Jenifer — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 06:45:56 +0000

Well, I think it is nothing but wierd and can hardly stand it. The main thing that Portland lacks is common sense. From its political views, lack of education, roads that are like spaghetti noodles thrown on a plate, I could go on. I moved here 4 years ago and it still doesnt quite compute with me. I just cant get used to the weather either and its sad that it seems everyone is still so positive about it with comments like “well, its worth it for the summers.” Wait, what summers? You mean the 2 months where the sun actually cracks through the clouds? Thats worth 10 months of rain, because its finally 75 degrees and sunny? I dont get it. Then there isnt a pool in sight to actually go enjoy it, so its really not summer…just a spring in July and August. I just laugh and bite my tongue every time I hear people talk about the weather AGAIN. “It’s a great day today huh? Enjoy the sun!” Everyone cheers up when the sun comes out and you start to see everyone’s desperation to enjoy it. Everyone lives in desperation that the sun will finally come out, so I have to think that they are all pretending to like Portland when it isn’t sunny. I guess its a the only way to cope, thats how I got through it the last four years. Now that I am moving its like a sigh of relief to get back to normalcy somewhere. (I think the lack of sun plays with peoples minds, that would explain why the people are also so very weird and wouldnt stand a real chance in the outside “real” world). The only thing that makes sense to me is that they just dont know what they are missing, its all they know…

By: Mandi

Mandi — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:08:58 +0000

Having lived here for almost a year, I can totally understand what you are talking about. I have had similar experiences although not as severe. It seems like the California transplants and aggressive, uppity hipsters are turning a nice little city into a something it was never meant to be. When we first moved here we had NJ license plates and although we didn’t have anywhere near the experiences you had, we got some funny looks and angry bicyclists.

All things considered, I still love the people here and my bad experiences have been few and far between. Coming from the Philly/NYC area I just have a different frame of reference as far as common niceties go. The self-righteous, trustafarians here are a little much for me some days, but all of the other wonderful people more than make up for it.

Thanks for sharing your story

By: Joseph Fitzgerald

Joseph Fitzgerald — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:47:29 +0000

I lived in Portland from birth until the late “70′s, and always believed that it was the friendliest, most tolerant place in the U.S. I moved away some years ago to Wisconsin,(How innoccuous can you get?) I returned some years later, mind you, with a vehicle that had out of state license plates. What a mistake! I was targeted by bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists in the most condescending ways that can be imagined! I was lectured by these people, telling me that “In Oregon, drivers give bikers the right of way”, or, a woman walking her dogs down the middle of a street saying “You have no right here!” Seeing me smoking, she said ” It doesn’t matter, you smoke, so you’ll be dead soon.” I was in Portland for three weeks before I gave up and moved to Seaside, where the worst experience I’ve had has been Portland visitors. To their credit, I believe long time Portlanders are good, tolerant people for the most part, but the recent transplants are trying to establish a different lifestyle, something at odds with the way Portlanders used to care about when it came to their town.I’m sorry I have to relate this, but it’s been stewing with me for around 20 years.

By: Mandi

Mandi — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 19:58:47 +0000

Rick -Thanks!

Heather- OMG, girl! We need to talk. I think Portland magically draws in people that belong there. That’s how it manages to stay so small and awesome.
About a year ago my boyfriend asked me, if I could go one place within the continental US – where would it be? I replied: Portland, of course! I am a vegan and somewhat artsy and had heard nothing but great things about the city. In January we visited. In March we moved there. I’m not sure if you ever came back to this site but I haven’t posted in a long time. Mostly because I sold all of my things, packed up and moved across the country within 2 months. Within those 2 months, the stars aligned and everything worked out in our favor. And just like you said, every single day, something about Portland made its way in. I truly feel like this place is my home. If you ever end up here (and you will), please come find me. And we can rejoice in the magic that is Stumptown.

By: Heather Steffen

Heather Steffen — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:40:42 +0000

You know, i think some magical force is telling me to move to portland or something. i’m from south dakota and on a random whim i decided to sign up for a service mission at my college… they were going to portland. i was chosen, over all these other perfectly qualified people… for no reason. i’m an art major, and everyone else was bio majors as we were going to be exploring the poverty and health issues in portland. ever since i’ve been to portland and back i’ve felt a part of me that is missing… and everyday, and i mean everyday… portland is brought up somehow.. today i was googling indie shit and i saw ponies and unicorns (which i love) and went to the website and guess what it was a website about portland…. everything you said is true. Holla to portland

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:15:48 +0000

that doesn’t say much about me =’((((

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:13:35 +0000

If mandi had a dick… she’d still be the coolest girl i know. =’(