Tell me about Portland

[captianoats]

So I got offered a move to Tualatin (south Portland OR) by my job. I know the beer scene is great and it's full of hippies, but can some people familiar with the area tell me about it?


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[Weekend_Warrior]

The dream of the 90's is alive here...

Just kidding. It is a wonderful place. There is a great beer scene of course, as well as excellent food / restaurants too. It does rain quite a bit, but the scenery is awesome. My favorite thing is that there is the Pacific coast beaches to the West, The Columbia Gorge (incredibly beautiful scenery!) to the east - leading to a high-desert climate further out, Mt. Hood (for skiing!!!) also east and any one of those different climates / activities are an easy day trip.

Tualitin is a suburb to the south of Portland proper and people will make jokes as they would any suburb, but it is built up well and honestly the businesses you would have access to just there would make the short trip to Portland unnecessary unless you wanted some bigger city culture.

I'd do it!

 

[amcclai7]

absolutely loved my time there (only 2 days). Its incredibly weird in a wonderful way. Other than the weather, from what I saw I would love living there. The beer scene is second to none, and I've spent significant time in San Diego, Boston, San Fran, Seattle and Asheville.

 

[Hopper5000]

It's pretty rainy and overcast most of the year but the summers are awesome. Strangely there are also a lot of gentlemen's clubs there which was surprising to me. Lots of forest and nature nearby too. No sales tax also!

 

[amcclai7]

+1 to Weekend Warrior on the Scenery. The Columbia river gorge is amazing as is everything else out that way. I also imagine the hops you could get for homebrewing would be insane!!

 

[Weekend_Warrior]

+1 to Weekend Warrior on the Scenery. The Columbia river gorge is amazing as is everything else out that way. I also imagine the hops you could get for homebrewing would be insane!!

Um. Yes.

Most of the hops we use are grown in the Willamette Valley. I've driven through the fields before and it is incredible. I can find fresh whole hops in any variety I want all the time here...

 

[EvilTOJ]

I've lived in Portland for about 14 years, I think I'm a little familiar with the area. What do you want to know? We have TONS and I mean TONS of brewpubs here! It's not really full of hippies, more of a hippie/hipster combination. Lots of bikes. Really good public transportation. The most adult businesses per capita in the US. I love it here.

Tualatin (pronounced two-a latin if you want to be laughed at) is a bland whitebread suburb, so there aren't as many brewpubs there as there are in NE or SE Portland.

 

[dtgrdn]

And there's plenty of brew stores here too!!!

 

[captianoats]

We'll, I'm a country boy at heart, and I've considered living southeast of the city and commuting, but I'll have to travel out there before I make that call. The cul-de-sac life makes me sick to my stomach.

I camp, fish, mountain bike, all of that outdoorsy stuff so the Pacific Northwest seems right up my alley. I love the Cincinnati summers, but this winter has killed me.


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[Acrospire]

They are building a Cabelas in Tualatin too. There is a really good brew pub next door in the city of Tigard called Max's Fanno Creek Brew Pub. They brew some good stuff, and it's less than a five minute drive from Tualatin


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[SeeMont]

My favorite large city.

 

[Homercidal]

Rent Portlandia on Netflix. Seems awesome!

You will have to get piercings and ride a fixed gear bike, but that's not so bad.

 

[JayDubWill]

I'm an Oregonian (living in FL), born and raised in Salem, about 45 minutes south of Portland. Contrary to popular belief we are not all hippies wearing flowers in our hair and sun dresses. That's only on Sundays. Seriously though if you enjoy a spirit of free-thinking, environmentally and health conscious, earth friendly, gettin dirty on Saturday morning riding the trail then taking in the theater that night type of people then Oregon is the place for you. If there is an outdoor activity you can think of, you can do it in Oregon. If you don't mind a little commute you can easily find a place in the country with a little land.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Well, if you're too incompetent to pump your own gas, you're in luck!

That's illegal in Oregon.

 

[JayDubWill]

Well, if you're too incompetent to pump your own gas, you're in luck!

That's illegal in Oregon.

It's illegal because gas attendants account for 9,000+ jobs in the state.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

It's illegal because gas attendants account for 9,000+ jobs in the state.

I know, it's not that they don't trust residents to do it... It's just garden-variety rent-seeking.

 

[worthogg]

Don't do it. Portland sucks. All the beer is overrated, it rains all the time, there are no jobs, tons of transients, high crime, a housing bubble, congestion, pollution...etc. Trust me, you'll hate it! Oh, and yeah it's fuuulll of hippies...Tell everyone you know.

Haha JK

 

[clickondan]

I've lived here in PDX for more than 30 years. Based on what you've shared about yourself, say yes before they change their minds and don't look back.

 

[TopherJohn]

Lived 9 years in the Pacific NW (Seattle, which is a good two hours north but spent a good chunk of summer in Portland/Tigard) and it is honestly some of the prettiest country I've ever seen. But, man, you have hot to make peace with the clouds. The winter gray is deadly depressing. Fortunately you have an outlet — BEER! And if you are outdoorsy in any way, don't think twice.

 

[Loodachris]

Get a quad and hit the dunes!!! I miss that so much but the drive from Tacoma was always so long. Great zoo in Portland and again lots of beer. Can't remeber then name of the brew pub but it was underground and by the arena in Portland and if you find it do not not try their "special" beer infused with beef hearts no matter how much they say it's delicious hopefully it was just an experimental thing.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I can't believe no one has mentioned this: you can brew outdoors year around in the pacific northwest. It is rare that winter temps will be too cold to brew. You just may have to do it undercover so you don't dilute your wort with rainwater.

 

[Renoun]

The Portland area is subject to a variety of topographic features that create micro-climates that have varying temperatures, precipitation, fog, and wind. Portland is at the North end of the Willamette Valley between the Coast Range and the Cascade Mountains where the Willamette River joins the Columbia just downriver of Columbia River Gorge (where the Columbia passes through the Cascades). Northeast Portland is probably prone to more extreme highs, lows, and winds but I don't know enough about the suburbs to the west to make specific recommendations.

Lots of terrain features with winter storms coming in from the Pacific creating rain shadows on the leeward sides (to the East or Northeast) so some of the suburbs west of Portland may be close enough to get less rain. Still air can get trapped in the Willamette Valley causing fog and sometimes temperature inversions so elevation above the valley floor can bring sunny and warm winter days when everyone else is in the fog. The predominate summer weather pattern causes higher temperatures in the inland deserts East of the Cascade with cooler temperatures on the coast with Portland fluctuating in the middle and varying winds depending on the temperature differential.

The current treatise on PNW weather is The Weather of the Pacific Northwest by Cliff Mass, a meteorologist at the Univ. of Washington, who blogs too. If you don't have time for the whole book go read the blog post about Lewis and Clark's Big Mistake (explains winter rain in Or. and rain shadows), Secret Revealed: The Northwest Has the Best Summer in the Nation. But Why? (it's sunny/dry, thunderstorms are rare, and we don't get tornados), and Strong Winds in the Gorge and Cascade Gaps (explains the cold winter Easterlies through the Gorge), and Heat Waves and the Thermal Trough (explains summer winds through the Gorge).

 

[captianoats]

Yeah, I'm pretty much pumped for the move. kinda bumbed about no hippies though, my parents drove a VW van when I was a kid, so I have tree hugging roots.


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[Punity]

I think becuase its in Oregon it should be avoided at all costs. Go Sounders!

 

[zzzzzzzzz]

I love the whole area and invested heavily there (property values are up again but still reasonable). Currently live in Hawaii but too hot in summer and huge monsoon rains in winter. I'd rather be in Salem (only 45 mins south of Portland). Easy access to anywhere by hiway, air and numerous universities and the beach (pacific is about 45 minutes away (cloudy and cold but still beach!). Summers about as good as it gets! fishing hunting hiking biking etc all great. Lots of festivals, bike runs etc. Winter skiing as mentioned and time for honey do's. and brewing!
Just my 2cents