I first decided to move to Portland in search of something I’d never had before.
It was almost as if I was effortlessly drawn to all the unique and interesting things this city had to offer. I wanted to experience everything about this strange, rainy city full of coffee, trees, man-buns and hippies. Since calling Portland my home, I could never imagine why anyone would choose not to move to Portland.
It is hard to tell exactly what makes this city so easy to love and it’s even more difficult trying to explain what makes it unlike any other. Portland is undoubtedly weird; it is full of quirky food carts that require you to ride a bike to blend your own smoothies, doughnuts shaped like genitals and free-spirited hippies whose only agenda is to save the last bit of Earth, but the city’s weirdness is only half of what makes moving here so irresistible.
Portland’s atmosphere makes it one of the most captivating cities because there is an undeniable buzz, almost as if some sort of energy drives everyone within the city. It is a city of excitement and restlessness, yet at the same time it remains calm and welcoming.
The streets of downtown Portland provide an electrifying vibe as any random walk can lead to street performers, farmers markets, concerts in the park or rallies or protests. It feels impossible to become bored within the city, yet it never becomes overwhelming. As if perfectly balanced, this city offers the best of urban life while never straying too far from the quiet found in coffee shops.
One of the best things about Portland is that no matter what kind of person you are—a hippie, a hipster, an Earth saver, a liberal, a soccer fan, a basketball lover or a music fanatic—you can find people and places that match your passion. Even if you are a beer connoisseur, a coffee addict, a vegan or a food junkie, you can find hidden gems within the city that will lead you to the right spot and the right people.
And no matter who you are or how you look, Portland will graciously accept you. The people within the city take pride in individualism and not only accept uniqueness but view it as empowerment rather than estrangement. This is a city where you can truly be yourself because we take you as you are.
The city is perfect for introducing you to brand new things. Portland is packed with culture and not only opens you up to new people who come from extremely different backgrounds but can open you up to other ideas and mindsets that once felt foreign. Portland has a sneaky way of bringing new things into your life with all the new opportunities for experience.
Portland has it all. Between coffee shops and bars on every corner, the chance to experience diversity and culture, the art and music and the city’s vibrant atmosphere itself, moving to Portland becomes irresistible.
Dear, it is people like you who are making PDX so much less.
Good for you, Cecily. Thanks for speaking up. Portland has become a place where many are afraid to speak the truth. Political correctness has been nothing but a stealth attack on free speech.
Portland does not need a “move here” advert. We have a crisis-level influx of people moving here at a rate the city cannot manage. All the truly lovely things about Portland are disappearing, like courteousness and affordable housing.
The Portland brand is obnoxious. And if you want to “experience diversity” Portland, as a highly white city, is not the place to do that. Unless, of course, your intention as a white middle to upper class person, is to move into historically diverse neighborhoods for the “diversity feel” making impossible for the locals to afford.
Ugh. I really hope people stop buying the Portland hype soon. People need to mimic what is great about Portland in other places, not suck this city of all its greatness.
I am sure Beverly is a sweet person and means well. But, the idea that Portland is special and unlike other places is a false one. In my 15 years here, the last 5 have totally shifted the authenticity of Portland into Portland narcissism. Being proud of ourselves is not what made Portland great. Being off the radar was. Bragging about how cool it is, is not what makes Portland great, being uninterested in being cool, was.
*sigh*
Classic Portland hipster peer pressure has died. “Come on man, no one else is doing it.”
So true Lola. And so infuriatingly sad and unjust. We have been sold out.
Here’s the thing, Jenee, you are a part of the huge housing problem in Portland, OR. Your obliviousness to it (as evidenced by this article) is infuriating. If you’re going to move to Portland, because you are so *drawn* to the quirkyness, please at the very least educate yourself on your part in destroying the city by pricing all of it’s residents out.
Please enjoy the fruits of all of Portland’s labor, the people who made it great can’t afford to anymore.
Well said, Renee. This place is a disaster. And it is infuriating. Even places like Multnomah falls has to close their parking lots by 10 almost every morning. People drive as if they were insanely aggressive. So sad. What a sham pulled on us by our prostitute political class.
This article is so disheartening. Please do some research and write a more interesting article on the housing crisis you are advertising here.
Such mean responses from the City of Roses.
There is no “back then” everyone keeps referring to. Because “back then” we were still nostalgic about days prior. Until, before long, you’re occupying a wildlfe refuge insisting your precious way of life is under attack.
Quit your protectionism.
Progress has never been comfortable.
Portland has always meant progress – for better or worse. With influences like Nike, Intel, Garmin, NVidia- with a light rail system that has been in service for 20+ years-
Unless you were born in the last 10 years, this is the future we all had a hand in creating…
Portland wasn’t a bad place at all before it turned into this overwhelming disaster. I call it Paradise Ruined. And it is. People like this author, a few million illegal job snatcher, sky-high rentals and housing prices, perpetually clogged streets and highways, multitudes of homeless people who can’t find work or homes (all citizens), homeless vets, seniors , and entire families while public housing is like a foreign country, same with our SS and food stamp offices, thousands and thousand of kids for foreigners paid for with our tax money while our streets are full of pot holes. Any real Portlander will tell you this place is nothing but Paradise ruined.
What a particularly unnuanced and naïve understanding of the space around you. Good job!