Better Place to live: Seattle, WA or Portland, OR?

[DesEtoiles]

[asthmaticeog]

1. I've never been to Seattle, but

the time I spent in Portland pretty much floored me. I can't imagine a better place to be. If Seattle is better, it must be Utopia.

[Omphaloskepsis]

2. My perspective..

I lived in Portland for a few years. And I used to spend a fair amount of time in Seattle. I would go with Portland.

Do you drive? Both suck if you drive. I found Portland's Public transportation to be better. No sales tax in Oregon. Property tax is a bitch though. I think the weather is better in Portland. Our homeless are a little bit more friendly too.

Unless you can give more info about your situation you will not get very good answers.

[SeattleGirl]

3. Portland

And this from a Seattlite! I love Seattle, but I used to live in Portland when they first started to re-do the city, and I think it is a good model for many things, including mass transit.

[enigmatic]

4. I loved Portland

fantastic music scene, and the city itself was beautiful..

[SeattleGirl]

5. Two of my favorite clubs in Portland:

Up the Down Staircase, and The Jazz Quarry. Ever been to either of them? I don't know if they are still there -- I lived in Portland 30 years ago.

[enigmatic]

6. My favorite band is from Portland

Richmond Fontaine:

http://www.richmondfontaine.com/

They play Seatlle alot, too; if you ever get a chance to see them, tell them I sent you!

[SeattleGirl]

8. Thanks enigmatic!

I'll look for them.

[Omphaloskepsis]

7. I have never heard of them..

And I used to look for shows every night in the local papers.

[AlienGirl]

9. Seattle

Portland is nice, but Seattle will always be home for me.

Tucker

[Seabiscuit]

10. So which city has more year-around rain?

[SeattleGirl]

11. I don't think there's much difference. n/t

[Omphaloskepsis]

12. Depends..

Do you care if one city gets 40 weeks of rain and the other only gets 38?

--edit--

In Portland and Eugene I haven't slept with my windows closed in three or four years. It doesn't really get cold enough that a blanket can't warm you up.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. I left Portland because it didn't work on a personal level, BUT...

I think it's a better place to live than Seattle is.

For one thing, it's compact, and still has a small town feel to it, so that if you are well-informed and pay attention, you soon begin to reocgnize all the local characters (the mayor, newspaper columnists, TV personalities) and see them around at various events. Yet it has enough cultural events and things to keep a person busy: theater, classical music and jazz, ethnic festivals, fine restaurants, and a killer film festival.

The public transit system is probably the best of any medium-sized city in the country (beats Minneapolis all hollow), not only four light rail lines and a downtown street car, but also a great bus system. An active Bicycle Transportation Alliance makes Portland a great cycling town, and the city has citizens' groups that provide input on transit, cycling, and pedestrian issues.

Both Portland and Seattle have nasty traffic, but in Portland, it's perfectly feasible to avoid the traffic entirely by giving up driving, which I did for ten years.

I left because all the other aspects of my life fell apart, but I really loved Portland otherwise.

[philosophie_en_rose]

14. Portland.

I love Seattle, but Portland has more amenities.

If you're thinking about Portland, you might want to consider living in Vancouver, Washington. It's just across the bridge from Portland. If you want more of an suburban place to live, Vancouver is nice. The suburbs around Seattle are increasingly expensive and McMansion-y.

If you'll live in the city, I think it depends on which part of town you'd like to live in and whether you'd live close enough to work in Seattle. Portland public transportation makes that a non-issue.

On the purely subjective side, I personally feel like Portland is a calmer and more friendly city.