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Moving advice: Seattle or Portland?

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I just got back from the south and I was amazed at how much friendlier people were compared to Portland(where I live now). People in service industries here can be downright rude and a lot of the strangers aren't much better.
I moved to Portland from the south because people were nicer to me when I visited.

It's up to whether you prefer people actually being nice and tolerant and cool or if you just like them to be fake to your face. Not everyone's going to like you, but the people who do here will be legitimately fucking awesome to you.
 
I just got back from the south and I was amazed at how much friendlier people were compared to Portland(where I live now). People in service industries here can be downright rude and a lot of the strangers aren't much better.

Yea, 'fuck you for ordering your coffee here' syndrome is pretty common. I think it's kind of nice that people here wear their disdain on their sleeve. Constant rain and a surfeit of post-adolescents with attachment disorders will do that to a city.
 
I been to both cities. I enjoy both. But if I had to choose, its Seattle all the way. Lovely city. But the biggest thing for ME is outside of Portland got nothing going for me. Washington itself I have friends and family around in the state itself, so I am definitely bias. Plus I love going to Alaska :P
 
Man I'm going to the wrong coffee places. Been met with nothing but nice folks.

It's because you use real american paper money, but I'll tell you what, nothing beats tipping your barber by the clink of an old fashioned slaver's token. Some just don't take kindly to that kind of creative problem solving
 
Serious question, how can y'all up there deal with the days when it is grey or in the winter when there is a short amount of daylight. Isn't the sun up for only like 7 or 8 hours in the winter?

Seattle and the surrounding areas are still beautiful even when grey outside. You can go hiking comfortably well into Winter, it never gets too cold in the middle of it, and then for the rest you drink coffee, watch lots of TV and movies, and go out to the amazing restaurants and bars.
 
Whitest big city, hmm. But I'm guessing it's very un-racist and accepting there?

Mostly? Weirdly enough there's a sort of hyper-old-fashioned-red-state gauntlet surrounding Portland. There are also some sort of fake-ass nerd culture bullshit types who are scared of rap and the Chinese and whatnot, but that's everywhere. Portland is mostly pretty progressive.
 
Mostly? Weirdly enough there's a sort of hyper-old-fashioned-red-state gauntlet surrounding Portland. There are also some sort of fake-ass nerd culture bullshit types who are scared of rap and the Chinese and whatnot, but that's everywhere. Portland is mostly pretty progressive.

Police in Portland are pretty bad. Although Seattle might be worse.

Pot is legal in Seattle!
 
As a native Oregonian, i never understand when i see people freaking out about the pumping gas thing, isn't it nice you can be lazy and let someone else take care of it for you? Plus it creates a lot of jobs, and in this state, that's a good thing.
 
As a native Oregonian, i never understand when i see people freaking out about the pumping gas thing, isn't it nice you can be lazy and let someone else take care of it for you? Plus it creates a lot of jobs, and in this state, that's a good thing.

I hate it. It's always so awkward. If I'm on a long trip I want to get out of my car anyways and stretch my legs.
 
As a native Oregonian, i never understand when i see people freaking out about the pumping gas thing, isn't it nice you can be lazy and let someone else take care of it for you? Plus it creates a lot of jobs, and in this state, that's a good thing.
As someone who's never had someone pump my gas for me before, the only thing I thought about was if I had to tip. Since that's not an issue, it sounds pretty sweet.
 
Personally, I don't think you could go wrong either way, but I prefer Portland (the fact that I live here could bias my answer though...)
 
Also, in a few months time you will love coffee shops and go there all the time. That's whether you choose Portland or Seattle. I am addicted. There are like 5 -6 coffee shops within close distance of my apartment.
My sister lives in Seattle and there is literally a coffee shop right next to her house. They like it. They get free internet from the coffee shop. Every time the coffee shop changes the password for the wifi they take their laptop down there order a coffee and get the new password.
 
Personally, I don't think you could go wrong either way, but I prefer Portland (the fact that I live here could bias my answer though...)
Does it ever end up feeling too small to you? Or is it diverse enough that you never really care about it? Atlanta always had a good duality to it, Midtown felt small and tightknit but the surrounding areas were all spread out and full of stuff to do.
 
Seven or eight hours of sun would be a banner day during the winter. We stay inside most of the time and drink a lot of coffee and/or alcohol. Like they said in Men in Black, you'll get used to it or you'll have a psychotic episode.

I think that's probably the best description of living in the Pacific Northwest I've ever heard.
 
If you end up in Portland i'll smoke you a bowl and you'll drink lots of good beer. Fire on the mountain and the timbers and good hiking and a pretty decent balance between night and day life good times.

If you end up in seattle you'll get a lot of the same in a slightly larger and more generic way along with a little bit more disparity between the poor parts of the city and the rich as hell parts of the city.

Find the spot with the best job and try it out. As far as "sister cities" kind of go... the migration from one of these cities to another is probably the easiest out of any big 2 places in the country. They can be shockingly similar.

Timbers games are pretty fuckin awesome.
 
I always wanted to go to one of those famous Donut shops in Seattle. Besides that, I have no interests into ever going there.
 
Top Pot is good, is it really famous? It doesn't strike me that way. I also work a block away from the downtown top pot, so my office has some in every day. Guess they become normal after a while.

Never tried mighty O
 
Top Pot is good, is it really famous? It doesn't strike me that way. I also work a block away from the downtown top pot, so my office has some in every day. Guess they become normal after a while.

Never tried mighty O
I don't know if it's famous but when I went to visit my sister, it's one of the places she wanted me to try out.
 
there are much more interesting things in seattle than donuts
I'm sorry, but The Killing really tainted your city for me. Plus, I hate the weather over there.
Top Pot is good, is it really famous? It doesn't strike me that way. I also work a block away from the downtown top pot, so my office has some in every day. Guess they become normal after a while.

Never tried mighty O

I just heard about it and thought it was famous.
 
That's a good question. How about someone answer which is a cooler place, artistically or just have cooler people. Nicer atmosphere, vibe, anything else besides "OH THERE ARE HIPSTERS LURKING".
 
I've lived in both cities my entire life. Grew up just outside of Portland, in Vancouver, WA. Went to school for about seven years in Seattle.

Both are great cities, great food, great beer, great entertainment, great gaming scenes. Portland has a little better traffic and is more bike friendly - but Seattle is pretty good for bikes, too.

Portland is a little cleaner, IMO.

Portland has a lower cost of living, for the most part. And no sales tax - offset by income tax.

I found Portland to have kinda shittier people. It's kinda weird. Seattle seemed a bit more laid back. If there were walls, people were really cool once they brought them down. Portland drivers suck ass, too. But, agin, it kinda depends on the neighborhood you settle into. Seattle did seem to have A LOT of people with schizophrenia, mental issues. Haha, some of the buss rides were pretty epic. I remember seeing someone get into an argument with a tree, lol.

Portland is pretty hipster and I'm not a big fan of that. It's kind of like, "a sea of conformity disguised as individuality."

Both put you an hour or two from Mountains, beaches, deserts, etc if you're an outdoor type.

I'll be honest, I preferred Seattle more. Though, I lived in the Fremont neighborhood and it was probably the best years of my life. Went to school at the Art Institute and UDUB and being around that community. Portland is a bir more "intimate" but also seems a little "colder" in terms of people. A lot will depend on teh job you land, too. But yeah, I loved Seattle.

Edit: Would it be possible to spend a week, or even just a few days in each city to just feel the vibe? It's like a three hour drive between the two.

Edit 2: OH, i forgot. Seattle is starting a MAJOR waterfront redesign / revitalization project in downtown. I'm trained as a landscape architect and having sat in on a lot of meetings and debates regarding the project. It's being done by James Corner Field Operations, they've done some really sick shit, like the highline park in manhatten. Here's the conceptual design which is to be completed in a few years.
corner_waterfront_fit_600x600.jpg
 
I hope to be moving to Seattle maybe next year or the year after, but I guess Portland wouldn't be a bad second choice (well, Denver is up there too).
 
Portland is a smaller city with more personality and better mass transit.

In Seattle, you can get virtually anywhere within a 25 mile radius of downtown (including across the water) via public transportation, and all using one card with reasonable rates. When I think of 'Better public transportation than Seattle', I think Tokyo, not Portland.

I think frost donuts in mill creek might be better.

I live three blocks away from Frost, and I still prefer Top Pot. But only just.
 
Just moved to Seattle a few months ago after wanting to for many years.

One of the best things I've ever done. Love it here.
 
Yeah, but our income tax is a higher percentage than Washington's sales tax. If you want to play the tax angle, Vancouver, WA is practically a haven, most areas are a 10 minute drive from Portland.
Your right, I forgot about income tax and all that. Vancouver is one option, but I think city of Portland is trying to do stuff that discourages that.

Serious question, how can y'all up there deal with the days when it is grey or in the winter when there is a short amount of daylight. Isn't the sun up for only like 7 or 8 hours in the winter?

Prolly closer to something round 10hrs, but I don't really keep track. It isn't 100% grey all the time, and sometimes it really can depend in winter. We have had years with lots of clear skies and lots of grey ones. Me I really like the cloud cover, though I don't like anything really that is partially cloudy.
 
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