People have been moving to Portland for hundreds of years, but when I moved there for the first time in 2009 it seemed like it still had so many elements of authentic old Portland left. The Portland that people fell in love with and stayed for. Things like the leafy streets with affordable cute bungalows, transit and bike friendly culture, and an open tolerant community where you could be yourself.
When I moved back to post-Portlandia Portland in 2015 after grad school in London, it had changed a lot and I was not prepared for it at all. The rent had gone up significantly, traffic was horrible, the homeless problem had become significantly worse. The local culture I once loved began to feel like a caricature of old Portland and many of the unique local places had grown into chains and each old streetcar oriented commercial strip began to feel like a twee version of the generic beige Walgreens next to a beige CVS next to a beige McDonald's next to a beige Publix I tried to escape as a Floridian. Instead of those stores it was a ZoomCare, next to a Salt & Straw, next to a Bollywood Theater, next to a Boxer Ramen, next to a Little Big Burger. Portland had been commodified and was ready to be consumed by Instagrammers, Bloggers, and worst of all *shrieks in horror* Californians.
Not all of the change was bad though, many parts of the city were cleaned up and redeveloped in a very nice yet somewhat sterile way. There were more people with good career jobs that reflected the new knowledge / tech / sports apparel economy that continued to cluster in the city which led to a city with a better balance between counter-culture slackers and 9-5'ers. But with the influx of new people there was an erosion of the live and let live mindset the city once had, and in every trendy craft brewery or cold pressed juice shop it felt like all the eyes were judging everyone to make sure everyone is cool enough to belong there.
I left Portland the second time around due to a job related move to Columbus, OH, but I still miss it and would go back for round three. Columbus is okay but there isn't anything captivating about the city unlike Portland which drew me in from the start.
The quality of life in Portland (for an American city) is unbeatable and the access to nature is top notch. Many bigger American cities can't rival it's food scene and music scene. Part of me wants to move abroad but if that doesn't work out, Portland would be my long term pick because even with the new downsides that came with its success it still has the best of everything.
Musical accompaniment from Oregon native Japanese Breakfast:
• Video Link
This thread was hand crafted sustainably using cage free cruelty free fair trade organic vegan gluten free artisanal digital photographs taken locally in Portland, Oregon.
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