Originally Posted by deltav

Yo Sykkboy, I've lived in Portland for the past 15 years and in Western Oregon for a few longer. I can answer any questions you want, either ask on here or PM me. There are a few other Portlanders too - srockhard, kane, etc.

The natural beauty here is amazing, if that's one of your things you can't really go too wrong. There's a huge variety of landscapes within reasonable distance - coast, mountains, desert, old growth forest, large tracts of mostly unspoiled land - and a lot of pretty nice places to live. In Portland, Eugene, Ashland, etc, it's a progressive vibe but out in the country folks are truly Country, with a handful of back to nature hippie types for good measure.

In an average year it starts raining sometime in November and is pretty cool & damp through probably March. Spring is stormy - 10 minutes of heavy rain, 10 minutes sun, repeat. Honestly every year around mid-February the rain & darkness start to be a grind for me, I'm a sun person though. This year I spent some of the winter in Baja and that did help get my fix. But the payoff is in the summer from July thru end of Sept it's 75-85 & sunny with not a drop of rain, yet everything but the grass is still green & lush from all the winter rain. For that period it's truly the perfect weather. If the rain is a deal-breaker you can always move east of the Cascades where it's much much drier - literally you cross the mountain pass and you're suddenly in an arid climate.

Portland is a great city in many respects, real walkable, green, casual vibe, lots of stuff to do, high quality of life, fantastic restaurants, lots of neighborhoods with their own distinct feel. But it's really changed since I've lived here, the hipster/trendy quotient is thru the roof and in some ways feels like it's becoming a caricature of its former self. Lotta gentrification. I roll my eyes a lot nowadays, might just be getting old tho. Prices are still somewhat reasonable but going up. We're actually thinking about moving to a smaller town in the country.

Seattle is cool if you want a bigger city vibe, but traffic can be horrible and it's got a little less charm IMO. I know many people in Bellingham, it's also nice but the weather there is colder and wetter than even Portland so I could never live there...