A new version of the same old question

[urbpan]

What am I going to miss, when (if) I move to Portland from Boston? Bonus points for not saying anything about cold or snow or sports since I hate those things.

(cross-posted to Damnportlanders)

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/purplebunnie_/]

Red Sox.

Or not at ALL.

[drocera.livejournal.com]

Mass-hole drivers.

[takarosa.livejournal.com]

Accents.

Fall color spectacular.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

The seasons, spring and fall.
The great museums and art culture in Boston.
The social circle you currently have.

[wandererrob.livejournal.com]

The sunny and courteous disposition of the drivers and the cheerful calls of "hello neighbor!" as you walk down the street?

Oh wait, we're missing those now. Good luck in Portland!

[hhw]

(relatively) cheap airfares to more places

if you partake, Burdick's chocolate shop (I am addicted to their shaved chocolate for making hot chocolate and so have to arrange for restocking once or twice a year)

I disagree with donnad on the absence of spring -- it's my favorite season, and Portland has lots of it, often from February into June. Fall, however, is more subtle here than in New England.

Going to the beach in the summer is different here; it's almost never as hot as it can be on the east coast. The water is almost always much colder -- too cold for me to be comfortable going all the way in -- with large, sometimes dangerous waves. and there's usually a strong breeze. I love visiting the Pacific coast, but it's really not the same as going to a beach in MA, and I do miss being able to do that a couple of times a summer.

If there's more higher ed in your future, Boston certainly has many more options than Portland does.

Being proud of your state for supporting equal rights (e.g. marriage)

chipmunks, cardinals, blue jays

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Many Boston suburbs believe street signs are only useful for invading outsiders -- if you belong there, you should know what street this is.

Yes, Cambridge, I'm looking at you ...

Plus, the overwhelming majority of the streets were laid out by early American cows, and show it.

[miz-geek.livejournal.com]

Being a relatively short drive from your folks.
People who talk funny.
People who don't think that YOU talk funny.
Sunshine?
Wildlife of the Eastern US.
All the places that you frequent where they know you (if not by name then by face) - your favorite restaurants and stores and all that crap. Not that you won't find new ones, but you'll still miss the old ones. And it'll take a while to get the new ones all nice and familiar. Admittedly, this last part isn't Portland-specific, but still, moving as an adult is stressful in all sorts of weird ways.

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

You'll miss the Atlantic being accessible by subway You'll miss being in or near the settings for most Lovecraft stories. Fter a few years, you'll miss the snow, but when you go to it, it won't seem like the right kind of snow. You'll miss your Boston friends. You'll miss being a few hours drive from mom and dad.

I think you'll gain a lot more than you'll lose.

[hhw]

I don't know whether this is something you'll miss, but a difference I hadn't considered until I experienced it is being on the west side of the time zone, which shifts the clock time of sunrise and sunset to be a bit later than if you're on the eastern side of the time zone. So today, for example, the times are 7:49 AM PST and 4:46 PM PST while it was 7:13 AM EST 4:30 PM EST in Boston. Portland is not as far west within its time zone as some places in the east; for example, here's today's times in Kalamazoo, MI: 8:10 AM EST and 5:28 PM EST.

Obviously latitude is another factor in this as well, the overall length of day being a bit shorter here today than in Boston. But you'd get those minutes back in the summer, when the longest days are a little longer.

ah, and thinking about sunrise and sunset reminds me that the first few years I lived here, the association of ocean & east was strong enough in my brain to frequently screw up my efforts to refer to directions. I knew which way to point towards the Pacific ocean, but I kept calling the opposite direction "west".

Why move to Portland?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi -- I'm a friend of HCs who moved from Portland to Boston about a hundred years ago (or 1984, whichever came first).

Let me see...in Boston...food and rent are more expensive, people are ruder, and drivers are way wackier. You'd have to get used to driving politely and not jaywalking.

However -- it really does drizzle for months on end (October 15 to July 15, in my recollection). Winter is 41 degrees and drizzly. It doesn't really rain hard enough to get in the way of doing things, but it can wear on the soul.

What would you miss? Probably not much -- Portland now has good food, good music, a fair bit of funky culture, and farmers markets that I covet mightily. However, you won't see those crisp, blue, midwinter days; and in the fall, the green just dulls a bit -- none of those astounding New England autumn colors.

Should you move there -- let HC know and I'll introduce you to my favorite professional dogwalker...

mll

[propaddict.livejournal.com]

"Park your car in Harvard Yard. By the water.":)


Maybe I'm just antisocial, but I have never gotten used to saying "Hello" to EVERYONE I pass on the street. There is a lot to be said for the quite, reserved New England demeanor.

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

NOTHING...hehehehehe

[deederange.livejournal.com]

I've never been to Portland, so I don't know what it has to offer. But having left the Boston area 9 years ago, I still, with every breath I take, desperately miss:

-- Independent book stores (like that wicked neat sci-fi book store in Harvard Square)
-- Independent coffee houses (like that one in Porter square with the bright colored somewhat smelly couches)
-- Sundays on the Charles when they close off the street and turn it into a park where you can skate and stuff
-- The art museum, the museum of natural history, all the rest
-- Independent music stores (is Disk Diggers still there? I loved that place. There used to be an insanely cute guy with long black hair who worked there. I would go in and buy CDs just to gaze upon him LOL :-)

I live in FL now, and the only benefits to being here are the weather and having found the love of my life. I guess it's a fair trade. :-)

WAY OUT WEST

[(Anonymous)]

Hey Jef. This is Max in Seattle. I moved(along with Amanda and our son Myles/...remember?) out here from Brookline in 1997. You know what I miss most? Not much. Sure, the same type of urban sprawl exists out here, but the geography of this area prevents it from growing TOO widespread. Also, the beer brewed around here(esp. in the Portland area) is DEE-LICIOUS! Here in Seattle, I've got Scarecrow Video, possibly the GREATEST collection of rental films in the world! The weather is milder all the time. In about 3 hours time, I can get from snow-covered MOUNTAIN peaks, to a dry desert climate, to the Pacific Ocean, to a full-on RAIN-FOREST out on the peninsula. The Oregon coast is fuggin' beautiful! The downside: Seattle is a MUCH younger city, so lots of things already established on the east coast are not really in place yet(i.e. good mass transit) Portland has a great train system, though. I went back east last year for a wedding, and you know what? Although the trip was very beautiful, fun, etc. the joint had changed so much that it no longer felt like home anymore...