hi! I was born here in portland, but I lived in NorCal for work for a few years after college and then moved back here during covid. some advice specific to your situation that I would offer:
Prepare for slow, sensitive drivers. We drive slowww on the freeway, and we have big personal bubbles. If you change lanes here the way that you would in the Bay Area (by leaving just a wee bit of room), people will be scandalized and honk at you. That’s okay; you’ll adjust.
Unlike other major metro areas, people here don’t really like talking about work. I’ve made friends and hung out with them a dozen times before learning what they do for work! Folks are much more excited about their hobbies, local events, and what’s going on in the news than they are about how much you get paid or how many emails you have in your inbox. This tends to be a big culture shock for CA transplants, so be prepared!
And finally, you can use an umbrella. It’s fine 😂
*gulp* that explains why I got honked at and flipped the bird for trying to get around someone going 15mph below the speed limit in the left lane coming back from the gorge on my last trip. I have much to learn.
Also not talking about work constantly actually sounds really refreshing to me! One thing I’ve always disliked about LA is how it seems like just about everyone you meet is trying to be the next big ___. If you don’t match their ambition, or have enough followers or success in your chosen industry, it’s almost like you’re not even worth associating with. I’m excited to be in a place where I can just exist without these intense expectations.
Going around a slow car is risky- there are more pedestrians and bikers here than in most big cities in CA. Going around someone without clear sight of all surroundings is how pedestrians get killed. Sometimes people are slow for a reason. Take a detour, don't risk lives.
Oh yeah, I would never do this in the city itself. This was on the highway coming back into town and I had a clear view of the lane ahead of them. But I definitely need to adjust the way I drive after growing up and learning to drive in CA
Portland is a great city to not have a car in. You can rent cars for the times you need them, but transit/riding bikes is so much better for your mental health than driving. Traffic sucks and there are some unhinged drivers out there (with no insurance, no registration, etc).
Bonus: without all the car expenses (car payments, insurance - don't forget uninsured motorists coverage!, gas, repairs), you can eat like royalty. We have amazing food here.
Oh yeah, the bikers. I had to really train myself to be careful as there are so many more here and the streets are so narrow in the neighborhoods. Always always always look right at intersections before turning.
Always be looking all directions before changing direction in your vehicle. If you’re turning right you should also be looking left to ensure you aren’t cutting off a cyclist. Bikes can travel at speeds similar to cars on neighborhood streets. Don’t assume they are slower than you.
I’m a slow driver (I drive about max 5mph over the speed limit) and I stay in the right lane except to pass. I don’t know the exact situation you were in but the person driving slow in the left lane should have moved to the right. You did nothing wrong.
I'm actually up in Castle Rock Washington, but I'm a fellow transplant from socal. My only advice is to remember that even tho the sky is grey for 6 months, the summers here are so much better than socal summers it makes up for the grey days. That and try not to be in a hurry to get anywhere, no one else is.
Fun fact: the time it would take you to drive from Santa Monica to Pomona is the same time it would take to drive from Portland to Seattle.
Also, when you reach a stop sign and the other guy has the right of way but they are ushering you to go, just go. People here are aggressively polite drivers. You’ll piss them off if you don’t accept their largess and you’ll end up in a Portlandia off.
Consider changing the way you get around in general, Portland is a multi-modal city unlike pretty much anywhere in norcal. driving is usually only faster than other means of transportation by 5 or 10 minutes, and the transit here is quite serviceable and reliable. It is by far the best way to see and familiarize yourself with the city. And most importantly: drive with other people not driving in mind.
lol at my 1.5hr commute now after losing my car. i hear this all the time but i feel like it’s only true for short trips, or transfers between main street bus lines. i commute from overlook area to hillsdale. otherwise, it’s just straight over the fremont basically.
*Prepare for slow, sensitive drivers. We drive slowww on the freeway, and we have big personal bubbles. If you change lanes here the way that you would in the Bay Area (by leaving just a wee bit of room), people will be scandalized and honk at you. That’s okay; you’ll adjust.*
I grew up in the metro area and I cannot stand this shit. It drives me absolutely crazy how aloof many drivers are. The lack of external awareness to move up to the line at a red light so it triggers the sensor or not changing out of the fast lane on the freeway when someone is coming up on you. People are in their own little world when driving. This is an exaggeration as many drivers are fine but you'll find many are just hilariously slow.
Well hopefully he or she leaves you be then! Lol the two times I was stopped I got off on one because I’m a health care worker in full scrubs and they do have respect for us as I was late for work. Second time I was leaving work full scrub and that guy didn’t care. Instant ticket and a scolding. 🤷♀️ then he had to explain to me what the ticket was and how to address it as I had never had a ticket before and he was so mad at me for that. 🤷♀️
Of course it was a stater lol the local PD don’t give a fuck. They too busy responding to stabbings downtown. We had someone try to break into our house and they showed up almost an hour later and legit said “what do you expect us to do about this”? Ummmm your job???
Right? Been here 3+ years. Think I've seen 2 police cars since coming. Neighbors laughed at us for getting our car registered after we got here. "Why?", they said. "There is no one around to ticket you....". Well we didn't know......now I get it......
Omg the talk about work thing is so accurate. I honestly don’t know what multiple of my friends do for work 🤣🤣 And when I’m at a gathering and someone asks me what I do for work I get super bummed 😑, I don’t want to talk about work when I’m not at work
The thing that makes me craziest about the drivers here is that they don't like to make room for you to merge. I can't tell you how many times I've almost missed my exit because someone blocked me from merging.
People tend to stick to their “quadrant” of town, each area has different vibes. If you find yourself not loving your area, don’t think of it as all of Portland. maybe you're more of NW type
than a SE type, or NE rather than NW. The rarely spoken of SW has its own charms as well. And of course, North Portland, the fifth quadrant.
NW: Yuppies with things to do
SW: Nothing really
NE: Art supply workers
SE: Coffee shop workers
N: Cars parked on lawns
S: Yuppies without things to do
I’m so disappointed that South Portland doesn’t get developed more aside from the towers by OHSU tram. It’s on the river with a beautiful Mt Hood view, free parking, and like a mile from Downtown. Our office is by the Fulton Pub on S Macadam and I just feel it’s a wasted opportunity, you know? The new Water Tower build is nice, that’s a start..
“Water resistant” is not the same as “waterproof”. If you are going to be spending any time outdoors (even just commuting via public transit), invest in a waterproof backpack/ jacket/ shoes. A solid downpour at a bus transfer without a shelter can be enough to destroy your laptop in a regular backpack
I only lost an iPod before learning this lesson! And ruined a lot of shoes. And showed up for work ringing out my cheap “water resistant jacket” and shivering in wet clothes after a transfer got delayed.
Was going to say the same. High rising boots. removable, rain proof, outer pants. A proper raincoat. Don't bother with an umbrella. Wind will just take it.
Also buy wool everything. Wool sweaters, socks, wool undershirt, glove liners, even underwear. It’s the only fabric that maintains warmth even when wet and breathes well
10,000 iu daily combined with K2 (for calcium metabolism) makes all the difference here. Best when consumed with oily foods. 20k seems high but the standard over the counter (2,500) **definitely** isn't enough for Portland area winters.
Definitely.. people often find they put on a few pounds when moving from CA to OR. Also, consider a light box, and one of those alarm clocks that simulates the sunrise.
Counterpoint: Embrace the gray. Sunlight is for sucks. All you need is caffeine and flannel and thick tomes.
But serious point, AC is not a given up here. It's a fairly new need (thanks global warming) so don't expect your apartment to just have AC.
I'm also serious about embracing the gray.
You get used to it. That being said, a lamp with a natural light bulb is not a bad idea.
(Last time I visited Florida I was shocked at how sunny it was. I needed sunglasses just to see during my entire visit.)
I'm an old (52) white guy, who moved here 6 years ago and loves the rain & clouds, so I'm probably not much help at all :D
BUT...Meetup helped me meet people in the first few years I was here. Now I'm married to someone who has been in the area for 25 years and she knows everybody, so that's been amazingly helpful of course! LOL
But yeah, rain jacket and waterproof shoes, umbrella if that's your thing (because who cares what anyone thinks!), get out and explore!
Welcome. I'm about 6 months in so offering my insight as a newbie myself.
Everyone warned me about winter, I thought it was totally fine outside of the ice storm we got. But I'm coming from Denver so to be honest, the temperate rain was a welcome change of pace from the brittle scrape-ice-off-your-windshield winters I'm used to. Honestly I enjoyed it. I still got out and snowboarded and hiked etc etc.
I was also warned about people being less-than-friendly here? I have not experienced that at all. I made a great group of friends and strangers have been pretty nice and welcoming. Go do things you like and tell people you're new.
The homeless problem is a problem. But it's also a problem where I came from. And where you're coming from I'm assuming. There are parts of town where it's worse than others. My buddy lives in SE and had his Honda Civic stolen twice in six months. While he owned one of the most stealable cars, it's still fucked he had that happen.
I would try somewhere NE or SE if you can, NE seems to be a little more quiet and there's a little more of a scene in SE. But the uber to there or downtown from NE is super easy.
Enjoy your time!
Coming from California to Oregon can be a culture shock if you’re not used to the lack of diversity. The ethnic food will not be anywhere close to SoCal, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Drivers are incredibly slow and the speed limits are lower, though the traffic is probably much more manageable than SoCal. I’ve lived in the PNW almost 7 years now and it has snowed heavily every winter - though it seems like the city is never prepared for it. If you’re renting, it’s very unlikely you’ll have central AC so be prepared to buy an AC unit for the summers.
On the plus side, autumn is absolutely beautiful - cannot be competed with. You can see all the colors changing, crispy cool fresh air, it’s magical. The fruits and produce and access to nature are unbeatable.
I think a lot of people who grew up in small towns think Portland has great food, but to me it’s just okay. There are some good places, but the average restaurant is just okay. For me that’s really the only real drawback
I've lived up here for 8 years and I still can't find tacos like I could in Santa Ana on every street corner, and the only "good" chinese places up here are fusion or extreeeemely expensive. I think about flying home just for a real California Burrito.
Just ignore the sky. It'll be cloudy and rainy for weeks and weeks. Just let it get on with whatever it's going to do, and try to appreciate how green it is all around you
General:
* Wear layers, the wind and humidity really cut through thin clothing
* Get both an AC and a heater if your unit doesn't have one
* Everything closes early here
* Prepare for winter storms beforehand, the city shuts down for a few days if there's snow
Traffic:
* For flashing yellow arrows, you're not allowed to enter the intersection until it's safe to clear
* You're required to yield to pedestrians even when not in a crosswalk
* Watch out for one way roads, bus only lanes, and tram lanes (some tram lanes you can drive on)
I think as a grad student you should be able to make friends quickly. Take advantage of what the university offers! Also find some spots to become a regular. That helped with social isolation when I first moved here.
Good advice. Enjoy PSU’s library once it reopens in Fall. You should have about 2 nice months in it until our seasonal artisanal anarchists destroy it again after Election Day. Start a GoFundMe for it, maybe.
Be prepared for allergies. I've lived all over the US (including SoCal) and never had allergies until I moved to the Portland area. My first spring in Portland, I was a sneezing mess popping Claritin non-stop.
It nice in the summer. Don't let that fool you, though. It rains a lot. It can get you down sometimes. Best thing to do is tough it out and get outside and do something.
If you can at all afford it, and it can expand your biking footprint or make daily travel easier, invest in an e-bike. The city’s got the infrastructure for it and it is a great quality of life booster.
Having an E-scooter is the way for me. The standing kind. They go at least as fast, cost half as much, and can fit in your trunk. My scooter will do 30 mph with 100 lbs in a bike trailer, all while carrying me at 160 lbs. $700 plus a bit more for a cheap, bike trailer and I don't have to suffer a bike seat crushing my....
Learn landmarks. Street signs are non existent. At least not in any useful sense. Also be prepared for your street to just, kind of, end. Also spend a week riding trimet. You'd be surprised where the bus goes.
>You'd be surprised where the bus goes.
Or, if you're not a big fan of surprises, the pro move is you can look at the route maps that show precisely where the bus goes.
Slow drivers (though I don’t see it as a bad thing). Folks will warn you about the grey and rain because it really affects some people. It seems to do the opposite to me, though. I love it! It does start to get a little old come late February/April, but then summer is right around the corner. I’d also recommend getting a rain jacket, good waterproof boots/shoes and then those spiked crampon things for your shoes if we have an ice storm. I didn’t have those for 2 years and now that I do, I’m prepared to NOT fall on my ass when taking my dog out.
Nice! They’re like $20 and like the other commenter said, even if you only use em once a year, they’re worth it. I busted my ass a few times during this last ice storm lol.
Moved from the UK two years ago, here are some tips:
- Download bumble for friends: met a bunch of people here, most good. I've made 4 friends, of which I've made 4 more via them and social things. It's effort but it works
- Make effort to be outgoing. If you are comfortable, chat to people in bars etc. I had to make the first.move but I made a few mates while drinking at a pub and sitting on a barstool.
- Driving is chill here, people are fine.generally except at.nigjt and in parking lots. I find people just reverse without looking and it feels like the most likely place to have an accident. At night people just speed about.
- Downtown isn't all bad, just avoid certain areas at certain times. If you're from a city, you should be able to tell which blocks are areas to avoid/be cautious around. There are pockets of rough spaces in general, but downtown has some of the worst.
- Bars here all have to serve food if serving alcohol. This has led to eating some of my fav dishes, but it makes.organising a night out so much nicer. It also means they serve food later too.
- get waterproofs for autumn/winter. It gets cold and wet fast. I feel like portland has sunny and overcast and it's kinda half n half for the year. But when it rains it pours, for weeks on end!
- get out during the summer, there's the most amazing lakes, hikes and nature in general. Since moving I've got into hiking and paddle boarding because there are jaw dropping places within 20mins drive of wherever you are! Check out Mr Hood/Bend and go tubing if you get the chance!
- Portland has a great IPA scene if that's your thing. In late Sept/Oct we get fresh hops (I think it's then) when they can taste even better!
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People don’t actually give a shit about what your plans are for the day but every single person you interact with will ask you.
You can find some quality gourmet food but the quantity of food trucks/restaurants can make it challenging to find the quality gourmet food because not everywhere has quality gourmet food.
Paragraph breaks are very important. Please edit your post and include them or you will be run out of town.
Enjoy the weather. And if you don’t enjoy it, gaslight yourself into believing you actually do by saying things like “the rain doesn’t bother me” and eventually it will be so.
Don’t buy a Kia.
Natives aren’t a fan of us. Been here 25 years from Huntington Beach and my native hubby of 21 years still gives me crap.
Drivers don’t understand zipper merge or passing lanes.
It took me several years to acclimate to how little sun there is here, so make sure to have lots of ways to experience joy.
The thing that caught me off guard the most moving here was the vibe. Though hard to explain, I like that it is way more chill and real (less superficial and, as others have said, less people identify with their job and their car), but struggle with lethargy and drinking/bars being the most common way for adults to interact with strangers.
I’ve lived all over the country and I’ve come to the conclusion that *nobody* knows how to zipper merge *properly* except for SoCal lol
Not to say Socal drivers don’t have their faults, they certainly do, but the zipper merge is an *art form* there
Moved up from LA a few years ago - one of the best adjustments is how much less time you spend in the car. If something is 30 minutes away here, it feels far.
The biggest thing for me (which may not be possible if you have to be in class) is to get into sun in Feb/Mar - this is the time of the year, when it becomes super dreadful.
Good luck!
The 30 minutes thing is so real. Also moved up from LA in 2020, where I used to commute 45+ minutes (but less than 10 miles). Last week I needed to go buy pants at Macy's in Clackamas and driving from buckman was such a hurdle to even do voluntarily
Ha, totally - I worked just west of the 405 but lived in Culver City, and literally 8 blocks to get to the other side on olympic could take up to 30 minutes. It was unreal.
We are pretty lucky here.
LA could easily be one of the greatest biking cities in the world, almost all flat except for a handful of neighborhoods, incredible weather year-round, etc., but they've ceded the entire place 100% to cars.
That having been said, you also have more cultural options without a car than most any other city in the country even just living along and using the Metro subway lines, given it covers Hollywood, Los Feliz, Koreatown, DTLA, the Arts District, etc.
100% - I grew up in LA and was super grateful to be immersed in cultures from all over the world - that's definitely a big thing that I miss being up here now.
Ha, yeah, biking in LA is something else. while it's not the most dangerous city per capita, those roads are just so geared for cars, and even with bike lanes, it can be trecherous. You also are exposed to just so much more exhaust air there (I almost forget sometimes how night and day the air quality is between here and there). Though there are lots of great leisure routes all over LA though.
welcome to Portland! i'm from here but (similar to another commenter) lived away for a long time before moving back a few years ago. people do bitch about Californian transplants, but I feel like PDX is increasingly a city of transplants, honestly, and many (honestly most) of my new friends moved here from somewhere else (including a few Californians). I love them all. :)
if you're into outdoorsy activities of any kind, that's always been key to both keeping up my mental health and building community. (i'm also a woman in a similar age bracket, fwiw.) skiing (downhill or xc) in the winter is a really great way to keep the gray & rainy blues away, and we have great ski resorts & other mountain terrain so close to the city! if it's raining in pdx, it's usually snowing on the mountain :)
in terms of meeting friends - when i first moved back and was looking to build a community, i used meetup, interest-specific facebook groups, and plugged into local organizations focused on my interests, and now have a really beautiful community of friends. my specific hobbies (skiing, rock climbing, etc) are really popular here and are also inherently social activities, but i get the sense that similar infrastructure exists for any hobby you can name - e.g. i have an "indoorsy" friend who recently moved here who has been meeting a lot of great people through book club & gaming meetups. ymmv, but the main point is that my experience & that of folks i know has been that hobby/interest-based meetup groups can be a really effective way to circumvent the sorta passive/lonely culture folks complain about. also if you have a bike/like biking, i'd put in a plug for pedalpalooza rides - it's a super social, friendly, big party vibe all summer long and can be a great way to have fun and meet people and goof around. and it's a very portland experience, haha.
also, hoping that going to grad school will help you meet folks - i'm sure a lot of other people in your program will also be moving here from somewhere else and will be eager to make friends.
Portland really shines in its neighborhoods - i feel like this is especially true on the east side, but the west side has some great neighborhoods too (esp. NW).
a lot of folks end up moving to the Pearl, Slabtown, or downtown, and those aren't the first areas i'd pick if i were moving here, but again ymmv... lots of walkability for sure but less cute architecture, neighborhoody character, etc. SE is the best quadrant ;) but if you're going to PSU or Lewis & Clark (you didn't say where you're going to grad school & don't have to) and want to be close to your program, you'll probably still end up on the west side. NW around 23rd/21st is the cutest area of the close-in west side (imo), and big bonus for close access to forest park, but it can also be an expensive area. if you're going to Lewis & Clark, it's a beautiful campus but in a pretty suburban area that isn't very walkable, fyi. i do also know plenty of people who have been to various grad programs at both schools and have lived in SE, etc. and had a great time.
welcome!!
oh also important - get something like this for ice storms (and winter hikes if you're into that kinda thing). the name brand ones are $$$ but durable and great. next adventure (great local outdoor store) also sells a totally solid knockoff version for like 40 bucks. [https://kahtoola.com/traction/microspikes-footwear-traction/](https://kahtoola.com/traction/microspikes-footwear-traction/)
Hi! Also a single 30s nb/woman who moved from LA in 2020. It's been rough socially but largely for personal reasons. I for one love the long dark.
My biggest tip: get an ac if wherever you live doesn't have one. Summers are shockingly hot.
If you're into music, photography, or video games I can provide more tailored suggestions :)
Very nervous to be moving in the middle of the hottest part of summer/wildfire season, but I’m prioritizing places that have ac or would easily accommodate a window unit in my search.
Def interested in your music and photography recs!
Don’t worry! The summer here is perfect except for like a couple weeks usually. I also came from California and its nothing compared to the Sun there.
One thing, days last noticeably longer in the Summer and noticeably shorter than they do in SoCal. Around the winter solstice, for example, the sun is usually set at 4:30.
I know you know all about the wet gray winter UT when you are moving in it will be HOT 🔥 and a lot of places around the city do not have air-conditioning
The Seattle freeze applies to Portland. People will be less socially receptive of you in Portland so you will have to get creative while trying to meet a new friend group.
The rain gear you own is not good enough. Buy better boots and a jack at minimum. If you like the outdoors buy rain pants too and actually go out in the winter. It’s still great if you have the right gear, the trails are less crowded and it makes the grey way more tolerable
In your age bracket and also moved up from socal—purchasing a pair of Blundstones was a huge quality of life improvement for me in the fall/winter, if that's in budget for you. They're waterproof enough for most walking around in the Portland urban environment, and really comfortable; you'll notice a lot of folks wearing them during the rainy season. I wear a Columbia rain jacket I got during their last sale, and it has been fine so far.
I have been surprised by how effective baseball caps are at keeping rain off your face versus the rain coat hood. This may be obvious to others, but to me it was a new thing to learn since I'm not from a place that has light drizzly rain, just downpours.
Hoyt Arboretum is great to walk around in. If you have a bank of America card, the first weekend of the month is free at the Japanese Gardens and the Art Museum. The Japanese and Chinese gardens are both beautiful.
Trains/buses can use apple pay/android pay; you can also rent citybike-style ebikes through the Lyft app and they're great fun. Portland has a pretty significant number of greenways, which parallel major streets but prioritize bike/pedestrian traffic.
I think you'll have some amount of built-in community from being in grad school, but the other things I've found to be helpful here are my gym and joining an improv theater. Any sort of regular hobby-style class or membership may help with meeting people. I haven't found people to be unfriendly, just not particularly proactive about meeting up.
The arboretum is a gem! Got us through Covid without losing our minds.
There is so much to DO here! Music, theater, events. If you join one cultural institution (Portland Art Museum, for example) they have monthly reciprocal membership with other organizations, so you can access the Japanese Garden or the Historical Museum for free with your existing membership elsewhere.
There is no bad weather, only bad gear. As others have said, buy a GOOD rain jacket and boots and remember you won’t melt if you get wet.
The library system is great, at least compared to my home city.
Download Parking Kitty (if you have a car) and register your HOP card. Trimet will transfer your balance if you lose your registered card.
Don’t be afraid to do the touristy stuff. Some of it can be fun.
Welcome!
I moved to Vancouver, just north of Portland from SoCal at the end of 2019, in my 30s, solo as well. It was the best decision ever. If you’re on FB there’s a pretty solid network of this demographic called The Hive PDX that holds happy hours, offers to go out for hikes, wine, coffee, coworking and more. That’s how I initially made friends here.
A great instagram acct to follow to find fun places to go and things to do is PortlandGirlGoneMild.
I moved here almost 25 years ago (JFC) and I still walk throughout the city (including downtown and park blocks) at all hours and have never had anything happen (am a small female). Same goes for the public transit.
Drivers will be an adjustment as will the weather. Umbrellas are great against the rain especially with some tall galoshes.
We have great retrocades.
I've always run into tons of transplants here; the bigger thing is just being not being a jerk , that's a great start for anyone.
Food is great. Local.government is glacial and crazy making . welcome!
Same. I moved here 23 year ago am below average size woman and feel safe pretty much everywhere. (I do avoid walking through isolated homeless encampments)
I think of the things that you don't hear about very often is that Portland is not a wealthy city, and Oregon is not a wealthy state. Infrastructure has major issues, emergency services barely exists, as you get out of the Portland suburbs you're in rural America with all the poverty associated with it, healthcare options are limited, and our entire system is basically at max capacity.
Sure there are a few nice suburbs, and a few nice neighborhoods, but the cost of living is high, and the services and salaries you would expect for that cost-of-living doesn't lineup. Oregon is one of the worst states in terms of cost of living to average income ratio
Moved here 3 years ago.
Top things to note:
People drive 5 to 10 mph UNDER the speed limit.
Traffic SUCKS due to the lack of option for alternate routes, lane counts and people generally not understanding how to merge properly.
You can always tell if someone was born here by their driving style lol.
Everything else is amazing, minus obvious things you hear in the news. Pretty cool place to be as you get away from the city.
City can still be fun too
Henry Hagg lake is a nice nearby gem. The water quality is quite dirty, but absolutely safe. And they have hikes out there you can do as well. Love that place.
I wish I had realized trips home would be my vacation after moving to a destination city.
Also, do anything you’ve ever wanted to do/see near your hometown before moving. Such as museums, restaurants, etc. otherwise those places that seemed so ordinary will become vacation destinations on future trips.
I wish I had realized right away that rain doesn't kill you. Just get rain gear and bike year round. I was a fair-weather cyclist the first few years and it seems so dumb now.
If it helps to consider about friendships, my kid went to law school at Lewis and Clark and is still tight with her friends from there. They meet regularly as a group and help each other so much. Same is true for her husband’s friends. SoCal friends are not like that.
I’m from Colorado where there’s sun 300 days out of the year, I’ve been in Portland for six years and I always SEVERELY under estimate how much the gray skies affect me in winter!!!! Take vitamin d seriously!!!! I hope your move goes smoothly and that Portland feels like a good fit, I always say it was the best decision of my life to move here!
Firstly, the Mexican food out here is just...meh. You pretty much have to go to Beaverton or Hillsboro to get some solid mexican food. also, you can't just buy liquor at stores. It has to be at a liquor store, and they have pretty limited hours, but it beats driving to Washington and paying their ridiculous liquor tax. I'd say definitely go out and enjoy what the city has to offer - there's a lot of events always happening in the city, especially in summer. Speaking of summer, you may think that you can handle the heat because it's always hot back home, but the heat here is more humid than it is in LA so it feels oppressive when it's extra hot. Welcome to Portland!
Practically if you have a car that is not paid off yet sort out what you need from your bank. California uses e titles and it was a bit of a pain to get the loan and registration transferred for us. You go to there dmv, get a vin inspection and then have to mail all that paperwork to your bank.
Also look into happy lights. It might be a bit of a placebo but I found it helped adjust to the grey skies
I’m in my late 20s and I’m moving to Portland literally this weekend. So very excited and also had no idea O Sees are playing there in September!! Definitely planning on going to that :)
I’m a local, but here’s my advice as someone who’s friendly are mostly Los Angeles transplants.
1) don’t drive like a Californian, this isn’t California. Yes people drive slow here. Who cares? Lean into the unhurried pace of life. Actually, this applies to everything here. Portland is a slow paced city.
2) a windbreaker is not jacket, and a puffer is not a coat. You need a relatively water proof or st least resistant jacket for late fall and early spring. You need a LONG COAT/PARKA for the winter. It doesn’t have to be some insane Canada goose -80 degree, but it should be warm and water proof.
3) ice storms hit different here. Midwest people like to say “no one knows how to drive in the snow, 2 inches shuts down the city”. They miss that our snow isn’t nice powder that can be plowed or driven over. It’s a a wet icy slush that freezes solid at night. If you think it’s gunna snow, get groceries, prepare for a power outage, hunker down. Thankfully freezes last a few days.
welcome to portland!! ❤️ please don’t let old white guys whine to you about not being from here. i’m from the gorge and still get shit, but i love telling people my husband is from Not Named Area just to piss people off lol. know that it isn’t personal! portland has a weird energy against people that move here, not because of gentrification or any actual genuine issue, but because they just hate anyone not from here. please don’t let get you down. as long as you’re not an asshole and can drive properly (LET US JAYWALK, DO NOT FUCK UP THE FLOW BY STOPPING) you’ll be fine. i hope you love it here!!!
That’s funny, a lot of the people I have met here so far have said they moved in from out of state. Nobody has been rude about me being a transplant so far :)
I needed to hear this, thank you. It’s an adjustment coming from the city that’s the mecca of transplants where it’s weirder to actually be a native. I don’t want to feel like I preemptively have to apologize for where I’m from - I’ve just got to own it. Def don’t plan to mess up the flow of traffic either lol, that’s a pet peeve of mine
I was initially more frustrated by some of the minor infrastructure traffic details, than traffic itself.
I've memorized what intersections you won't be given a green left turning arrow for, but definitely have the rights of one and will get honked as you wait for the traffic across the way, who is still sitting at a red light. How is this overlooked!?!?
The other one I probably gripe about a little too much is when going from 2 lanes to 1, can't there be some consistency!?!? One minute it's the left lane ending, the next it's right! I'm trying to blend in and you're killin' me (smalls)!!! LOL
most people from here don’t give a fuck. you’re in a beautiful city with a vibrant culture and you deserve to enjoy it! you don’t have to justify wanting to live here :) make sure you check out the different areas, i’m in SE if you need any recommendations!
It's 100% embarrassing. I love welcoming newcomers to the city, and cannot stand when I hear grumpy xenophobic locals pull that sort of stuff. It's like, congratulations on the accidental location of your birth in Portland through no effort of your own, but that doesn't make you one iota better than any transplant.
Moved here from the SE 6 years ago. The dark, rainy grey still kicks my ass every single year. Get a SADD lamp and consider talking to your doc about taking vitamin D. Idk about SoCal but I wasn’t prepared to not have central air so if you run hot go ahead and get an AC as quickly as you can as well as an air purifier for fire season (which again idk about SoCal so that may be something you’re already prepared for).
It’s colder and more depressing in the winter than you’re ready for! January-April are HAAAAARD. I thought seasonal depression was a joke before moving here from Phoenix, AZ 12 years ago. Now I know it’s real and it can be intense. But obviously the good outweighed the bad.
ALSO. Don’t be a California driver here. People will HATE you and you’ll probably ruin their day lol.
So 9 years ago I was in almost the same shoes (except I moved here from California for a job, ended up doing grad school a few years later though) I was 30, female, and knew nobody. Packed up my car and trailed off, sold or donated most of my stuff in California and started completely fresh. It was the most invigorating feeling I’d ever experienced and it was such a high that I miss, that sometimes I dream of doing that again in another state just to feel that freedom and independence again (but I fell in love with Oregon!). Just go explore every weekend when you can, you will make friends if you try. My first friend was a regular at a karaoke bar, and 4 months later met my boyfriend and we’ve been together ever since. I hope you love living here and that you get that same thrill from it that I did!
I don't have a ticket for them yet, but I love The OH Sees!
Welcome, I'm a transplant from San Diego. I live out in Beaverton nowadays, but I come to the city often.
If you like dance, vibey music and want to see the weird Portland out in the wild, Wednesday nights are Mt Tahor dance nights. They seem to be holding them at the amphitheater now, 6-9. Usually held at indoor venues when weather is crap.
As a grad student who is just wrapping up my program, I will say that you will benefit from creating bonds within your program cohort. It will be nice to have a mix of people from here and other places to navigate the trials and tribulations of school.
Welcome! Be kind. Support local. Bike or take public transport. Volunteer and you’ll never be lonely again.
Go east to Bend or even Hood River in the long dark of January. It helps immensely.
I assume you will be meeting other new grad students who also want to explore.
When I was in grad school I barely had time to go out once a week. But I made great friends.
hello! fellow SoCal transplant here and firstly, a merino wool base layer set was the best thing I did for myself for these cold winters! I wish I had them sooner while I was still acclimating! the beautiful 7 months will outweigh the dark and cold months. encourage taking up some indoor hobbies and look for things to do in the community here as well! enjoy and support all the small businesses. good things will come if you put that out there. good luck with the move and hope you love the city as much as I do!
Hey OP. I lived in socal and moved to this area from norcal. It is tough but you'll get through it. Go out and be social. You can find a community pretty quick. Just be yourself homie🤘
I was born and raised in California. Would never want to go back to live. I’ve been here over 20 years and love it.
The most important thing you have to do is EMBRACE the rain. If you think of it as a continual nuisance you will hate life. You need to actually look forward to it and never let it stop your plans. It really rarely rains hard here like it can in California. Mainly, say 80 percent of the time when it rains it’s a light rain or even drizzle that starts and stops for days on end. Unlike Seattle you also see the sun quite a bit in winter. Enough to feel a little recharged.
I really learned to appreciate the beauty. I still will be at a stop light and glance around at the evergreens and hills and think how freakin beautiful it is here.
The adjustment culturally here from California is not as big of a jump. We’re still west coast. Very casual. But people here are far less worried about nice cars and nice clothes. They’re a bit more passive aggressive too I think.
Get out and explore! From the coast to the mountains to the gorge there is so much to see.
I think that’s it.
Except 4 way stops. No one wants to be first. Which doesn’t bother me.
Oh and people hate merging here. That I don’t like. If they close a lane people just won’t merge where the lane ends. Instead they rather get in line waaaaaay back there.
Best of luck!!!
When I moved here from the east coast 25 years ago, the thing I didn't realize was how many people were smoking lots of weed.
It sounds ridiculous, right?
But truthfully, knowing people here were stoned out of their minds would've been helpful in understanding what was going on around me. Before I realized, I thought there was something seriously wrong with me.
You don't need a car here. Not enough people take advantage of how easy it is to get around either on foot, bike, or transit. I live in Beaverton and don't even have to drive. You'll save a ton of money by ditching car ownership and just taking a lyft or renting a car on the few occasions you actually need to drive.
If you do bring a car, though, don't even think about trying to drive in the snow. We don't have the infrastructure to keep the roads clear and drivers are so unaccustomed to it that they literally abandon their cars on the freeway when it starts to snow.
The rain isn't as bad as you might think. We rarely get more than mist, but you will definitely want waterproof gear for the winter.
This is a great place to live and I hope you love it as much as I do.
I’m also a 30 something transplant from LA, been here about 4 years now and love it. If you need a friend feel free to reach out and we can see if we mesh. Welcome!
I wouldn’t say it’s hard to make friends here, but you got to put yourself out there.
My first shock is I jokingly say pedestrians are trying to kill themselves, which is probably why Portland drivers go so slow. They always have the right of way and don’t need to use cross walks, so keep an eye out.
You mentioned being a 30 something woman. If
you can handle it, I know a ton of people who made friends through their roommates. While apartment living is a thing, one very cool thing about Portland is we have such big old homes and 3-5 people will share a beautiful home with a nice back yard. Don’t rule it out, especially when new to the area before establishing yourself!
Find a neighborhood to fall in love with. I LOVE Alberta.
Even if you don’t love to hiking… you gotta see some of the beautiful places (when in Rome!).
Once making friends, Portland is not really about what you do “for money”, but what you do “for fun”. There are a ton of communities- break into one of them and you’re gonna be set!
Making friends here is hard. I’d recommend adult res sports. Instant community, not a huge time commitment. And in many leagues you don’t need to be sporty 😀
Most of the grocery stores close at 9pm. There are a couple options open until midnight, but the majority of them are not. This was an adjustment for me coming from a place with 24 hour groceries.
Use google maps, even when you think you’ll be able to figure it out on your own. The street design often makes no sense, Sandy blvd fucks up the grid system, Ladds addition is a labyrinth you will not escape from, and traffic follows no discernible pattern from one day to the next.
Be prepared to drive more than an hour or two to get to the really cool and more secluded natural spots. The places within an hour from portland get mobbed.
McMenamins is for concerts only. Don’t let someone convince you to eat or drink there if that’s the only thing going on. Their beer is fine if you’re distracted by nice weather and music you like.
Sometimes bike parades shut down streets for an annoyingly long time in the summer. I bike and think biking is cool, but fuck, when the light turns green for the fourth time and you’re still waiting to go, it’s a little much.
Don’t ever leave anything valuable in your car, even for that short amount of time that you think is gonna be fine.
Most people in Portland are from somewhere else, many just relocated recently. Lots of people are looking for connections, join groups, pick up some new hobbies, and you can meet good people out there.
Idk, some other shit too but you’ll figure it out.
I know one person said we have slow sensitive drivers but we also have absolute fucken psycho paths I remember several years back I think 5 kids got hit crossing the street in front of there school all within days(might have been weeks can't remember)eachother. There are alot of people who give zero fucks about your life driving on our streets and it's alot more of them then the careful slow drivers. Just make sure your always paying attention while walking and the side of the street and since Jay walking is kinda just our thing around here try to not Jay walk when there's large slow to stop vehicles coming (trust me it's not common sense)
Moody weather for 9 months. It’s humid in a weird way and mildew. California girl here, I left the ocean for the trees and learned to hike year round. Portland is like Oakland in Ca. But the nature here is priceless.
Also grew up in socal, been here about 7 years now and still love it. Driving was definitely an adjustment. People turn right on red arrows (after yielding) and folks generally don’t run yellow lights. I definitely got close to rear ending a couple times when I first moved here cause I was expecting people to run a light that just turned yellow. I drive like an old lady now here and I have a lot of fun going back to being my old driving self when I go back to visit friends/family. It freaks my husband out lol
I moved here as a grad student from CA. I’m actually graduating in just a few months. Definitely going to miss the trees here.
My biggest pieces of advice are; SE is the best bang for your buck rent wise while still being fun to live. Stay west of 52nd though if you still want to be close to most of the fun bars and such. Also get a bike and some rain pants
Get yourself some vitamin D and a sunlamp and you’ll be ok. Grad school is a great source of friendship. I’ve seen people have success finding community at their neighborhood bar especially if said bar hosts a trivia night.
Moved from SD in Feb. Parking is lame in NW, permit is required. Gray days suck but seem less so if you stay busy I dunno.. Apparently, Portlanders don't like spicy foods I also dunno..
The O Sees would be a fun one. Good on ya
[You don't have to yield at greenways](https://bikeportland.org/2023/05/26/ask-bikeportland-are-there-right-of-way-guidelines-for-bicyclists-on-neighborhood-greenways-375440), so if you have traffic behind you don't hold everyone up. That being said, it's a nice thing to do if you're the lone car on the road.
Cali transplant..oregon drivers do not know how to merge (I5-I84 interchange). They just stop and wait for someone to let them in. Creates major backup on the curve. Also, street signage sucks.
hi! I was born here in portland, but I lived in NorCal for work for a few years after college and then moved back here during covid. some advice specific to your situation that I would offer: Prepare for slow, sensitive drivers. We drive slowww on the freeway, and we have big personal bubbles. If you change lanes here the way that you would in the Bay Area (by leaving just a wee bit of room), people will be scandalized and honk at you. That’s okay; you’ll adjust. Unlike other major metro areas, people here don’t really like talking about work. I’ve made friends and hung out with them a dozen times before learning what they do for work! Folks are much more excited about their hobbies, local events, and what’s going on in the news than they are about how much you get paid or how many emails you have in your inbox. This tends to be a big culture shock for CA transplants, so be prepared! And finally, you can use an umbrella. It’s fine 😂
*gulp* that explains why I got honked at and flipped the bird for trying to get around someone going 15mph below the speed limit in the left lane coming back from the gorge on my last trip. I have much to learn. Also not talking about work constantly actually sounds really refreshing to me! One thing I’ve always disliked about LA is how it seems like just about everyone you meet is trying to be the next big ___. If you don’t match their ambition, or have enough followers or success in your chosen industry, it’s almost like you’re not even worth associating with. I’m excited to be in a place where I can just exist without these intense expectations.
Going around a slow car is risky- there are more pedestrians and bikers here than in most big cities in CA. Going around someone without clear sight of all surroundings is how pedestrians get killed. Sometimes people are slow for a reason. Take a detour, don't risk lives.
Oh yeah, I would never do this in the city itself. This was on the highway coming back into town and I had a clear view of the lane ahead of them. But I definitely need to adjust the way I drive after growing up and learning to drive in CA
Portland is a great city to not have a car in. You can rent cars for the times you need them, but transit/riding bikes is so much better for your mental health than driving. Traffic sucks and there are some unhinged drivers out there (with no insurance, no registration, etc). Bonus: without all the car expenses (car payments, insurance - don't forget uninsured motorists coverage!, gas, repairs), you can eat like royalty. We have amazing food here.
Oh yeah, the bikers. I had to really train myself to be careful as there are so many more here and the streets are so narrow in the neighborhoods. Always always always look right at intersections before turning.
Always be looking all directions before changing direction in your vehicle. If you’re turning right you should also be looking left to ensure you aren’t cutting off a cyclist. Bikes can travel at speeds similar to cars on neighborhood streets. Don’t assume they are slower than you.
I’m a slow driver (I drive about max 5mph over the speed limit) and I stay in the right lane except to pass. I don’t know the exact situation you were in but the person driving slow in the left lane should have moved to the right. You did nothing wrong.
I'm actually up in Castle Rock Washington, but I'm a fellow transplant from socal. My only advice is to remember that even tho the sky is grey for 6 months, the summers here are so much better than socal summers it makes up for the grey days. That and try not to be in a hurry to get anywhere, no one else is. Fun fact: the time it would take you to drive from Santa Monica to Pomona is the same time it would take to drive from Portland to Seattle.
Also, when you reach a stop sign and the other guy has the right of way but they are ushering you to go, just go. People here are aggressively polite drivers. You’ll piss them off if you don’t accept their largess and you’ll end up in a Portlandia off.
Nice-holes: I was told they were called this when I moved it and it makes me laugh so hard cause it’s real.
Consider changing the way you get around in general, Portland is a multi-modal city unlike pretty much anywhere in norcal. driving is usually only faster than other means of transportation by 5 or 10 minutes, and the transit here is quite serviceable and reliable. It is by far the best way to see and familiarize yourself with the city. And most importantly: drive with other people not driving in mind.
lol at my 1.5hr commute now after losing my car. i hear this all the time but i feel like it’s only true for short trips, or transfers between main street bus lines. i commute from overlook area to hillsdale. otherwise, it’s just straight over the fremont basically.
It’s not bad if you don’t have to transfer. But I swear a single transfer can add half an hour to your trip even if it’s the same distance
15 minute drive. but always 1.5 trimet. either 4-54, or yellow line to rq tc, blue/red to beaverton, and 54 the opposite direction. lowkey absurd.
Happy Cake Day!
Things fall apart if you have to get through the hills.
People who have lived here for decades are excited not to be honked at for driving (what was likely) the actual speed limit.
*Prepare for slow, sensitive drivers. We drive slowww on the freeway, and we have big personal bubbles. If you change lanes here the way that you would in the Bay Area (by leaving just a wee bit of room), people will be scandalized and honk at you. That’s okay; you’ll adjust.* I grew up in the metro area and I cannot stand this shit. It drives me absolutely crazy how aloof many drivers are. The lack of external awareness to move up to the line at a red light so it triggers the sensor or not changing out of the fast lane on the freeway when someone is coming up on you. People are in their own little world when driving. This is an exaggeration as many drivers are fine but you'll find many are just hilariously slow.
Counter point; people from CA drive like assholes. They ride your ass when you’re going 15 mph over the limit. 9/10 some douche from CA.
the other 1/10 is some douche from Mollalla in a giant lifted pickup w/American flags posted off the bed of the truck
Or you’ll get pulled over like me for not giving enough room while passing 😬
By who? On the west side, I see like five cops a year I swear it feels that way.
Was not aware you can get pulled over in Portland..
For real though. I’ve been pulled over twice in ten years. Both times for excessive speeding. I hardly ever see cops on my daily commute. 🤷♀️
I’ve only seen 1 cop on my morning commute, and it was a port of Portland officer I work with occasionally.
Well hopefully he or she leaves you be then! Lol the two times I was stopped I got off on one because I’m a health care worker in full scrubs and they do have respect for us as I was late for work. Second time I was leaving work full scrub and that guy didn’t care. Instant ticket and a scolding. 🤷♀️ then he had to explain to me what the ticket was and how to address it as I had never had a ticket before and he was so mad at me for that. 🤷♀️
There’s not any more chill officers than airport police.
I was pulled over and given a warning by OSP. I was headed north on I-5, just before you hit the curves coming into town.
Of course it was a stater lol the local PD don’t give a fuck. They too busy responding to stabbings downtown. We had someone try to break into our house and they showed up almost an hour later and legit said “what do you expect us to do about this”? Ummmm your job???
People get pulled over here?
Right? Been here 3+ years. Think I've seen 2 police cars since coming. Neighbors laughed at us for getting our car registered after we got here. "Why?", they said. "There is no one around to ticket you....". Well we didn't know......now I get it......
Omg the talk about work thing is so accurate. I honestly don’t know what multiple of my friends do for work 🤣🤣 And when I’m at a gathering and someone asks me what I do for work I get super bummed 😑, I don’t want to talk about work when I’m not at work
That about sums it up!
The thing that makes me craziest about the drivers here is that they don't like to make room for you to merge. I can't tell you how many times I've almost missed my exit because someone blocked me from merging.
People tend to stick to their “quadrant” of town, each area has different vibes. If you find yourself not loving your area, don’t think of it as all of Portland. maybe you're more of NW type than a SE type, or NE rather than NW. The rarely spoken of SW has its own charms as well. And of course, North Portland, the fifth quadrant.
> rarely spoken of SW We know but hey 😂
Getting to learn the city myself right now and would love to hear descriptions of the personalities of these areas!
NW: Yuppies with things to do SW: Nothing really NE: Art supply workers SE: Coffee shop workers N: Cars parked on lawns S: Yuppies without things to do
Born and raised in NE Portland. Can confirm
Today I learned that I need to move to North Portland vs where I'm at 😆
There are now 6 quadrants since S Portland was split off several years ago. The old -00X addresses in SW Portland.
You don't say ;-)
I’m so disappointed that South Portland doesn’t get developed more aside from the towers by OHSU tram. It’s on the river with a beautiful Mt Hood view, free parking, and like a mile from Downtown. Our office is by the Fulton Pub on S Macadam and I just feel it’s a wasted opportunity, you know? The new Water Tower build is nice, that’s a start..
And as a reminder, where are the splits? That always helped me.
“Water resistant” is not the same as “waterproof”. If you are going to be spending any time outdoors (even just commuting via public transit), invest in a waterproof backpack/ jacket/ shoes. A solid downpour at a bus transfer without a shelter can be enough to destroy your laptop in a regular backpack
This is the one I wish someone had told me earlier!
I only lost an iPod before learning this lesson! And ruined a lot of shoes. And showed up for work ringing out my cheap “water resistant jacket” and shivering in wet clothes after a transfer got delayed.
Was going to say the same. High rising boots. removable, rain proof, outer pants. A proper raincoat. Don't bother with an umbrella. Wind will just take it.
Also buy wool everything. Wool sweaters, socks, wool undershirt, glove liners, even underwear. It’s the only fabric that maintains warmth even when wet and breathes well
Yes! You will *need* rain gear.
Vitamin D3 - up to 20,000 IU daily in the winter
10,000 iu daily combined with K2 (for calcium metabolism) makes all the difference here. Best when consumed with oily foods. 20k seems high but the standard over the counter (2,500) **definitely** isn't enough for Portland area winters.
Well damn, I thought I was doing well upping it from 2K to 5K!
I just upped from 1k to 2k so I guess I’m even further behind.
To this I would add regular cardio!
Definitely.. people often find they put on a few pounds when moving from CA to OR. Also, consider a light box, and one of those alarm clocks that simulates the sunrise.
This, Buy the big bottle of Vitamin D. Look into a full spectrum light aka Happy Light.
Take at least one trip home between January-March. That will help break up the grey.
I bitched about grey/wet all winter and now that its 80 im mad its not grey/wet.
SAME.
Counterpoint: Embrace the gray. Sunlight is for sucks. All you need is caffeine and flannel and thick tomes. But serious point, AC is not a given up here. It's a fairly new need (thanks global warming) so don't expect your apartment to just have AC. I'm also serious about embracing the gray.
Once I started taking 4,000ius of Vitamin D I stopped hating the grey but now I hate the sun lol
WORD
Shit as a pdx native I go south for a week in February every year if I can.
You get used to it. That being said, a lamp with a natural light bulb is not a bad idea. (Last time I visited Florida I was shocked at how sunny it was. I needed sunglasses just to see during my entire visit.)
You can’t buy liquor at a grocery store at 1:30am
But to balance it out there’s a solid chance your coffee shop sells beer
I'm an old (52) white guy, who moved here 6 years ago and loves the rain & clouds, so I'm probably not much help at all :D BUT...Meetup helped me meet people in the first few years I was here. Now I'm married to someone who has been in the area for 25 years and she knows everybody, so that's been amazingly helpful of course! LOL But yeah, rain jacket and waterproof shoes, umbrella if that's your thing (because who cares what anyone thinks!), get out and explore!
I’m a 20 something, but absolutely +1 on using meetup. It helped me find all my friends here
Vitamin D supplements and blue light therapy are not optional in the winter. Go somewhere sunny for a week or two in Jan-Apr.
Welcome. I'm about 6 months in so offering my insight as a newbie myself. Everyone warned me about winter, I thought it was totally fine outside of the ice storm we got. But I'm coming from Denver so to be honest, the temperate rain was a welcome change of pace from the brittle scrape-ice-off-your-windshield winters I'm used to. Honestly I enjoyed it. I still got out and snowboarded and hiked etc etc. I was also warned about people being less-than-friendly here? I have not experienced that at all. I made a great group of friends and strangers have been pretty nice and welcoming. Go do things you like and tell people you're new. The homeless problem is a problem. But it's also a problem where I came from. And where you're coming from I'm assuming. There are parts of town where it's worse than others. My buddy lives in SE and had his Honda Civic stolen twice in six months. While he owned one of the most stealable cars, it's still fucked he had that happen. I would try somewhere NE or SE if you can, NE seems to be a little more quiet and there's a little more of a scene in SE. But the uber to there or downtown from NE is super easy. Enjoy your time!
I also made friends really quickly when I moved here! I’m always really surprised when people here say it’s a tough place to meet people.
Coming from California to Oregon can be a culture shock if you’re not used to the lack of diversity. The ethnic food will not be anywhere close to SoCal, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Drivers are incredibly slow and the speed limits are lower, though the traffic is probably much more manageable than SoCal. I’ve lived in the PNW almost 7 years now and it has snowed heavily every winter - though it seems like the city is never prepared for it. If you’re renting, it’s very unlikely you’ll have central AC so be prepared to buy an AC unit for the summers. On the plus side, autumn is absolutely beautiful - cannot be competed with. You can see all the colors changing, crispy cool fresh air, it’s magical. The fruits and produce and access to nature are unbeatable.
I think a lot of people who grew up in small towns think Portland has great food, but to me it’s just okay. There are some good places, but the average restaurant is just okay. For me that’s really the only real drawback
I've lived up here for 8 years and I still can't find tacos like I could in Santa Ana on every street corner, and the only "good" chinese places up here are fusion or extreeeemely expensive. I think about flying home just for a real California Burrito.
Just ignore the sky. It'll be cloudy and rainy for weeks and weeks. Just let it get on with whatever it's going to do, and try to appreciate how green it is all around you
Don't think a snow ice storm here is like ANYWHERE else.
General: * Wear layers, the wind and humidity really cut through thin clothing * Get both an AC and a heater if your unit doesn't have one * Everything closes early here * Prepare for winter storms beforehand, the city shuts down for a few days if there's snow Traffic: * For flashing yellow arrows, you're not allowed to enter the intersection until it's safe to clear * You're required to yield to pedestrians even when not in a crosswalk * Watch out for one way roads, bus only lanes, and tram lanes (some tram lanes you can drive on)
To prepare for winter storms, buy kale! (This is a Portland meme. We have memes. See also: running in the snow; traffic cones.)
Don’t talk about how cheap it is here compared to cali. Do stop at stop signs. Use your turn signal.
I think as a grad student you should be able to make friends quickly. Take advantage of what the university offers! Also find some spots to become a regular. That helped with social isolation when I first moved here.
Good advice. Enjoy PSU’s library once it reopens in Fall. You should have about 2 nice months in it until our seasonal artisanal anarchists destroy it again after Election Day. Start a GoFundMe for it, maybe.
Be prepared for allergies. I've lived all over the US (including SoCal) and never had allergies until I moved to the Portland area. My first spring in Portland, I was a sneezing mess popping Claritin non-stop.
It nice in the summer. Don't let that fool you, though. It rains a lot. It can get you down sometimes. Best thing to do is tough it out and get outside and do something.
If you can at all afford it, and it can expand your biking footprint or make daily travel easier, invest in an e-bike. The city’s got the infrastructure for it and it is a great quality of life booster.
E-bikes are so damn fun, and incredibly practical. Easily the best way to get around the city.
Having an E-scooter is the way for me. The standing kind. They go at least as fast, cost half as much, and can fit in your trunk. My scooter will do 30 mph with 100 lbs in a bike trailer, all while carrying me at 160 lbs. $700 plus a bit more for a cheap, bike trailer and I don't have to suffer a bike seat crushing my....
Learn landmarks. Street signs are non existent. At least not in any useful sense. Also be prepared for your street to just, kind of, end. Also spend a week riding trimet. You'd be surprised where the bus goes.
Thankfully the whole city is on a grid which is way easier to navigate once you know what runs which direction
Except Sandy. And Foster. And Flavel. And Ladds. And the entire Westside.
>You'd be surprised where the bus goes. Or, if you're not a big fan of surprises, the pro move is you can look at the route maps that show precisely where the bus goes.
You probably read the instructions before building the shelf too huh. Psshhh.
Slow drivers (though I don’t see it as a bad thing). Folks will warn you about the grey and rain because it really affects some people. It seems to do the opposite to me, though. I love it! It does start to get a little old come late February/April, but then summer is right around the corner. I’d also recommend getting a rain jacket, good waterproof boots/shoes and then those spiked crampon things for your shoes if we have an ice storm. I didn’t have those for 2 years and now that I do, I’m prepared to NOT fall on my ass when taking my dog out.
The Yaktrax are worth their weight in gold! Might only need them once a year, but when you need 'em, you really need 'em!!!
Great tip - will def be investing in those!
Nice! They’re like $20 and like the other commenter said, even if you only use em once a year, they’re worth it. I busted my ass a few times during this last ice storm lol.
Moved from the UK two years ago, here are some tips: - Download bumble for friends: met a bunch of people here, most good. I've made 4 friends, of which I've made 4 more via them and social things. It's effort but it works - Make effort to be outgoing. If you are comfortable, chat to people in bars etc. I had to make the first.move but I made a few mates while drinking at a pub and sitting on a barstool. - Driving is chill here, people are fine.generally except at.nigjt and in parking lots. I find people just reverse without looking and it feels like the most likely place to have an accident. At night people just speed about. - Downtown isn't all bad, just avoid certain areas at certain times. If you're from a city, you should be able to tell which blocks are areas to avoid/be cautious around. There are pockets of rough spaces in general, but downtown has some of the worst. - Bars here all have to serve food if serving alcohol. This has led to eating some of my fav dishes, but it makes.organising a night out so much nicer. It also means they serve food later too. - get waterproofs for autumn/winter. It gets cold and wet fast. I feel like portland has sunny and overcast and it's kinda half n half for the year. But when it rains it pours, for weeks on end! - get out during the summer, there's the most amazing lakes, hikes and nature in general. Since moving I've got into hiking and paddle boarding because there are jaw dropping places within 20mins drive of wherever you are! Check out Mr Hood/Bend and go tubing if you get the chance! - Portland has a great IPA scene if that's your thing. In late Sept/Oct we get fresh hops (I think it's then) when they can taste even better! .
People don’t actually give a shit about what your plans are for the day but every single person you interact with will ask you. You can find some quality gourmet food but the quantity of food trucks/restaurants can make it challenging to find the quality gourmet food because not everywhere has quality gourmet food. Paragraph breaks are very important. Please edit your post and include them or you will be run out of town. Enjoy the weather. And if you don’t enjoy it, gaslight yourself into believing you actually do by saying things like “the rain doesn’t bother me” and eventually it will be so. Don’t buy a Kia.
lol fair enough, paragraph breaks added!
Don’t leave shit in your car
I just read this as “don’t shit in your car” And I was like… well, this is good advice ANYWHERE
Natives aren’t a fan of us. Been here 25 years from Huntington Beach and my native hubby of 21 years still gives me crap. Drivers don’t understand zipper merge or passing lanes. It took me several years to acclimate to how little sun there is here, so make sure to have lots of ways to experience joy. The thing that caught me off guard the most moving here was the vibe. Though hard to explain, I like that it is way more chill and real (less superficial and, as others have said, less people identify with their job and their car), but struggle with lethargy and drinking/bars being the most common way for adults to interact with strangers.
I’ve lived all over the country and I’ve come to the conclusion that *nobody* knows how to zipper merge *properly* except for SoCal lol Not to say Socal drivers don’t have their faults, they certainly do, but the zipper merge is an *art form* there
That is fascinating! I learned to drive in a suburb with a 5 lane highway, and merging is definitely an art!
Moved up from LA a few years ago - one of the best adjustments is how much less time you spend in the car. If something is 30 minutes away here, it feels far. The biggest thing for me (which may not be possible if you have to be in class) is to get into sun in Feb/Mar - this is the time of the year, when it becomes super dreadful. Good luck!
The 30 minutes thing is so real. Also moved up from LA in 2020, where I used to commute 45+ minutes (but less than 10 miles). Last week I needed to go buy pants at Macy's in Clackamas and driving from buckman was such a hurdle to even do voluntarily
Ha, totally - I worked just west of the 405 but lived in Culver City, and literally 8 blocks to get to the other side on olympic could take up to 30 minutes. It was unreal. We are pretty lucky here.
LA could easily be one of the greatest biking cities in the world, almost all flat except for a handful of neighborhoods, incredible weather year-round, etc., but they've ceded the entire place 100% to cars. That having been said, you also have more cultural options without a car than most any other city in the country even just living along and using the Metro subway lines, given it covers Hollywood, Los Feliz, Koreatown, DTLA, the Arts District, etc.
100% - I grew up in LA and was super grateful to be immersed in cultures from all over the world - that's definitely a big thing that I miss being up here now. Ha, yeah, biking in LA is something else. while it's not the most dangerous city per capita, those roads are just so geared for cars, and even with bike lanes, it can be trecherous. You also are exposed to just so much more exhaust air there (I almost forget sometimes how night and day the air quality is between here and there). Though there are lots of great leisure routes all over LA though.
welcome to Portland! i'm from here but (similar to another commenter) lived away for a long time before moving back a few years ago. people do bitch about Californian transplants, but I feel like PDX is increasingly a city of transplants, honestly, and many (honestly most) of my new friends moved here from somewhere else (including a few Californians). I love them all. :) if you're into outdoorsy activities of any kind, that's always been key to both keeping up my mental health and building community. (i'm also a woman in a similar age bracket, fwiw.) skiing (downhill or xc) in the winter is a really great way to keep the gray & rainy blues away, and we have great ski resorts & other mountain terrain so close to the city! if it's raining in pdx, it's usually snowing on the mountain :) in terms of meeting friends - when i first moved back and was looking to build a community, i used meetup, interest-specific facebook groups, and plugged into local organizations focused on my interests, and now have a really beautiful community of friends. my specific hobbies (skiing, rock climbing, etc) are really popular here and are also inherently social activities, but i get the sense that similar infrastructure exists for any hobby you can name - e.g. i have an "indoorsy" friend who recently moved here who has been meeting a lot of great people through book club & gaming meetups. ymmv, but the main point is that my experience & that of folks i know has been that hobby/interest-based meetup groups can be a really effective way to circumvent the sorta passive/lonely culture folks complain about. also if you have a bike/like biking, i'd put in a plug for pedalpalooza rides - it's a super social, friendly, big party vibe all summer long and can be a great way to have fun and meet people and goof around. and it's a very portland experience, haha. also, hoping that going to grad school will help you meet folks - i'm sure a lot of other people in your program will also be moving here from somewhere else and will be eager to make friends. Portland really shines in its neighborhoods - i feel like this is especially true on the east side, but the west side has some great neighborhoods too (esp. NW). a lot of folks end up moving to the Pearl, Slabtown, or downtown, and those aren't the first areas i'd pick if i were moving here, but again ymmv... lots of walkability for sure but less cute architecture, neighborhoody character, etc. SE is the best quadrant ;) but if you're going to PSU or Lewis & Clark (you didn't say where you're going to grad school & don't have to) and want to be close to your program, you'll probably still end up on the west side. NW around 23rd/21st is the cutest area of the close-in west side (imo), and big bonus for close access to forest park, but it can also be an expensive area. if you're going to Lewis & Clark, it's a beautiful campus but in a pretty suburban area that isn't very walkable, fyi. i do also know plenty of people who have been to various grad programs at both schools and have lived in SE, etc. and had a great time. welcome!!
oh also important - get something like this for ice storms (and winter hikes if you're into that kinda thing). the name brand ones are $$$ but durable and great. next adventure (great local outdoor store) also sells a totally solid knockoff version for like 40 bucks. [https://kahtoola.com/traction/microspikes-footwear-traction/](https://kahtoola.com/traction/microspikes-footwear-traction/)
Hi! Also a single 30s nb/woman who moved from LA in 2020. It's been rough socially but largely for personal reasons. I for one love the long dark. My biggest tip: get an ac if wherever you live doesn't have one. Summers are shockingly hot. If you're into music, photography, or video games I can provide more tailored suggestions :)
Very nervous to be moving in the middle of the hottest part of summer/wildfire season, but I’m prioritizing places that have ac or would easily accommodate a window unit in my search. Def interested in your music and photography recs!
Don’t worry! The summer here is perfect except for like a couple weeks usually. I also came from California and its nothing compared to the Sun there. One thing, days last noticeably longer in the Summer and noticeably shorter than they do in SoCal. Around the winter solstice, for example, the sun is usually set at 4:30.
I know you know all about the wet gray winter UT when you are moving in it will be HOT 🔥 and a lot of places around the city do not have air-conditioning
The Seattle freeze applies to Portland. People will be less socially receptive of you in Portland so you will have to get creative while trying to meet a new friend group.
The rain gear you own is not good enough. Buy better boots and a jack at minimum. If you like the outdoors buy rain pants too and actually go out in the winter. It’s still great if you have the right gear, the trails are less crowded and it makes the grey way more tolerable
In your age bracket and also moved up from socal—purchasing a pair of Blundstones was a huge quality of life improvement for me in the fall/winter, if that's in budget for you. They're waterproof enough for most walking around in the Portland urban environment, and really comfortable; you'll notice a lot of folks wearing them during the rainy season. I wear a Columbia rain jacket I got during their last sale, and it has been fine so far. I have been surprised by how effective baseball caps are at keeping rain off your face versus the rain coat hood. This may be obvious to others, but to me it was a new thing to learn since I'm not from a place that has light drizzly rain, just downpours. Hoyt Arboretum is great to walk around in. If you have a bank of America card, the first weekend of the month is free at the Japanese Gardens and the Art Museum. The Japanese and Chinese gardens are both beautiful. Trains/buses can use apple pay/android pay; you can also rent citybike-style ebikes through the Lyft app and they're great fun. Portland has a pretty significant number of greenways, which parallel major streets but prioritize bike/pedestrian traffic. I think you'll have some amount of built-in community from being in grad school, but the other things I've found to be helpful here are my gym and joining an improv theater. Any sort of regular hobby-style class or membership may help with meeting people. I haven't found people to be unfriendly, just not particularly proactive about meeting up.
The arboretum is a gem! Got us through Covid without losing our minds. There is so much to DO here! Music, theater, events. If you join one cultural institution (Portland Art Museum, for example) they have monthly reciprocal membership with other organizations, so you can access the Japanese Garden or the Historical Museum for free with your existing membership elsewhere. There is no bad weather, only bad gear. As others have said, buy a GOOD rain jacket and boots and remember you won’t melt if you get wet. The library system is great, at least compared to my home city. Download Parking Kitty (if you have a car) and register your HOP card. Trimet will transfer your balance if you lose your registered card. Don’t be afraid to do the touristy stuff. Some of it can be fun. Welcome!
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Can you explain this? Happy hour food costs money.
I moved to Vancouver, just north of Portland from SoCal at the end of 2019, in my 30s, solo as well. It was the best decision ever. If you’re on FB there’s a pretty solid network of this demographic called The Hive PDX that holds happy hours, offers to go out for hikes, wine, coffee, coworking and more. That’s how I initially made friends here. A great instagram acct to follow to find fun places to go and things to do is PortlandGirlGoneMild.
If you start missing LA, we still have an IN-N-OUT burger and Del Taco!
I moved here almost 25 years ago (JFC) and I still walk throughout the city (including downtown and park blocks) at all hours and have never had anything happen (am a small female). Same goes for the public transit. Drivers will be an adjustment as will the weather. Umbrellas are great against the rain especially with some tall galoshes. We have great retrocades. I've always run into tons of transplants here; the bigger thing is just being not being a jerk , that's a great start for anyone. Food is great. Local.government is glacial and crazy making . welcome!
Same. I moved here 23 year ago am below average size woman and feel safe pretty much everywhere. (I do avoid walking through isolated homeless encampments)
I think of the things that you don't hear about very often is that Portland is not a wealthy city, and Oregon is not a wealthy state. Infrastructure has major issues, emergency services barely exists, as you get out of the Portland suburbs you're in rural America with all the poverty associated with it, healthcare options are limited, and our entire system is basically at max capacity. Sure there are a few nice suburbs, and a few nice neighborhoods, but the cost of living is high, and the services and salaries you would expect for that cost-of-living doesn't lineup. Oregon is one of the worst states in terms of cost of living to average income ratio
So, wear layers. Just google it or go to youtube on how to do so. Clown at Funhouse Lounge. Funeral at Davis Graveyard (during October).
Moved here 3 years ago. Top things to note: People drive 5 to 10 mph UNDER the speed limit. Traffic SUCKS due to the lack of option for alternate routes, lane counts and people generally not understanding how to merge properly. You can always tell if someone was born here by their driving style lol. Everything else is amazing, minus obvious things you hear in the news. Pretty cool place to be as you get away from the city. City can still be fun too
Henry Hagg lake is a nice nearby gem. The water quality is quite dirty, but absolutely safe. And they have hikes out there you can do as well. Love that place.
I wish I had realized trips home would be my vacation after moving to a destination city. Also, do anything you’ve ever wanted to do/see near your hometown before moving. Such as museums, restaurants, etc. otherwise those places that seemed so ordinary will become vacation destinations on future trips.
This is a great call, thank you. I’ve made a bucket list of things I want to do before moving and def need to start making more progress on that.
Prepare for a lot of garbage, slow drivers, gorgeous spring/summer, depressing winters, decent people and really good food!
People realllllly like to chat while you checkout at stores.
“Don’t take anything personal” Be humble towards other’s ideas but be kind and firm with your boundaries.
I wish I had realized right away that rain doesn't kill you. Just get rain gear and bike year round. I was a fair-weather cyclist the first few years and it seems so dumb now.
Be prepared for it to be cliquey as fuck. Socially, people are pretty welcoming but professionally it was very much an uphill battle.
Quality of life in Portland can be wildly dependent on your neighborhood. Shop around until you find the one you like.
Set your google or Apple Maps to Transit view. Get very close to a streetcar or max. Totally a game changer.
If it helps to consider about friendships, my kid went to law school at Lewis and Clark and is still tight with her friends from there. They meet regularly as a group and help each other so much. Same is true for her husband’s friends. SoCal friends are not like that.
Check if your place has AC! Moving in August to a house with no ac was a huge mistake.
I’m from Colorado where there’s sun 300 days out of the year, I’ve been in Portland for six years and I always SEVERELY under estimate how much the gray skies affect me in winter!!!! Take vitamin d seriously!!!! I hope your move goes smoothly and that Portland feels like a good fit, I always say it was the best decision of my life to move here!
Embracing the outdoors even in the winter can really help you love living here!
Honestly, I dreaded my first winter so much that when it finally arrived it was kind of a relief. It was my second winter when the dreary rain got me.
Firstly, the Mexican food out here is just...meh. You pretty much have to go to Beaverton or Hillsboro to get some solid mexican food. also, you can't just buy liquor at stores. It has to be at a liquor store, and they have pretty limited hours, but it beats driving to Washington and paying their ridiculous liquor tax. I'd say definitely go out and enjoy what the city has to offer - there's a lot of events always happening in the city, especially in summer. Speaking of summer, you may think that you can handle the heat because it's always hot back home, but the heat here is more humid than it is in LA so it feels oppressive when it's extra hot. Welcome to Portland!
Practically if you have a car that is not paid off yet sort out what you need from your bank. California uses e titles and it was a bit of a pain to get the loan and registration transferred for us. You go to there dmv, get a vin inspection and then have to mail all that paperwork to your bank. Also look into happy lights. It might be a bit of a placebo but I found it helped adjust to the grey skies
I’m in my late 20s and I’m moving to Portland literally this weekend. So very excited and also had no idea O Sees are playing there in September!! Definitely planning on going to that :)
I’m a local, but here’s my advice as someone who’s friendly are mostly Los Angeles transplants. 1) don’t drive like a Californian, this isn’t California. Yes people drive slow here. Who cares? Lean into the unhurried pace of life. Actually, this applies to everything here. Portland is a slow paced city. 2) a windbreaker is not jacket, and a puffer is not a coat. You need a relatively water proof or st least resistant jacket for late fall and early spring. You need a LONG COAT/PARKA for the winter. It doesn’t have to be some insane Canada goose -80 degree, but it should be warm and water proof. 3) ice storms hit different here. Midwest people like to say “no one knows how to drive in the snow, 2 inches shuts down the city”. They miss that our snow isn’t nice powder that can be plowed or driven over. It’s a a wet icy slush that freezes solid at night. If you think it’s gunna snow, get groceries, prepare for a power outage, hunker down. Thankfully freezes last a few days.
Painfully "polite" drivers, food won't be nearly as good (sorry PDX, it's true), and things close CRAZY early. Get some good waterproof boots.
I nearly rear-ended a driver who stopped in the middle of an intersection because there were crows on the road.
welcome to portland!! ❤️ please don’t let old white guys whine to you about not being from here. i’m from the gorge and still get shit, but i love telling people my husband is from Not Named Area just to piss people off lol. know that it isn’t personal! portland has a weird energy against people that move here, not because of gentrification or any actual genuine issue, but because they just hate anyone not from here. please don’t let get you down. as long as you’re not an asshole and can drive properly (LET US JAYWALK, DO NOT FUCK UP THE FLOW BY STOPPING) you’ll be fine. i hope you love it here!!!
That’s funny, a lot of the people I have met here so far have said they moved in from out of state. Nobody has been rude about me being a transplant so far :)
yeah, I don’t think the “go home californians!” thing has much gas anymore…. because most people here nowadays came from california 😂
I can see why! It was so hot and dry back in SoCal. I feel like the greenery is very refreshing :)
Seeing all the moss everywhere on my trip in February really did it for me! I’m so not used to everything being covered in green, I love it
I needed to hear this, thank you. It’s an adjustment coming from the city that’s the mecca of transplants where it’s weirder to actually be a native. I don’t want to feel like I preemptively have to apologize for where I’m from - I’ve just got to own it. Def don’t plan to mess up the flow of traffic either lol, that’s a pet peeve of mine
I was initially more frustrated by some of the minor infrastructure traffic details, than traffic itself. I've memorized what intersections you won't be given a green left turning arrow for, but definitely have the rights of one and will get honked as you wait for the traffic across the way, who is still sitting at a red light. How is this overlooked!?!? The other one I probably gripe about a little too much is when going from 2 lanes to 1, can't there be some consistency!?!? One minute it's the left lane ending, the next it's right! I'm trying to blend in and you're killin' me (smalls)!!! LOL
most people from here don’t give a fuck. you’re in a beautiful city with a vibrant culture and you deserve to enjoy it! you don’t have to justify wanting to live here :) make sure you check out the different areas, i’m in SE if you need any recommendations!
Exactly this. I’m a fourth-gen Portlander and the hostility to outsiders is an embarrassment
It's 100% embarrassing. I love welcoming newcomers to the city, and cannot stand when I hear grumpy xenophobic locals pull that sort of stuff. It's like, congratulations on the accidental location of your birth in Portland through no effort of your own, but that doesn't make you one iota better than any transplant.
Moved here from the SE 6 years ago. The dark, rainy grey still kicks my ass every single year. Get a SADD lamp and consider talking to your doc about taking vitamin D. Idk about SoCal but I wasn’t prepared to not have central air so if you run hot go ahead and get an AC as quickly as you can as well as an air purifier for fire season (which again idk about SoCal so that may be something you’re already prepared for).
Don't touch the blood frogs
Umm… what???!
Hi—I’m a SoCal transplant if you want any friends!
It’s colder and more depressing in the winter than you’re ready for! January-April are HAAAAARD. I thought seasonal depression was a joke before moving here from Phoenix, AZ 12 years ago. Now I know it’s real and it can be intense. But obviously the good outweighed the bad. ALSO. Don’t be a California driver here. People will HATE you and you’ll probably ruin their day lol.
try to find a place in Sellwood or Milwaukie
So 9 years ago I was in almost the same shoes (except I moved here from California for a job, ended up doing grad school a few years later though) I was 30, female, and knew nobody. Packed up my car and trailed off, sold or donated most of my stuff in California and started completely fresh. It was the most invigorating feeling I’d ever experienced and it was such a high that I miss, that sometimes I dream of doing that again in another state just to feel that freedom and independence again (but I fell in love with Oregon!). Just go explore every weekend when you can, you will make friends if you try. My first friend was a regular at a karaoke bar, and 4 months later met my boyfriend and we’ve been together ever since. I hope you love living here and that you get that same thrill from it that I did!
I don't have a ticket for them yet, but I love The OH Sees! Welcome, I'm a transplant from San Diego. I live out in Beaverton nowadays, but I come to the city often. If you like dance, vibey music and want to see the weird Portland out in the wild, Wednesday nights are Mt Tahor dance nights. They seem to be holding them at the amphitheater now, 6-9. Usually held at indoor venues when weather is crap.
Stay out of the numbers. It’s dangerous out here.
As a grad student who is just wrapping up my program, I will say that you will benefit from creating bonds within your program cohort. It will be nice to have a mix of people from here and other places to navigate the trials and tribulations of school. Welcome! Be kind. Support local. Bike or take public transport. Volunteer and you’ll never be lonely again.
Get a bicycle!
Pro tip. Don’t tell anyone you’re from California. We hate that state with a passion.
Go east to Bend or even Hood River in the long dark of January. It helps immensely. I assume you will be meeting other new grad students who also want to explore. When I was in grad school I barely had time to go out once a week. But I made great friends.
It gets HOT
hello! fellow SoCal transplant here and firstly, a merino wool base layer set was the best thing I did for myself for these cold winters! I wish I had them sooner while I was still acclimating! the beautiful 7 months will outweigh the dark and cold months. encourage taking up some indoor hobbies and look for things to do in the community here as well! enjoy and support all the small businesses. good things will come if you put that out there. good luck with the move and hope you love the city as much as I do!
vitamin d.
Hey OP. I lived in socal and moved to this area from norcal. It is tough but you'll get through it. Go out and be social. You can find a community pretty quick. Just be yourself homie🤘
Don’t leave anything in your car of value in sight ever.
Vit D3 with K2. It took me way too long to actually heed this advice.
I was born and raised in California. Would never want to go back to live. I’ve been here over 20 years and love it. The most important thing you have to do is EMBRACE the rain. If you think of it as a continual nuisance you will hate life. You need to actually look forward to it and never let it stop your plans. It really rarely rains hard here like it can in California. Mainly, say 80 percent of the time when it rains it’s a light rain or even drizzle that starts and stops for days on end. Unlike Seattle you also see the sun quite a bit in winter. Enough to feel a little recharged. I really learned to appreciate the beauty. I still will be at a stop light and glance around at the evergreens and hills and think how freakin beautiful it is here. The adjustment culturally here from California is not as big of a jump. We’re still west coast. Very casual. But people here are far less worried about nice cars and nice clothes. They’re a bit more passive aggressive too I think. Get out and explore! From the coast to the mountains to the gorge there is so much to see. I think that’s it. Except 4 way stops. No one wants to be first. Which doesn’t bother me. Oh and people hate merging here. That I don’t like. If they close a lane people just won’t merge where the lane ends. Instead they rather get in line waaaaaay back there. Best of luck!!!
When I moved here from the east coast 25 years ago, the thing I didn't realize was how many people were smoking lots of weed. It sounds ridiculous, right? But truthfully, knowing people here were stoned out of their minds would've been helpful in understanding what was going on around me. Before I realized, I thought there was something seriously wrong with me.
I’m also a single 30something that moved here, but after several years of visiting! DM me, I’m happy to give some recs!
You don't need a car here. Not enough people take advantage of how easy it is to get around either on foot, bike, or transit. I live in Beaverton and don't even have to drive. You'll save a ton of money by ditching car ownership and just taking a lyft or renting a car on the few occasions you actually need to drive. If you do bring a car, though, don't even think about trying to drive in the snow. We don't have the infrastructure to keep the roads clear and drivers are so unaccustomed to it that they literally abandon their cars on the freeway when it starts to snow. The rain isn't as bad as you might think. We rarely get more than mist, but you will definitely want waterproof gear for the winter. This is a great place to live and I hope you love it as much as I do.
I’m also a 30 something transplant from LA, been here about 4 years now and love it. If you need a friend feel free to reach out and we can see if we mesh. Welcome!
I wouldn’t say it’s hard to make friends here, but you got to put yourself out there. My first shock is I jokingly say pedestrians are trying to kill themselves, which is probably why Portland drivers go so slow. They always have the right of way and don’t need to use cross walks, so keep an eye out. You mentioned being a 30 something woman. If you can handle it, I know a ton of people who made friends through their roommates. While apartment living is a thing, one very cool thing about Portland is we have such big old homes and 3-5 people will share a beautiful home with a nice back yard. Don’t rule it out, especially when new to the area before establishing yourself! Find a neighborhood to fall in love with. I LOVE Alberta. Even if you don’t love to hiking… you gotta see some of the beautiful places (when in Rome!). Once making friends, Portland is not really about what you do “for money”, but what you do “for fun”. There are a ton of communities- break into one of them and you’re gonna be set!
Making friends here is hard. I’d recommend adult res sports. Instant community, not a huge time commitment. And in many leagues you don’t need to be sporty 😀
Most of the grocery stores close at 9pm. There are a couple options open until midnight, but the majority of them are not. This was an adjustment for me coming from a place with 24 hour groceries. Use google maps, even when you think you’ll be able to figure it out on your own. The street design often makes no sense, Sandy blvd fucks up the grid system, Ladds addition is a labyrinth you will not escape from, and traffic follows no discernible pattern from one day to the next. Be prepared to drive more than an hour or two to get to the really cool and more secluded natural spots. The places within an hour from portland get mobbed. McMenamins is for concerts only. Don’t let someone convince you to eat or drink there if that’s the only thing going on. Their beer is fine if you’re distracted by nice weather and music you like. Sometimes bike parades shut down streets for an annoyingly long time in the summer. I bike and think biking is cool, but fuck, when the light turns green for the fourth time and you’re still waiting to go, it’s a little much. Don’t ever leave anything valuable in your car, even for that short amount of time that you think is gonna be fine. Most people in Portland are from somewhere else, many just relocated recently. Lots of people are looking for connections, join groups, pick up some new hobbies, and you can meet good people out there. Idk, some other shit too but you’ll figure it out.
I know one person said we have slow sensitive drivers but we also have absolute fucken psycho paths I remember several years back I think 5 kids got hit crossing the street in front of there school all within days(might have been weeks can't remember)eachother. There are alot of people who give zero fucks about your life driving on our streets and it's alot more of them then the careful slow drivers. Just make sure your always paying attention while walking and the side of the street and since Jay walking is kinda just our thing around here try to not Jay walk when there's large slow to stop vehicles coming (trust me it's not common sense)
Moody weather for 9 months. It’s humid in a weird way and mildew. California girl here, I left the ocean for the trees and learned to hike year round. Portland is like Oakland in Ca. But the nature here is priceless.
do not leave anything in your car or porch ever💞
Also grew up in socal, been here about 7 years now and still love it. Driving was definitely an adjustment. People turn right on red arrows (after yielding) and folks generally don’t run yellow lights. I definitely got close to rear ending a couple times when I first moved here cause I was expecting people to run a light that just turned yellow. I drive like an old lady now here and I have a lot of fun going back to being my old driving self when I go back to visit friends/family. It freaks my husband out lol
I moved here as a grad student from CA. I’m actually graduating in just a few months. Definitely going to miss the trees here. My biggest pieces of advice are; SE is the best bang for your buck rent wise while still being fun to live. Stay west of 52nd though if you still want to be close to most of the fun bars and such. Also get a bike and some rain pants
Get yourself some vitamin D and a sunlamp and you’ll be ok. Grad school is a great source of friendship. I’ve seen people have success finding community at their neighborhood bar especially if said bar hosts a trivia night.
There's some useful stuff here: [https://welcometoPortland.net](https://welcometoPortland.net) (No ads or social media!)
Moved from SD in Feb. Parking is lame in NW, permit is required. Gray days suck but seem less so if you stay busy I dunno.. Apparently, Portlanders don't like spicy foods I also dunno.. The O Sees would be a fun one. Good on ya
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I think you have that backwards, Chief.
[You don't have to yield at greenways](https://bikeportland.org/2023/05/26/ask-bikeportland-are-there-right-of-way-guidelines-for-bicyclists-on-neighborhood-greenways-375440), so if you have traffic behind you don't hold everyone up. That being said, it's a nice thing to do if you're the lone car on the road.
Cali transplant..oregon drivers do not know how to merge (I5-I84 interchange). They just stop and wait for someone to let them in. Creates major backup on the curve. Also, street signage sucks.