Now that I’ve been in Portland for three weeks now, I’m beginning to figure out how things work. Traffic is heavier than I remember, and there’s a LOT more upscale development than I remember. And there are far fewer brown faces here than I’m used to seeing in and around Houston. To say that Portland is significantly less diverse than Houston would be something of an understatement.
Beaverton, the suburb of Portland in which I now reside, has changed a lot. Yep, we done got us a Hooter’s and a strip club just down the street, right next to the Social Security Administration office. Odd sort of symmetry, that. Not only that, there are more coffee shops- mostly Starbucks- around this town than you could reasonably hope to keep track of. I suspect it’s the climate, but my caffeine consumption has closed to tripled since I moved here. I’m not at all certain that’s a good thing, but it seems almost to be a necessity. When it’s grey, cold, and drizzling, you’re not going out to Marble Slab for ice cream.
Driving here is a lot easier than it is in Houston. Traffic is an issue, of course, just as it is everywhere you go. What I’ve noticed here, though, is that drivers are more relaxed, more polite, and they generally drive much slower than is the norm in Houston. Perhaps it’s just that the distance involved are shorter. People here are far less likely to drive 50-60 miles to work than people in Houston, mostly because this is a smaller metropolitan area.
Yeah, it’s colder here (though it was 75 and sunny yesterday), and the suns generally shines less, but, like anywhere you go, there are plusses and minuses. I have to wear a couple more layers here, but I don’t miss Houston’s humidity. And then there are the mountains. I LOVE the mountains, and yesterday gave me a phenomenal view of four- Rainier, Baker, St. Helens, and Hood. Unlike Houston, which is as flat as a three-dollar bill, there are elevation changes aplenty in these part- some of them quite spectacular. It’s one of the things I really enjoy about being here.
No life here in Portland isn’t perfect, but so far so good. I won’t go into the reasons why, but things could always be better, right? That’s why they make lottery tickets…. :O)
