“How does Portland sound to you?” In the weeks leading up to my college graduation, that was the question I was asking everyone. I had no job and no promising prospects, but I needed a change. I couldn’t afford to stay in San Francisco, and I certainly wasn’t going to move back to my hometown of Sacramento. In the end, I figured I didn’t have anything holding me back. I transferred my retail job at the time to a location in Portland and had a best friend there who said I could crash on her grandparents’ couch.
When I moved to Portland in the summer of 2015, it was at the height of the great Portlandia pilgrimage, when nearly 41,000 people had the same idea as me. I fit nicely into the flock of California transplants who were looking for a fresh start. Like the way you’re received at most places you move to, I was greeted with the ever-so-sarcastic yet earnestly curious “Oh, you’re from California?” The question was often asked with a smile, the person visibly fighting off the urge to include an eye roll.
If I were to compare Portland to San Francisco, I’d say Portland is like your friend’s hippie mom who likes to make her own detergent, and San Francisco is the guy you bought weed from for the first time when you were 18.
Despite the influx of Californians migrating to the Pacific Northwest, I had a fairly easy time fitting in with the Portlandia culture. Plus, it was shiny and new. If I were to compare Portland to San Francisco, I’d say Portland is like your friend’s hippie mom who likes to make her own detergent, and San Francisco is the guy you bought weed from for the first time when you were 18. Both are extremely cool and alluring, but one is definitely edgier with a sense of excitement.
In Portland, it didn’t take long for me to feel liberated to grow out my armpit hair and make my own soap. Portland’s pace is easier to ease into if you’re new. San Francisco, on the other hand, is eager to keep running, and you have to be ready to dive in headfirst.
In San Francisco, it was always hard for me to find some kind of extracurricular activity that I could ease into that wasn’t cliquish. I didn’t fit into the yoga scene, and I was too scared to ride my bike on the streets. Everyone I talked to had been doing things like that for a long time and were borderline professionals at their sport of choice. The people of Portland are more inviting when it comes to outdoor activities. Someone is always inviting you on a trip to Mt. Hood or to go fly-fishing, hiking or something involving all of those at once.
San Franciscans are active, but I’ve never felt pressured to take on outdoor activities like I have in Portland. You gotta get that REI membership, bro! If you’re not hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing, biking or dabbling in all of the above, you’re doing something wrong. I guess that’s because in Portland you have access to almost every outdoor sport imaginable, all within a five-mile radius of wherever you are. In Portland, you’re a half-hour drive from the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood, where nature offers you drunk tubing during the summer, skiing in the winter and hundreds of historical trails for year-round hiking.
Since moving to Portland, I’ve taken on a lot more activities that I never would have thought of doing while living in San Francisco. In fact, I’m getting ready to go mushroom-picking this weekend. The weather up here has been one of my favorite parts too. No longer is my seasonal depression plagued by a constant visit from Karl the Fog; rather, I’m surrounded by a very colorful wheel of changing trees and constant rain.
There are some parts of San Francisco that I miss. I miss fresh donuts from Bob’s, seeing a double feature at the Castro on a Friday night and the hum of street cleaners going by at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. But sometimes I wonder if that longing comes from my own nostalgia for my college days. Leaving San Francisco felt like a healthy breakup in a weird way. I’m happy where I am now, but sometimes I still look back and think, “Damn, I wish I could be at Bob’s right now.” Voodoo Donuts will never compare to the majesty of Bob’s. Just don’t tell them that.
My years at the Academy of Art University and living in the city shaped so much of who I am today as a person and a creative. San Francisco’s fast-paced livin’ taught me how to be on my toes and act on chances. I’m not intimidated by the vastness of a city and always willing to explore.
I cried a lot while deciding if I should move or not, but I’ve never regretted my decision.
On my very first day in Portland, I took the MAX (Portland’s version of Muni) downtown and road my bike around to explore. One thing I said to my friends while preparing to move was “I’m gonna ride my bike in Portland for sure! They don’t have hills like we do!” Wrong. So wrong. I was winded, stressed out and on the verge of tears because I had no idea where I was. I thought, “Why am I doing this?” But a kind woman at a MAX stop saw that I was in distress and helped me find my route home. And then I remembered that all of this was for change and adventure.
I cried a lot while deciding if I should move or not, but I’ve never regretted my decision. San Francisco is not the same city as it was when I left. I’ve been able to visit a couple of times over the last few months, and San Francisco is almost unrecognizable to me. A lot of my favorite businesses are gone and or closed due to rent increases, and a lot of my friends have moved to Oakland. Some are jaded and never want to go back because of all the changes. I don’t blame them.
Portland isn’t perfect either, though. It has undergone many changes during the last two years since I’ve lived here. The cost of living is increasing. Things are becoming more compact, more expensive and in higher demand. My favorite food-cart lots are disappearing. And locals are becoming increasingly upset, just like back in the Bay. But in the end, it’ll be OK. I think. I hope.
Moving to Portland was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, but I’ll never forget how San Francisco shaped me into the cool, streetwise Cali kid who I still am today. But Portland, you brought out the earth-loving, socks- and Birkenstocks-wearing, mushroom-picking side of me that I never knew I had. I’m glad I can have the best of both worlds.
