Marcel's Blog

Yep the rumors are true, we have moved to Portland, Oregon We’ve been considering this move for quite some time now; in fact we almost moved to Portland initially instead of Seattle but thought a larger city would have more to offer us. Seattle is a great town and does have a lot to offer, but there were too many factors working against us to make it the right place to call home. If you read my last blog you know the top ten up’s and down’s of Seattle already; unfortunately (at least for us) the up’s were overshadowed by the down’s, so here we are 180 miles south

Portland is everything we expected Seattle to be and more. It’s a much smaller town with a more distinct personality, but still has plenty to offer. Some of the things we were looking for in Seattle were the ocean, an outdoorsy vibe with cool ski/hike type of people (like Denver), good food, hot job market, and reasonable real estate. These things never materialized in Seattle, at least not to our satisfaction, but in Portland we have found “new cheese”. A few days ago we went to the Oregon Coast which is only an hour drive away. It is the real Pacific ocean (not just Puget Sound ), and probably the best scenery anywhere on the west coast. I’ve seen some beautiful coastlines before but the Oregon Coast rivals anyplace I’ve visited.

The city of Portland is much smaller and more condensed that Seattle. The vibe here is very liberal and eco-friendly. Portland does have its fair share of homeless people and weirdos, but I think California has us beat by a mile in those departments. Speaking of California I kind of felt like Seattle was very comparable with L.A, and Portland is more comparable with San Diego, or if you prefer Seattle=NYC and Portland=Boston. If you are familiar with those places you kind of get the idea of the different type of city Portland is compared to Seattle. I actually feel like Portland is a cross between Florida, Colorado, and California, basically all of my favorite places rolled into one

Some of the things our visitors can look forward too if they come visit us in Oregon are great food, 1 hour drive from the famous Oregon Coast, 1 hour drive from Mount Hood, 1 hour from the Columbia gorge and Hood River area, Oregon beer & wine tours, and Crater Lake NP just a few hours drive south. Seattle is 3 hours north, Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier are both within a 2 hour drive. The Columbia River is the largest river in the Western U.S and you can ski year round on Mt Hood- just make sure your picture doesn’t show up on CNN
http://traveloregon.com/
Did I mention the food? It is sooooo gooood It turns out Portland is one of the top culinary hotspots in the country. If that isn’t good enough it is also the microbrew capital of the country and boasts a decent wine country to go along with that. “Why yes, I’ll have some wine with my new cheese ”.
http://portlandfoodanddrink.com/
The job market here is also very healthy and we are already in a better financial position than we were in Seattle despite some setbacks from the process of relocating. The Portland real estate market is about the same as it was in Denver, or about 30%+ cheaper than Seattle. That means we can finally buy a house YAHOO

The question people are probably wondering is if we regret the last year we spent in Seattle. Of course not! We love NYC but neither of us can imagine living there which is kind of how we feel about Seattle. In other words Seattle is great to visit but Portland feels more like home. Despite our criticism of Seattle we met some great people, saw some beautiful places, and had lots of cosmic adventures (don’t get me started on the pizza delivery stories or snowboarding in the rain ). The Seattle metro area is very large so there are tons of things to see and do. Instead of twin cities the metro area is kind of like a quintet of cities starting with Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, and then you can throw in Bellevue which is the major city on the East side. Each city has its own large downtown and individual tourist attractions. We’ve seen most of the museums and other sites the region has to offer but still have a few more on the list. Undoubtedly we will be back to visit on occasion. As for Oregon we are just beginning to scratch the surface here so there will be much more to come. For now I’ll leave you with a top ten tribute to Seattle listing some of our favorite places to visit in the area.

1. Pikes Market- The must see site in Seattle, you can spend all day here. http://www.pikeplacemarket.org
2. The Space needle and EMP (experience music project) The space needle speaks for itself but the EMP is really a site to be seen, especially if you are a music lover.
http://www.spaceneedle.com
http://www.emplive.org/
3. The museum of Flight in Seattle- One of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to. http://www.museumofflight.org
4. Woodinville Wine tours, we went to Columbia and Michelle St Chateu. For Beer there is The Redhook brewery and Mac and Jacks in Redmond.
http://www.woodinvillewinecountry.com
http://redhook.com/
5. The Seattle waterfront including the Aquarium, Curiosity Shop and Ivars.
http://www.yeoldecuriosityshop.com/
http://www.seattleaquarium.org/
http://www.ivars.net/
6. Olympic Sculpture Park, also on the waterfront but on the north end of town.
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/OSP/AboutOSP/default.asp
7. Snoqualmie Falls- west of Seattle and even nicer if you take highway 202 East Lake Sammamish Dr from Redmond.
http://www.snoqualmiefalls.com
8. The parks of Seattle. Our favorite is the very unique Gasworks park on Lake Union. Golden Gate, Seward, Point Defiance in Tacoma, and Deception Pass on Whidbey Island are all very nice too.
9. The unique neighborhoods of Seattle. Queen Anne, Freemont, Ballard, Wallingford, The U district, West Seattle, and on the East side downtown Kirkland.
10. Islands in the sound. There are dozens of islands to visit in the sound. Some of them require a ferry ride, and others can be reached by bridge. We have only visited Whidbey and Camano island so far but supposedly the San Juans are the nicest.
http://www.islandweb.org/parkattractions.php
http://www.guidetosanjuans.com/

Bonus Seattle Restaurant recommendations
Tutabella- real Napolitian style pizza
Preets in Redmond- Great Indian food
Nevilles English pub in Redmond- A little piece of the UK, best fish and chips in town
Ivars- a Seattle staple of seafood whether it is the restaurants or fast food version
Typhoon- Pretty darn good Thai place in Redmond and they have one in Portland too
Lowells in Pikes Market, check out the view while eating your fish and chips
The Brooklyn downtown Seattle- Garlic fries oh my!
What the Pho in Bellevue- Funny name, tasty noodles
Pagliachis or Jet City Pizza for Take out pizza- don’t forget to tip the pizza guy