<p>Easy question, tough answer as both are beautiful cities with a lot to offer in the way of your interests. Probably the best answer is : Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.</p>
<p>Well, Portland is a “river town”, its business community was always sort of more industrial oriented (this was 20 years ago when I visited) and it just had more of a harder edge to it. While Seattle had the grunge groupies and its fair share of hard edged people, there was a huge and vibrant upper middle class/professional crowd, it had NBA/NFL/MLB going for it, a gorgeous waterfront on the Puget Sound with incredible views of the Olympics, as well as looking back on downtown when riding the ferry boats to Bainbridge Island. It was more trendy in my view. But that trendy flavor also got sort of shallow and urbane. And then the people trying too hard to be granola crunchers and Eddie Bauer types. Of course, you find all sorts of people in Chicago, LA, Cleveland, Baltimore, DC, New York, Atlanta, Philly too! </p>
<p>But if I had a choice, I would still pick Seattle hands down. I think there are more opportunities there. Ask me which coast I prefer and I will tell you the Oregon Coast by a landslide.</p>
<p>Yeah, I love the Oregon Coast. Great cheese at Tillamook.</p>
<p>But really though, if you’re from the Northwest, you might consider leaving for another city for the sake of change. I feel like most of folk back home never do that. College is either UO, OSU, or if you’re really adventurous and overachieving UW. If anyone moves from Portland, I think it’s either to Vancouver or Spokane.</p>
<p>Portland can seem charming from the outside, but unless you are a white person from around the Northwest, will find it pretty suffocating. I have to say, being in Chicago for college has literally been a liberating experience. But if I had to choose between staying home or going to school in Seattle, I would have easily chosen the latter.</p>
<p>
Same weather, both very green, but Seattle is more “emerald” with its oceanfront, shopping you might find better to do in Portland since we have no sales tax, but any band that will visit Portland will have visited Seattle before coming (I promise), there are some good restaurants in Portland but I imagine Seattle must have quite a few given its size, obviously plenty of outdoor activities to do right outside of both cities, after all we are the Great Outdoors. I think that’s about it.</p>
<p>gd016, in what way do you think Oregon “is looked down upon”? I have lived here for about 10 years, and my friends in CA and back east have this romantic notion about Oregon and seem to live in a state of desire to someday live in a place like this. And I can understand why they would… this is an amazing place to be in a thousand ways. Perhaps you have the negative bias of the native? I have that for southern CA. In spite of all the appeal it has for so many, as a native I just cannot bear it; the weather, the traffic, the consumer culture, the whole dang deal.</p>
<p>gd016,</p>
<p>I thought Seattle is tucked inside some sort of bay and from there, you have to sail for quite a while before actually being in Pacific Ocean? </p>
<p>OP,
One nice thing about Seattle is you are close to Vancouver–perhaps the most beautiful city in North America.</p>
<p>I’d go with Seattle</p>
<p>Sam Lee - Seattle is on Puget Sound. It’s the Pacific Ocean, but without waves ;)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Seattle is on Puget Sound, you have to go all the way to get to “open water”.</p>
<p>x-posted w/FauxNom</p>
<p>I’ve never been to either (closest I’ve been is probably Sacramento).</p>
<p>However, Portland does have peanut-butter-and-bacon doughnuts. That’s enough to win me over.</p>
<p>The same donut shop also tried to make NyQuil donuts, but the FDA wouldn’t allow it.</p>
<p>I’m still finding it hard to choose with everyone’s comments. I’m from connecticut so either would be a big change for me. I guess portland seems to have the charm of the smaller city with a “funkier” atmosphere than seattle but I’m unsure. I had originally gone to school in brooklyn and although I like being in a big city, I’m pretty sure that’s where i’ll be getting a job AFTER college. So right now, smaller is okay for me, as long as there are still things to keep me occupied.</p>
<p>Weather is a big thing for me, so choosing between the two is tough because neither are perfect as far as weather goes. I’m used to have all seasons and like that, but really don’t want the cold anymore. Rain doesn’t really bother me, but A LOT of it does. I don’t know anything about the weather in either place, and visiting isn’t really in my budget right now.</p>
<p>Finding a good school in either city is also a concern. I’m looking to go somewhere that doesn’t have a ton of required courses ( if i can’t avoid that it’s okay) and I want to be able to take art classes. I just can’t decide if I want to go back to an art school necessarily. I had about a 3.0 in hs and a 1650 on my sats. I would say i’m a decent writer, better in english and science and not so great in math. I was also pretty involved with activities. </p>
<p>I’m not necessarily looking for a party school but somewhere I can enjoy myself and not be too overwhelmed. A school that is somewhat respected is important but not really anywhere too competitive. HELP!</p>
<p>If you’re from Conneticut and you’ve gone to school in Brooklyn, Northwest winners aren’t going to be any colder, probably even a little warmer, than the winters you should be used to. It’ll rain a lot, but the way it rains in the Northwest is frequent showers that clear out and then come back rather than constant pouring. But then again, the Northwest is famous for its rain so make sure you know that before you go. I’m not sure where people get the idea that Portland is “funky,” but it is a small city with charm. Think Seattle as what Portland would be if it grew into a big city.</p>
<p>The only respectable school I can think of in Portland is Reed, which might take you if you do exceptionally well writing your essays, but your numbers are on the lowerside. Otherwise, apply to Portland State and University of Portland.</p>
<p>p.s. Sam,</p>
<p>yeah Seattle is in the Puget Sound area, which is like an inland bay-ish area that’s connected to the the Pacific. Nonetheless, the waterfront that Seattle sits on is technically the Pacific Ocean.</p>
<p>They are both really nice cities. My uncle lives in portland so we are there a lot. In terms of like outdoorsiness and that kind of stuff both cities are really great. They both are very bike friendly and have very large bike/hike/sailing etc communities. I dont think you can go wrong with either city.</p>
<p>Portland is a nicer city than Seattle, in terms of environment. Less crowding, less traffic and less ghetto.</p>
<p>I’m from Portland. I’ve only been to Seattle maybe once or twice, so my opinion is probably not as developed as it could be. However, I do think Portland isn’t a bad place. The weather could be better, but it’s still a decently pretty city, although I think there is a lot more to do in Seattle. I definitely agree with the Portland=funky Seattle=glossy statement.</p>
<p>I have to laugh with gd016’s statement earlier. It’s 100% true that most people in the NW pretty much either dump into OSU, U of O, or UW. I see Portland as this magnetic vortex of sorts. People who live there tend to stick around, but I’m not sure if it’s because they like it or if it’s because it’s a sheltered place that doesn’t necessarily facilitate travel like the east coast does. I can state-hop over here like nobody’s business.</p>
<p>Anyways, Portland’s nice, but it gets stifling after a while, but I prefer it to Seattle, I think. Although, after four years of college so far, I’m beginning to miss Oregon terribly. I’m anxious for Winter Break :D</p>
<p>Portland is a more compact, better planned, and easier to get around without a car. With it’s quaint small city blocks, and light rail transit Portland seems more like a european city.Seattles geography spreads it out and breaks it up more. Seattle is far, far, far behind Portland in urban planning and transit. Portland’s light rail system is considered the model for a small city transit system while Seattle has a “bus tunnel”.</p>
<p>Some of the comments here are laughable.</p>
<p>You should know that;</p>
<p>Portland and Seattle are very similar in climate. Rainy. Frequent rain in winter and lots of overcast days at other times, except for the summer. There are no “east coast” like ghettos in Seattle (certainly nothing like New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury or Hartford), so I don’t know what to think of that nitwit statement either.</p>
<p>Portland is a metropolitan city, i.e. a ‘large city’ just like Seattle but a bit smaller. Both are really pleasant places, for the most part. Although as was said about Seattle earlier, the yuppies and other newcomers have made the place quite pricey in recent years, particularly in the “in-town” neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Moreover, newcomers, particularly folks from back east and the big cities of the Midwest, will find that Seattle is unusually integrated racially, at least residentially (depending on your prior perspective). Although economic integration seems to be rapidly diminishing.</p>
<p>FauxNom, entomon, and gd016… glad to learn something new. :)</p>
<p>How come nobody has given stats? ;)</p>
<p>[Seattle</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle]Seattle”>Seattle - Wikipedia)
[Portland</a>, Oregon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland,_Oregon]Portland”>Portland, Oregon - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I always thought Portland is like a mini-Seattle. I didn’t know it is only slightly smaller than Seattle in terms of city population.</p>
<p>You may like Seattle more.
Although both are nice cities.</p>