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<p>Before you call it nitwit, perhaps you should strive to understand what was meant by it.</p>
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Could you be more specific why Portland is better than Seattle in terms of restaurant and music scene? I find that hard to believe.</p>
<p>You might call the UDub area a nice ‘college town’ as it’s about 15-20 min away from the city center. But how can Portland with a population of over half a million be a ‘great college town’? What colleges?</p>
<p>yes, i’m wondering how easily students can get into the city if the school is outside of portland?</p>
<p>I’ll settle this. I lived in Connecticut for 6 years and Portland for 3 years, and now I’m going to school at USC, right in the heart of LA. Portland is sort of like a mini Seattle. I’ll for sure agree with that. In terms of the music scene, both are amazing. Whereas Seattle has a lot of bands come through them, Portland has more bands I think which have originated within Portland itself. Portland State, the University of Portland, the art instititues, lewis and clark, reed, are all in Portland. It’s so easy to get around there due to the light rail system and the buses. Portland is extremely eco friendly and is ranked number one on different best city lists in terms of being clean and green and stuff like that. Imagine you have two band members who started at an Indie label. They became succesfull. Well Portland is like the band member who stayed with the indie label and still made good music, and Seattle is like the other band member who “sold out” to a corporate label and still makes good music, but the heart is fading from it. Southern California is beautiful in the right places. The weather, hot and sunny, or warm and sunny, take your pic. Traffic in LA is horrendous but california does have really good schools. USC is amazing. The weather in Portland? Sure it rains a lot but dude, it isn’t that bad at all. It can be sunny a lot actually, but overcast a lot too. Winters are a joke compared to growing up in Connecticut. Portland is a lot more laid back than the east coast, and has such a cool vibe about it. Seattle does too, but you’re more likely to get lost in seattle. Portland using the analogy of college, is like a really good liberal arts college. Whereas Seattle is like a pretty good public.</p>
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<p>Yea, the beaches and parts of San Diego like La Jolla. But Los Angeles is an ugly city for the most part (unless you are one of those that think strip malls, car wash, gas stations, and those huge and cheesy billboards are pretty to look at)!</p>
<p>Let me preface this by saying that this is just my opinion; I hate Los Angeles, I think it is the ultimate city for the biggest posers in the world and all things cheap and shallow. If I may use an analogy myself, Southern California folk are like the kids who always had their collars popped in high school and tastelessly dressed in Abercrombie from head to toe. It can disappear off the face of the earth for all I care.</p>
<p>Northern California, on the other hand, has an entirely new vibe from what I’ve experienced from the summers I’ve spent in the Bay Area. In many ways, very similar to Seattle in its environment and appearance with authentic culture and friendly people a lot like Chicago (which is also, if you haven’t considered it, an amazing place to be).</p>
<p>At any rate, Portland, in comparison to Los Angeles, is leaps and bounds more authentic and with class. Go to Portland by all means.</p>
<p>AMCIW, has the definition of ghetto changed? Tell me so that we’ll both know what you mean by ‘ghetto.’</p>
<p>Seattle has more natural beauty, the sound and the lakes and more business. BUT it is overcrowded and overpriced. Portland is lower key, has better public transportion.</p>
<p>Both a decent cities, although Seattle night life may be larger.</p>
<p>Kind of depends on who you are/what you want: Seattle is bigger, busier and more metropolitan, while Portland is kind of like a smaller, hipper younger sibling (clearly biased towards Portland, here). As far as weather goes, Seattle gets more extreme both in the summer and winter, where as Portland is more of a constant gray drizzle, which most get used to and some even come to love. Music-wise, I personally think that Portland is a hands down winner - I mean, The Shins, Decemberists, Modest Mouse, M. Ward and Death Cab for Cutie? If you’re into up and coming indie music, Portland is a great place for it. Both cities, though, are great, I’d say good luck deciding between them, but there really is no wrong choice here.</p>
<p>Oh, and reading other posts reminded me of one more thing - money! Portland is hands down cheaper than Seattle. There’s no sales tax in Oregon, restaurants and stores tend to be less expensive/upscale, no ferry expenses, great public transportation (and bike culture!) here eliminates the need for a car, and you can still get a great place in the city without breaking the bank, instead of with Seattle, where you might have to settle for a so-so place out of town.</p>
<p>I think the OP has the answer since this post is over a year old.</p>