It's a bummer that Portland isn’t working out for you, but I appreciate you writing this post for others considering the move. Sometimes, just going by Reddit posts mostly, I get the feeling people move here with this idealogical, fairlytale that Portland will somehow make things better for them. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Although, in my opinion, Portland is what you make of it.

I moved here six years ago with ZERO expectations. Basically, I lived in the Deep South, had been laid off, my boyfriend broke up with me, blah, blah, blah – my life was total shit. I had a couple of old buddies that lived here who said come on out and I did. It was tough, I’m not gonna lie, for the first year. I worked a shitty part-time job that actually ending up opening a lot of doors for me. Ten months in, I met the absolute love of my life and we’re together five years later. We live a too-small apartment that is a bit overpriced. Fortunately, not as bad as I read about everyday. So at least there’s that.

I’ve come to realize, though, that Portland is slowly being killed by all the people moving here – i.e. traffic and overpriced housing. Traffic doesn’t affect me too much because I’m a Trimeter for life, yo, but the friends being priced out of neighborhoods they’ve lived in for years really hurts. I will never own a home here, as much as I’d like to. It just won’t happen. I’m not leaving Oregon though – it’s a big place and I will find my home here somewhere!

Home is where you make it and you can find what you’re looking for somewhere, even if it isn’t Portland. Just make it happen  Good luck!