Is North Philly a bad area?

Has anyone moved from Philly or NYC area to Portland, Oregon?

• I am looking for feedback from anyone who has relocated from the Northeast (Philly or NY area) to Portland, Oregon area or if you are from the Philly or NYC area and have visited Portland. Any information you can provide would be great on the difference.

• Answer:

  I relocated from the Northwest (Seattle area) to the Northeast (Boston area). I've been to Portland, OR a lot - I have family there. I've also been to NYC and Philly, but never lived there. Portland, OR is MUCH smaller than either NY or Philly. No sales tax in OR. The natural beauty of the area has it all over the Northeast. On a clear day, the eastern horizon is dominated by Mt. Hood. Portland boarders the Columbia River and is 100ish miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. The Columbia is similar to the Hudson river in size. The Pacific Ocean there is FREEZING year round. Nothing like the Jersey shore, more like northern Maine or Nova Scotia water. I would call Oregon in general, earthy crunchy - meaning lots of old hippies eating their granola, wearing their birkenstocks. There is also a big timber industry in the area - see the logging show on the History Channel, that is sometimes shot in Oregon. Which is the polar opposite of the earthy crunchy types. Nothing in Portland like South Philly. It's a young city by comparison, no real "cramped" neighborhoods like that. They have no clue on the west coast how to make a bagel. Historically there weren't ethnic neighborhoods like you find in NY/Philly, i.e. Italian, Irish, Jewish, etc.. If there is one dominate ethnicity in the area it's Asian. The weather is much more mild. Not has hot and humid in the summer or cold and snowy in the winter. Snow is very rare in Portland proper, yet Mt. Hood is snow capped year round. Your about a 10ish hour drive to San Francisco (closet city on the west coast to being like NYC or Philly) and about 2 hour drive to Seattle. No MLB or NFL in Portland, OR - your gunna have to like the SF Giants/49ers or Seattle Mariners/Seahawks. They do have the Trail Blazers.