Not to mention all of the bicycling stuff that goes on. Being a vegan, there is an awesome vegan community here, with a potluck almost every weekend.
For example:
1. Portland Vegan Iron Chef, for example, went from an idea to an event with a venue that was too small for the number of people that wanted to attend within a matter of a couple of months. SupremeMasterTV even showed up to film it -- not that they are 'mainstream' or anything, but it wasn't just a couple of random people in their garage either.
2. Vegan Convergence went from just an idea that someone was kicking around (the idea that there were a ton of vegans in Portland that he didn't even know -- 'convergence' as in bringing all of the different groups together to expand social circles) to an event in the part w/ 150+ people responding as attending on Facebook (dunno how many actually showed up; there were a lot of people, but people tend to come and go at various times at these types of events).
I guess it just depends on the circles that you are in... I'm sure there are some people that describe <insert name of city> as 'sitting in the garage, drinkin some beer' because that's all they do.
I am a big cyclist (it's my business), and I don't know what other large cities are like, but Portland's bike scene is a disaster. I can't believe the animosity that's been fostered between drivers and bikers, but I went from easily doing 100 miles a week to not wanting to ever get on my bike in about two months. At least a quarter the rides I do involve pretty frightening/stressful situations like being swerved/swore/honked at. Call me thin skinned, but damn these people are nuts.
Can't attest to the vegan thing - I am a reformed vegetarian who enjoys a tasty 5th quadrant burger here and there :) Oh, there we go, the beer! I knew I was forgetting my favorite thing about Portland.
That may be, but coming from Toronto, Ontario, there are a lot of cycling events/rides/etc. It's totally awesome once a year, they shut down the bridges for cyclists (even the I-5 bridge).
Last summer (2009), I was biking a 15 mile round-trip to work, and I wasn't really running into issues, but I was also riding very defensively.
[I will admit that I wasn't a cyclist in Toronto, but -- as I understand it -- it is very bike-hostile (though there are bike couriers). If you think that the west-coast drivers in Portland are crazy, don't move to the east-coast...]
Hey fellow Portlander, I agree I don't think Rose has seriously been to here if that is what he thinks this place is like. There are certainly places in Oregon like that and you can get to them within an hours drive from Portland. That is one of the things that makes this place so awesome.
Comments
I'm in Portland, and I don't think that "chillin in the woods, driking tea, chopping wood" accurately describes it.
Then what else is there? Chillin in a garage, drinkin PBR and working on a fixie?
I think the better things to do here in Portland definitely involve things like chilling in the woods and chopping wood.
Umm, hello? Modest Mouse? Meth?
// nostalgic Portland ex-pat
PDX Ignite, PDX Hack-a-thon, OSBridge, OSCon, etc
Not to mention all of the bicycling stuff that goes on. Being a vegan, there is an awesome vegan community here, with a potluck almost every weekend.
For example:
1. Portland Vegan Iron Chef, for example, went from an idea to an event with a venue that was too small for the number of people that wanted to attend within a matter of a couple of months. SupremeMasterTV even showed up to film it -- not that they are 'mainstream' or anything, but it wasn't just a couple of random people in their garage either.
2. Vegan Convergence went from just an idea that someone was kicking around (the idea that there were a ton of vegans in Portland that he didn't even know -- 'convergence' as in bringing all of the different groups together to expand social circles) to an event in the part w/ 150+ people responding as attending on Facebook (dunno how many actually showed up; there were a lot of people, but people tend to come and go at various times at these types of events).
I guess it just depends on the circles that you are in... I'm sure there are some people that describe <insert name of city> as 'sitting in the garage, drinkin some beer' because that's all they do.
I am a big cyclist (it's my business), and I don't know what other large cities are like, but Portland's bike scene is a disaster. I can't believe the animosity that's been fostered between drivers and bikers, but I went from easily doing 100 miles a week to not wanting to ever get on my bike in about two months. At least a quarter the rides I do involve pretty frightening/stressful situations like being swerved/swore/honked at. Call me thin skinned, but damn these people are nuts.
Can't attest to the vegan thing - I am a reformed vegetarian who enjoys a tasty 5th quadrant burger here and there :) Oh, there we go, the beer! I knew I was forgetting my favorite thing about Portland.
That may be, but coming from Toronto, Ontario, there are a lot of cycling events/rides/etc. It's totally awesome once a year, they shut down the bridges for cyclists (even the I-5 bridge).
Last summer (2009), I was biking a 15 mile round-trip to work, and I wasn't really running into issues, but I was also riding very defensively.
[I will admit that I wasn't a cyclist in Toronto, but -- as I understand it -- it is very bike-hostile (though there are bike couriers). If you think that the west-coast drivers in Portland are crazy, don't move to the east-coast...]
Hey fellow Portlander, I agree I don't think Rose has seriously been to here if that is what he thinks this place is like. There are certainly places in Oregon like that and you can get to them within an hours drive from Portland. That is one of the things that makes this place so awesome.
Last time I was in Oregon I was shocked at the deforestation along the coast. It was really sad.