Portland OR — Reasons (#7)

Voting Simplicity

A dozen rational reasons to enjoy living in Portland, Oregon: Number seven

Step one: register to vote (like in every state).
Step two: receive ballot in the mail along with booklets detailing all propositions (including pro/con arguments)...about two weeks before election day.
Step three: fill ballot out.
Step four: seal ballot in your preprinted security envelope, sign outside of envelope, and place it inside another envelope.
Step three: mail ballot; or drive to polling station and drop it off at a drive-thru (and save the cost of a stamp); or if you have questions or need assistance you can take it inside and vote in a booth. I mailed mine. This is the easiest, most comfortable way to vote. I can't understand why every state doesn't have this capability.

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. — Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

Why do you live there?

          Most people rarely contemplate the place they call HOME—even less question it.  Many people move away from someone else, while others move to be with a loved one.  We are transferred by our employers (members of the military expect it).  We move to attend university and when obtaining a new job.  Retirees move to live closer to their children or grandchildren.  Elderly move to warmer climates.   Recreational vehicle residents pick-up and go because they can do it fast and the weather is nicer in that direction.  Gamblers relocate to where it's legal.  Farmers flee to get the seeds out of their bones.  Victims of cataclysms depart because they've got no homes.  Homeless vagrants jump-town because the police don't know them there, yet.  Upgrade-moves are made when more elbowroom can be afforded; downgrade-moves, when that space is no longer needed.  The world moves to The City because they have a need to be crushed, in a good way; and leave once they realize getting crushed—even voluntarily—can be unpleasant.  Porn stars gravitate toward the San Fernando Valley, white supremacists to Idaho and bicycle enthusiasts move to Portland (platinum rated since 2003 by LAB).

          Many people never move.  Ever.  They were born in the same hospital as their momma, went to school seven blocks over, graduated, got married, and their children were born there too.  They still are friends with the same people they pushed down at recess.  They drive out of their neighborhood, but only to the nearest market.  And they say, "A one-hour drive?..there better be front-row seats."

          Why do you live where you do?   Do you aspire to move to fulfill a dream or goal?  Have you always loved your environs?  If not, where do you want to move?

more about moving:

before looking for an apartment in Vermont

sometimes it is all ahead of you 

Portland OR — Reasons (#8)

Art Theaters

A dozen rational reasons to enjoy living in Portland, Oregon: Number eight.

Cinema 21, Bagdad Theater & pub, Hollywood Theater, Living room Theater, Laurelhurst Theater, Clinton Street Theater, Mission Theater & Pub, St. John's Theater & Pub—that's eight art theaters. There are also several dozen cinemaplexes throughout the greater PDX-metro area (some devote an occasional screen to foreign/art-house films, one seems to dedicate half of it's screens on a constant basis to art & inde films).

...I want to stay as close on the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center ... big, undreamed-of things—the people on the edge see them first. — Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano (1952)

Portland OR — Reasons (#9)

Urban Boundary Lines (UBL)

A dozen rational reasons to enjoy living in Portland, Oregon: Number nine

Decades ago, urban planners passed laws to control 'urban sprawl' by drawing lines around cities and prohibiting all re-zoning outside the UBL. When communities can't expand, they become denser. The down sides: flag lots and urban row houses. The up sides: when you drive out of the city, the country shows up quickly. Farmers on the outskirts (who would have sold to developers if they could) now sell land to mini-agri-businesses, farm co-ops, and small independent farmers (the direct result of which is almost year-round availability of fresh foods at several fantastic Farmers Markets).

I can't think in terms of boundaries. Those imaginary lines are as unreal to me as elves and pixies. I can't believe that they mark the end or the beginning of anything of real concern to the human soul. Virtues and vices, pleasures and pains cross boundaries at will. — Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night (1961)

Portland OR — Reasons (#10)

No Sales Tax

A dozen rational reasons to enjoy living in Portland, Oregon: Number ten

Oregon is not unique in its lack of a sales tax; other states have none as well. I find it to be a refreshing new-experience to go to the checkout counter and pay exactly the sticker price (especially when the sticker price is large). After living here a while, it may fade into a forgotten bonus, but a quick reminder is always available: shop a few miles north in Washington.

New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become. — Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions (1973)