Natural beauty, Rain, great Parks & Rec programs, public transport...

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

I mildly disagree with this statement. From my experience living east of the Mississippi River, Portland is not typical of communities of similar size. When I moved to Portland, it was so refreshing to live in an urban city that didn't have the extreme stratification and total isolation of economic / cultural / racial groups due mostly to 'white-flight' to car-is-king suburbia. I found Portland **not** to be typical, plus the inner core of Portland (like the Pearl, NW 21st-25th, SE Hawthorne St., and NE & SE 28th street ) to be much more economically and culturally integrated than I ever witnessed in places like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, or Detroit.

Albeit there is an occasional West-side, West-slope, chauvinism that peeks through now and then. But that is low level background noise compared to the economic devastation and cultural ruin the inner cities east of the Mississippi experienced in the last 60 years. Whole 'nother level of intensity of stratification and isolation of the citizens of a community; nothing like I found in Portland.

Phil

My entire post was in regard to crime and the safety which is what the OP was discussing and the comments I was quoting. It wasn't a comment about social stratification, cultural climate or racial groups in the city. I think these do differ from other cities I have been in.