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No real reason to belabor a Seattle vs. Portland debate. If you like where you live, more power to you. I like where I live too. When I left Seattle to finish school in Olympia in 1993, I felt like it wasn't my city anymore. Nevermind and Microsoft (and Amazon, et. al.) had transformed the place into somewhere where everyone you talked to was sure they were going to "make it big" and the cost of living was just absolutely insane. Two economic crashes later, and I find myself a lot more comfortable when I visit these days, but it's still way cheaper to live in PDX. And there really is more art and music down here than anyone could know what to do with; I can't compare it to Seattle because I'm not that aware of what's going on in Seattle these days. Maybe there is a scene under the surface that rivals what I experienced in the mid '80s before the world caught on and made it unbearably big and miserable. I suspect it's probably more like PDX with a godawful lot of derivative "indie rock" bands filling all the clubs, but if it wasn't I wouldn't know better. I am pretty connected with the experimental and noise scene up there, and there is still more going on down here overall, buy you've got Blue Sabbath Black Fiji and we don't! Portland is actually bigger than Seattle in terms of square feet, but Seattle does have a larger population density, and a way cooler looking downtown (thank you corporations for building those gorgeous black towers!) I moved here partly for the 5 degrees warmer weather, but then it's been raining like a motherfucker here too for the past two years, so, oh well. Live where you are comfortable, I say. Or uncomfortable if that makes you do good things.
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