Originally Posted by carleton

My first impressions:

- Watch Portlandia on Netflix. It's satire, but Carrie Brownstein is from Portland and nails a lot of the quirkiness of the city.
- The hipster is strong here. Lots of plaid flannel, lots of beards.
- The rain, oh god the rain. You learn to deal with it. People bike here in all weather.
- Nobody uses umbrellas. Umbrella = tourist. This place is a North Face ad.
- Fenders.
- Recycling
- Bring your own grocery bag to the grocery store. God, Portlandia nailed all of this stuff.
- Girls dress more grunge than girly. Not much makeup (if any). I guess it's a functional thing with the rain and all. They all wear boots.
- Lots of great coffee.
- Food carts are freaking amazing...and cheap...and amazing. There are some 1 block from my house in South East that stay open to 3AM.
- The city is busted up into quadrants: NW, NE, SW, SE