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Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

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Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#31

Post by wglb »

Portland is a wonderful city in a wonderful state. I spent several intern quarters there, and have friends from there.

Two interesting tech startups that have connections to Reed College, which is not known as a tech school are Tektronix which was started by a physics PhD candidate who needed the tools (so the story goes) and Apple where Steve went to school. Tektronix is credited with starting the Silicon Forest.

One suspects that this is less well known as part of a conspiracy to guard against Californification of the state.

Speaking of food, does anyone remember the "Heavy Number Taco Company" chain which used old gas stations?

Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#32

Post by mtrichardson »

kscaldef wrote: post #23
mikeryan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upmodded for calling out the "nice climate year-round" bit. Portland can be miserable with rain.

Portland gets the same amount of rain as New York, but it hardly ever rains hard, and many people manage without even owning an umbrella. It doesn't get very cold in the winter, and there's typically only a week or two of 90+ weather (with low humidity) in the summer. Personally, I enjoy the seasonality far more than the uniform sunnyness of (parts of) California.

I made the mistake of buying an umbrella in Portland after living here for about a year. The sales clerk grinned slyly at me when I was checking out and said, "So, you're from out of town, eh?"

You just don't really see that many umbrellas here (especially outside of downtown).

[edit: basic grammar]

Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#33

Post by didip »

Portland have diverse neighborhood; classic suburb (beaverton), edgy & expensive (pearl dist. & uptown), hip (NE & SE). But whereever you live there are a lot of coffee shop and bar that have free wireless, perfect for late night hacking with friends.

Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#35

Post by davidw »

kscaldef wrote: post #23
mikeryan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upmodded for calling out the "nice climate year-round" bit. Portland can be miserable with rain.

Portland gets the same amount of rain as New York, but it hardly ever rains hard, and many people manage without even owning an umbrella. It doesn't get very cold in the winter, and there's typically only a week or two of 90+ weather (with low humidity) in the summer. Personally, I enjoy the seasonality far more than the uniform sunnyness of (parts of) California.

> Portland gets the same amount of rain as New York, but it hardly ever rains hard,

Yes, that's precisely the problem. Instead of a brief downpour, you get a week where it sprinkles on and off and it's cloudy the whole time.

Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#36

Post by davidw »

olefoo wrote: post #14
davidw wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I grew up in a mid-sized town several hours away, Eugene? That's where I'm from. > nice climate year-round, Let's be honest, if it were, then it would be inundated with people because it is a nice place in so many other ways. It's not, though, IMO; it's gray and drizzly from October to early summer (and usually stops raining the 5th of July). If people don't mind that, it's a great place, though, although it does t…

I'm in Eugene now. And it's got a fair number of tech companies and branch offices (aka. telecommuters). If you are there and want to connect with the local tech scene there is a monthly tech brewpub hosted by http://itproforum.org

I'm in Italy now, actually, but I'll look you up and buy you a beer if I'm ever back there.

To me, Eugene was always kind of frustratingly way too laid back. It never seemed like people were doing things.

Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#38

Post by reidab »

thesethings wrote: post #27
callmeed wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

might be referring to voddoo donuts http://voodoodoughnut.com/ could be wrong though ... every time I try to go there, the line is around the corner

Yeah, there can be a wait. Did you know they have a second location eastside now?

... and a mobile doughnut truck.

Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#39

Post by jasonkester »

kscaldef wrote: post #23
mikeryan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upmodded for calling out the "nice climate year-round" bit. Portland can be miserable with rain.

Portland gets the same amount of rain as New York, but it hardly ever rains hard, and many people manage without even owning an umbrella. It doesn't get very cold in the winter, and there's typically only a week or two of 90+ weather (with low humidity) in the summer. Personally, I enjoy the seasonality far more than the uniform sunnyness of (parts of) California.

Portland rain is strange. It's never actually raining, but it has always just rained.

I lived and worked downtown for several years, walking to work every day. In that whole time, I was actually rained on during that walk maybe a dozen times. I have no idea how this works, but it does.

It can rain all day every day for a week, while somehow never actually raining on you.

Northern England, on the other hand, goes out of its way to rain directly on you whenever you try to get out and do anything.

Re: Portland, Oregon, is (one of the) most entrepreneurial towns in the world

#40

Post by schammy »

davidw wrote: post #36
olefoo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Eugene now. And it's got a fair number of tech companies and branch offices (aka. telecommuters). If you are there and want to connect with the local tech scene there is a monthly tech brewpub hosted by http://itproforum.org

I'm in Italy now, actually, but I'll look you up and buy you a beer if I'm ever back there. To me, Eugene was always kind of frustratingly way too laid back. It never seemed like people were doing things.

Eugene is fully of hippies and it drives a man insane. It's a huge stereotype but it's absolutely true. I grew up there and lived there for 18 years. My parents still live there. Everytime I visit all I see are damn hippies everywhere. I can't stand it.
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