Portland, OR

I was born & (essentially) raised in Oregon. (I spent time in Florida, in Alaska, and growing up, spent a year in Vancouver as well.) I went to college in Corvallis and moved to Portland in 2004, soon after graduation. I fell in love with Portland immediately, and for a long time I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Lately, however, I’ve been feeling this weird pull away from my beloved city, and have been contemplating moving. I’m back in school and so in my mind, I’m staying in Portland until I graduate. I’ve been thinking a lot in the past few weeks of where I would move to. I’m at a loss. I have no idea what city would afford me the luxuries that Portland does.

I’m an hour from the ocean.
I’m an hour from skiing on a volcano.
I’m able to hike in my own backyard.
I can be in the most pretentious bar ever, walk to the next block and be able to dance the night away to 80’s music.
I am surrounded by the smartest, and the strangest people I’ve ever known.

Why would I want to move, right?

and more importantly:

Where would I move to?

I did a “where should I move to?” search just to see what I came up with, and I think I’m the last person in the world to know about Find Your Spot. Seriously, why didn’t I know about this site before. I spent about 15 minutes taking their quiz to find out where I should live, and here are my answers - with some oh-so-smart-ass-commentary to

1. Norfolk, Virginia - Uhm, okay. I know that I would have to learn to say “Nore-fock” instead of “Nore-folk” … and that would make me laugh. Plus, it snows here. 7″ of snow a year. Uhm, that’s a lot for me.

2. Portland, Oregon - Well I’m glad to know that I’m living in the appropriate city.

3. Cincinatti, Ohio - Not Columbus? That’d be more fun. I have friends who live there. It snows in Cincinatti, too. Plus, I don’t like the Bengals. Boo.

4. Tacoma, Washington - a very very close friend lives here. I’ve seen both the good and the bad sides of Tacoma and I think I could enjoy living here. Too bad the school opportunities for me aren’t so great in Tacoma unless I want to commute to Seattle everyday.

5. Eugene, Oregon - a Beaver living in Duck territory? No thanks.

6. Charleston, West Virginia - Hmm … besides the two feet of snow every year, I think I might like this place after reading the descriptions.

7. Salem, Oregon - my parents live right outside of Salem. I do not want to live in Salem. (Not because my parents live there, but because of the things I’ve seen & heard about Salem.) Thanks for the suggestion.

8. Hampton, Virgina - I’ve never even HEARD of Hampton. I could move there. *shrug*

9. Lynchburg, Virgina - Why is it that I’ve never heard of anywhere in Virginia? This place looks gorgeous though, has about the same amount of rain as Portland, and would be decently near friends. Hmmm … I may have to think about Virginia!

10. Corvallis, Oregon - been there, done that. I love Corvallis, and have actually thought more than once about moving back. I have friends there, it’s close to my family, I could get my Master’s degree from Oregon State. Buuuut, I’ve been there, done that.