Minnesota or Portland - Where is better to live?

Minnesota for sure! Given I am a homeboy from there growing up in the western suburb area of minneapolis, but I do truly love it. The summers don't get too hot, autumn is unmatched in how beautiful it is, and spring is nice too. If you're not used to the cold then yes I can see where it can get you, but it was actually a freak show warm winter this year.

Portland on the other hand I do love as well. I was out there for NTN in high school and then went back out to portland for a few days before climbing Mt. Rainier after graduating HS. The city is in a very convenient location with mountains and beaches easily accessible. To put it into perspective- I'll be applying to graduate schools this fall and will include both the U of M and University of Oregon (yes I know it's not in portland) but I would tip the hat to Oregon assuming acceptance to both.

Go with Minnesota. The city is incredibly clean and gorgeous and can't be beat

Do you prefer frigid and snowy or cloudy and rainy?

Word to the wise -

Minneapolis=crack epidemic

Portland=meth epidemic

Huh, actually a tough one. Great responses above.

Lived in the Twin Cities and loved it (grew up in neighboring Wisconsin), visited Portland a few times and loved it as well. Long stretches of grey weather vs. long stretches of cold -- yeah, that's the choice of a lesser of 2 evils.

Like another poster said, I've moved West and can't live without mountains/topography...having the ocean closer by would be another bonus.

I think it would come down to this: how long do you want to live there? Around 2-3 years, I'd go for Portland: better to road-trip and visit other parts of OR, CA, up to Seattle and BC, and you wouldn't be there long enough to outgrow the smaller size. If for whatever reason you are settling in for good, and you really love big city life, or you really love competitive x-country skiing, it might tip more toward the Twin Cities.

For the record, Portland, like the rest of the Willamette Valley (Salem and Eugene, for example) gets about 39-42 inches of precipitation per year, about the same as NYC, half of what New Orleans gets. Between the end of October through late May-Early June, there are MANY overcast days and days with some rain, or intermittent showers, but it seldom rains hard. Portlanders typically dispense with umbrellas. Temps below feezing are the exception. This winter we had a day with a low of 42 degrees, and a high of 43.

Every two or three years Portland will get a significant snowstorm and/or icestorm that disrupts things for 3-5 days. More typically, people get excited over the POSSIBILITY of snow above 1000 feet, which melts before noon. Until recently, though, nearby Mt. Hood was dependably skiable year-round.

Portland and the Willamette Valley generally experience LIITLE OR NO PRECIPITATION from mid-June through mid-October. Temps OCCASIONALLY get into the nineties for a week or so, once in a while break the century mark briefly. Otherwise, summers are mild, days typically in the low to mid-80's, and it cools off at night. Humidity is negligible. Cross-Country season is dependably glorious. Indian Summer, my favorite, sunny and moderate days, cool nights.

The ocean is an hour or so away.

[quote]michael t. smith wrote:

Every two or three years Portland will get a significant snowstorm and/or icestorm that disrupts things for 3-5 days. /quote]

Every decade, one or two icestorms that disrupt things for 20-30 days.

You realize you bumped a five-year-old thread?

imarunr wrote:

Rains TEN MONTHS of the year? Seriously? Exaggerate much?

I've lived in PDX for the past 22+ years. I grew up in Chicago and lived my first 30 years there. So I know COLD and HOT, HUMID weather and mosquitos.

I'll take the Portland weather any day of the year, compared to the Midwest. And while it MAY SEEM like it rains a lot, in REALITY, the volume of rain is actually LESS than most midwest cities. And I'll take the gray days of winter over freezing my ass off.

The Twin Cities is a beautiful area, but so is Portland. I'd suggest researching the economy and job availability of both areas, visit both if you can, and then make your decision.

CAPITALIZE MUCH? The VOLUME of rain is IRRELEVANT. Who GIVES a shit if it is drizzling or downpouring? RAIN is RAIN. WHAT matters is the NUMBER of DAYS during the YEAR that it IS raining.

It is better to live in Minnesota.