P.Jane

Hi Folks,

I am new to this forum... hi everyone! I have been living in LA as an expat for several years and now it seems I may move to Portland, OR, in a few months... just wondered if there was an expat community at all? Any advice? Anything? Anyone?

I am moving to be with my american boyfirend. We have had a long distance relationship for almost a year and want to spend some time in the same city to find out if we have a long term future together. I am sure lots of you have done the same/similar. Here's the catch... I miss the UK and my friends and family heaps. He doesn't think he ever wants to move to the UK. I don't think I can cope with America for the rest of my life... how do you compremise? Settle in? And is LA possibly the source of my anti-USA future? I have only lived in LA (though travelled a lot) and I hope Portland will be more down-to-earth and european. Has anyone been dragged abroad under duress and fell in love with the place? Or is it hell? Or have you dragged a spouse and they resented you?

Ok, thanks for reading.
I really wish I had met a Brit, but love is blind!
Toodle pip!
P.Jane

azzure

I live near Seattle, but travel to Portland frequently and I would expect Portland to
be infinitely more appealing to a "Brit" than LA is (and I'm an LA native). There's
just something about the green-ness of Northwest cities that LA, in its semi-desert
aridity, can never approach. Portland is a clean, compact city with a very walkable
downtown, good cultural opportunities, and one of the best bookstores anywhere
(Powell's). That area of Portland designated as "SW" (south of Burnside Ave. and west
of the Willamette River) is filled with historic buildings, public art and green
spaces. Terri

"P.Jane" wrote:

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Dennis P. Harris

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very much so! portland is much less car-centric than LA, and one of the most bike and
pedestrian friendly cities in the US. it has the beginnings of a good light rail
system, a huge wonderful municipal rose garden park, nice riverside walks, good
restaurants, nice neighborhoods with lovely gardens, decent shopping... and only an
hour's drive to ocean beaches, mt. hood, or the columbia river gorge.

and for a brit --- excellent breweries, great pubs, including brewpubs, movie
theatre/brewpubs (have pizza & beer while watching your film!), and the best
bookstore on the west coast and one of the best bookstores in the world --- powell's,
a whole city block of books with a nice restaurant/reading room inside.

if i didn't love alaska so much, and had to live in a city in the western US,
portland would be my choice.

Peter L

P.Jane <[email protected]>
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Well, it rains a lot in Oregon. So maybe that'll remind you more of England.