List of the Week

Things I Love About Portland
1. The trees!  (The scenery in general.)
2. The weather!
3. The uniqueness of the houses and neighborhoods.
4. My sister lives 20 minutes away.  :)
5. The people.  Portland functions much more like a "community" than any place I've lived.
6. Our church.  I cannot even describe the awesomeness of this body of believers.  Love them.
7. The fact that most people are health conscious and care about the environment.
8. On that note, that we get a "compost" bin through the city (and the city does the composting)!
9. The public transportation system.  (It's so good that we can easily be a one-car family.  I am trying to convince my husband to sell one of our cars.)
10. Farmer's markets!
11. Even though its a major metropolis, Portland feels like a small town.
12. No sales tax!
13. A lot of locally own stores, markets, and restaurants--it's always good to support local businesses.
14. The zoo
15. The parks use mulch instead of sand.
16. The smell.  All the rain mixed with the fragrant trees and flowers gives Portland an incredible smell.  At least during the springtime (that's the only time I've ever been here).
17. You don't have to pump your own gas (its actually against the law)--a chore I despise! :)
18. So many u-pick farms!

Things I Don't Like About Portland
1. Bridges.  A lot of them.  I can handle a couple of them, but some are so terrifying (Hawthorne! EEK!).
2. Road signs here are horrible--you can't see them.  Driving in Portland isn't good all around between the narrow streets, unpaved roads, and no street signs.  I am getting used to it though.
3. The hit and miss school district.  As a whole, Portland schools get low ratings.  We have to wait till Fall to see how the kids' school actually is (the rating is not good, but our neighbors with kids there like it).
4. All of the "adult" shops.  Wow.  Way too many.  And they are spread all around, not just in a given area.
5. Well, that's all I can think of.....I can't decide if I like the whole staying light out till 10pm in summer (and getting dark at 4pm in winter).  Time will tell.