A Few Great Reasons to Move to Portland

June 28th, 2007

While it would be easy to simply regurgitate the Visitor’s Association version of the area’s virtues, I will share my summertime, top-of-mind list:

Oregon Strawberry Season — If you haven’t tried the delicate, ephemeral, and fragrant sugar-bomb also known as the Oregon strawberry, then you’ve been eating poseur fruit. Make your pilgrimage to Strawberry Mecca soon, though. The season is about over. Then you’re stuck with the insipid versions from Cali or Mexico.

Oregon Craft Brewers and Winemakers — Today’s Oregonian articles on innovative wineries and this weekend’s 20th anniversary Oregon Brewer’s Festival reminded me how influential Oregon has become in these former cottage industries.

Hoop Heaven — Ok, let’s get down to my real inspiration for writing this today.

The NBA Championship will soon be arriving in Portland. With today’s expected drafting of Greg Oden, Portland’s only major pro sports franchise has the opportunity to shed several years of mediocrity and shame, and thus, reestablish the Rip City/BlazerMania fever that grips and elevates the city when we have a contender. Besides, we get to thumb our nose at Seattle (You’re Number Two!).

Housing inventory is at a 3-year high — (A real estate point, finally!) Portland metro home inventory has been hovering in the 12,000 or 13,000 active listings range for a few months now. Market times are up and prices are leveling some. With the pace of sales slowing, you have more choices and, perhaps, more negotiating room. Neither increased inventory, time on market, or rising interest rates have seriously dented the Portland real estate market and turned it into a purely buyer’s market…yet.

In fairness, a couple reasons NOT to move to Portland — summertime road construction and hay fever. Not on the visitor association list, but just my personal gripes.

Technorati Tags: Portland, Oregon, real estate, Greg Oden, Blazers, strawberries, house, homes

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Entry Filed under: Diversions, Lifestyle