Portland State University

[Galaril]

So my daughter is a freshman who is transferring and she is considering Portland State University. I am curious if anyone has any personal experience or knows alumni of the school and campus itself? Portland from what I know is a nice and liberal city. She is very liberal and LGBQ, so worries about discrimination with all the other stuff going on nowadays.

[Lathum]

Portland is a shit hole of a city and I wouldn't be comfortable with my kid going to school there unless she never left campus.

[thesloppy]

I went to Portland State, but only for a couple years around the turn of the millennium, so I don't know how much my experience is worth. I do still work everyday less than a mile from 'campus' tho & I have lived a couple of miles away for roughly 45 of my years on the planet.

As a potential transfer student I would really make sure that she does her due diligence on the 'University Studies' PSU's version of core curriculum, which does not necessarily transfer well (in or out)....this was one of the principal complaints about PSU when I was there, particularly for transfer students and it looks like it still exists. If she doesn't have classes that transfer well it could potentially make her earlier schooling worthless and add another year of schooling on there.I think environmental sciences/studies was a strength back in the day? That's about the extent of my 'insight'.

Also, make no mistake...there is no campus. PSU is a collection of buildings, scattered smack in the middle of downtown Portland's other buildings. The great majority of students commute in and out, and when I went there there was only a single residence hall for the rare students living on campus, and it was also a high-rise commercial building, so she would be living a relatively urban life compared to a more traditional university. There is a little bit of a college district around there, and even some (adorably nontraditional) frats/sorority houses for anybody who wants to seek that kind of life out, but she could also walk a block in the other direction be in the middle of downtown Portland.

Portland is a liberal city, extremely LGBQ friendly and she will not be legitimately discriminated against by the cities residents.

Originally Posted by Lathum

Portland is a shit hole of a city and I wouldn't be comfortable with my kid going to school there unless she never left campus.

....however as much as I would like to deny Lathum's characterization here, she will absolutely face daily challenges from Portland's non-resident class, and/or the residents of Portland's neighboring cities. Current day downtown Portland is not far removed from 70s NYC, for better or worse. Literally all drugs have been decriminalized, as has camping on the streets. The violently mentally ill & drug addicted, wander downtown Portland like zombies, screaming vague obscenities at nobody, pants around their ankles, and absolutely nothing is being done to address things. I have about a half-dozen micro incidents every single day. The only thing worse would be living anywhere else. Shrug.

Let me know if you have any other particular questions.

[molson]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

....however as much as I would like to deny Lathum's characterization here, she will absolutely face daily challenges from Portland's non-resident class, and/or the residents of Portland's neighboring cities. Current day downtown Portland is not far removed from 70s NYC, for better or worse. Literally all drugs have been decriminalized, as has camping on the streets. The violently mentally ill & drug addicted, wander downtown Portland like zombies, screaming vague obscenities at nobody, pants around their ankles, and absolutely nothing is being done to address things. I have about a half-dozen micro incidents every single day.

Let me know if you have any other particular questions.

Threadjack, but could be relevant, I'm going to be at the Pioneer federal courthouse right across from Pioneer Park next week for an oral argument and then will have about 6-8 hours to kill afterwards - I thought I would wander around to some breweries, get a big burger somewhere, to decompress. Do you think that's a decent "home base" to do that from, or should I maybe hang out somewhere else in Portland before going back to get my stuff at the hotel? I am comfortable in gritty cities, lived in Eugene, but, I did get a little tired of people yelling at me around Berkeley when I was there a few months ago. (Edit: One guy started following me around when I ignored him - I've lived in cities with substantial homeless populations but it felt different there - though some of that maybe was where I was staying). I've spent a little time in Portland years ago but don't know much about what downtown is like now.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Galaril

So my daughter is a freshman who is transferring and she is considering Portland State University. I am curious if anyone has any personal experience or knows alumni of the school and campus itself? Portland from what I know is a nice and liberal city. She is very liberal and LGBQ, so worries about discrimination with all the other stuff going on nowadays.

PSU is downtown. It's for sure a commuter school and it's legitimately downtown just west of the core. I know nothing about the dorms, but I do know that the entire area is where there's a year-round farmers market that attracts large swaths of the city come visit.

The campus itself is within the South Park Blocks, which is mostly dotted with churches, apartment complexes and condos with a very involved neighborhood association of old timers. The art museum is within walking distance to campus, as is most of downtown such as it is.

As far as safety, Portland is pretty safe relative to your garden variety "big city," there are some pretty big issues related to homelessness, policing, and city's political structure which is an antiquated relic and thus makes it hard to fix a lot of systemic problems plaguing the city. (e.g. Portland doesn't even have a dedicated sanitation department, there are myriad agencies responsible for small parts instead...)

That said, for a people under 30 it's a solid place to hang out. Still the cheapest of the west coast big cities, there are a million places to eat, city's permissive permitting rules make food trucks and other eateries prevalent here in ways that other cities would dream of. If a kid likes being outdoors, there's TONS of those opportunities within an hour of the city & of course, the train to Seattle is easy to catch when someone wants to take a nice ride up to a larger city.

I would not listen to anyone who doesn't currently live in the city, even the suburbs, because it's not an accurate representation of what it's like to live in the city. The PNW itself isn't actually warm and fuzzy central, but for a kid at a university she'll have zero problems meeting people her age and making friends. PSU grads seem to get jobs locally, it's D1 in name only, but because Portland is so homogenous relatively speaking none of the negative racial shit gets affixed to anything urban.

This extends to mass transit which is also quite robust for a west coast city and while it's not NYC or Boston or DC level, it's still pretty effective at transporting people around the city to certain points. Anything outside of heavily trafficked areas will require a car, but there are a bevy of carshares here. I'm not carless, but I know a ton of adults who were/are and managed it without much issue.

So yeah. It's a good place for a young person and she can always leave, but I know of folks who come here and love it and never go. I have lots of complaints about it, but those are age-related and shouldn't impact someone young. Vibrant arts culture, pretty much the best place in the country to be vegan, too.

Even with all that's going on in the US right now, there aren't too many cities that are better for someone under 25 than being here.

For all of the hype about street folks -- who you will very much see, especially downtown -- it is not that difficult to disengage with them and ultimately, the same street smarts someone would have to demonstrate in San Francisco or LA or New York or Chicago, apply here. Also, it's not nearly at the same level as those larger cities either. Probably too much proportionate to the size of the city, but..I don't feel like these are problems unique to Portland.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by molson

Threadjack, but could be relevant, I'm going to be at the Pioneer federal courthouse right across from Pioneer Park next week for an oral argument and then will have about 6-8 hours to kill afterwards - I thought I would wander around to some breweries, get a big burger somewhere, to decompress. Do you think that's a decent "home base" to do that from, or should I maybe hang out somewhere else in Portland before going back to get my stuff at the hotel? I am comfortable in gritty cities, lived in Eugene, but, I did get a little tired of people yelling at me around Berkeley when I was there a few months ago. I've spent a little time in Portland years ago but don't know much about what downtown is like now.

Yeah, that's a great base. There are several small boutique hotels around there of various tiers and plenty of bars and burger-type joints are still open, despite downtown still being a bit of a shell of its pre-covid self. There are a few big food cart pods around there for food (though a lot of them close quickly after lunch) and some of Portland's best restaurants as well. I am biased and partial to the inner East side, on the other side of the river, and I feel like the brewery scene might be a little better...but it's less concentrated.

As far as the nutters go, if you were just in Berkeley you're probably adequately prepared, just gotta keep your head on a swivel while maintaining a thousand yard stare.

When are you gonna be down there? I have running appointments after work half-the-week, but I work like 5 blocks from there and would be happy to meet up if it fits!

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

That said, for a people under 30 it's a solid place to hang out. Still the cheapest of the west coast big cities, there are a million places to eat, city's permissive permitting rules make food trucks and other eateries prevalent here in ways that other cities would dream of.

I agree with most of what you said, but in particular I think this is a great point. Portland has somehow always been a young town, the bar/beer/food culture alone requires just as many young workers as it attracts young customers/tourists, and there is a ton of creative/attractive/ambitious young folks wherever you go. It's a good place to be young (drachma).

[molson]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

When are you gonna be down there? I have running appointments after work half-the-week, but I work like 5 blocks from there and would be happy to meet up if it fits!

That'd be great if could you make it out - I will PM you the details!

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

For all of the hype about street folks -- who you will very much see, especially downtown -- it is not that difficult to disengage with them and ultimately, the same street smarts someone would have to demonstrate in San Francisco or LA or New York or Chicago, apply here. Also, it's not nearly at the same level as those larger cities either. Probably too much proportionate to the size of the city, but..I don't feel like these are problems unique to Portland.

I have to disagree with this. I have lived near, in, or visited several large and medium cities in the US including living in Seattle, near Portland, Dallas and Cincinnati. I grew up between Philly and NYC, been to Boston a bunch, Chicago, Miami, Houston, LA, SF, Portland Maine, etc...The vibe in Portland Or. is just different. It is a combination of next level craziness (not trying to be insensitive, I just think this sums it up) and complete lack of policing or addressing the craziness. I'm far from a snowflake and am a big dude who can take care of myself and I felt uneasy there and really didn't like taking my kids in to the city. Never have I felt that way about any other US city. I agree with your point about the things the city has to offer, but for me they don't balance out the overall culture.

[thesloppy]

There is lots of local discussion over whether Portland police have been intentionally taking a soft strike for the last couple of years, or whether they're just understaffed and/or incompetent.

[Galaril]

thanks guys for all the frank conversation. It certainly has her being slightly cautious and rethink PSU. We will visit the city in the next month I expect. She also has an opportunity to go to Northern Colorado or Colorado at Denver so she may consider those as better options. Thanks again all.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Galaril

thanks guys for all the frank conversation. It certain has her being slightly cautious. We will visit the city I. The next month I expect. She also has an opportunity to go to Northern Colorado or Colorado at Denver so she may consider those as better options. Thanks again all.

Would be an absolute no brainer for me if the academics are similar. Colorado is light years better than Oregon

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Would be an absolute no brainer for me if the academics are similar. Colorado is light years better than Oregon

[RainMaker]

Our main office is downtown Portland and I am there a lot. It's a really nice city. Seems like it can get a bit pricey, but it has a great art scene. Lots of good music and and brewpubs. Maybe leans a bit hipster, but I enjoy it.

I see complaints about crime there, but it's statistically one of the safest major cities in the country (Denver has over 2 times the murder rate). Maybe property crime is a little higher than others, but that's just part of big city life no matter where you go.

The cops are definitely worthless there, but that's sort of a trend in most cities. I don't really get the hate for the city. If anything you could argue it's kind of boring.

[thesloppy]

Although there's a lot of seemingly different opinions on the surface here, everyone generally seems to agree that Portland has small city charms & big city problems.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Although there's a lot of seemingly different opinions on the surface here, everyone generally seems to agree that Portland has small city charms & big city problems.

Except for Lathum, who seems have a vendetta.

I think Portland is awesome, especially for young people. If she wants a more "traditional" college experience, she should look elsewhere.