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Portland vs. Rochester

E.K.Vale

Jun 18

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Similarities between Rochester NY and Portland Oregon:

Fun stickers (bumper stickers, stickers on poles, just fun STICKERS made by local artists)
Flowering trees/gardens
Small businesses flourishing
Murals on walls and buildings

Differences:

Rochester smells like wet warm grass in the summer whereas Portland smells like a campsite (woodsy, cedar scent)
The green grass everywhere versus grass is yellow here, a bit more of a dry western vibe here in spots
Portland establishments always provide a water refill station which is great, it prevents servers from having to do the task of refilling water and gives the customer the option to do it themselves
In general, much more self service friendly in Portland which is nice when you're an introvert and don't want the faff of service and tipping and waiting for a waiter (food can't get cold if it's going straight from kitchen to you)

Aspects of Portland that are the same versus different from what I remember:

The same:

The gardens and people's yards looking beautiful
Tree lined streets
The food being amazing and unique
Murals on practically every street
The air being dryer and therefore feels better to be outside in summer than NY where it's humid (I knew the summer felt better here outside, and the winter too)

Things that have surprised me and are different:

The smell of cedarwood everywhere. I guess it's something I never noticed? It's odd. Smells like a campsite, but pretty much everywhere in Lecia's neighborhood.
The ravens/crows. I remember them but only during the rainy season or autumn and only on PSU campus or downtown, not near Lecia's house. She has 3-4 crows that stare down at you from her trees and caw loudly. They were really mad when they saw me bring out the cats, one followed us and stared from the trees and I could hear his buddies answering his angry call. Fascinating. I did feed one yesterday and plan to carry nuts with me to feed them so they like me and spread the word.
How hot and bright the sun feels. In NY the sun is covered by clouds most of the time and never feels that powerful. Here it almost feels like a spotlight. But the lack of humidity really helps me physically.