So I'm thinking of moving to Portland...good idea or bad idea?

[SheilaT]

12. I have been to Austin, although it was a very long time ago,

and to Portland much more recently. I'm not sure I see any commonalities between the two cities, other than colleges and universities. The climate is quite different between the two. The political climates likewise quite different. While I understand Austin is a bastion of liberalness in the middle of Texas, with all due respect, it's still in Texas. And while Portland is EXTREMELY liberal, it's still inside a somewhat liberal state overall.

And you probably have it right about personalities. Cities, states, regions of the country, all have personalities as we individual humans do. It's not that one personality (Austin or Portland) is better than the other, it's that they are different. And that's okay.

Most people do not get the chance to truly choose where they will live. They wind up somewhere because of a job, or a transfer, or that's where they grew up, or something like that. Your niece got to check out a place in another part of the country. Too bad she didn't like it there, but better to have found that out than spent her life wondering.