12-31-2009, 03:50 PM
We were in Eugene, home of the University of Oregon and birthplace of Nike, for over 20 years, and every one of those years June and July were absolute hell for our pets, due to fireworks. The fire works stands in Oregon are huge fundraisers for all sorts of community groups: boy scouts, 4H, Rotary, Lions, Girls and Boys clubs, you name it. If you live in a neighborhood with kids they will be setting off whizbangers and firecrackers all day and night for weeks on end. Even if a given community doesn't sell fireworks, neighboring communities and all the Indian reservations do, so they are still prevalent. Ashland is a little different because it is a tourist based economy whose main product is an artistic and quaint environment, but neighboring Grants Pass is a whole other story. Ashland still has a kickass 4th of July parade, crafts fair, and night time fireworks display though.
Beaverton was too suburban and plastic for us, but Portland is a great city and the Max runs right from Beaverton/Nike campus to downtown. It is a young person's city too, my twenty something daugher and her husband moved there a few years ago and will probably never leave. Killer public transportation system, great little neighborhoods with brew pubs and quality eateries, solid techie scene, quirky arts districts, strong local music and performing arts scene, and as diverse and vital ethnic communities as you will find in the Pacific Northwest. Portland is also a foodie city with a strong localvore movement supporting farmers' markets and small producers. The winds from the Columbia Gorge keep the air clean and Mount Hood is only an hour away if you want to play in snow, the Coast is an hour in the other direction. But my daughter called early today and her cat has been hiding under the bed for a week now due to the fireworks in a normally peaceful Portland neighborhood. Good luck in the great Pacific Northwest, a wonderful place, just too damn dark in the winter!
Carol
Beaverton was too suburban and plastic for us, but Portland is a great city and the Max runs right from Beaverton/Nike campus to downtown. It is a young person's city too, my twenty something daugher and her husband moved there a few years ago and will probably never leave. Killer public transportation system, great little neighborhoods with brew pubs and quality eateries, solid techie scene, quirky arts districts, strong local music and performing arts scene, and as diverse and vital ethnic communities as you will find in the Pacific Northwest. Portland is also a foodie city with a strong localvore movement supporting farmers' markets and small producers. The winds from the Columbia Gorge keep the air clean and Mount Hood is only an hour away if you want to play in snow, the Coast is an hour in the other direction. But my daughter called early today and her cat has been hiding under the bed for a week now due to the fireworks in a normally peaceful Portland neighborhood. Good luck in the great Pacific Northwest, a wonderful place, just too damn dark in the winter!
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb