Dying to Go To Portland

Target Portland sign blankstareblinkI’m in Portland for work. I come here a lot, and have fallen in love with its craftsman bungalows, outstanding coffee, liberal politics, casually-fabulous food scene and wonderful people.

I fantasize about retiring here. Yes, retire.

Since retirement age looms far closer than I care to acknowledge, I think about this all the time.

Ace hotel portland blankstareblinkOn my way to the Ace Hotel from PDX, I tell my cab driver about my dream. “Why would you want to retire here?” he says, “It’s rainy and cold, and old people, well, they like the heat, the sun.”

Still, the pace, the people, and the price make Portland a place I could see living out my golden years.

Filling out 401K forms in the ’80s was so abstract, retirement such a “whatever”. On good days, the idea of retirement sets me daydreaming of life post-advertising, where I paint and play with cats in the middle of a Thursday in Irvington, Stumptown coffee on the table, Carrie Brownstein’s text about to be returned. It is not raining.

On bad days, the dream is a nightmare because crap, I can’t ever to afford to retire, really, and double-crap, I’m old and tired and riddled with ailments. No one returns my texts. It is pouring.

San Francisco, my home for like forever, has always been a place young people come to pursue their dreams as they begin adult life, whether it was the hippies (like my husband), the beats, and now the techies.

Will Portland become a place people like me go to pursue their dreams as we begin older-adult life? Will it be a place where we go to die?

food cart portland blankstareblink

I’m sure this notion will send young Nike execs and baristas to seek refuge in the breakfast nook at the Ace, but be forewarned: we’re coming, without irony and just a hint of hipness.

You in?

portland medical center blankstareblink

3 Responses

  1. makeupbystacymc@gmail.com'

    Portland is an awesome place. I lived there for 8 years and made some really great friends and memories. What I could never get used to was the constant overcast and rain. 9 months out of the year, no joke. If that doesn’t bother you, then it”s the perfect place to retire.

    1. Paula

      Hi Stacy: it really is a great place. I do wonder how much the rain would effect me, but I also suppose it makes one appreciate the sun. The more I come up, the more I feel at home here. xoxo

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