Random Oregon observations

It is definitely strange to be back in Oregon. I grew up here, but haven't lived here permanently for fourteen years. Portland was in the midst of a heatwave until I showed up yesterday and it rained heavily this morning. There was thunder and lightning as well which was pretty cool until I realized how close it was when I was walking to my brother's place for breakfast. People don't believe it, but it can rain any time in Portland. I don't care if it's 120 out and cloud free. It can rain in the next five minutes.

People in CA definitely drive more aggressively than in OR. I drive pretty defensively in Sunnyvale, but was passing people left and right in OR. I was also one of the faster cars on the road and I was only doing 5-10 mph over the speed limit. In CA, that would make me one of the slower drivers. It's good not to get cut off all the time though.

Housing is much, much cheaper up here. There is a townhouse/condo/converted apartment for sale near my brother's apartment: 1400 sq ft, two bedrooms, two bathrooms in a great neighborhood for ... $289k. The same place down in CA would probably run close to $1M. My parents' house is alright, but is in the most desirable neighborhood in Portland so is worth quite a bit for around here. It'll be worth even more once their kitchen is done which can't happen too soon for my tastes.

The other thing I noticed about OR is how white it is. My brother and I played a game. We counted how many cars had non-white people in them from Tualatin to my parents' place in NE Portland. We passed hundreds and hundreds of cars and counted five to six non-whites. It's pretty strange especially after coming from the Bay Area where whites are a majority, but less than 50% of the total population. It's a bit strange to get culture shock in your birth town.