<p>Anyone here live in or been to Portland Oregon? I'll be visiting next month to see Portland State University and I'll probably be staying at a hotel there as well. What is the city like? Is the campus like smack dab in the middle of the city or on the outskirts?</p>
<p>Portland State is in the downtown area, not too far from Washington Park and the rose gardens (Portland's nickname = Rose City). Overall Portland is a pretty good city. You could find many much worse palces to spend four years.</p>
<p>Anyone else?</p>
<p>Nice, friendly city with relatively mild climate; good access to the ocean, river rafting, and snow-capped mountains. Pretty good public transportation, too. And the university is on a BIG upswing.</p>
<p>Many in the PNW think Portland is better than Seattle. I do. You can good a nice hotel for cheap in downtown Portland using the internet sites. I've paid around $60 for a good hotel there.</p>
<p>Yes, the campus is an urban campus smack in the middle or downtown. As others have noted, public transportation is good in Portland, and there are many "cool" neighborhoods to explore, such as the NW23rd area (resturants & shops) and the Hawthrone area (same).</p>
<p>I like Portland at least as well as Seattle-
Carolyn and others have posted some reviews of PSU on the parents forum
My daughter attends school in Portland and loves it. </p>
<p><a href="http://web.pdx.edu/%7Enac/pdxdirtcheap/%5B/url%5D">http://web.pdx.edu/~nac/pdxdirtcheap/</a></p>
<p>platinumtlc:</p>
<p>I live in Portland so I can tell you everything you need to know. It was ranked one of the most livable cities in the US so its a pretty nice place in general. Public transportation is great, there are buses, and two types of light rail trains that can get you where you want to go. PSU is right in the middle of downtown, so there is always something to do. Although I live in the more urban part of Portland I can say that it is a beautiful city, especially in the fall. Most of the year the weather is either sunny or cloudy with on and off light rain. People are generally nice, but parking is rare downtown unless you are willing to pay like 5 dollars a day at a pay to park center. Many parts of downtown are alive all night long, while at the opposit extreme, there are parts of the city that seem to close down at six (the more historic areas). Let me warn you Portland State is MASSIVE! The reason it is so crowded is because TONS of people are there for night classes. Overall, its a nice place to be, but I still want out.</p>
<p>I found a hostel to stay at so I'll definately take some time to explore the city.</p>
<p>how about the university of portland? is that a cool place?</p>
<p>I visited U of Portland recently. It's a pretty campus with some great academic programs. Students seemed very friendly. It is a Catholic school but only about 50% of students are Catholic. It's one of the smallest Division I sports programs in the country. I'd say it's a great school for people who want a school that's more "middle of the road" than Lewis & Clark or Reed but still want to be in a great city like Portland.</p>
<p>I am very left leaning, but I'm also catholic so I thought it would be good. Just how conservative is it?</p>
<p>U of Portland is not very conservative. Although it is catholic, because it is located in Portland it is politically liberal; not as left as L&C or Reed, but left enough.</p>
<p>RE: U of Portland. The administration itself is a little on the conservative side at U of P - not too bad, but they definitely seem to try to keep a handle on things (i.e., there are curfews set on having the opposite sex in your dorm room past a certain hour). </p>
<p>The student body, on the other hand, seemed much more middle of the road with some definite liberal types thrown into the mix. The student body also seemed to be about the happiest group of students we've seen on any campus. The students didn't strike my daughter or I as being as "preppy" as some of the other Catholic schools we've visited. Daughter is fairly liberal/artsy (she loved Lewis & Clark) but felt that she could be pretty comfortable at U of P so she has kept it on her list. Definitely visit.</p>
<p>awesome! thanks. I'm actually going there today! I'm pumped, my plane leaves at 12! I hope it is as great as everyone has been telling us...</p>