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Alanna Banana

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[Sep. 26th, 2007|04:59 pm]
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So I was reading this article today, as was, apparently, everyone on the planet. (It's the most emailed article on NYTimes.com right now.) It's about Portland's hot culinary scene, and how all these chefs are moving out there because there are great ingredients from tons of local farms, a sophisticated public that appreciates good food, and cheap rent. Essentially, they want to be big fish in a medium-sized pond.

This has gotten me thinking big, life altering type thoughts. For a long time I've been extremely opposed to the "start out in a smaller pond" theory. New York is the place for literary upstarts like myself, I thought. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere! Land of opportunity! The city that has everything! It's the center of the world!

It's also where I essentially grew up, and despite my adventurous tendencies, it's never been a question where I'll ultimately settle down. But maybe it's time I ask myself what exactly being a New Yorker has done for me. Fucking everyone here considers themselves a writer. The market is completely saturated. I'm competing with 50 other people for entry-level copywriting jobs that pay barely $30K, which, if you want to live in NYC, is not nearly enough to live comfortably. And by comfortably I mean, not eating Chef Boyardee for every meal. What is the point of living in this city if I'm too poor to enjoy what it has to offer?

Meanwhile, Portland is cheap. It's pretty. There are mountains and water and farms and hiking and good food and lots of young people. It's laid back. A cursory Craigslist search reveals that beautiful 1BRs are available for $900/month, so if a certain someone wants to make a cross-country voyage with me (and he has expressed quite vigorously that he is) we could live rather comfortably.

And there are more mid-sized cities that I'd probably enjoy living in. Meanwhile, here in sewage-smelling New York, I haven't made progess, financially or career-wise, in months. I don't have health insurance. I don't have a regular job. I'm too stressed by these things to do any serious writing, because every time I sit down to work on my novel, I feel guilty for not working on my life first. So I have to wonder, why I am I putting myself through this?
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Comments:
From: (Anonymous)
2007-09-26 11:51 pm (UTC)

Daddio

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Go go go go go go go go go go gog og gogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogoggogogo!!!!! I'll be right behind you !!!!
Start off fresh somewhere where you might have a chance at a better life before you have a heart attack.....
All in favor say I I I !!!!!!
[User Picture]From: [info]effbeye
2007-09-27 03:20 pm (UTC)

Re: Daddio

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haha someone is trying to get rid of me
[User Picture]From: [info]forwardthe
2007-09-27 12:43 am (UTC)

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You should do it. Don't settle for where you want to live, especially because soon enough it won't be as easy. Take a chance, get a cute apartment, move somewhere nicer!
[User Picture]From: [info]forwardthe
2007-09-27 12:44 am (UTC)

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P.S. Alanna your father is the funniest ever.
[User Picture]From: [info]effbeye
2007-09-27 03:21 pm (UTC)

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haha i know! he's everybody's favorite commenter.
[User Picture]From: [info]pdanielson
2007-09-27 02:45 am (UTC)

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Portland beats the shit out of NY for liveability. Great food, beer, wine, coffee, artist communities, public transportation, etc. And you can be right in the middle of the city, drive 45 minutes, and be hiking in the Columbia gorge. A little over an hour will get you to either the mountain or the ocean. It's easily my favorite city in the U.S.
[User Picture]From: [info]effbeye
2007-09-27 03:16 am (UTC)

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Oooh, you're definitely convincing me. Did you used to live there? Tell me more!
[User Picture]From: [info]pdanielson
2007-09-27 11:34 pm (UTC)

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We moved there when I was 7, and I lived there until undergrad and law school. There really is no end to the awesome stuff you can explore, and there's a pretty good writing community as far as I know (and the largest bookstore west of the Mississippi: http://www.powells.com/ ). Aside from the cultural, culinary, and outdoor stuff, other positive aspects include a very progressive attitude, politically and environmentally, and little things that make a big difference, like a water source so pure that Portland is the only major city not legally required to treat its drinking water (google the Bull Run Watershed). Plus no sales tax on anything.

I have endless recommendations for great places to eat if you end up moving out there.
[User Picture]From: [info]opspirit
2007-09-27 03:09 am (UTC)

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I support moving to further your career and your life - as long as you don't move to Westchester... it's evil up there!

(AND I would KILL for $900 rent!)
[User Picture]From: [info]effbeye
2007-09-27 03:23 pm (UTC)

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yeah, where are you living now? my bf lives in bronxville. meh.
[User Picture]From: [info]opspirit
2007-10-01 04:08 pm (UTC)

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I just moved to Mineola, close to the train station and mall. Mamaroneck was alright, but it was getting a little creepy… murder and found torso’s a little too close to my apartment.

http://larchmontgazette.com/2007/articles/20070920vomspina.html
[User Picture]From: [info]runswithcarrots
2007-09-27 01:56 pm (UTC)

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Danny spent some time in Oregon this summer, and said it was one of the most beautiful places he'd ever been. I vote go!
[User Picture]From: [info]effbeye
2007-09-27 03:23 pm (UTC)

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people seem to have nothing but good things to say about it...
[User Picture]From: [info]varro
2007-11-26 01:15 am (UTC)

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I came into your journal from [info]damnportlanders, and will join the chorus of people telling you to move here. Even though the salaries here aren't as high (that $900 is $900 in Portland money, not NYC money), it's easier to live on less money here - less of a focus on money for money's sake here.

You will have to decelerate when you move here, though. The biggest problem I see is passive-aggressiveness and the difficulty of doing some things, although it's easy and cheaper to do creative things here than in other places.

You have a lot of similar interests as my wife - mind if I friend you and we could meet up in January if you come out here?
[User Picture]From: [info]effbeye
2007-11-26 01:24 am (UTC)

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thanks so much for the input! portland definitely really appeals to my boyfriend and i. have you lived there long?

oh, and feel free to friend me
[User Picture]From: [info]arcadia73
2007-11-26 06:45 pm (UTC)

Fellow East Coaster!

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Hey, there! I am from Jersey City, myself! I ( with fiance in tow...) will ALSO be relocating to PDX next year!! Yay!
I have always wanted to move west since I can remember and I just had a total epiphany about 4 months ago & decided that I HAD to do it! I have been researching the HELL outta Portland ever since. In fact this past weekend my free Portland Guide arrived in the mail...I have been perusing it all weekend!!

I would love to friend u if that's cool..maybe we could meet up sometime after all the moving has transpired?

later! :)