Living in Portland

Here in Portland we live in historic brick buildings with working fireplaces, ornate Victorians with sunny bay windows, and spacious city lofts overlooking the harbor. We live in little houses with gardens and large apartment buildings with all the amenities. We live on quiet tree-lined streets and above the brick sidewalks of the bustling arts district. And we know our neighbors. We see them at coffee shops and corner stores, bakeries, and bars; places on par with those in bigger cities, but on a smaller scale (just like our rents and mortgages).

Space is affordable here. Startups become local institutions. Networking works. The city is safe. And perhaps most importantly, life is easy enough here that the happy moments don’t get lost in the routine--they’re enmeshed in our everyday experience. 

Forbes calls Portland the #1 most livable city in the country. While Portland is often praised for its setting and access to nature, its food scene, and its commitment to arts and culture, one of Portland's greatest assets is size. The city is large enough to be diverse and endlessly interesting, yet small enough to retain a strong sense of community. Here, committed creative thinkers and entrepreneurs have developed niche markets and micro-cultures around socially responsible businesses, research and technology, thoughtful food sourcing, artistic endeavors, fashion, and design. We love living and working here and think you will too. 

Working in Portland

Portland works primarily because of its people, but its people have been drawn here, and remain here, because of a unique balance of factors: Portland is dense enough to host dynamic communities in almost any discipline, quiet enough to allow sustained concentration and productivity, busy enough to never run out of things to do or people to meet, beautiful enough to energize the body and inspire the spirit, and delicious enough that you don’t need to go elsewhere.

Our creative endeavors require space and quiet; here we can afford that space. But when we seek inspiration and stimulation, we step out outside and find it. Sara Corbett, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine (among other publications like National Geographic, Elle, and Outside) says, “Writing is by nature kind of a lonely thing. Portland is this great environment to do it in because not only is it peaceful, but the size of the city lends itself to this incredible friendliness. When you just need somebody to smile at you, there’s actually someone in this town who smiles at you; as an artist that kind of can sustain you when you’re feeling lonely.” 

Sarah and her husband, Mike Paterniti (also a journalist and author), found that they could push themselves to do things here that they might not have dared to do elsewhere. Along with their friend Susan Conley, they founded The Telling Room, a nonprofit writing center for kids and teens. As Mike says, "It's taken off in ways that we couldn't have imagined, but that happened here because this place is small and people are passionate. I would recommend anyone who's coming here, to come with an idea of how you want to contribute, because the doors are open."