Fellow former Texans, what do you like the most and least about Portland?

I have noticed a lot of us around lately. I Iove it here, and I hope the influx could result in better Tex-Mex options or more comfortable patios. I miss fajitas-and-ritas, day drinking on shady patios, and listening to the relaxing strands of Robert Earl Keen, making us “Feel so good feeling good again,” but I wouldn’t trade Oregon for Texas. Living here is a dream come true.

I spent my first 33 years in Texas, and Oregon was an adjustment. My husband and I moved here primarily for the weather, (Texas is too hot! Plus living around a bunch of farmers and ranchers during extended and devastating drought is sucky).

My favorite thing about Portland: I don’t have to risk losing custody of my children or going to jail for possessing marijuana. That is huge. Plus, I am much more optimistic about my sons’ ability to graduate high school with a clean criminal record here. Some, (read: most), Texas lawmen feel a personal duty to ferret out crime. They become overly invested in reinforcing the ‘hang ‘em high’ narrative for which Texas has become (in)famous.

No thank you. I prefer to steer way clear of that.

My least favorite thing about Portland: the pedestrians. Please let me explain before thinking I have truck nuts hanging from my tailgate. I promise I don’t.

I was all set to fully embrace my new “urban lifestyle”; I even imagined myself commuting by bike ... that is until I tried to drive in these awesome, walkable neighborhoods. It was scary dangerous for me at first, because we don’t have pedestrians in Texas. Like at all.

For example, I spent a summer in Europe about ten years ago. When I came back to the US, I tried to adapt some of my new European habits into my old Texan lifestyle. I decided one day that instead of driving to the post office, about 1.5 miles, I would walk.

No joke: I had at least four different people pull over and ask me if I was okay or if I needed to borrow their cell phone. They just couldn’t fathom why anyone would choose to walk. It’s too hot outside and everything is too far apart to walk somewhere on purpose in Texas.

This made driving here terrifying for me at first. We started out renting in the Brooklyn neighborhood; near enough to the city center that pedestrians weren’t uncommon, but not so close that I expected them at every intersection.

When you learn how to drive in an area where the worst thing you can hit is an errant cow or an over excited deer, you just never learn to look for pedestrians. You don’t develop that sixth sense about certain intersections or recognize subtle cues from other motorists which indicate a pedestrian is nearby.

I will never forget the first time I saw a recumbent bike on Ross Island Bridge. Once I crossed the bridge and it was safe to do so, I pulled over in a parking lot and had a mini panic attack, maybe even cried a little. I didn’t see that guy AT ALL. The thought of what I almost did made my blood run cold. It was surreal in the most sickening way.

Thankfully after more than five years here, I have finally figured it out. I still won’t let any of my family members, (all Texans), drive when they come to visit though.

So, what about y’all?