Spent a weekend in the Portland, OR area for a Hash House Harrier event in early September and had such a great time exploring with my friends who live across the river in Vancouver, WA.  I stayed with them in Vancouver and found that I liked their area more than I liked Portland proper.  Portland is just too much for more than a day or two.  The homeless population is ridiculously high, but still not as high as San Francisco in my opinion.  It was mostly grungy 20 somethings probably trying to rebel against rich parents or just moved there to get away from wherever they were, then didn’t “fit in” enough to find a job.  I don’t know, but I quickly tired of the constant begging. I saw plenty of help wanted signs.