Oregon

I lived in Oregon for 19 years and moved to Minnesota in 2003, partly because my mother and stepfather were old and frail.

They're both gone now, and I find that I not only have trouble with the winters (the coldest since the 1980s--the HIGH on Thursday will be -5°, that MINUS 5) but I also realized that I don't do as much as I did in Portland, which is compact and has some of the best public transit in the country.

Everything in Minneapolis-St. Paul is so spread out. I have to drive to live a full live, and I HATE to drive and resent every dollar I spend on the car.

I can't afford to move anywhere at the moment (I'm a free-lance translator with a variable income), but I'm hoping to make the move before the next winter.

I do know that some things have changed. I was there for a visit in 2011 and found that I still liked it, even though Tri-Met had rerouted everything.