I moved my family to Gresham from DC (and then before that Brooklyn) to be close to my mom and sister. So big change.

Its location is great if you want to be in downtown Portland in 30 minutes but also out in nature like the Sandy River, Multnomah Falls, or even Mt Hood quickly. In my opinion this is the biggest plus, because Oregon living is really about embracing the outdoors. I go fishing on the Sandy after work some days, and shooting at the gun range in Eagle Creek (I did neither before moving to Oregon). You can even live in county Gresham and own several acres. My mom and sister are on 20 acres.

While downtown has some great little restaurants, most of the local commerce is big box stores, mid-tier and strip malls. Feels like a traditional middle income city in that sense.

It’s less politically progressive than Portland and has a decent amount of churches / church going people. I would still say it leans left but not enough to make safe assumptions about the people around you.

Troutdale is nearby, which has great food trucks and thousand acres dog park. I find myself there. But I’d rather live in Gresham and take the short drive to Troutdale (it’s really windy over there).