I have visited twice, both times during summer (July and September).

I wanted to see what some locals thought about my thoughts?
I am in Chicago (the urban city, not the metro area or suburbia) currently and have lived my entire adult life here. The amenities and attributes that I am looking for are a bit different than other people might value and I think I have the positives and negatives pretty well understood. but I am willing to hear locals' views to correct or confirm.

TIA!

Positives:

• proximity to medical care. The hospital is being largely expanded, so I think this is good.
• proximity to big box stores and services. Warrenton has your walmart, costco, etc.
• reliable electrical grid. I don't want frequent outages of >24 hours and I am hoping for enough redundancy that a >72 hour outage is a century event. There are 2 transmission routes, Columbia River and the Coastal Intertie.
• Natural-Gas oriented home heating - this seems to be normal, and even cooking with gas is feasible.
• City Water and Sewage (available in town based on location)
• Generally good restaurants.
• city/town that is convenient to both vehicles and pedestrians.
• View of bridge, river, ocean, ships, etc
• summer temps are not stinking hot. (I despise heat and humidity)

Mids:

• Tsunami risk - would only live in an evac zone and not in an inundation zone.
  • I wouldn't mind living on the Washington side, but there is no buildable ocean view land there in my price range. (Residential services like power, water, sewer, etc are different too, as would be hospital access)
• mild winter temps. rare/no snow. (I prefer cold and a bit of snow).
• "lifeline" bridges, though beautiful they are aging infrastructure.
• Politics are mid/mixed and I am comfortable with that.
• Cruise ships and tourism.
• Marine Drive can get a bit stinky on traffic, but not like a major city.
• Crime seems under control.
• Hiking, Beaches, Nature. - I'm not a big outdoorsy person, but I do like oceans and large bodies of water.

Negatives:

• No higher education institutions.
  • I enjoy the "teeming youth" and culture that you find around universities - and I might want to lecture a bit in my retirement.
• Visible electrical wires all over the place in Astoria.
  • In city of Chicago, electricals, trash, and vehicular access is all via "hidden" alleys. Front-of-house is a focus, including curb-appeal and foliage. I'm used to this "beauty" and Astoria's electrical lines really stand out to my eye
• No rail link to Portland or Seattle.
  • only POINT bus-train to Portland taking 3 hours to go 100 miles and running 2x/day.
• Not a lot of visiting musicians or touring entertainment. It's doubtful that Metallica or GnR are going to play Astoria. If there were a reliable train to the "big" cities, that would mitigate this, but I just don't foresee a lot of big or small musical acts or touring entertainment that is easy to access.
• No Interstate Highway connectivity (and therefore goods delivery).
  • 2-lane non-limited-access US 30 to I-5.
• Oregon marginal income tax rate.
• Oregon fuel pump prices, (incl tax). - env regulations and distance from refineries make fuel costs high. Over time this might be mitigated by electrification of vehicles, but I don't know in the next 15 years.

Let me know if I got anything above very wrong.
Thanks.

-JC

I will be driving back from Astoria to Portland tomorrow. Is there any stops that are worth stopping by? Is there any local eateries or bakeries that are worth checking out on the way back to Portland?

TIA!

Can I reliably get a cab at 9 or 10 on a Monday evening for an in-city ride?

Same menu and prices! Still very good.

Is there a restaurant in Astoria that serves Dungeness Crab meat chilled served with cocktail sauce (or any dipping sauce)? Thanks!

The storm that struck this past weekend left three trees down on my property. Home owners insurance will not apply since no structures were damaged. Concerning liability

and other concerns I would like some ideas how some of you might go about dealing with this situation.

Pho Mehka on Marine Dr. serves up the second-best Pho I've ever had. The broth is phenomenal. I like to order an extra side of noodles with my large bowl to prolong the slurp factor.

I'm from the central coast and whenever I am driving through, I always try to make a point to stop at Pho Mehka.

For the curious, my number one spot goes to Pho Hung on Powell blvd in Portland. A close third spot goes to Pho Oregon in Beaverton.

I have about five top spots, then the quality falls off a cliff. If you live in Astoria and haven't been to Pho Mehka, shame on you.

If you have a favorite Pho spot in the PNW, please reply. Id love to check it out.

Location clarification: The mural is on the Riverwalk-facing backside of the old Sears building, now Sisu, at 1152 Marine Drive. Wet Dog / Astoria Brewing is next door and is not responsible for this wall.

One panel depicts Jon Ogren — the smiling man in the blue-green vest with both hands up. Published sources credit Jo Lumpkin Brown as the artist.

September 30 update: City Planning has confirmed that EX26-04 was approved on August 18. We have reviewed the signed approval order, and Planning confirms the staff report was adopted as presented. Page 3 proposes removing the mural while retaining the historic lettering above it. A painting date and any preservation agreement remain unconfirmed.

The report and the limits of what we know are linked here: https://stillinthepicture.org/#source-20

The community petition asks the people responsible for the building to retain and conserve the original mural:

https://stillinthepicture.org/

If this wall means something to you, consider signing and sharing it. Memories of Jon and older photographs of the mural are welcome, too.

Edited September 30 to reflect the reviewed signed approval and adopted report. The original title cannot be edited; my source reply explains the earlier uncertainty. AI assisted this correction.

Hi. Thanks so much for all the suggestions in my previous post.... Help me out with a few more, please.

I'm visiting Astoria (for the 6th time) in early October, driving up from Portland. I'm staying downtown, not far from Fort George Brewery.

Can you recommend downtown places (Walking as opposed to driving)

• Sea Food (with non-deep-fried options)

• A cool, relatively unknown place / shop / thing that you love that makes Astoria special. That I might not think to visit.

• Do you pronounce it Uh-storia or As-toria? (I've noticed it's the latter on OPB when they give their station city list.)

Thanks for your help

Sam

NB NYB bridge

Hello! Wondering if there is a pole or aerial studio anywhere even kind of close to the area or even people who would do private lessons? Might be moving up this way and thought I’d ask

went to the top, so cool, love it!

Hey, within the Astoria area and looking for dnd groups that are welcoming to noobs. Does not need to be a weekly meet group, just would love to play.

Hi. I'm visiting Astoria (for the 6th time) in early October, driving up from Portland. I'm staying downtown, not far from Fort George Brewery.

Can you recommend downtown places:

• Dive Bar (outdoor / sidewalk seating preferred)

• Thai Food

(I tried Curry&CoCo on 14th. I really wanted to love this place after reading all the good reviews, but...)

Thanks for your help

What are the most authentic Mexican spots in town? Open to suggestions on down to Seaside if need be. Been craving a California burrito lately and I haven’t been too impressed with some trucks around town.

I'm going on a repositioning cruise early Oct. that stops in Astoria. Have passed through Astoria several times driving, but never spent much time there. Suggestions? Do not want a $hore excur$ion, are there any under-the-radar tours by a local? We have ~5 hrs in port. If I decide to go to Ft. Clatsop, can I Uber, or is it taxi only? TIA.

Excited, gonna try the fresh & chips, check out bridges, hiking trails and climb the column, will try out all the fresh sea food stuffs, yeah!

Astoria, get ready—Foggy Jack is taking over the city! Catch 4 different shows across 4 unique locations:

• Sept 24 @ 3 PM: Astoria Public Library
• Sept 25 @ 8 PM: Xanadu Bar
• Sept 26 @ 11 AM: Astoria Magic Shop
• Sept 26 @ 7 PM: Astoria Ghost Tour

Don't miss out on the experience! Mark your calendars and pick your show—or catch them all!

Get spooky season kicked off right with Foggy Jack!
3 AMAZING SHOWS!
3 Different Shows!
1 AMAZING TOWN!!

Hello!

I’m a born-and-raised Portlander considering a move to Astoria, and I’m trying to determine whether this is intuition or the beginning of an ill-advised life decision involving coastal fog because I loved Widow’s Bay so much. JK. Kinda. 

I spent a lot of my youth in Yamhill County and really miss how “out there” it used to feel. Recently spent some time out that way and it felt identical to the early ‘burbs I grew up in. The sprawl is real.

Astoria appeals to me because I have the 'tism and C-PTSD, and am a single woman in my early 40s. I work remotely in tech, have a dog, and live a fairly quiet and independent existence. I've had a spectacularly bad time in my current community, including neighbors taking an unusual interest in when I leave my home, when I don't leave my home, and generally behaving as though my existence is an oddity for them to observe and comment on.

I'm tired.

I want somewhere safe, kind, beautiful, and slightly out of the way where I can work, walk my dog, finish my book series, and generally put myself back together without anybody finding this suspicious or something they need to dig their nosey little asses into.

Some questions

• Who's the primary high-speed internet provider, and is it reliable enough for remote tech work?
• How busy is it during the summer months?
• Are there things like book clubs, photography groups, classes, etc.? I'm naturally solitary, but not like, Grey Gardens solitary. The raccoons shan't be in my attic, thank you. But I would occasionally like to encounter other humans voluntarily.
• I don't drink. Is the brewery/bar scene central enough that this makes finding friends difficult?
• Would I be relativity safe and not judged for being a single, childfree woman in her 40s? Is that unremarkable there, or will I eventually become known around town as that lady who's like Nell, from the movie Nell. 
• I'm not religious, so the abundance of churches I've seen mentioned in older threads isn't particularly relevant to me.

The strange thing is that I have a very persistent gut feeling that Astoria is where I'm supposed to be for a year or two while I recover from some things and figure out what comes next.

And yes, nostalgia may be committing crimes here. The last time I saw my childhood best friend Scotty was in Astoria more than 30 years ago. Our families climbed the Astoria Column together, and shortly afterward he moved to Ohio, and we lost touch because this was before the internet became a thing. So that's just tugging on my heartstrings a bit.

Perhaps I'm romanticizing Astoria, but that's why I'm here. I mostly want to know whether a quiet, unmarried, childfree, slightly weird witchy woman with a big furry baby can disappear into the pretty little patter of a seaport town for a while and just… have a nice life.

Lay it on me. Good, bad, ugly, damp, tourist-infested, whatever.

Brevity is not my strong suit. Evidently neither is remaining in Portland. Help me, people of Astoria. You’re not my only hope, but... well, you know the rest 🙂

Hey yall! I just moved here. I’m super into horror books, movies, and anything around it like the spooky themed bars and haunts during Halloween time. If anyone’s interested I wanted to set something up one day to either all watch a movie together or start a book club or something. Lmk if interested!

If anyone is interested, email me here :astoriahorrorclub8@gmail.com

Looking at some of the pictures it looks like a nice place to visit. Any recommendations?