Why would you choose Portland over Seattle? It's nearly identical weather wise, except you have no state income tax, Canada a couple hours away, the ocean right next door, a second tier international airport (vs portlands third tier) and two large tech companies to help create a tech base.
Have a look at the article. Portland is consistently rated above Seattle according to all kinds of livability metrics. The public transportation is far better, it's more bike-accessible, there are more breweries and coffeeshops per capita, etc. Now, this is not to bash Seattle, which is unquestionably one of the best cities in America. But Portland's strengths outweigh Seattle's for broad swathes of people.
You're right that this is trade-off is somewhat inevitable, but I feel like Seattle's traffic is disproportionately bad for a city of its size. Seattle is consistently listed as one of the top 10 worst traffic cities in America and is not even in the top 20 in terms of population.
