PDXers - question for you!

[Nabbosa]

I'll be moving to Portland at the beginning of August. Will I need a window A/C unit? I start having heat-related symptoms at about 80 degrees here in muggy Chicago.

I have a window unit I got from NMSS, but I have to pay by weight to move, so I'm trying to decide if moving it is the best use of my money. I'll only be there until the end of June, and I assume it won't hit the 80s in June.

Help me out, new neighbors!

Also, are there any MS groups that meet out there? I saw that one of the hospitals has lunchtime speakers pretty regularly. Any exercise groups, dinner meet-ups, or anything?

[onlyairfare]

I'd guess that this is a very individual matter, but I have twice moved to an area where people said "Oh you don't need AC here, it never gets that hot!" One was Denver, one was western Washington, and both times I ended up getting an air-conditioner. I vowed to myself I would never be fooled by that line again.

[MSW1963]

It's in the fifties this morning, but we were in the mid/high
80's in late May and early June. The 'summer' weather here lasts only about 3 months. My first summer in pdx we had a 3-4 day heat wave of 107. I'd recommend a window unit.

[anneth121]

I would bring your window AC. May not use it a lot, but will need it some. Our nights are lovely, just right for sleeping, unless the sun beats down on your home and it retains the heat for hours. I have 2 redwoods that gave good shade, but my condo assoc. decided to limb them and now the shade is 25 feet high! Doesn't do me much good. Glad I have central AC.
We have in town a teaching hospital with a big MS center, but it is hard to get in as a patient. Kind of exclusive. It is OHSU. They are the ones who have lunch time lectures. Called Brown Bag Lectures. Each lunch has a different topic.
I never went the "group" way. Am now 66, can't walk and have a hired driver. The "group" way is past. OHSU has groups, and Providence Portland system has a MS clinic too. We are lucky in having 2 big MS centers.