When we were deciding where to settle down, it wasn't so much the cultural aspects that we looked at. I have a job in Hillsboro, and wanted to continue to ride my bicycle to work. My problem is that, while I'm a fairly good cyclist, with some age on my bones and some accidents, I decided that riding over the West Hills was not a good idea for me. My wife works at Oregon Health Sciences University, and we needed to be close to the MAX line. We moved here from the rural Oregon area near Roseburg, and don't mind the "suburban" environment at all.
One other factor is that my work is in environmental health and safety, and I looked at the earthquake maps of the area. There is a fault that runs just to the west of the Willamette River, through downtown Portland, and into the West Hills. Another runs just east of the Willamette River.
Portland Earthquake Scenarios
I wanted to avoid that area because of the fault lines. So it really isn't a West Side/East Side issue, it's simply looking at our particular circumstances and seeing what is best for us. I'm within walking distance of the Tualatin Hills 50m swimming pool too, so there's a lot going for this area.
John