Great.  "I'm afraid Astoria will grow up to be big like Portland, and it'll lose its soul.  But first, let me talk about how great it is!"

As a transplant myself (not from Portland--out of state), I've always been drawn to this area.  I hate that it's getting bigger--I don't want it to.  I don't want it to grow so much that the FIRST thing I tell people about Astoria if they ask is that it's awful and terrible.  Why?  Because I don't want them to come.

THANKS for writing article on how great Astoria is...this type of publicity is part of the problem.