Portland, OR

beallendall · 11-22-2004, 06:06 PM

Anybody here live in Portland or the surrounding area? What are your impressions of it regarding, job market, good place to raise kids, gas prices? The wife and I are starting to look at moving, I know just about anywhere we go is going to be cheaper than living in so cal. Portland is at the top of our list as we have visited there and loved it. Just wondering if anyone has first hand experience you could share. You can pm me too if you wish. Thanks

FourMoBro · 11-22-2004, 07:38 PM

portland is awesome, but the reasons you want to move here will actually deter you. Unemployment is at about 7.5%. The western and southern suburbs are a good place to raise kids, but the school system in the state is horrible. The kids are in school the least of anywhere in the US. For comparison sake, kids in Texas are in school a month longer. Gas price today is about $1.96 and remember that you cannot pump your own gas in Oregon. Other than that, anything you ever wanted to do outdoors is a short drive away. Just over an hour to the coast or to the mountains. any other questions?

Brons2 · 11-22-2004, 09:32 PM

I grew up in Oregon and lived in Portland for a while, I concur with what FourMoBro says. The job market up there is not very good. I think part of it is due to the fact that a lot of people want to live there, which of course says good things. The property tax limitation has really hurt the schools up there. The traffic is terrible in Portland for a city of it's size, but they do have a cool light rail system. The mountains and the coast are wonderful. Mt. Hood is 45 minutes away from the eastern suburbs. Lack of self-service gas is cool at first, but it gets annoying the first time you are in a hurry and have to wait for the fumduck gas station attendant to finish up pumping your gas.

I guess it all really boils down to whether you can get a good job there or not. I have considered moving home at times, but the cost of living always deters me. It's way cheaper to live here in Austin. You'd be hard pressed to pry me away from Texas anyways. I love Austin! This is one of the funnest towns in the country.

Steamguy · 11-23-2004, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beallendall

Anybody here live in Portland or the surrounding area? What are your impressions of it regarding, job market, good place to raise kids, gas prices? The wife and I are starting to look at moving, I know just about anywhere we go is going to be cheaper than living in so cal. Portland is at the top of our list as we have visited there and loved it. Just wondering if anyone has first hand experience you could share. You can pm me too if you wish. Thanks

Beallendall,
I've lived 'across the river' in Washington for nearly 30 years. Most people in Portland will tell you that it's a great place to live, and they're right. Crime rates are below average, however, the auto crime rates are way above average; this includes theft, hit-and-run, and so on.

Taxes in Oregon take some figuring out. We pay a 7.8% sales tax in Washington, but if you work in Oregon, they take 9% of your salary.

They have mandatory 'mini-serve' gas over there, (no other service other than just plug it in) which means that it costs more than it does here. Here, it costs about 1.93 for Regular, there is about 10 cents more. Plus 'da dood' running the pumps isn't necessarily coordinated enough to avoid scratching your paint. I worked in Oregon for 22 years...

Politics-wise, you'll find Portland to be rather more liberal-minded than most average big cities. In their defense, they have very good public transit, generally lower housing costs, and there are lots of neighborhoods where you won't need to get into your car to go get the necessities of living. Portland has one of the mildest climates of all Northwest cities, so you'll seldom need more than a raincoat to get to work.

The rain. Everybody talks about it. Portland gets actually less rain than a lot of other cities; but it's spread across so many days that it actually seems like twice as much. There are some weeks during winter where you don't see the sky. But what we get in return is lush, fragrant, green forests everywhere, a perfect climate for growing roses, and our fall colors are short, but rival New England's for spectacle if you know where to go to look.

The Portland area is getting to be more difficult to find good education for your kids. Clark County in Washington (again, across the river) has a different funding system, and so the schools are beginning to pull ahead of Portland the way a Titan leaves an F-150 owner gaping and staring. Portland still hasn't got their schools figured out yet. Hence there are a lot of Portlanders moving to the Clark County area just for the better schools. You CAN find good schools in Portland if you look to the outlying areas where the funding is handled differently.

The job market is something you'll want to for sure check thoroughly before you make your decision. You can find the Oregon Department of Employment online.

Hope this helps; I've tried for a balance.

beallendall · 11-23-2004, 11:20 PM

Hey thanks guys for your comments. It seems like agreat place. Kinda sucks that the job market doesn't sound all that great though, but you never know. We might get lucky, it'd be 6 months to a yr before we actually moved. We want to make sure it's the 'right' move for us. I really appreciate all the feedback.

Steamguy, is 'across the river' Vancouver? I've heard that's a nice area too and on our list. So we were considering Hillsboro, Beaverton, Happy Valley, Lake Oswego and Vancouver, just so you guys know. We're planning on taking a trip up there probably around march/april to check it out. I am currently looking at monster.com for job possibilities and what you guys have said holds true, there isn't alot up there right now. Hopefully that might change

. We'll see.

keiffers · 11-28-2004, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brons2

I grew up in Oregon and lived in Portland for a while, I concur with what FourMoBro says. The job market up there is not very good. I think part of it is due to the fact that a lot of people want to live there, which of course says good things. The property tax limitation has really hurt the schools up there. The traffic is terrible in Portland for a city of it's size, but they do have a cool light rail system. The mountains and the coast are wonderful. Mt. Hood is 45 minutes away from the eastern suburbs. Lack of self-service gas is cool at first, but it gets annoying the first time you are in a hurry and have to wait for the fumduck gas station attendant to finish up pumping your gas.

I guess it all really boils down to whether you can get a good job there or not. I have considered moving home at times, but the cost of living always deters me. It's way cheaper to live here in Austin. You'd be hard pressed to pry me away from Texas anyways. I love Austin! This is one of the funnest towns in the country.

Yeah Austin is great, but there is something about Portland, and Oregon, that I just love. Alot of people tend to compare Austin to Portland and vice versa. They are alot alike (local music scene, etc) but they have their differences. I had thought about moving up there years ago after going there for the first time in '91. My dad was born and raised and I go back whenever I can to visit friends and aunt/uncle in McMinnville. MAX rules and Cap Metro (Austin public transit) has used it to try and bring light rail to Austin (that's a whole other discussion for those of us in Austin LOL). I haven't been up since 2001 but hope to this next year.

The drawbacks are as you mentioned the lack of self-serv gas, and the income tax (no sales tax in Oregon - sales tax in Washington, but no income tax), among other things. If you moved up there, you'd be better off probably living in Vancouver, across the Columbia. Lake Oswego and south of Portland are probably going to be the higher cost of living locales. I have friends that live out in Gresham and I personally liked it out that way. But I've never really looked into the cost of living and other expenses as I shot down the idea of moving out there. When I've been up there, it seems as if things are alot better laid out by the city govt. Of course all city govts are going to have problems, but coming from a city that always has the enviromentalists after them, Portland was a great city.

Anyway, you can't ask for anything better in my opinion. When you have the Pacific Coast 90 mins west of Portland and the same for Mt Hood east of Portland, you have alot of choices for things to do. I look at it like this - you can stay on the coast, have breakfast before you leave, arrive in Portland for lunch and then get to Mt Hood for dinner. Good luck

Brons2 · 11-28-2004, 08:56 AM

Yeah but Keiffers, you live in Round Rock, not Austin ;-)

Oh and have you been up to Oregon during the rainy season? There's times when you don't see the sun for weeks on end. It's gonna be around 70 here today. That's hard to beat. I like to visit Oregon in the summertime, but the last couple of times I have been up, I have had the misfortune of coming up when the temperatures aren't much different than in Texas, ugh. Not many folks up there have A/C.

As for some other things, I don't really consider the income tax to be a drawback because there is no sales tax in Oregon, AND the state income tax is deductable from your 1040. Apparently this year there is going to be a tax deduction for states with no income tax but a sales tax, and this will be a first, but Oregon has enjoyed this sort of benefit for years.

The job market is the real killer though, there just seems to be a lot more opportunity down here in Texas. YMMV.

keiffers · 11-28-2004, 12:05 PM

LOL Round Rock/Austin - same thing to me. I've lived here all but 4 years of my 33 year life and if I'm within Travis/Williamson/Hays county, then I'm in Austin LOL try living in Houston, when you turn a corner and it's a new city LOL Shennendoah is a perfect example of that. Just north of The Woodlands and exists solely to generate taxes from the multitude of stores and business on I-45 LOL Shennendoah is nothing more than subdivision with a police force that are not rent-a-dorks.

Anyway, I usually go up late May/early July, so can't say I've been around during the rainy times. I don't doubt you don't see the sun for awhile. One of these days I'll get up there at a different time of year, but I just love going up at Rose Festival time LOL yeah been up there when its been just as hot, but I guess the difference there is that i'm used to the heat, so I can probably survive better, but you're right not many have A/C. We have our moments here of extended rain, but nothing like they do up there. Having friends and family up there reminds me of that LOL

I think what i was getting as on the income tax is that by itself, its a downturn to me. I don't want to have to pay income tax to both the state and the feds. They've been throwing it around down here, but I don't think it'll fly. Texas just needs to learn to budget their money (ok ok the goverment isn't always that good about doing that sort of thing LOL) and then maybe they'll figure out whats wrong and right. Strayhorn needs to concentrate on the state money and keep her nose out of city or school district business like she has lately. Every time I turn around she's going on how City of Austin or AISD isn't doing something right with their money. Anyway just my opinion.

Back to the subject at hand....in general terms Portland is a great town to live in. They have alot of their sh*t together, but of course as any big city, they have problems. Job market sucks, but when it comes down to it, not all that much better down here or anywhere for that matter. Wanting to save money, jobs going overseas to do so. Working for Dell shows me that. Every time I turn around the jobs in RR are going to India (mine included), but they're good about trying to find you something else internal. India is a whole other subject that I'm not gonna get into LOL. Atleast I'm not gonna be out of a job because of it like alot of people are. I could never find a good paying job and benefits like I have at Dell.

PHOEBISIS · 11-28-2004, 04:53 PM

Hey,you guys could always try New Orleans;hotter,more humid,more rain,much more crime-especially murders and violent crimes,terrible schools,pitiful economy.Our drivers are the worst in the country;riding a bicycle on a city street is extremely dangerous,riding a motorcycle just a bit less dangerous,(you better count to 5 before starting thru an intersection when the light turns green,)and when you get hit,the driver will not have insurance.The only outdoor stuff is hunting and fishing-no hiking,MTB stuff,no camping,no beach anyone with sense would swim from)-no scenery worth seeing twice(seen one swamp,you've seen them all-not like going to the mountains,or the sea shore where you can go to the same place 100 times and not get tired of it;a swamp is just mosquitos, brackish water,grass,few snakes).We have 9% sales tax,and a state income tax!!Very high unemployment.Hurricanes are a huge deal-NO is below sea level and surrounded by water!!We have lots of street -and house-flooding-several times a year in the metro area(this is just from our rainstorms not associated with hurricanes-20" in 24 hours a few years back).
On the bright side-we have no winter to speak of,you can ride a MC all year round-same with a bicycle if you can take the heat humidity,and the drivers.The food is very good-hard to find a bad meal;lot of music clubs;good hunting and fishing,but you need a boat for one,and a lease for the other.Most of the folks are friendly.There are some interesting old(by USA standards) houses,and buildings in NO and the surrounding area.The cost of living and housing is pretty low-a 1700 sq ft house would cost maybe $120000 on a 60x110 lot in the burbs of NO-further out,cheaper-maybe $80000 or less.There is some very cheap($45000 for 1100 sq ft house)"distressed" property in NO(tough neighborhoods)
This explains why we like to drive to Flagstaff AZ a couple of times a years when we have the $$.Heck,the TX panhandle is heaven next to NO.Thanks.Charlie

Bayou Titan · 11-28-2004, 08:41 PM

PHOEBISIS,

You left off some things about our state that folks should know before they think about moving here.

1. The mosquitoes are so big and bad down here that they are affectionately called the state bird.

2. Politics are so bad that a former governor is in the federal pen right now for corruption and the last three commissioners of insurance have all done jail time for corruption.

3. Pollution is so bad that the water in the Mississippi river is said to have passed through six sets of kidneys before it gets here.

4. "Professional sports" is an oxymoron, i.e. the Saints are known as the Aint's.

5. A "tranny" means something totally different here than what it does on Titan Talk; something to think about when you strike up a conversation with that cute chick sitting on the bar stool next to you.

6. If you are into genealogy as a hobby you'll be frustrated to see that people have roots growing from branches on their family tree.

7. Excessive brain drain is prevelant. The best and brightest of our workers are leaving to go to other states. Uh? Why am I still here?

Please don't answer.

Steamguy · 11-29-2004, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beallendall

<<snip>>

Steamguy, is 'across the river' Vancouver? I've heard that's a nice area too and on our list. So we were considering Hillsboro, Beaverton, Happy Valley, Lake Oswego and Vancouver, just so you guys know. We're planning on taking a trip up there probably around march/april to check it out. I am currently looking at monster.com for job possibilities and what you guys have said holds true, there isn't alot up there right now. Hopefully that might change

. We'll see.

Yup, across the river is Vancouver, USA. You'll want to check the Oregonian, went even further downhill after they bought out the competition, www.oregonlive.com I believe is the address. www.columbian.com is the Vancouver Columbian. Both carry job classifieds.

You must be figuring on making some big bux if you're going to live in Lake Oswego.

Brons2 · 11-29-2004, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keiffers

I think what i was getting as on the income tax is that by itself, its a downturn to me. I don't want to have to pay income tax to both the state and the feds. They've been throwing it around down here, but I don't think it'll fly. Texas just needs to learn to budget their money (ok ok the goverment isn't always that good about doing that sort of thing LOL) and then maybe they'll figure out whats wrong and right. Strayhorn needs to concentrate on the state money and keep her nose out of city or school district business like she has lately. Every time I turn around she's going on how City of Austin or AISD isn't doing something right with their money. Anyway just my opinion.

While Oregon may have an income tax, Oregon does not have a state sales tax. The state income tax is deductable from your 1040 Federal return. It's a sweeter deal than paying 8.25% sales tax, if you ask me.

PHOEBISIS · 11-29-2004, 02:33 PM

Bayou.How could I have forgotten our corrupt pols.We are the closest thing to a Banana Republic in the Northern Hemisphere.Mosquitoes-right-they have been terrible this year-too much rain ,too little cold!!And ROACHES as big as Beagles!!
Yeah,why am I here??Hmmmm,hope to head west in the next few years-depends on the $$.
Portland sure sounds nice,but the next place I live,the skys will be blue,and it won't rain for days on end.I'm sick of the clouds,rain,mud,mosquitoes,termites.Folks are generally pretty friendly here-except when they are robbing,carjacking,or killing you!!Charlie

CoachBoone · 11-29-2004, 02:45 PM

I live on the west side.....out Hwy. 26 just on the edge of Beaverton. While Portland is a decent place to live as long as you stay out of the northeast and southeast, the job market is kind of weak. Housing is fairly expensive and they're packing us in like sardines. Come to think of it, I wonder why I'm still living here!

What I DO like is being an hour from the beach and an hour from the mountains!

keiffers · 11-29-2004, 02:53 PM

Packing us in like sardines is practically everywhere you go though. Here in Austin they have built homes down on the north side of downtown that supposedly can house up to 15-20 people, on a lot that used to have a house that would be for a small family. I see new subdivisions around where I live that the houses are so small, yet you don't have much room between them - the few that we used to see when I was a kid were ones my dad would comment "just think you can open your bathroom window and ask to borrow some soap from your neighbor"