Portland Oregon

[scaredyclassic]

i love bicycles, and if you love bicycles, goign to portland is like a jew going to israel, a gay guy from the midwest getting over to san francisco, it’s just so beautiful you could cry

[MANmom]

There are growth restrictions in Portland, so housing is scarce, they can no longer build within the city limits, or are limited to the kind of building they can do, like tear down existing structures and re-build. I have several family members who live there or in Vancouver WA. It rains ALL THE TIME. It is called the “great northwest temperate RAIN FOREST.” Very pretty, green (can be bad for those of us with allergies), lots of outdoor stuff to do, good transportation. They do have a lot of homeless, including lots of young homeless “new hippy” types. Overall it is a beautiful city if you can handle the rain. And NO sales tax…but property taxes are high.

[MANmom]

There are growth restrictions in Portland, so housing is scarce, they can no longer build within the city limits, or are limited to the kind of building they can do, like tear down existing structures and re-build. I have several family members who live there or in Vancouver WA. It rains ALL THE TIME. It is called the “great northwest temperate RAIN FOREST.” Very pretty, green (can be bad for those of us with allergies), lots of outdoor stuff to do, good transportation. They do have a lot of homeless, including lots of young homeless “new hippy” types. Overall it is a beautiful city if you can handle the rain. And NO sales tax…but property taxes are high.

[MANmom]

There are growth restrictions in Portland, so housing is scarce, they can no longer build within the city limits, or are limited to the kind of building they can do, like tear down existing structures and re-build. I have several family members who live there or in Vancouver WA. It rains ALL THE TIME. It is called the “great northwest temperate RAIN FOREST.” Very pretty, green (can be bad for those of us with allergies), lots of outdoor stuff to do, good transportation. They do have a lot of homeless, including lots of young homeless “new hippy” types. Overall it is a beautiful city if you can handle the rain. And NO sales tax…but property taxes are high.

[MANmom]

There are growth restrictions in Portland, so housing is scarce, they can no longer build within the city limits, or are limited to the kind of building they can do, like tear down existing structures and re-build. I have several family members who live there or in Vancouver WA. It rains ALL THE TIME. It is called the “great northwest temperate RAIN FOREST.” Very pretty, green (can be bad for those of us with allergies), lots of outdoor stuff to do, good transportation. They do have a lot of homeless, including lots of young homeless “new hippy” types. Overall it is a beautiful city if you can handle the rain. And NO sales tax…but property taxes are high.

[MANmom]

There are growth restrictions in Portland, so housing is scarce, they can no longer build within the city limits, or are limited to the kind of building they can do, like tear down existing structures and re-build. I have several family members who live there or in Vancouver WA. It rains ALL THE TIME. It is called the “great northwest temperate RAIN FOREST.” Very pretty, green (can be bad for those of us with allergies), lots of outdoor stuff to do, good transportation. They do have a lot of homeless, including lots of young homeless “new hippy” types. Overall it is a beautiful city if you can handle the rain. And NO sales tax…but property taxes are high.

[Waiting to feel the magic]

Lived in the area for many years. I really liked it overall. Housing is about half the cost of San Diego. Great tax situation if you live and work just over the river in WA (no state income tax in WA, no sales tax in OR). Friendly place, some beautiful, open spaces, Portland is a good size town so there’s stuff to do, and Seattle is just 2.5 hours north if you need a really big city.

The biggest negative is the weather if you’re comparing it to San Diego. The rain starts sometime in October and doesn’t really finish up until June. If it’s not raining it’s still probably cloudy and gray. Lots of people have those light boxes to combat SAD. July, August, and the first part of September are usually fantastic. It might snow once a year, but it’s not a big deal. The city kind of slows down for a day or two. Ice storms, which happen every couple of years, are a bigger deal and completely shut every thing down.

The other big negative is that the job situation there is very poor if you’re a technical person. I can’t speak to other professions, but in engineering there’s just not much. Of the decent paying jobs it’s basically Intel. HP (in WA across the river) used to be a big presence, but not any more. Tektronix is a shadow of its former self. You pretty quickly get down to jobs that pay 60-70% of what a HP/Intel job would pay. When you do the math the fact that housing is less doesn’t make up for the massive pay cut.

Good luck.

[Waiting to feel the magic]

Lived in the area for many years. I really liked it overall. Housing is about half the cost of San Diego. Great tax situation if you live and work just over the river in WA (no state income tax in WA, no sales tax in OR). Friendly place, some beautiful, open spaces, Portland is a good size town so there’s stuff to do, and Seattle is just 2.5 hours north if you need a really big city.

The biggest negative is the weather if you’re comparing it to San Diego. The rain starts sometime in October and doesn’t really finish up until June. If it’s not raining it’s still probably cloudy and gray. Lots of people have those light boxes to combat SAD. July, August, and the first part of September are usually fantastic. It might snow once a year, but it’s not a big deal. The city kind of slows down for a day or two. Ice storms, which happen every couple of years, are a bigger deal and completely shut every thing down.

The other big negative is that the job situation there is very poor if you’re a technical person. I can’t speak to other professions, but in engineering there’s just not much. Of the decent paying jobs it’s basically Intel. HP (in WA across the river) used to be a big presence, but not any more. Tektronix is a shadow of its former self. You pretty quickly get down to jobs that pay 60-70% of what a HP/Intel job would pay. When you do the math the fact that housing is less doesn’t make up for the massive pay cut.

Good luck.

[Waiting to feel the magic]

Lived in the area for many years. I really liked it overall. Housing is about half the cost of San Diego. Great tax situation if you live and work just over the river in WA (no state income tax in WA, no sales tax in OR). Friendly place, some beautiful, open spaces, Portland is a good size town so there’s stuff to do, and Seattle is just 2.5 hours north if you need a really big city.

The biggest negative is the weather if you’re comparing it to San Diego. The rain starts sometime in October and doesn’t really finish up until June. If it’s not raining it’s still probably cloudy and gray. Lots of people have those light boxes to combat SAD. July, August, and the first part of September are usually fantastic. It might snow once a year, but it’s not a big deal. The city kind of slows down for a day or two. Ice storms, which happen every couple of years, are a bigger deal and completely shut every thing down.

The other big negative is that the job situation there is very poor if you’re a technical person. I can’t speak to other professions, but in engineering there’s just not much. Of the decent paying jobs it’s basically Intel. HP (in WA across the river) used to be a big presence, but not any more. Tektronix is a shadow of its former self. You pretty quickly get down to jobs that pay 60-70% of what a HP/Intel job would pay. When you do the math the fact that housing is less doesn’t make up for the massive pay cut.

Good luck.

[Waiting to feel the magic]

Lived in the area for many years. I really liked it overall. Housing is about half the cost of San Diego. Great tax situation if you live and work just over the river in WA (no state income tax in WA, no sales tax in OR). Friendly place, some beautiful, open spaces, Portland is a good size town so there’s stuff to do, and Seattle is just 2.5 hours north if you need a really big city.

The biggest negative is the weather if you’re comparing it to San Diego. The rain starts sometime in October and doesn’t really finish up until June. If it’s not raining it’s still probably cloudy and gray. Lots of people have those light boxes to combat SAD. July, August, and the first part of September are usually fantastic. It might snow once a year, but it’s not a big deal. The city kind of slows down for a day or two. Ice storms, which happen every couple of years, are a bigger deal and completely shut every thing down.

The other big negative is that the job situation there is very poor if you’re a technical person. I can’t speak to other professions, but in engineering there’s just not much. Of the decent paying jobs it’s basically Intel. HP (in WA across the river) used to be a big presence, but not any more. Tektronix is a shadow of its former self. You pretty quickly get down to jobs that pay 60-70% of what a HP/Intel job would pay. When you do the math the fact that housing is less doesn’t make up for the massive pay cut.

Good luck.

[Waiting to feel the magic]

Lived in the area for many years. I really liked it overall. Housing is about half the cost of San Diego. Great tax situation if you live and work just over the river in WA (no state income tax in WA, no sales tax in OR). Friendly place, some beautiful, open spaces, Portland is a good size town so there’s stuff to do, and Seattle is just 2.5 hours north if you need a really big city.

The biggest negative is the weather if you’re comparing it to San Diego. The rain starts sometime in October and doesn’t really finish up until June. If it’s not raining it’s still probably cloudy and gray. Lots of people have those light boxes to combat SAD. July, August, and the first part of September are usually fantastic. It might snow once a year, but it’s not a big deal. The city kind of slows down for a day or two. Ice storms, which happen every couple of years, are a bigger deal and completely shut every thing down.

The other big negative is that the job situation there is very poor if you’re a technical person. I can’t speak to other professions, but in engineering there’s just not much. Of the decent paying jobs it’s basically Intel. HP (in WA across the river) used to be a big presence, but not any more. Tektronix is a shadow of its former self. You pretty quickly get down to jobs that pay 60-70% of what a HP/Intel job would pay. When you do the math the fact that housing is less doesn’t make up for the massive pay cut.

Good luck.

[Author]

Posts