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ITT: We Learn About Portland.
UncleChet
N00bLancaster, PARegistered User regular
N00bLancaster, PARegistered User regular
So, in the world of pipe dreams, my partner and I have formed the fantasy of potentially one day moving out west. The target city is obviously Portland/surrounding. Going in, we've both IT types, I'm HD/Tech Support since '96. I am like "smooth jazz" on the phone, and I"m pretty darned good w/what I do. Hubby is also IT, he happens to have gotten a cool boss, who sniped him from the admin pool, threw him at MS certs then unleashed him to do the work of 4. =p
Financially, we're in savings mode, we've opened up a second account, that we're each going to be putting a split from our salary in as direct deposit. I've set it up so that we actually don't See the money, as in our hands, seeing is spending. We have 2 cats and an old/asthmatic/arthritic dog who may/may not be with us when/if the time comes to roll out west. I'm also a Huge food head and have had fantasies of running a food truck, but well, I'd heard that there are about 600 food trucks in the portland, so that may be out.
I've looked at housing online, we want to apartment, perhaps managed community, but we don't want all ghetto, so what's the rent range? What sort of jobs can we expect, as in, what's the mid range job market like? we've each got 5+ years in our current positions, so stability is our thing. I currently have a 1000ish mortgage, that I'll be Much more than happy to not have. Ideally, we'd both make something that we could have an 800 or less rent, with some/most utilities, and god help me a dishwasher and possibly a garbage disposal.
We'll likely drive out there, in our super-hoopdey that isn't in nearly the good shape it was when it brought us to PA from Dallas. So yeah, apartment, + appliances, Maybe utils, gotta take my 2 kitties. Are cars needed for getting around? We'd Love to go pure public transit, as I have driving anxiety and i Hate stop and go traffic. I also own a manual transmission and have knee problems.
So, anyway, I welcome any and all thoughts, tricks and tips on thinking about Maybe moving to, and living in the great city of Portland.
Financially, we're in savings mode, we've opened up a second account, that we're each going to be putting a split from our salary in as direct deposit. I've set it up so that we actually don't See the money, as in our hands, seeing is spending. We have 2 cats and an old/asthmatic/arthritic dog who may/may not be with us when/if the time comes to roll out west. I'm also a Huge food head and have had fantasies of running a food truck, but well, I'd heard that there are about 600 food trucks in the portland, so that may be out.
I've looked at housing online, we want to apartment, perhaps managed community, but we don't want all ghetto, so what's the rent range? What sort of jobs can we expect, as in, what's the mid range job market like? we've each got 5+ years in our current positions, so stability is our thing. I currently have a 1000ish mortgage, that I'll be Much more than happy to not have. Ideally, we'd both make something that we could have an 800 or less rent, with some/most utilities, and god help me a dishwasher and possibly a garbage disposal.
We'll likely drive out there, in our super-hoopdey that isn't in nearly the good shape it was when it brought us to PA from Dallas. So yeah, apartment, + appliances, Maybe utils, gotta take my 2 kitties. Are cars needed for getting around? We'd Love to go pure public transit, as I have driving anxiety and i Hate stop and go traffic. I also own a manual transmission and have knee problems.
So, anyway, I welcome any and all thoughts, tricks and tips on thinking about Maybe moving to, and living in the great city of Portland.
I'm sometimes grumpy and random, feel free to overlook the strange man in the corner.
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Rent depends on what neighborhood you're living in, but a two bedroom will run you from about $1400 to over $2500 a month. The rental market is tight, I applied for four? five? places before signing a lease, the last open house I visited had fifteen applicants in a two-hour period. So yeah, padmapper is your friend. Again, the further out you live the less expensive it'll be, you want to keep west of 82nd and north of Powell before you get into the not-so-great areas.
(edit to add: it's possible, if you're lucky and diligent, to find places that are less $ than that)
Public transit is pretty good, but again, it'll depend on where you're living and working, sometimes the routes just don't work out. If you can, you'd be much better off trying to find work before you move here, as Portland is kind of a wandering 20- and 30-something mecca at the moment and you have people with masters degrees slinging coffee.
Have you been here before? You know it's actually rainier than Seattle, right?
Transportation - if you're a city type, you won't need a car for a lot of day-to-day, but it's a good idea to have one for the further outskirts and all the outdoors options
Jobs - We actually looked at moving there briefly, and it definitely does not have a ton of them.
Apartments - as others have said, popular city apartment hunting is rough. I recommend going out a month ahead of time and locking a place down or just getting an airBnB place for a few weeks when you get there to find an apartment. Also, a lot of people won't rent to people long-distance, as they don't have to.
Other - you should probably sell the house first, then rent a temp place, as that could definitely throw a wrench in the plans.
rents are generally not-terrible (at least compared to seattle/san fran), but availability can be an issue (especially for larger/family oriented living spaces.) I'm told that it's actually a bit of a buyer's market in terms of houses (or at least, as much of a buyer's market as it ever is in portland), but I don't really have a ton of experience there.
ed: 800 for a one bedroom isn't completely unreasonable, but it might rule out downtown/the west side depending on your standards.
and yeah don't have the expectation that you'll move here and then find employment, because the job market in portland (and the state) is kind of a mess.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Seattle and SF have much better job markets. Seattle isn't really that much more expensive for housing if you know where to look, but the public transit is not as good as Portland's. Portland has okay public transit, you could do without a car if your job is in certain areas of Portland. You might need a bike, though, Portland is a lot sprawlier than people realize. For $800/mo you can find a decent place but it won't be centrally located.
Getting a contract position is generally easier than full-time. These typically pay pretty well but no sick leave, no health insurance, no holidays etc.
If you don't have a 4-year degree, getting a FT position is much more difficult at the bigger companies.
The summers (July and August) are beautiful, sunny and 70s and 80s, but really, you should visit here like right around Thanksgiving it's bound to be grey and miserable and that can be very draining if you're not expecting it
I would give it a B- for effort, but it doesn't even remotely compare to the major East coast cities.
I lived in similar areas, so I generally agree with you. But, I still think it's sad that the bar is so low, that by average, PNW transit is considered "awesome," especially considering the price and spottiness. I suppose that not having a car makes it a sensitive issue for me. Although yes, in most cases you can find something that will shorten your commute, somewhat.
Eat at Screen Door. Get wings at Pok Pok. They're hyped for a reason.
So ideally we're looking for temperate, technologically forward, at least as residential and employment are concerned. One thing he mentioned is, perhaps I need a new line of work. I've been tech support/help desk in one form or another since '96, and before that it was small and large scale food service. I have 0 clue what else I could do and still make a survivable wage.
So, yeah, i'm feeling listless, we want change, within about 2 yrs, and are kind of firing arrows and seeing where they land.
I'm assuming it wasn't Pitt or Philly? If so, I find it hard to believe. Because well, you probably weren't looking hard enough? Or maybe I was just used to living in a place where LGBT was just a phonetically elusive acronym.
Why not San Francisco.
Portland is one of my least-favorite places to drive, so car anxiety might be a bad thing there.
Have you considered Eugene? The Big Local Tech Employer is Symantec who is always hiring technical support and actually pays them fairly well, and getting around town by bus / bike / non-car is very straightforward. It's a college town and quite liberal.
Downsides: It's on the small side, and is murder if you have any allergies.
haha well, if you do end up considering PA, I can introduce you to some nice folks in Pitt. you can't have a bajillion colleges without some sort of LGBT scene (and probably bears). Housing is super-cheap! And university IT jobs pay pretty well!
Here is a quick down-low on Portland and the surround metro area:
Inner West Side(Downtown)- Great place to live if you can afford it. You will most likely have to pay for permanent parking, plus an apartment in the range of $800 -$1500 a month for rent.
Around NW 21st (the Pearl District) the living situation is very similar to downtown. It's a very posh place to live, but the rent prices match accordingly. There's a Whole Foods in this area that is great.
Outer Westside(Beaverton) Rent is cheaper than downtown and depending where you are it can be a very nice classic suburban area to live. Beaverton also has the Nike Campus, where the headquarters of the company are located. It's a nice running trail, and the surrounding apartments/houses are nice but more expensive. It will be hard to live in Beaverton without a car however. Public transit is descent in some areas along the MAX train line, but it will still take you 45 min. to 1 1/2 hours to make it into the city, depending on where you are.
Inner SE/NE(Portlandia) This is where all the jokes from Portlandia come from. SE Hawthorne street is great place for shopping, and they are tons of food carts along this road, as well as SE Division st. You can do a quick google maps search of SE Hawthorne and 11th, and SE Division and 30th, to see some examples of good food carts.
Last Thursday takes place on NE Alberta st. on the last Thursday of every month. It's very "Portlandia" and would be a great place to get a food cart started.
Public transit will definitely be easier in inner SE and inner NE Portland, as well as downtown. Rent can be between $400 - $750 for these areas, with the higher prices generally being further in towards the city.
Gresham and Hillsboro are on opposite sides of the city, but are very similar. They are both the furthest outskirts of Portland, and there are certain parts of these areas with a slightly higher crime rate when compared to the Portland metro area as a whole. Keep in mind that I'm generalizing, and as with all comments on the internet, everything I'm saying should be taken with a grain of salt, since it's purely opinion.
Hope this helps.
--DrummDragon, Dragon of the Drums.