I hear it's very affordable, and there isn't much need for a car. Very bike friendly and so on. I'm also curious know if it's a city that's spread out (L.A. or Atlanta) or concentrated (Manhattan).
I'm thinking about moving out there, but I'm not a wealty guy. I have a truck but I live in Atlanta and I'm tried of traffic, gas prices, and smog. Any info would be great! Thanks.
2007-05-02 10:11:51 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ United States ➔ Portland
Well not knowing what you do for a living it might be hard to suggest moving there. One thing to note about Oregon is they have a state income tax instead of a sales tax. It is probably more affordable than Atlanta or at least close in costs. It is spread out and the closer you live to the city the more expensive it is. They have the MAX light rail though that pretty much runs from Gresham in the east to Beaverton in the west and goes out to the airport also. You can take your bike on the MAX so living somewhere near one of these stations would make commuting easier. I grew up in Portland. The beach is also only an hour from the city and skiing is 2 hours to Mt Hood.
2007-05-02 10:20:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's affordable if you live in a good area. The entire area is pretty spread out, though Inner Portland is very concentrated and has the most activity and pricier neighborhoods. The most common complaint about Oregon is the weather. It's very rainy in the fall and spring, though summers and generally really nice and winter is surprisingly dry, so we don't get a lot of snow. It is very bike friendly, most major streets have bike lanes and drivers generally respect you as a biker on the road. It's nice not to have sales tax but they make up for it with an income tax which balances out. Gas is currently between 3 and 3.50 at the cheaper stations, so not too bad compared to some parts of the country. I've linked some more info. I hope this helps!
http://www.traveloregon.com/
http://portlandor.about.com/
http://www.portlandonline.com/
http://portland.citysearch.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland,_Oregon
2007-05-02 21:53:48 · answer #2 · answered by ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I also live in Atlanta Ga. My wife and I have been to Portland Or. several times on vacation. So my knowlege is limited. But each time we came home we were reminded how lucky Portlanders are. The friendly people, breath-taking scenery, moderate (but wet) climate, ton's of outdoorsy things to do, a first class "safe" transit system, and many other attributes that raise it far above Atlanta in reguards to quality of life.
As far a being affordable, according to my research, the housing market is tough and home prices are higher, job market is tough, gas prices are about 40 cents higher than Atlanta, and the general cost of living is a bit higher. But, you know the saying, "You get what you pay for.".
In fact we are moving there in the next month or so. My wife's job is being phased out and she found that she could transfer to Portland.
Hope this helps and good luck!
2007-05-02 22:10:14 · answer #3 · answered by highkvp 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you might really like Portland... if you don't mind the cold rain and wind from the Columbia River and Columbia Gorge. It is pretty biker (bicycle) friendly but Eugene, Oregon (just 2 hours south) is the most biker friendly place in North America... if not this half of the N. Hemisphere.
If you go and visit in August you'll fall in love with any part of Western Oregon.
Note, jobs are not as easy to find, so keep this in mind before you move.
Best wishes.
2007-05-04 21:35:11 · answer #4 · answered by Sophia24 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
portland is pretty great, it is very bike friendly, the public transit is good, it has amazing restaurants and a very thriving art and music scene. You can drive to some really amazingly beautiful places in like an hour too, the coast, mt hood, the gorge... its kinda close to seattle. The only thing is it can feel sort of small... it is probably the most affordable city on the west coast though.
2007-05-03 10:30:04 · answer #5 · answered by IAN 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Portland,Or as a city is nice. The Housing market here is out of control. Everything worth buying is half a mil to a Mi lion dollars. As for the people don't let the trust fund hipsters fool you. They are not progressive what so ever. They talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Portland is a funny city for the affluent its very cliquish outsiders are treated unkindly. Oh and if you happen to be of color then your experience will be very different from your typical European counterpart. To some it up great place to go hicking, skiing, great place to eat but the PEOPLE SUCK BIG RICHARD!
2007-05-03 19:41:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Right now Portland has the most exspensive gas in the state at $3.35, it's not cheap to live here anymore look at properties on Craigslist to get a good idea.
2007-05-05 17:48:04 · answer #7 · answered by c m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its good
it can be fun
but you may eventually feel like your visitin the same places and hanging out with the same people over and over again
but its mostly clean and very artsy and calm
alot of homeless people tho
you can ride the max and trimet basically anywhere
right now the downtown area is gettin remodeled or somethin
so traffic is kinda crazy
and its easy to live cheap
you dont need much
2007-05-06 15:43:50 · answer #8 · answered by Eliana Lombay 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hit up the sites
http://www.oregonlive.com/
this one included a free online police scanner of our portland metro area BeavertontoGresham(under the news&biz catagory), classifieds, news, entertainment, lifestyle - all oregon bases, mainly portland metro area.
the other are:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Home
http://www.rosefestival.org/
http://www.traveloregon.org
2007-05-02 20:20:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
very wet , most of the year. but still a good place to visit
2007-05-02 17:18:47 · answer #10 · answered by out for justice. 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋