Should I teach in Austin or Portland? (safety, cars)

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I'm not arguing with you. But the beer scene in Austin definitely does not suck.

Sorry, if I implied that Austin's scene sucked I didn't mean to. It doesn't suck, just that I think Portland's is phenomenal. Which is quite understandable considering the depressing and dreary weather they have.

[AustinGuy]

Let's not forget that Portland also has a way better coffee scene, much better public infrastructure and accessibility to stuff if you don't want to drive, and is actually green in addition to being grey.

[Aquitaine]

Agreed about the coffee scene, but that's because instead of a job market they have a coffee market.

[Adamson865]

Gotta say that as I age, beverages become unimportant and things like jobs and tax rates become more important. Oregon doesn't have a sales tax, but it's still illegal to pump your own gas (yes, it's still 1912 in Oregon - they think pumping your own gas is a fire hazard). Having grown up in PDX and having lived in Austin for a few years, I'd pick Austin hands down. Better economy, lower unemployment, and more large cities nearby with their associated attractions.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by katieann83

Major pros to living in Portland would be the proximity to my family (I grew up in Oregon), snowboarding, and loads of other outdoor activities to do. Cons would be all of the rain and grey, and an awful job market.

My main priority is being able to find a job as well as being somewhere where I can enjoy the outdoors. My family is important to me so living in Portland would make the most sense, but I don't want to move out there and not be able to find work. At least if I live somewhere like Austin and make a decent salary, I can frequently fly back to Oregon and visit.

So frequently flying out to Portland from Austin is not a cheap option. I figured it was similar to flying to CA and it is. I picked a random weekend in May to fly out with SouthWest and it was $500 just for round-trip plane tickets. We end up visiting CA a lot less due to plane tickets being a bit pricey. Snowboarding is definitely something that I miss and it turns into a $1000 trip now if I still want to do it. I guess for you, it would be plane tickets plus lift tickets since it sounds like you could stay with family in Portland.

Someone in this thread mentioned that teachers in Portland make less money than teachers in the Austin area. Is that true? I find that hard to believe. Everything that I've seen shows that High School teachers in the area such as Pflugerville start out at about $41K or a bit more with experience. If you have 28 years experience coming into Pflugerville ISD, you get a whopping $57K. And if you have a PHD, you get a whole $2K more per year.

Compensation & Benefits / 2010-11 Salary Information for Returning Teachers

*Edit* So it looks maybe like starting salary is slightly less in Portland, but pretty close. I don't know what all the "levels" mean on the Portland salary chart below. Maybe you'd be looking at a similar situation in either place. I guess you'll have to decide if a sub $50K salary in the Austin area is something that you would consider to be a "decent" salary. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think TRS will also take out a mandatory percentage of your salary for retirement and that's generally a good thing, but it does reduce your take home check. I'm sure that you could make a good life in either place.

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/files/hr/PA...chedule_10.pdf

[Trainwreck20]

My sister teaches in a smaller central Texas school district (two high schools, but just recently). She has about 25 years experience, give or take, and takes on extra roles (curriculum development, college credit courses, some other additional pay responsibilities) and makes right around $65k per year. I have no idea what her base pay is or what other factors affect her salary. I think she did get her masters some years back, but no Ph.D.

Anyway, she loves her job, and one reason is the couple of months she gets off in the summer and the misc. breaks throughout the year. She is super-organized and one of the most highly-rated teachers in the school/district without working the super long hour days (although back in the early days, I am sure there were some). Her equivalent hourly pay is not bad at all, when compared to any national average of any sort, I am pretty sure (have not done any checking, though). If teachers ever did go to a private industry comparable review and pay system, she would probably be much better off .

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

Sorry, if I implied that Austin's scene sucked I didn't mean to. It doesn't suck, just that I think Portland's is phenomenal. Which is quite understandable considering the depressing and dreary weather they have.

Fair enough!

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by rah62

Gotta say that as I age, beverages become unimportant and things like jobs and tax rates become more important. Oregon doesn't have a sales tax, but it's still illegal to pump your own gas (yes, it's still 1912 in Oregon - they think pumping your own gas is a fire hazard). Having grown up in PDX and having lived in Austin for a few years, I'd pick Austin hands down. Better economy, lower unemployment, and more large cities nearby with their associated attractions.

Yup - but is the ban on self service gas justified as a safety issue or is it a jobs program in disguise (like it is in New Jersey)?

But I do like good (not fussy) coffee and great beer.

We have lots of great beer - but it is often hard to see behind all the Keystone that the college kids drink.

[Trainwreck20]

but it is often hard to see behind all the Keystone that the college kids drink.

When I was in college, the sorta cool beers were Shiner Bock and Corona. Ofc, the drinking age was a wee bit lower, too. Anyway, Busch was known as "the cheapest beer you can buy w/o people leaving your party".

[dbsteel]

If family is important to you.... Portland. If you want to end up seeing them 1 or 2 times a year......Austin. Getting to and from Austin isn't all that cheap and nothing is direct. The pay seems like a wash....