Looking to Move to Austin Next Summer (Portland, Howe: transplants, house)

[Klye]

Hello, I currently live in Portland,OR. I visited Austin this past September, both my gf and I have Business Degrees but will need to start at close to entry level jobs. My main concern is finding a job in Austin rather than being able to afford the rising cost of living as Portland is still more expensive. I know that a large amount of people are moving to the city, is finding a job going to be difficult as most of the city is well educated?

[Nacho_Friend]

Austin is not cheaper than Portland if you plan on living anywhere near the cool places you visited downtown. Traffic is terrible and wages are depressed by the thousands of 22 year olds graduating every year who will take pennies on the dollar to stay/move here. Additionally, we are being overrun by experienced people from Seattle, Portland and every city in California (and that's just west of the Rockies) who are trying to escape massive legal and illegal immigration plus foreign investment that has made their beloved hometowns impossible to afford.

[luksky]

Originally Posted by Nacho_Friend

Austin is not cheaper than Portland if you plan on living anywhere near the cool places you visited downtown. Traffic is terrible and wages are depressed by the thousands of 22 year olds graduating every year who will take pennies on the dollar to stay/move here. Additionally, we are being overrun by experienced people from Seattle, Portland and every city in California (and that's just west of the Rockies) who are trying to escape massive legal and illegal immigration plus foreign investment that has made their beloved hometowns impossible to afford.

This ^

[jread]

Finding a job here really depends on your experience. You'll hear all the doom and gloom about how "all the transplants took all the jobs", but that is sensationalizing the issue. Everyone here is well-educated and having a degree does nothing more than help you meet the minimum requirements. Your experience is the key. A lot of these young people moving/staying here are working for low wages, but they also don't have the real-world experience to command a decent salary. If you have some solid experience and skills that are sought after in your industry, especially in a niche area, then you may have good luck.

I will say this, though: do not, I repeat, DO NOT move to Austin without having a job lined up first.

[RunninJT]

The cost of living difference is negligible compared to the difference in salaries you will experience between the two locations. Expect to take a serious hit in your lifestyle comfort level. When my wife and I were looking at locations in the PNW a few months ago we noticed a across the board cost increase of about 10-30% in just about everything from food to gas (also the Mexican food in the PNW was laughably bad). However the average salaries for both of our fields (Tech and Clerical) was at times almost double. We were floored at the differences.

I am glad you at least visited, but I really hope you know what you are getting yourself into. There seems to be a new rant on the Austin section every week from somebody who did not.

[DCtoTejas]

I'll ask the question - why Austin? I hope it isn't just because you visited one weekend and had fun.

[Nacho_Friend]

I had dinner with a friend the other day. Double Longhorn (undergrad and grad). Although originally from another Texas city, she lived in Austin for about 10 years and left about 10 years ago. She and her family were forced to move to the East Coast but wanted desperately to come back. Although I explained to her that things had changed dramatically for the worse, she was dead set on it and ignored my advice. They've been back less than 6 months.

30 minutes into dinner she said, "I think we made a big mistake coming back here. Traffic is unbelievably bad and housing is completely unreasonable."

She and her husband make about $250k.

[Klye]

Austin is very hot atleast 4 months out of the year but In Portland it rains nonstop for 8 months on an average year. I hate the rain. I am already paying over $1,400 a month to live in a 2 bed 1 bath somewhat decent unit in a good area. Portland housing costs are the highest rising in the nation at 12% overall last time I checked, in the long term I will never afford a house here. I am looking for some sort of comparison possible from someone who has lived in both Portland and Austin as to what they think about the move..

This is the beginning of why I would want to move south for those of you wondering. Austin is also similar to the things I like in Portland like the food carts everywhere and pubs to grab a drink at. I am an avid paddle boarder as this is really big here in Portland and Seattle but the weather does not permit making it a year-round hobbie.

[Nacho_Friend]

Austin is at least 10% YOY. The difference is negligible.

[Klye]

I see your point. So really its a wash overall. Trading Rain for Sun.