Where would you move? Portland, Or. Seattle, Twin Cities, MN or Pittsburgh? (condo, crime rate)

[blueandpink]

Hi! My husband , myself and our 2 small children live in ( the burbs of)Philadelphia. He has a job offer which will move us to either one of these cities:
Portland Or.
Seattle, Wash.
Twin Cities, Mn
or Pittsburgh, Pa.

We want a safe place to live. Where our kids will be safe in school. A home between $200,000 and $300,000. Is that possible in these cities?

We bought our home in Philly about 8 years ago for a deal. We could not afford it ,if we tried to buy it now.

Any advice would help. Thank you!

[Katiana]

If you can stand the winter, Twin Cities. It is a very vibrant area. Pittsburgh is pretty and green, but still in a state of decline. Its metro area lost more people than any city but New Orleans in the latest census figures. Seattle doesn't have seasons and it has lots of rain. That's fine if you like that. Portland has a little more variation in seasons, actually has a summer, but also lots of rain. Just my opinions.

Housing prices in Pittsburgh are low. It's a depressed area. Housing prices in Seattle are high. I don't know about Portland and Mpls. I think Mpls is in the "moderate" category compared against the other two I mentioned.

[OREGONRAIN]

I live in Portland but I am afraid to say anything about it, because I got edited for saying it had crime problems on the light rail, so that is all I will say on Portland. Pittsburgh I think is a nice city, I was surprised it made the 5 most polluted cities in the USA today along with LA. It must have something to do with businesses polluting, because it sure could not be from the car exhaust and the sun combining to make smog like LA. Seattle is a beautiful city, surrounded by water. It however has severe traffic and little transit other than buses, it is very expensive and of course the long 9 to 10 months of rain and gray deters many from wanting to live there. I think Mpls is the nicest of all of them actually, its just the cold so many could never take there, since it is the extreme of cold. So my bet would actually be Pittsburgh, its lower cost of living, yes winter, but not like Msp, crime, less gray and rain and lower cost of living than Portland and Seattle.

[Katiana]

I heard that air pollution story on the radio this morning, have been gone all day at work and a meeting so have not read it. There is very little business in Pittsburgh to do any polluting, period. I grew up there, have gotten slammed on the Pittsburgh forum for saying anything negative about it, so won't say anthing more, just like OREGONRAIN.

[AngryTypingGuy]

I'm also thinking of a similar group of cities after I graduate from college. Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and maybe even Vancouver (Canada).

I grew up in NYC so I would like to find a city with a high commuter rate. I've researched Seattle and SF on Wikipedia and they don't seem too accessible by public transportation, and most of the people seem to drive in those areas. SF and Seattle also rank as the 10 ten most expensive cities in the US. Portland is much smaller so it seems like public transit is a little more popular there.

If the transition is smooth, I'd consider immigrating to Vancouver. Wondering what the big turn-offs would be of moving out there.

Generally, I'm interested in northwestern cities. I'll even consider some of the smaller ones, too, as long as they have a good selection of restaurants . The only thing that turns me off is the weather, like everyone's said. The summers are definitely gorgeous but the falls/winters might get depressing. Definitely nice that the local foods are fresh and cooked with regional ingredients.

If I find none of these cities workable or not what they turned out to be, I could just end up staying in the NYC area.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by blueandpink

Hi! My husband , myself and our 2 small children live in ( the burbs of)Philadelphia. He has a job offer which will move us to either one of these cities:
Portland Or.
Seattle, Wash.
Twin Cities, Mn
or Pittsburgh, Pa.

We want a safe place to live. Where our kids will be safe in school. A home between $200,000 and $300,000. Is that possible in these cities?

We bought our home in Philly about 8 years ago for a deal. We could not afford it ,if we tried to buy it now.

Any advice would help. Thank you!

I would have to pick Portland, which is a GREAT city! Seattle is a very close second-place, but you'll find a much higher cost of living there. Portland is still fairly affordable in most parts, and has almost as much to offer... gorgeous scenery, friendly people, shopping, fine dining, culture, international airport, and so on. Only thing it doesn't have is major sports teams (aside from the Trailblazers), but I personally don't care much about that. It's probably my second favorite US city - after San Francisco, of course.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by blueandpink

Hi! My husband , myself and our 2 small children live in ( the burbs of)Philadelphia. He has a job offer which will move us to either one of these cities:
Portland Or.
Seattle, Wash.
Twin Cities, Mn
or Pittsburgh, Pa.

We want a safe place to live. Where our kids will be safe in school. A home between $200,000 and $300,000. Is that possible in these cities?

We bought our home in Philly about 8 years ago for a deal. We could not afford it ,if we tried to buy it now.

Any advice would help. Thank you!

Pittsburgh oddly enough was ranked #2 in pollution (as some mentioned) AND #1 most liveable city - all in 1 day! If your price point is the most important, Pgh suburbs would be the place to go. You can get a GORGEOUS house for $300K - brand new, approx 2700sq ft. The other places are great also, but housing will be issue.

[pwright1]

The price you mentioned for a home is impossible in Seattle so I would definately pick Portland. It is one of my favorite cities in the U.S. It's clean, charming, relatively safe with excellent public transportation. Out of these cities I love Portland's moderate tempertures year around. Winters in MN and Pittsburgh are not my cup of tea. The breathtaking natural beauty is tops in the Portland area and the pacific ocean is close by with some of the most beatufiul ocean areas in the U.S. I think you will love Portland.

[SpeedyAZ]

Portland and Seattle will be a stretch in your price range. Pittsburgh is declining in population and is quite frankly becoming a very scary city to live in (think Detroit...just on the East Coast). I've had numerous clients over the years from Pittsburgh and they say it's becoming un-livable.

Minneapolis/St. Paul is a great area to live. $200K-$300K will get you a very nice home in a great area. It's affordable, the schools are great, the crime rate is low, and it's very green. However I don't know if you'd like the cold Minneasota winters...

Seattle would ideally be my first choice but it's quite expensive. However if you can survive living in a condo, I'd say Seattle all the way!

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by tahiti

Pittsburgh oddly enough was ranked #2 in pollution (as some mentioned) AND #1 most liveable city - all in 1 day!

Some of Pittsbugh's air pollution issues might come from the topography. The air just sits in the valleys, and sometimes doesn't budge for weeks.