How to Decide? (Portland, Gresham, Sandy: relocating, vacation, incomes)

[sillygal]

How do most people decide where they want to live? Weather? employment? housing? family?

I can't decide between OR, CO, or ID.........? So, do u just write the pros and cons of each place or do u take alot of vacations until u feel comfortable. There are sooooooo many neat places out there to live , and u only have one life to live. Anyone else have the turmoil of decision making?

[ryanryan]

here's how i did it and ended up in jacksonville, oregon. what is important to me is crime index and weather. this site, www.city-data.com, shows almost everything you will need to know about any town or city in the US.

[Waterlily]

Well I'd start by making a list of places that look good to you. Then think about the things that are most important to you. Check off those towns that don't have most of what is important. Next I'd take a trip and go visit those places on your list. Some are bound to look better than others to you when you go visit.

[Clear2land]

We are going to tour several cities in October. Here is what we are going to be looking at:

Downtown vibrancy_____
Airport_____
Shopping & Malls_____
New homes in the area_____
Existing homes in the area_____
Local Attractions_____
Cleanliness of the area_____
Friendliness of the locals____
City Setting Parks and Landscape_____
Restaurants in the area_____

Incomes are tied to the local area economy so the city you select should have a good growth rate.

[Waterlily]

That's a good list Clear2land. I hope you find your almost perfect place when you come for a visit in October. The growth rate for many cities in Oregon is going straight up.
The weather here is great right now so it should be good durig October.

[freedom]

"and u only have one life to live" this quote may add undue pressure to a decision. Looking for a place to live should include what a person can bring to the place as well. It lessen's the expectations of an area to supply happiness (which is an inner place). Looking to what we can bring to a place will open our eyes automatically to what an area has to offer. Intuition will aid in the choice.

[organic mama]

Originally Posted by Clear2land

We are going to tour several cities in October. Here is what we are going to be looking at:

Downtown vibrancy_____
Airport_____
Shopping & Malls_____
New homes in the area_____
Existing homes in the area_____
Local Attractions_____
Cleanliness of the area_____
Friendliness of the locals____
City Setting Parks and Landscape_____
Restaurants in the area_____

Incomes are tied to the local area economy so the city you select should have a good growth rate.

Check out Sandy, Oregon. That's really growing. Only 9 miles away from Gresham Oregon. About 2 hours away from the Ocean. 35 min away from Mt. Hood, 45 min. away from Portland. VEry clean and friendly people. They just put in a NEW Fred Meyers Grocery store that has a babysitting area for your kids.....so you can shop for your groceries without being distracted. Good resturants...quaint parks ect...

[Steve97415]

Humans fall into three different groups in terms of what factors determine where they will live:

1. Employment-prioritized: many people will simply go where the job is. That may include relocating to an area you otherwise wouldn't choose simply because your boss tells you that you will be moving. Many of these people view geographic discretion as a blessing of retirement, and have a hard time understanding how others can simply quit their jobs and move to wherever they feel like living during their working lives.

2. Familiarity-prioritized: many people simply don't think in terms of moving to a place they would rather be. The geographic proximity of friends and family ties them to where they are, or they have a sense that they have been "planted" to live in that area by forces beyond their control. They often feel betrayed or mystified when a friend or family member moves somewhere away from "the homeland", particularly if that person has no firm employment offer in the area they are relocating to.

3. Lifestyle-prioritized: most of the people who lurk at a forum like this will belong to this group. Jobs, friends and family may be come into the picture but are not deterministic. This is a relatively new mindset, becoming common in America only in the last 50 years or so. Lifestyle-prioritized people commonly seek out a good climate, affordability, high livability and good recreational opportunities. In the past 50 years, these people have been responsibile for shifting the population demographics of the U.S. away the northeast and the Great Lakes to the sunbelt.

[Des_Demona]

Go to www.****.com - I found it most helpful in deciding where I wanted to move. You take a detailed quiz that takes into account the size of the town, political affiliations, weather, location, climate (mountains? Ocean?), etc. and then it gives you a list in rank order of the best fit locations for you to live. THEN it gives you a BIG OL' description of each location breaking down the crime rate, cost of living and everything. I found it extremely helpful in at least narrowing down and pinpointing which state and city i wanted to go to. After that I was able to go on boards like this and really feel it out with the people. I suggest trying that!

[Des_Demona]

Oh and I definitely fall in at number 3 on your list Steve!