What is the downside to living in Oregon? (Portland, Ashland: to rent, HOA)

[Leisesturm]

I can't speak for anyone else but I thought I would mention that NYC has both a 10.5% state income tax and an 8.375% sales tax. No other state to my knowledge does this although there are 50 of them I certainly don't know all the variances. Maybe Delaware does not have either an income tax nor a sales tax but most states will have one or the other. I would be more interested in how a state used its tax revenue than that it charges taxes. I don't expect cities to run themselves off the revenue from speed traps but I expect that if they are taxing a sizeable revenue stream that infrastructure should reflect that fact. In many NYC towns especially those in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the counties immediately north of the metro area homeowners pay $4K and 5K a year on a quarter million dollar home. My GF was doing the research on homes in Portland and saw property taxes in the area of 1K+ for similar priced properties. FWIW

H

[RockyMtnr]

Okay New York - you played the trump.
Now, the high-prices of New York are fairly common knowledge - so that would not surprise me.
Likewise, the high-prices of California are pretty well known - no surprise there.
I recall being surprised that Idaho had a state tax - a fairly high one - not only was I surprised, I was a little miffed. "Why?" I asked "Should I pay state income tax to cover that mile-high cloud of wind-blown dirt and fertilizer about to blow over me"? "Why" I asked, "Pay for that wonderful aroma of sugar-beets"?
But Oregon ... should I really have to pay 10% of all I earn to pay for the beauty that was already here before man? ... to pay for the millions and millions of backroads? ... to pay for all the extra rain?
Oh well. Someday I'll probably be sitting down in eastern Okrahoma - with Oregon in my mind's eye.

[Marko3]

It's been said somewhere within the last 20+ pages of responses, but for those of you that read the first page, and then skip to the last, I'll say it again. One of the downsides is the long rainy, overcast season that has even lead to discussions about SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder in many posts I've seen over the last year. What does that mean? Nothing if rain doesn't bother you. Just something to think about.

Oregon also suffers from lack of funding when it comes to education, police protection, and road maintenance among other things. A sales tax would probably help this situation out, and cause tourists to have to pay their share for using the roads, etc., but Oregon voters continue to vote down any attempts to establish such taxes.

Those are the two most common areas of complaint I hear from fellow Oregonians, weather, and economy. Lack of jobs is also another downside. Many people talk about wanting to move out to the coast and live there since it's so beautiful and the weather typically doesn't hit extremes in temperature. The problem, many coastal communities do not have jobs available, many are retirement communities and tourist hot spots with weak job markets.

Regardless, I still believe there are more benefits to living in Oregon than drawbacks.

[steffan]

it snowed today

[Verdigris]

Originally Posted by Marko3

Oregon also suffers from lack of funding when it comes to education, police protection, and road maintenance among other things. A sales tax would probably help this situation out, and cause tourists to have to pay their share for using the roads, etc., but Oregon voters continue to vote down any attempts to establish such taxes.

Sounds like a perfect opportunity for market competition. I'm sure there are plenty of road construction companies that could maintain the roads since there appears to be a demand for such a thing. And as for schools, if the schools are doing poorly and are not getting the funding the parents want, then there sounds like the perfect opportunity for more private (i.e. non-public) schools, which would have to keep their pricing competitive (i.e. be efficient with their money, unlike public schools) to bring in and keep students. Private protection also sounds like it could do well.

All that needs to be done is to remove the barriers to entry into these areas: excessive regulations, high taxes, onerous licensing requirements, etc.

[girlintheglass]

Hi all,
I am in love with the coastline of OR and have been considering selling my soul to move there... I was born and raised in SoCal and left for many reasons which I won't go into here and now. I have been living in a small mountain town in AZ for many years now and miss the water desparately. I can never imagine going back to Cali, first of all because I don't have a gazillion dollars to live in a tiny little dump (if I want to walk to the beach) and dont want to live there if I can't walk to the beach. Besides I really love small town USA, it just has no coast.
Lincoln City & North Bend are the areas I am interested in. I am a glass artist making a living in insurance sales... how lame am i if I pack up and move up there, people bye ins there, right? I know there are a lot of glass artists so I wouldn't presume to try to earn my way selling my art, not yet anyway. My kids are now grown and I am just waiting for my house to sell, which may never happen, but if it does... any advice for a middle of the road, middle aged half hippie/half banker, friend of Bill W for 23 yrs (if you know Bill, how is the program up there) Life Coach who just wants to make a few bucks for a modest life so that I can retire and not eat catfood???????

[freedom]

Most people that live in Oregon are from California.
Money isn't everything, and surely is not a measure of wisdom, it can often make one feel they are superior to others, and judge them as lessor.

best wishes,


freedom

[EarlT]

The UnOfficial Motto of Oregon

California House Prices
and Mississippi Wages.

[EVAunit1981]

Oregon has a state income tax, right? How much is it?

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

There is definitely an attitude in Oregon, and I guess the way to explain it is that other states have similar attitudes - anywhere in which you can buy one of those bumperstickers that say "Native" and have some state-specific phrase or image on them.

California, Colorado, Texas, Washington, Oregon all have that somewhat irritating pride-of-place that often pushes over into an arrogance. I like living here, but I don't think it confers some special grace on me. I love Portland, but I'm not blind to its faults - I just think the positives far outweigh the negatives.

I was in Oregon less than a week. I was in the OSU bookstore and I heard this girl tell her friends in a voice that was loud enough to hear 25 feet away: "I WAS BORN HERE!" ... WTF?! Is that supposed to impress me? Do you want a gold star?

Originally Posted by Verdigris

Sounds like a perfect opportunity for market competition. I'm sure there are plenty of road construction companies that could maintain the roads since there appears to be a demand for such a thing. And as for schools, if the schools are doing poorly and are not getting the funding the parents want, then there sounds like the perfect opportunity for more private (i.e. non-public) schools, which would have to keep their pricing competitive (i.e. be efficient with their money, unlike public schools) to bring in and keep students. Private protection also sounds like it could do well.

All that needs to be done is to remove the barriers to entry into these areas: excessive regulations, high taxes, onerous licensing requirements, etc.

An-caps in Oregon?

I thought there was nothing but hippies there!

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

I can't speak for anyone else but I thought I would mention that NYC has both a 10.5% state income tax and an 8.375% sales tax. No other state to my knowledge does this although there are 50 of them I certainly don't know all the variances. Maybe Delaware does not have either an income tax nor a sales tax but most states will have one or the other. I would be more interested in how a state used its tax revenue than that it charges taxes. I don't expect cities to run themselves off the revenue from speed traps but I expect that if they are taxing a sizeable revenue stream that infrastructure should reflect that fact. In many NYC towns especially those in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the counties immediately north of the metro area homeowners pay $4K and 5K a year on a quarter million dollar home. My GF was doing the research on homes in Portland and saw property taxes in the area of 1K+ for similar priced properties. FWIW

H

I think New Hampshire is the only state with no income or sales tax.

[elousv]

Oregon has a graduated income tax. It is 5% on the first $5500, 7% on the next $8200 and 9% beyond $13,700. This is from America's Best Low-Tax Retirement Tax Towns. It looks at the overall tax burden and ranks 203 cities in all 50 states. Certain ones are tax heavens and others tax hells. Ashland, Bend, Grants Pass and Medford are heavens for income levels of $30K and home value $150K for example.