Is Oregon the place for us? (Portland, Salem: apartment, to rent, houses)

[hammy & waf]

Hello everyone, we currently live in Columbus, OH and we need to move. I have always dreamed of moving away from Ohio someday and I have finally found the someone to do it with. We are starting to save up, originally we were looking at Southern California, but the more I read about it, the less I am wanting to live there. Something has always told me that the coast of Oregon is where I belong, but there are a few issues. First is there anyone with fybromyalgia or someone who has had knee surgery from there, she has both and the weather affects her knee, she says she can feel it before it rains and the sort. Will this be a limiting factor to rule out Oregon? We also want somewhere that would be good to raise a family someday and has a decent job market, we both have warehouse experience, but she also has office experience and i have also experience in a sign shop. How easy is it to get a job in one of these fields? Also the houses, we are looking to rent a house or apartment, seemed a little more expensive in the Portland area, is there anywhere close by that has access to good jobs and decent (no more than 850-900 for house, 650-750 for apartment) housing prices? Does it sound like this might be a place for us? If not does anyone have any other suggestions?

[Silverfall]

My husband has had three arthroscopic knee surgeries He never had any problems with the weather. Then he was hit by a truck riding his bike and injured his knee. He does have some occasional aching (1-2 times per year) if we have a drastic weather change now.

I think Salem and Albany would be possible bets for you for those rents. We are not on the coast though (1.5 hours away). $850-$900 will get you a 3 bed/2 bath house here, with no pets. Pets will raise your rent more.

I think because of medical issues, you should during the winter sometime and spend a couple of weeks to see if it impacts anything. Everyone is different.