Has anybody here moved from the Los Angeles area to Portland? (Beaverton: fit in, transplants)

[laguy1059]

How has your experience been? Did the move alleviate the push factors that you were experiencing (like cost of living or traffic)? Would you do anything differently?

Appreciate the feedback

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by laguy1059

How has your experience been? Did the move alleviate the push factors that you were experiencing (like cost of living or traffic)? Would you do anything differently?

Appreciate the feedback

I'm not from LA but have had clients from all over CA move here. Most have stayed with a handful heading back. The ones that headed back to CA needed more sun and just don't like rain. Everyone else has had no regrets and they often tell me, when I talk to them, that they didn't realize just how crazy life was there until they went back to visit and sat in traffic for hours.

[Rob Allen]

I lived in Costa Mesa (Orange County) and my wife lived in Redondo Beach before we got married and moved here in 1994. We're very happy here.

[StealthRabbit]

About 200 people / month move to Portland area from SO CA (for last 30 yrs).
Rental trucks are hard to get southbound in Feb - March, but are VERY cheap Northbound those months (Some companies will PAY you to relocate trucks North in winter)

Most my Bay area coworkers (who were smart and successful) retained their CA homes and retired there and LUV prop 13! $200-$300 / yr property taxes in Palo Alto / Los Gatos on $2m home. (I pay that much Property Taxes every week in PNW due to Californication of property values in western states (displacing locals for last 40 yrs).

DW did it via Colorado - fine for her (not for me / prairie kid) weather related, and socially PNW is very COLD (I.e. search Seattle Freeze = bring your own friends) or be outgoing enough to seek new friends (who will be nice, congenial, but somewhat cold).

CoL will be quite similar, (food / staples / capital goods)
......(buying home is more in CA, rent similar, tho less in OR)
Income Taxes similar in OR, but ZERO 7 min north of Portland.
No sales tax in OR (that's nice if you are in Consumer Mode)

Left coast is pretty similar in 'outdoors recreation, mobility, politics, religion'.
Not a huge change (excluding weather)
Bring some indoor hobbies, be prepared to do EVERYTHING in the drizzle, 80 days of summer (dry) beginning on 5 July.

Have your firewood under cover by Nov 1
Buy a LOT of air tickets to SoCA for Nov - Apr ($69 at the moment) OW


Good transportation in Portland you can get most places in 20 min (Traffic is not a problem if you can go 'off-hours' (work night shift - more LIGHT exposure!,every 'DAY(light)' is a day off!) I did this for 28 yrs, it was GREAT (more pay, no bosses, no cry-baby dayshifters)

Lots of coffee, brew pubs, music gigs, food options, crafts and culture (~20 colleges within 40 miles)
Outdoor recreation is accessible within 20 -30 min. Coast / volcano / skiing / windsurfing is 1 hr.

[laguy1059]

I sincerely appreciate the input

[StealthRabbit]

Bring some Philippe's Mustard!
And their French Dip Sandwichs and Beef Stew (And pies)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe%27s

Bring a Rubio's too.

[NW4me]

Hmm, no.... never heard of such a move...

[Johnny Z]

I did the move in the late 70's from San Fernando Valley. Lived there for about a year. Portland is a nice city, cleaner than LA even on it`s bad days. Rains allot sometimes snows. Don't go to N.E Portland much but like most of the rest of it. Don't live there anymore, moved to S. Oregon, but have some good memories. Liked the music scene and culture.

[movingsomewhere2019]

I grew up mainly in Bakersfield but spent time in LA also. My husband and I moved to Beaverton (Portland suburb) 11 years ago and we are now looking at moving out of state again. There are a lot of CA transplants here, so you'd fit in fine. It is cheaper/smaller than LA but Portland is still a big city with it's fair share of big city issues similar to LA. It seems like Portland traffic has really gotten worse in the last 4-5 years. Public transportation has gotten more crowded too. Huge homeless issue downtown. I work downtown. It's less than a 12 mile drive but takes me 45 minutes most days if I leave when traffic isn't too heavy. I pay $12.25/day to park. I could, and used to, take the MAX train but it's gotten so sketchy that I just gave up and do the drive and work from home when I can. A lot of people bike to work, so that may be an option for you. But it really does rain a lot here. You can count on about 9 months of mostly dreary, drizzly days. On the plus side, we have much better air quality and it's greener than LA.

As far as housing costs go, we bought our home in 2008 so at an excellent time. We just listed it for more than double what we paid. We have done a lot of improvements, but still. We have a new baby so we're cashing out and moving to a cheaper state. I think Portland's heyday is over. You may want to look into Boise or Reno. Idaho is currently the fastest growing state so it's experiencing a boom, but your money will go much further in either of those cities and you'll have less traffic than Portland. And more sun. The lack of sun here is kind of an issue. The rain was a novelty for us the first few years, but you get sick and tired of the constant darkness and wet. It just drains your energy.

Good luck!