CA to OR ___ Is it a good move? (Portland, Eugene: income, rent)

[blondiey637]

My boyfriend and I are thinking about leaving LA and moving to Oregon. His mom lives there, my family is in LA. He is 22 and I am 20. He is an LVN and we are both planning on continuing college when we move. Does anyone have any advice, good and bad, for us? LA is too expensive and were looking to start over fresh. People here are just ridiculous.

[furyu]

Hard to say. Cost of living isn't all that much lower here in Oregon compared to California but wages are lower. Overall, you'll probably be at about the same income/outgo level that you are in LA, but without specifics, it's really hard to say for certain.

If you want to continue your education (good idea!), you'd need to live in one of the college towns, in/near Portland, Corvalis, Eugene, or Medford area, unless you are attending community college still, in which case you'll have more location options. However, the cost is vastly higher to attend community college in Oregon than in California so if that is the case, stay in California until you finish your first two years (AA). Education is getting more and more expensive everywhere, unfortunately, but from my experience, it's much easier to attend college in California than elsewhere.

You say your boyfriend is a LVN. Is he planning to work as such here in Oregon? If so, he should definitely check out the job market first before moving here. That will dictate where you live. What about you? The employment rate is on the upswing here in Oregon but it's not always easy to find work.

I agree with your assessment of L.A.! The traffic problems alone are reason enough to leave there. But, how hard will it be to leave your family? It will undoubtedly not be easy for you to see them very often.

Oregon is a great place to live. Just do your 'homework' first so it's not too great a change.

Good luck.

[Waterlily]

Well it'll be a change in climate. There will be more rain and maybe some snow. It depends on where you decide to live.

There is certain amount of demand for health care workers. Most of the larger cities will have hospitals and colleges. Pick out a city and look it up the stats on city-data.

Good luck with your search for a perfect place.

[bobmulk]

There should be no problem finding work in health care anywhere in Oregon due to the severe shortage of health care workers nationwide.

I disagree with the comment that the cost of living here is not much lower than California. The cost of gasoline is lower, the cost of registering your car is MUCH lower, housing is MUCH lower. Not sure about food, but probably lower. There's no sales tax.

However, the other poster is correct that for the cost of living here, wages haven't kept up. But then, what else is new? No state in the nation has wages keeping up with the cost of living.

I lived in Southern California for eight years in the 80's. I'm so glad to be back in Oregon. Traffic down there is enough to cause a person to give up his religion. The lack of open space, the putrid water, the filthy air, UGH! I'm sorry, but palm trees and constant sunshine are not the most important things in life!

[OREGONRAIN]

I agree your cost of living should be lower here in Oregon, however It is not a cheap cost of living here, and could reflect that when you look for a apt. Keep that in mind if the rent looks low, really check out the neighborhood. Yes jobs in health care should be more in abundance here than other fields, Oregon has had high unemployment for some time now, it has improved some, but still this is not a state with alot of industry and it shows in the unemployement levels. The rate of pay may be lower here for jobs compared to Calif, however I am not sure on that one. All in all this is a much more relaxed place to live that Calif, and yes the traffic there is enough to want to move. See is you can find employment before packing up, its a nice feeling to have a job in the new place before arriving there. I think it will all fall into place for you though, your young, and this is a nice place to live.

[CantWait2Bthere]

Have any of you checked out those COST OF LIVING calculators? There are a few of them out there on various websites. I think one is on Sterling's. I am curious how accurate they are. According to the couple that I have tried the cost of living is lower in Oregon than in California. One I remember even breaks it down to what specifically will cost less and/or more such as transportation, housing, utilities, etc..

They way they work for those who have never done one is you enter the zip code of the place you currently live as well as the one for the town you want to compare, then you enter your income and it tells you how much you would need to make there to have the same lifestyle. Like I said, Oregon always comes lower by at least 10-15%.

But by no means will I take that as gospel....be ready to be able to pay your bills!