Snow in OR? (Portland, McMinnville, Newberg: job market, movie theater, college)

[hndn11]

Hi,
I live in CA & considering to relocate, of course, my choice is: no snow. First, I don't have an idea of where to relocate to, then OR came through my mind. I have a degree in Accounting (entry level). My concerns are: how's the job market in OR? How often does it snow, or is there a certain area/city that doesn't snow often?
Oh, by the way, how about the rain?
Thank you in advance for your response.

[sleepyjeff]

Portland...sometimes we go 1 or 2 years witout snow; but most of the time we have 3 or 4 days of snow usually in January. Even worse, sometimes we get ice storms which pretty much shut the entire city down and if you have to go out in it you better have chains(both on your car and your boots).

Brookings.....mildest weather in Oregon but not exactly a huge demand for accountants.

[hndn11]

Sleepyjeff: how about any small town? I noticed McMinville is brought up quite a lot in this forum but nothing mentioned about snow or job, or even housing?
Thanks.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by hndn11

Sleepyjeff: how about any small town? I noticed McMinville is brought up quite a lot in this forum but nothing mentioned about snow or job, or even housing?
Thanks.

McMinville's weather is somewhat similar to Portland's(probably not as many ice storms though as they are not as close to the gorge). I can't speak to how well the job market is though......I know three things about McMinville:

1) The only operating Drive-In movie theater in the state is here.
2) 1st class Flight Museum is also located here(this is where the Spruce Goose is on display)
3) The sport of Disc Golf is really big in that town.

[dachmom]

Originally posted bysleepyjeff
The only operating Drive-In movie theater in the state is here.

Actually, Dallas still has a working Drive-in theater too!

I don't know about the job market there. Linfield College (Go Wildcats!) is there, and I think it might be the biggest employer. I could be wrong about that. It's a nice small town, but you might have better luck in a bigger city since jobs tend to be scarce in small towns. I would suggest signing up with an employment company that specializes in accounting jobs and see if any come up in small towns. Every once in a while someone will move/retire and a position will become available. Good Luck in your job/moving search.

[Smiled]

If you're looking to get on a career track and want to move to the Northwest, I'd suggest Seattle. Portland salaries are lower than CA or Seattle, and outside-Portland salaries tend to be lower yet. This used to be offset by lower housing costs, but that changed over the last 4-5 years (though it may change back). Oregon tends to trail the nation in downturns and recoveries by 6 months. Unemployment tends to run higher than the national average, as there are more people wanting to live in Oregon than the economy will support.

[karlsch]

It's getting to look like the current economic crisis may actually be the worst one since the Great Depression. It may take several or even many years for the United States to recover.

If I were starting out on a new career path and wanted to relocate, I wouldn't worry about snow or rain. I would want to locate to a place that economically might do the best during the downturn and also has affordable housing, cheap prices, etc. It might be some place with a myriad of oil and gas companies, such as Houston, with its horribly humid summer weather, urban sprawl, etc.

Now is not the time for somebody starting out to look through all of the "most wonderful places in the United States to live" lists to find a place to live. Now is not the time to find a dream place. Now is the time to be practical.

[vnodak]

Originally Posted by Smiled

If you're looking to get on a career track and want to move to the Northwest, I'd suggest Seattle. Portland salaries are lower than CA or Seattle, and outside-Portland salaries tend to be lower yet. This used to be offset by lower housing costs, but that changed over the last 4-5 years (though it may change back). Oregon tends to trail the nation in downturns and recoveries by 6 months. Unemployment tends to run higher than the national average, as there are more people wanting to live in Oregon than the economy will support.

I agree with the above but Portland and Seattle do get some snow and usually it does not last long but when it does hit, everything pretty much stops. The weather in the two areas is somewhat similar but Portland gets more rain and Seattle has less sun. For more info check out the stats on city data. In my experience, the Oregon coast gets very little snow if any but it does rain alot. None of the areas are close to California type weather. Oh, the cost of living in Seattle is higher than Portland. Best of luck.

[Steve Miller]

I believe if you find a town under 1,500 foot elevation, that snow would be a rare occurrence. There has been snow on the beaches the last couple of winters, and as an accountant, you probably know that the elevation there is "zero"... I don't believe there is any place in Oregon that one can be guaranteed to never receive snow. Global warming you know. Happy hunting.

OH, the rain... that's another topic of depression, I mean, discussion...

[lifes2short]

We live between Portland and McMinnville, but spend quite a bit of time in Mac. They are a few degrees colder usually, and if the area gets snow, they tend to get a bit more. It still isn't much most of the time though.

The drive in theater is not in McMinnville, but rather in Newberg, just north of there about 20 miles. Fun place to go in the summer, BTW.

We have also lived in the Seattle area. As for rain, it completely depends. We were in an area up there known as the convergence zone, and we got substantially more rain than we do down here. The cost of living is more there, but there is also more opportunity with it being a larger area. We loved it up there, but a job brought us back to Oregon.

I hope some of this helps