pros and cons of Oregon? (to live, estate, retirement)

[Cliftonpdx]

Originally Posted by anrev

So people from Oregon tell people from California to go home, everyone laughs and thinks it's funny.

But if Californian's tell Mexicans to go home, they're called racist and other nasty names.

Stay Classy Oregon!

I went to visit a friend in PDX. Nice place to visit, but I feel bad for those who live there and have jobs. They're gonna be sucked dry!

Loved the article in the weekly that was butthurt crying about Oregon's failed strwaberry industry and how the whole thing was the fault of evil california.

frickin' hysterical.

I enjoy using California bottled water to water my roses.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by anrev

So people from Oregon tell people from California to go home, everyone laughs and thinks it's funny.

But if Californian's tell Mexicans to go home, they're called racist and other nasty names. .......

Really? Because there are whole lot of Oregonians that wish the undocumented aliens would go home. Note, I said undocumented aliens and not Mexican Nationals. Big difference. I haven't seen any problems with legally admitted aliens of any country or natural citizen Hispanics. But if that makes us racist, so be it. Racist or not, it would be nice if a lot of the Californians went home, and that is not meant to be a joke. No one thinks it is funny and no one is laughing about it.

If you are from California and want all the Mexicans to go home, you are indeed a racist. If you want all the undocumented aliens to go home, no matter what country their home is, that is not racist, unless you have something unpleasant to add to it about race.

[SWCM7950]

Originally Posted by stuckinseattle

pros:

cost of living is relatively low
easy access to nature
low crime
no sales tax
many interesting forms of lichen

cons:

filthy climate
high taxes, high regulation, high unemployment - growth is being strangled and there is no future here for most of the young people
outside of Portland, there is basically nothing to do but outdoor recreation. People will get butthurt about this but it's true.
People here are, bluntly, hicks, except unlike hicks in the South and the Midwest, they don't go to church or do anything interesting.

Despite my username, I live in Oregon now. It's way better than Washington, but that's a low bar. The PNW in general is a fine place to live if you are somewhat introverted and can make your own fun. It's totally empty and wideopen out here, the possibilities would be endless if not for the antibusiness state governments and despite their assiness, you can make yourself a pretty great life here as long as you understand you are moving to the frontier - yes, even if you are moving to metro Portland, it's still the psychic frontier. If you are a highly social person though, and if you like to live in a place where there is an actual society of other humans, and if you are dependent on your employer, I would at least make sure that you live here on a trial basis and don't let go of your home base until you are totally sure you can hack it. There are a LOT of unhappy people in the PNW who didn't realize how hard the winters would be, how closed off and cold the people are, and just generally how far up the backend of everything this part of the world is.

Cost of living is not relatively low at all. Houses are cheaper than other west coast states i.e. CA and WA but hardly correlated to the crappy OR economy. I would say the bubble in Portland is worse than CA or Denver due to the lack of good jobs and economic stagnation. Even the houses in the higher price range $500K+ are not at all what you would find as far as quality, yards, appliances in other areas of the country. We are moving from the Midwest and wow is housing sure different. Hard to explain but the overall architecture, quality, and upgrades even at that price range pale in comparison to the Midwest. We lived in CA for 8 years and yes housing was expensive but at least the architecture, upgrades, etc. were nicer. There have been some nice gems here and there but a lot of older, outdated houses, and surprisingly small yards for a state with so much land etc. Land is also pricey unless it's totally out in the boonies.


Why in the world would winters be hard in the PNW? Try living in MN for a year Actually I do agree though because I'd much rather have snow than constant drizzle. At least you can get out and ice fish, ski, snowmobile, snowshoe etc. in snow. I do not look forward to moving to Portland at all. The liberal loonies seem to have a death grip on that city.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Really? Because there are whole lot of Oregonians that wish the undocumented aliens would go home. Note, I said undocumented aliens and not Mexican Nationals. Big difference. I haven't seen any problems with legally admitted aliens of any country or natural citizen Hispanics. But if that makes us racist, so be it. Racist or not, it would be nice if a lot of the Californians went home, and that is not meant to be a joke. No one thinks it is funny and no one is laughing about it.

If you are from California and want all the Mexicans to go home, you are indeed a racist. If you want all the undocumented aliens to go home, no matter what country their home is, that is not racist, unless you have something unpleasant to add to it about race.

I will go home if you want to help me pay for crazy priced property driven up by transplants from all over the world... wanting the CA dream. Oh, and I am not laughing either.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by SWCM7950

Cost of living is not relatively low at all. Houses are cheaper than other west coast states i.e. CA and WA but hardly correlated to the crappy OR economy. I would say the bubble in Portland is worse than CA or Denver due to the lack of good jobs and economic stagnation. Even the houses in the higher price range $500K+ are not at all what you would find as far as quality, yards, appliances in other areas of the country. We are moving from the Midwest and wow is housing sure different. Hard to explain but the overall architecture, quality, and upgrades even at that price range pale in comparison to the Midwest. We lived in CA for 8 years and yes housing was expensive but at least the architecture, upgrades, etc. were nicer. There have been some nice gems here and there but a lot of older, outdated houses, and surprisingly small yards for a state with so much land etc. Land is also pricey unless it's totally out in the boonies.


Why in the world would winters be hard in the PNW? Try living in MN for a year Actually I do agree though because I'd much rather have snow than constant drizzle. At least you can get out and ice fish, ski, snowmobile, snowshoe etc. in snow. I do not look forward to moving to Portland at all. The liberal loonies seem to have a death grip on that city.

Are you moving to Portland? If you are already not feeling that positive about the city then you may want to consider the burbs. Portlanders are in general, "in love with Portland" and you will feel isolated if you hate living there. Just an opinion but based on experience. Portlanders generally expect love at first sight and don't appreciate transplants who like to take it slow. I used to be shocked how a few PTA moms told me I should move after I expressed my content with Portland but it was still growing on me. There is a lot of that in Portland just so you know.

[anrev]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Really? Because there are whole lot of Oregonians that wish the undocumented aliens would go home. Note, I said undocumented aliens and not Mexican Nationals. Big difference. I haven't seen any problems with legally admitted aliens of any country or natural citizen Hispanics. But if that makes us racist, so be it. Racist or not, it would be nice if a lot of the Californians went home, and that is not meant to be a joke. No one thinks it is funny and no one is laughing about it.

If you are from California and want all the Mexicans to go home, you are indeed a racist. If you want all the undocumented aliens to go home, no matter what country their home is, that is not racist, unless you have something unpleasant to add to it about race.

Typical Oregonian to take a one liner joke seriously! Aww, you guys are so cute up there!

[Cliftonpdx]

Originally Posted by anrev

Typical Oregonian to take a one liner joke seriously! Aww, you guys are so cute up there!

Oh don't worry, we have plenty of California jokes up here, but don't let that bother you, they are just jokes.

[anrev]

I know! I read them in the local papers when Im up there visiting all my friends from California!

Seriously, I have no friends left in SoCal anymore

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I will go home if you want to help me pay for crazy priced property driven up by transplants from all over the world... wanting the CA dream. Oh, and I am not laughing either.

Most my coworkers who were transplanted from CA to PNW kept property in CA to preserve their prop 13 status. Many returned to CA at retirement to enjoy prop 13 benefits. Gathering $2000 - $3000 / month the whole time they were gone. + securing a lasting position in CA real estate.

[Ultrarunner]

I know I'm thankful I didn't liquidate California real estate as I had planned...

I bought in Washington and 18 months after I bought the assessor valued my property 80% higher than I had paid... scary to be sure.

At least in California each property is treated the same under property 13 and each sale stands alone regardless of what your neighbor does.