So what is with the constant complaining about Portland anyway? Especially jobs? (unemployment rate, living)

[Random_Walk]

Originally Posted by 1ceTr0n

I'm not that adventerous or a risk taker

I'm afraid you're in the wrong industry, then. I promise you that I don't say this out of malice, but because the industry itself changes and morphs so damned much.

I started this whole IT gig 17 years ago, working as a sysadmin on AIX UNIX parked in an IBM RS/6000, with terminals and manufacturing scales/printers/sensors - all of it strung together by a 4mpbs token ring network.

It should be pretty obvious that nowadays, the number of job openings for a SMIT-jockey who can feed/manage either IBM gear or token-ring networks is, well, awful slim. On the other hand, there are plenty of slots out there for a multi-disciplined system engineer who can handle everything from Windows to *nix to networking to programming to databases... and can not only do it, but explain it in plain English to enterprise customers (who in turn pay seven-figure sums to have these things implemented in their businesses).

IT is pretty simple: evolve or die.

[1ceTr0n]

Hmm well good to know then. I hate programming and database enough that no amount of money will make me wanna learn it. I will pursue other avenues when it comes time and possibly leave IT all together, life's too short to do stuff I hate. Thanks gentlemen

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by 1ceTr0n

I'm asking for some more clarrification on all this sad and wooo is Portland that I keep hearing about from alot of people, both from Portland and not.


WORDS


And if your gonna pull the "Its full of Liberals and hippies, so it sucks" angle. Please...I grew up in a college town full of, college educated, stuck up hippies and liberals, its nothing new to me. I'm personally a Centrist in regards to politics in general, some right wing, some left wing, depending on the topic.

I recently heard it put this way:

"Portland's transformation from a gritty but highly livable middle-class town to a fad-obsessed theme park"

Agree with that statement or not, I believe it says quite a bit about the Portland of a few decades ago compared to the way it is now.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

I recently heard it put this way:

"Portland's transformation from a gritty but highly livable middle-class town to a fad-obsessed theme park"

Agree with that statement or not, I believe it says quite a bit about the Portland of a few decades ago compared to the way it is now.

I have to say I agree with that statement.

[nevadaned]

To the OP: if you're getting the itch to get out of your little albeit unbelievably beautiful city of Missoula and Montana then get the heck out. Life isn't going to wait for you. You can always move back and as many find out moving to a different place reveals how much they like where they came from. Portland is a beautiful city and certainly is deserving of you giving it a chance for a year or two. Don't forget Seattle, despite what others might say they are very similar cities. Portland definitely feels smaller though but both are worth checking out. Both cities have an unbelievable amount of bright 20 and 30 somethings looking for a job. So good luck with that, but with that brings it lots of like minded people your age. Ever think about starting your own business? I know people freeze when this is brought up but in the longer run do you always want to just have a job and collecting a paycheck? Most people in the fair city of portland think that way, a large portion of the population are happy just to exist. That's obviously fine but it suffocated me and I had to get out of that place. Portland is a beautiful and incredibly live able city, though this isn't improving IMO. Give it a shot, if not you'll just be worrying about it all the time.

[griz134]

I moved to Portland from Missoula about 14 years ago. I'm am so ready to move back to Missoula. Portland is way too crowded for me.

[ramedud]

Originally Posted by nevadaned

To the OP: if you're getting the itch to get out of your little albeit unbelievably beautiful city of Missoula and Montana then get the heck out. Life isn't going to wait for you. You can always move back and as many find out moving to a different place reveals how much they like where they came from. Portland is a beautiful city and certainly is deserving of you giving it a chance for a year or two. Don't forget Seattle, despite what others might say they are very similar cities. Portland definitely feels smaller though but both are worth checking out. Both cities have an unbelievable amount of bright 20 and 30 somethings looking for a job. So good luck with that, but with that brings it lots of like minded people your age. Ever think about starting your own business? I know people freeze when this is brought up but in the longer run do you always want to just have a job and collecting a paycheck? Most people in the fair city of portland think that way, a large portion of the population are happy just to exist. That's obviously fine but it suffocated me and I had to get out of that place. Portland is a beautiful and incredibly live able city, though this isn't improving IMO. Give it a shot, if not you'll just be worrying about it all the time.

This thread was TLDR and I was about to write my spiel on it, until you took the words right out of my mouth.

1ceTr0n: Go for it.

Life's too short. Check it out. I'll get a lot of Moderator cut: language saying this, but I don't care. The job market in Portland isn't that bad. People claim it's nearly impossible to find a job, rent's astronomically expensive, housing is scarce, homelessness is rampant and public transportation sucks.

Now are they talking about San Francisco or Portland? I'm a bit confused here. I swear whenever I hear those descriptions I think I'm in the wrong forum. Can I call that Moderator cut: language out now? Yes thank you. Don't let some anonymous forum posters skew your perceptions and intentions. It's your life.


...and as my friend Jimmy Pineapple would say:

Moderator cut: language

[Random_Walk]

Originally Posted by ramedud

The job market in Portland isn't that bad.

For IT, it's not bad at all. On the other hand, for the higher-paying ones they do demand skills and experience.

By the way: I remember seeing "cisco" up there. Any possibility of a CCNA or better? If you have one of those, you're good to go.

[1ceTr0n]

Allright well, im not giving up my dream. Thanks for the facts and input but i've dreamed to much about moving to Portland to let reality and poor job market stop me now. I wanna get outa my homestate soon and start a new section of my life with more like minded people and yet still be somewhat close to my family in the Northwest region. I'll do what I must in regards to finding suitable work in the IT field. There's gotta be something somewhere that I can fill in with my experience and desire to work hard and learn even if pay is not great

I'm going with this still, despite the naysayers and depressed people i'm seeing on here.

[Minervah]

I took a quick glance through the posts here and I didn't see many naysayers. Mostly people were simply telling you what the conditions here. Most were not trying to be discouraging on a personal level but were trying to help by telling you what you would more than likely be up against if you moved here. Being honest is not being depressed. I don't see how you can equate the two and it's just being kind of hard on people to say that.

Would you rather people suger coat things and you found what problems you would face after you relocated? Forewarned is forearmed. If you know what you are getting into, you can be prepared to deal with it. No one here has lied to you. You will be taking your chances like everyone else who relocates to Portland without a job waiting for them.

Just give some of the responders here a little credit for telling you it's tough, but possible. And also to those who actually wished you good luck and gave you useful advice.