Maybe looking at Portland within the next 9 months (fit in, sales)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Maybe looking at Portland within the next 9 months
Here's the spiel you've heard before: I visited Oregon. It was green and pretty. I love beer. I want to do something different. Portland is kind of weird. Washington DC is getting tiring. I want to step outside of my comfort zone. I like the Oregon Ducks.
1. What is the job market like for a CPA/business type professional in Portland?
2. Were I to get a transfer with my current job (most likely) to Portland I get to keep my salary. How far does mid-60s get me in Portland, particularly in regard to housing? DC rent is completely criminal.
3. Is anyone at all aware if there is a solid Virginia Tech alumni association chapter? (Hey, It's worth a shot to ask here right?)
4. I'm libertarian, but extremely open minded/liberal on social issues, and I'm a closet hippy when it comes to nature/environment. I know Portland is progressive. How would I fit in this regard given that I'm a bit opinionated and strong in beliefs?
5. How are the great outdoors in Oregon? (backpacking, kayaking, camping, etc.)
6. Though I want to step outside of my comfort zone, is there a good presence of young professional not-too-artsy types who just like to watch college football, go to bars, etc? For the record, I'm a musician by hobby so I have no problem with the artsy types at all!
#4- Since you consider yourself a libertarian, I'm pretty sure that you won't find Oregon's income tax structure much to your liking. Also, Portland has a lot of picky environmental regulations that may cause conflict between your libertarian and environmental sides. One of the things I liked about Portland is that the conservatives tend to be much more libertarian than in other parts of the country. You may not like the sizable amount of Occupiers.
#6- I lived there during Oregon's 1994 Rose Bowl run. Since then, college football has become a much bigger deal.
1. What is the job market like for a CPA/business type professional in Portland?
2. Were I to get a transfer with my current job (most likely) to Portland I get to keep my salary. How far does mid-60s get me in Portland, particularly in regard to housing? DC rent is completely criminal.
3. Is anyone at all aware if there is a solid Virginia Tech alumni association chapter? (Hey, It's worth a shot to ask here right?)
4. I'm libertarian, but extremely open minded/liberal on social issues, and I'm a closet hippy when it comes to nature/environment. I know Portland is progressive. How would I fit in this regard given that I'm a bit opinionated and strong in beliefs?
5. How are the great outdoors in Oregon? (backpacking, kayaking, camping, etc.)
6. Though I want to step outside of my comfort zone, is there a good presence of young professional not-too-artsy types who just like to watch college football, go to bars, etc? For the record, I'm a musician by hobby so I have no problem with the artsy types at all!
#1 & 2 are related. Transfer with your current employer then network, network, network. As you doubtless already know most accounting professionals migrate to the firms/industry in their employers client base. We do have accounting firms that serve small entities. Which route you want to go will depend on your career goals. The mid 60's is a comfortable income in Portland metro, it will go much further than in DC Metro.
#3 Don't know.
#4 You will fit right in. One observation: I would keep my opinions to myself until you know your audience, particularly in bars during campaign season.
#5 Can't be beat.
#6 Not my circle but it shouldn't take you more than a weekend to find the places you like.
If you are a CPA you have the skills to assess our tax structure. We have no sales tax, only an income tax, so State revenue is front loaded (so to speak).
Not knowing the terms of your transfer from a moving expense standpoint I suggest you sell everything but your clothing and treasures before your move. They are rarely worth the cost to move them. Craigslist, estate sales, consignment stores, even an antique auction house, are great. Ah yes, we have IKEA as well.
#1 & 2 are related. Transfer with your current employer then network, network, network. As you doubtless already know most accounting professionals migrate to the firms/industry in their employers client base. We do have accounting firms that serve small entities. Which route you want to go will depend on your career goals. The mid 60's is a comfortable income in Portland metro, it will go much further than in DC Metro.
#3 Don't know.
#4 You will fit right in. One observation: I would keep my opinions to myself until you know your audience, particularly in bars during campaign season.
#5 Can't be beat.
#6 Not my circle but it shouldn't take you more than a weekend to find the places you like.
If you are a CPA you have the skills to assess our tax structure. We have no sales tax, only an income tax, so State revenue is front loaded (so to speak).
Not knowing the terms of your transfer from a moving expense standpoint I suggest you sell everything but your clothing and treasures before your move. They are rarely worth the cost to move them. Craigslist, estate sales, consignment stores, even an antique auction house, are great. Ah yes, we have IKEA as well.
Yeah you're income tax is a bit high but I still come out ahead with possibly keeping my current salary and cost of living decreases. Also, VA's is 5.5% so it's only about 3.5% more netted out by my COL decrease I'll be getting by moving. Ugh, I'd give anything to live there. I'm a huge beer person and I'm a coffee fanatic too. I have my own espresso machine but have a feeling I'd be going out a lot more to get my fix than making it myself.
Yeah you're income tax is a bit high but I still come out ahead with possibly keeping my current salary and cost of living decreases. Also, VA's is 5.5% so it's only about 3.5% more netted out by my COL decrease I'll be getting by moving. Ugh, I'd give anything to live there. I'm a huge beer person and I'm a coffee fanatic too. I have my own espresso machine but have a feeling I'd be going out a lot more to get my fix than making it myself.
yeah, what nell says. if you like beer and coffee you'll def fit in. i am in total agreement also with selling everything and just coming here with the clothes on your back and what you can fit in your car. being an accountant, me thinks that you prolly have some money saved for this adventure and there are some cool furnished places here for you to move into until you find your hood.
personally, we want outta here so bad, we moved up here from cali and it's just not us any more. wanna go to sact, but the move would be super expensive and we're on fixed incomes. everyone here has heard my sob story so i won't bore you with the details. your plan sounds flawless and when you land you'll have to send us a message on the boards telling everyone how much you love it. portland is definitely weird and if that's what floats your boat, this town is for you! lots of luck and i'm sort of envious, it's exciting to pack up and move somewhere. but you will the west coast vibe isn't so intense like DC, been there too.
yeah, what nell says. if you like beer and coffee you'll def fit in. i am in total agreement also with selling everything and just coming here with the clothes on your back and what you can fit in your car. being an accountant, me thinks that you prolly have some money saved for this adventure and there are some cool furnished places here for you to move into until you find your hood.
personally, we want outta here so bad, we moved up here from cali and it's just not us any more. wanna go to sact, but the move would be super expensive and we're on fixed incomes. everyone here has heard my sob story so i won't bore you with the details. your plan sounds flawless and when you land you'll have to send us a message on the boards telling everyone how much you love it. portland is definitely weird and if that's what floats your boat, this town is for you! lots of luck and i'm sort of envious, it's exciting to pack up and move somewhere. but you will the west coast vibe isn't so intense like DC, been there too.
I love the weird vibe Oregon gave me when I was there. A socially libertarian-vast-cloudy-unexplored green temperate rain forest. It's such an interesting state. I've been everywhere with my job these past few years: Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Mid-west, all sorts of east coast states and nothing gave me an urge to uproot back East more than Oregon.
You have already been here so I think you can answer your own questions.
1. Depends on you and your credentials. Who do you know? have you networked ahead of time? I know a few "freelance" (unemployed, oddjob) CPAs. In other words make sure you have a transfer.
2. You can live very well on 60k.
3. There is not even a U of Az alum chapter here, so I would find it incredibly unlikely that you will meet any graduates of VT or any Hokies fans.
4. You'll be fine.
5. Didn't you visit here? There are rivers everywhere, the cascade mountains, the pacific coast and year round snow with in an hour.
6. Go to any sports bar, meet people who like foot ball, become a regular. Football is not that popular here. Learn to love Basketball or Soccer.
7. Roommates? If you are really making 60k why the hell would you want roomates? At 5k a month you could rent my house in st. Johns, buy a fancy car and still stash away 3k+ a month or 40k a year. Something is not jiving here. Anyway, thats none of my business. Craigslist or Reddit would find you a place to live. But most of those people are pot smoking no ambition hippies looking for someone responsible to pay their rent FOR THEM. A friend of mine got caught up in a situation like that. He was paying his rent, and the roommate that leased the house got evicted cause they were pocketing his money wasn't paying the rent. If the vibe of the house is too chill i'd walk away. Interview them as much as they interview you.
Any advice on where to look for roommates? I think this move is about to become reality and sooner than 9 months.
I never had problems finding roommates on Craigslist when I first moved here and during the period when I was a renter looking for other roommates. You can often tell by the nature of the posting if someone is a holier-than-now type or if they're down to earth, and often you can find nice deals for home shares with laid back friendly folks.
There will be a lot of folks in inner SE and NE along with parts of N Portland looking for roommates. You can basically sort of scout out or research the areas you like and probably find someone with a decent place looking for roommate.
If you make $60,000 a year, you could afford to live on your own in Portland probably unless you've got other stuff to pay off or just want to save money. I was making around a little less than that and I found a good deal($750 a month) on a large 1 bedroom apartment in a good location--had to spend some time searching for that though. I depends though how much you're willing to pay for rent and if you're deadset on a house or if you'd go for an apartment/duplex. I mean Portland's more expensive in terms of rent than it used to be, but in general you can find places from about $700 for a decent studio/1 bedroom fairly close in(not downtown or the Pearl though) to a about $1250 or so for a smaller house per month.
Sounds like you'll dig Portland though. And if you like the outdoors, we've got a ton rivers and lakes for kayaking near by and mountains for backpacking and camping. And there's plenty of people here who'll will be watching college football at the local taverns--Portland's artsy, but there's still kind of a unpretentious dive bar underbelly here that's full of down-to-earth folks.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
that you prolly have some money saved for this adventure and there are some cool furnished places here for you to move into until you find your hood.
