Anyone thinking of leaving Portland????/ (best cities, day care, calculator)

[Minervah]

No! But in California, when something (like a water heater) gets broken in a rental, the tenent can get it fixed and take the cost off the rent. In Oregon, you have to hire an attorney.

OMG! We must have had the same landlord! What few laws protecting tenants were in place at one time are long gone.

Anyhoo, I don't think I mentioned in my earlier post here (at least I can't find it so sorry if I am repeating myself) was the main reason I will be leaving Portland in a few years.

I am 62 now, when I reach 66 I want to semi-retire supplementing my meager Social Security payments with a part time job. I just don't see myself doing that in Portland for a couple of reasons. First of all, the cost of living is too high. I am researching other towns to see where I can make my SS and part-time pay stretch the farthest.

Another reason is that I would like to work for a temp agency. But a friend of mine who has been retired for about 7 years is really struggling with that. Up until a couple of years ago she was doing well at this but suddenly the assignments began to dry up and she found she had fierce competition for those jobs that were left with all the much younger new transplants who continue to move here. A couple of agencies she is signed up with have told her that they are being inundated with these new people and the employers seem prefer the younger ones. She loves Portland but will probably be moving soon to a more affordable town.

I think Portland is basically for young people. Older folks do well if they have money. There are a lot of events geared towards senior citizens but as the town becomes less and less affordable, I think we will be seeing a migration of lower income older people like my friend and me.

[bliss60]

You are so right...there is no room for aging people here. What is unfortunate about that is..retirement income is an important part of a city's economic balance. Steady income such as Social Security represents a cerrtain portion of any community's financial security. When retirees are run off, the economy becomes unbalanced.

But...any town that is near a major attraction, such as a national park..the Grand Canyon as an example. They aways need people and are very conscience about age discrimination because nearly all vendors to the National Park Service are accountable to the agency for age, sex and race ratios. What could be more fun than working with people from around the world who come to Bryce or Zion or Grand Canyon and if you can travel seasonally, there is Glacier. The jobs are tourist related..guides, gift stores, internet reservations but the atmospheres are great and morale is usually high. Yes, a lot of students get jobs in the summer but you can offer to fill a position past Labor Day.

Did that help?
I have more ideas, if you need some.

[suncat]

Originally Posted by Dignan

"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste..."

Wait a minute! I leave Portland and NOW you single men come out of the woodwork?

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by bliss60

You are so right...there is no room for aging people here. What is unfortunate about that is..retirement income is an important part of a city's economic balance. Steady income such as Social Security represents a cerrtain portion of any community's financial security. When retirees are run off, the economy becomes unbalanced.

But...any town that is near a major attraction, such as a national park..the Grand Canyon as an example. They aways need people and are very conscience about age discrimination because nearly all vendors to the National Park Service are accountable to the agency for age, sex and race ratios. What could be more fun than working with people from around the world who come to Bryce or Zion or Grand Canyon and if you can travel seasonally, there is Glacier. The jobs are tourist related..guides, gift stores, internet reservations but the atmospheres are great and morale is usually high. Yes, a lot of students get jobs in the summer but you can offer to fill a position past Labor Day.

Did that help?
I have more ideas, if you need some.

YES! Thank you so much for the suggestion. I would never have thought of that. So far I really don't know where I would like to go. I am thinking of Minneapolis but your suggestion is putting all sorts of other ideas in my grey head.

[roneb]

Originally Posted by Minervah

YES! Thank you so much for the suggestion. I would never have thought of that. So far I really don't know where I would like to go. I am thinking of Minneapolis but your suggestion is putting all sorts of other ideas in my grey head.

Minneapolis is a very nice city. I think you'd love it.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by roneb

Minneapolis is a very nice city. I think you'd love it.

The only drawback would be the humid summer weather. I remember the Chicago summers ugh! But I don't mind the cold winters at all. I love them. And Minneapolis has great theater, museums and other things I enjoy.

Also I think the job situation is not as tight as other places.

Thanks for your input. It's encouraging.

[trishp]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

It's just a derisive name for someone from California. The name has been around for decades in a lot of western states where large numbers of Californians have moved to.

There is also a series on Showtime called "Californication" - it's quite entertaining.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by Minervah

OMG! We must have had the same landlord! What few laws protecting tenants were in place at one time are long gone.

Anyhoo, I don't think I mentioned in my earlier post here (at least I can't find it so sorry if I am repeating myself) was the main reason I will be leaving Portland in a few years.

I am 62 now, when I reach 66 I want to semi-retire supplementing my meager Social Security payments with a part time job. I just don't see myself doing that in Portland for a couple of reasons. First of all, the cost of living is too high. I am researching other towns to see where I can make my SS and part-time pay stretch the farthest.

Another reason is that I would like to work for a temp agency. But a friend of mine who has been retired for about 7 years is really struggling with that. Up until a couple of years ago she was doing well at this but suddenly the assignments began to dry up and she found she had fierce competition for those jobs that were left with all the much younger new transplants who continue to move here. A couple of agencies she is signed up with have told her that they are being inundated with these new people and the employers seem prefer the younger ones. She loves Portland but will probably be moving soon to a more affordable town.

I think Portland is basically for young people. Older folks do well if they have money. There are a lot of events geared towards senior citizens but as the town becomes less and less affordable, I think we will be seeing a migration of lower income older people like my friend and me.

I agree Minervah. I think there are probably many of us over 50 people in Portland that feel the same way. Oregon is beautiful but Portland in and of itself is very much geared to the younger crowd. I don't think other than Atlanta I have ever seen a city so youth oriented. Thats fine but not very inviting or comforting for one as they get older. Lets face it we all need interaction with people and thats limited here, especially if you are not a native of this area. So many people are half our age or seem to be a more transplanted affluent retiree. Part time jobs are almost impossible to find for the older worker here, thankfully I have one. Most of all the housing, this is a city on the build and will price us out and could care less. Yes I think your wise to look to your future and make other arrangements. Agan I think there are probably many of us here in the area all making the same plans.

[Stuck in South]

...I saw and met plenty of people of varying ages. You sure it's not a matter of perspective?

[SeattlitefromNC]

Originally Posted by Stuck in South

...I saw and met plenty of people of varying ages. You sure it's not a matter of perspective?

It's all perspective until you try to get a job.

Unfair but (generally) true: many employers view older workers as more expensive ... especially in light of health care costs.

In markets where jobs are more scarce -- Portland would definitely count as one of those -- employers tend to be more discriminating and tend to pick people, regardless of the EEOC guidelines. Younger workers tend to get picked first, as they tend not to opt in to health care (or, they don't use it as often as older workers).