Moving to Portland from Los Angeles (apartment, rental, house)

[Yini]

Hi All,

I'm currently looking at moving to Portland (trying to decide between Portland or Seattle, but leaning toward Portland). Can you guys help me with the below questions?

1. How bad is the traffic in terms of mph? If I end up working in the city center and live on the outskirts, how far out can I go and still have a 30 min commute by bus or train? I have a car but I heard it's difficult to park in the city center, and either way I'd prefer taking public transportation most of the time.

2. My rental budget is around $500. I looked around on Craigslist and there seem to be some studios around this price around the edges of the city. How close to downtown can I live at this price? This sorta relates to the question above. I am also considering renting a room in a 2- or 3-bedroom apartment, which I gather would be well within my budget even closer to downtown.

3. Where can I find clusters of independent shops like Multnomah Village? I'm planning on finding a job with one of these places in order to get retail experience (I want to open a boutique-type store within the next few years). I think downtown also has a lot of these? Where else? I'm visiting next February and will be checking out these places .

[oldtintype]

Independent stores: Mississippi, Alberta, St. Johns, Hawthorne, Clinton, Belmont, Sellwood, NW 23rd/21st...the list is extensive. Each neighborhood has a strip and many of them have a lot of independently owned stores. The chains are creeping in, in some areas extensively, but there are still a lot of locations with eclectic, cool stores. $500 is hit or miss. If your budget was $600 you'd be better off but you can still find studios around the city that aren't WAY WAY out for $500. Depends how choosy you are. Sharing a house you'd have tons of options.

Seattle is generally a little more expensive, a little harder to get around via public transport and the traffic is a little worse. It's still a nice place though with tons of great areas.

[Yini]

Thanks for the suggestions, oldintype. Regarding rent, I can probably go as high as $600, though I'll have to decide based on my income once I find a job. Good info though.

I am considering Seattle because of better economy, but the more research I do the more it seems like Portland would suit me better. Portland may not have as many things to do, but I'm not into partying or clubbing anyway. I love the small-town feel with the convenience of a large city.

By the way, is anybody familiar with the sailing "scene" in Portland? I've found some sailing clubs online, but do any of the colleges or the city offer sailing lessons?