Has anyone move away from Portland due to the Cost of Living index? (West Linn: for rent, condos)

[JXBC]

I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area, and brought my California salary up with me to PDX.

Cost of living is faaaaaaar cheaper than than where I came from. Housing, for example, is 55% less in PDX than it is in SF.

Very happy with the move I made.

[PHXtoPDX]

I've only lived here for about 4.5 years, and haven't actually moved away. However, thanks to the rising cost of housing, I've put the possibility of doing so back on the table. My wages haven't even come close to keeping up with housing costs in particular, and things are getting awfully thin around the margins. It is only one of many possibilities I'm considering at this point though.

[Discovery1]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

Oh, ok. Pulleeze! Enough already. The blame game is overplayed on this board. Yes, I am a born and raised San Franciscan and guess how many transplants live there? I don't blame all of them constantly. That would be a waste of time and energy.

It is not about the people but the state of California.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by JXBC

I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area, and brought my California salary up with me to PDX.

Cost of living is faaaaaaar cheaper than than where I came from. Housing, for example, is 55% less in PDX than it is in SF.

Very happy with the move I made.

Lucky you, that is the best way to do it, move from a high dollar place like SF and take the salary with you so that you can live like you are wealthy in Portland.

[EnricoV]

Either that, or live simply and save your money, and you won't have to worry in the future about having to move away due to COL.

[Larry Caldwell]

One of my high school buddies sold his 3 br. house in Portland and bought a 6 br house in Bismarck, ND, with money left over. This was before the oil boom. He needed a really big house because of a blended family. He found a job there with a defense contractor that paid more than he was earning in Portland.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Either that, or live simply and save your money, and you won't have to worry in the future about having to move away due to COL.

I'd like to do that, but housing and childcare take up well over half of the after-tax household budget.

If I'd bought a house in 2000, and/or not had children, we'd have a lot more financial flex.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Squidlo

Yes, it is cheaper. It isn't in the same league either. You are ignoring the 3rd coast. Houston is closer to the ocean than Portland. Google Earth Visit sometime it aint that bad.

Houston survives on federal money. Oil leases and defense contracts bring in $billions a year. Portland doesn't receive any comparable welfare payments.

[jwuk45]

Originally Posted by KJoe11

ccjarider-- Concerning the cost index I used the following link to calculate the measurement.
Cost of Living Calculator: Compare the Cost of Living in Two Cities - CNNMoney

christiner81--We are similar as I am not much into the city culture. We have been to the coast dozens of times but rarely venture downtown.

The underemployment is the big issue. We continually are losing $20+ a year. It is hard to justify this kind of loss and may have to make a decision that will be sorrowful

I would use this comparison calculator

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

The one you posted doesn't seem very accurate (for rent prices, anyway). It says that housing is "42% less" in Orlando. Having lived in both Orlando and Portland, that's not true. I've found them to be about the same, possibly even a bit less in Portland (and you'll be closer to downtown). It also says housing in Boston is only 30% more than Portland, and that the cost of living is exactly the same in Chicago, which isn't true in my experience.

[pdwpdx]

Yeah, and you are free to take your self-congratulatory attitude back to CA whenever you like.