Moving from Austin to Portland? (Green: apartments, to rent, condos)

[jread]

Originally Posted by JakeDog

They are not really comparable in my opinion. Both great cities, but vastly different.

I hear this, too. They do seem very different to me.

The weather in Portland is gray.

GOOD!

Comparing the rain in Houston is meaningless (not that Portland isn't far nicer than Houston) b/c it isn't the amount of rain in Portland, it is the amount of time it takes for the rain to come down. It can literally rain for months in Portland- small amounts coming down all the time.

I think a lot of people don't get this.. especially the Portland CVB which boasts about how Portland doesn't get as much rain as Houston, Atlanta, etc.

Also, the 8th Circle of Hell looks like utopia compared to Houston. It's probably one of the worst places I know of.

The sidewalks and streets are wet for months on end.

I love this... it reminds me of the movies

You may not see the sun for months.

Perfect! I absolutely hate the sun after living here.

( will admit I'm not super familiar with Austin as I only visited twice, but it doesn't remind me of Portland in any way. Portland feels FAR more urban to me- Austin seems more spread out.

I'm very pro-urban and very anti-sprawl, so this is one of the main draws of Portland for me. Portland is often used as an example in urban planning classes of what you're supposed to do.

Also Portland is liberal in a very conservative way. I know that sounds bizarre, but natives may understand what I'm getting at.

Well, Austin is very similar in this way. I guess both cities do have the same political climate.

The summers in Portland are warm and dry- there is some mild humidity in early summer, but it is from the ground up- the air is dry, but the ground can emit some mild humidity and a wet dirt smell when the earth sees the sun for the first time in a while.

Austin's summers are oppressively hot and dry, though more humid than Portland's which makes them even worse. We get some pretty heavy humidity at the beginning of the spring but it burns off quickly.

Austin has a very Californian Southwest feel to it and Portland has a far grungier almost industrial feel to it.

I grew up in an industrial place and I don't care for the squeaky-clean look of Southwestern cities. Austin does have some fantastic funky neighborhoods, but they are a small part of the city and VERY expensive to live in. The majority of us live in typical cookie-cutter suburbia.

Portland's economy is pretty weak.

This is the big negative about Portland for me and the main thing I worry about. Austin's economy is insanely strong and you never have to worry about finding a job... the cost of living is also low. That is the big plus about living here. If I CAN find a job in Portland, though, that would be great! It's going to be a lot of work I imagine as it's a highly-educated city like Austin where a college degree doesn't mean anything.

[JakeDog]

jread, I think you will like Portland. I'd probably pick it over Austin b/c of the heat in Austin, but make sure you really understand just how dark it can get- I'm not talking San Francisco gray weather- I'm talking short dark days in the winter where it feels like nighttime all day.

[mrpiggy]

Disgusting weather? That's the way I would describe Sacramento! In Sacramento, you get bad weather about 8 months a year, horribly hot in the summer, cold and windy in the winter. Yes it is less liberal than Portland, also more boring. I find the two go together. Now for the confession. I'm considering Portland AND Sacramento to relocate! In spite of its shortcomings, Sacramento offers most of the semi-big city perks for less money than other parts of California. Housing in decent parts of Sacramento, however, is still more expensive than in Portland although the prices are coming down. Good luck (me too!).

Originally Posted by rah62

Portland native here, but I lived in Austin for six years. I got laid off by SBC and came back to Portland three years ago. That was a HUGE mistake, and I'll be getting outta here by October (not back to Austin tho).

I always laughed when my Austin friends would say "I'd love to live where it was cool and rainy". Three people moved here, and all three were gone after one winter. They went stark-raving berserk from the grayness. I can relate, because I have SAD (one of the reasons why coming back was a horrible mistake).

I consider Portland's weather to be essentially the flip side of Austin's. There, you go through six months of hot weather to get to the good part of the year. Here, you go through six or seven months of miserable drizzly cold to get to the good part of the year (July 5 through October).

If you want a city of Portland's size but not the disgusting weather or the insufferably annoying political-correctness, I'd recommend Sacramento.

[4800orbust]

This is interesting to read!! - Since my fiancé and I are looking at both cities.

In everyone's opinion - what city would be better for a graphic designer/musician (electronic, experimental, avant-something) & my fiancé who writes and is in hospitality???

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by mrpiggy

Disgusting weather? That's the way I would describe Sacramento! In Sacramento, you get bad weather about 8 months a year, horribly hot in the summer, cold and windy in the winter. Yes it is less liberal than Portland, also more boring. I find the two go together. Now for the confession. I'm considering Portland AND Sacramento to relocate! In spite of its shortcomings, Sacramento offers most of the semi-big city perks for less money than other parts of California. Housing in decent parts of Sacramento, however, is still more expensive than in Portland although the prices are coming down. Good luck (me too!).

I live in Davis, about 13 miles west of Sacramento, and am planning to move to Portland in about one year. I find Sacramento to be a lot more interesting of a city than it was 20 years ago when I lived there briefly, but only in certain areas (Midtown), and just barely. I wouldn't quite agree with the 8 months of bad weather - the summers are brutally hot, and dry with literally no rain for months, but the winters are mild and there are clear crisp days mixed in with rainy, windy ones. So I don't have much of a complaint with the weather except for the occasional strings of 100+ days.

Downsides: I think Sacramento has the most boring suburbs of almost anywhere I've lived, east or west coast. Some of them are acre after acre of houses painted in three shades of tan. The crime is pretty bad, too, esp. in the southern parts of the city. Pluses: The restaurant scene's gotten a lot better. The city is pretty in areas, because of all the trees. If you live near light rail, the public transit is decent. There's an art walk called Second Saturday that has *some* good art (esp. photography), but some laughable.

A lot of people like Sac because it's in between the ocean and the Sierras. My friend describes it as "2 hours from everything and in the middle of nowhere." It just doesn't have enough personality for me. I lived in San Francisco for 18 years so I might just need a little funkier city.

[Supernova7]

People are very friendly, well-mannered and hospitable in Austin. Excellent schools, great food, music and culture. Only problem is poor public transportation. Oh well, count your pluses with the minuses, just have fewer minuses

[PeacePlease]

I've been living in Austin for about 10 years. People are friendly, yes, but from the way they drive, it seems to be exactly the opposite. The music scene, university, mom&pop restaurants, great schools, the house you can get for the money, and many large companies (strong economy) are positives. Public transportation doesn't exist. You have to have a car to live in Austin. Apart from the obvious summer heat, the other major negative is that a lot of people are moving here. You see out of state license plates everywhere. That drives up traffic and home prices. So when I hear about the locals in Portland complaining about CA people moving in, I know exactly what they mean.

[PeacePlease]

I wonder how it would be to live somewhere where you don't have to drive. From living in Texas for so long, I'm used to space. Bigger homes, bigger lots, nearest grocery store is a 5 mile drive, etc. So I can see how getting rid of the car would be so liberating. But at the same time, getting rid of the car and the space is kinda scary if you know what I mean.

[oldtintype]

Yeah, but that's where Flexcar comes in (google it). They're all over the city and when you really need a car you can grab one. I have a five year old and was used to not having a car in SF, but when I moved here I got a car and I didn't think I could go carless with a small child. After a while i got really sick of it but still felt I needed a car sometimes. Then Flexcar got popular and I ditched the car. I couldn't be happier about it! And it's been great for my son to grow up understanding how to use public transport! When we need space we grab a car for a few hours and go!

[PeacePlease]

Thanks Oldtintype. I've never heard of Flexcar before. I just googled it and it is very interesting indeed. Very cool.