Moving from Minneapolis to Portland? (Gresham, Beaverton: appointed, for sale, leases)

[sailor gangplank]

My fiancee and I both grew up in Minneapolis. We love the neighborhoods, cost of living, nature, culture etc...
But we are interested in possibly trying something new.
We moved to the Milwaukee area for school briefly, but both hated it. There is a strong beer/alchohol culture there, that just gets to be a bit too much the center of every day life for everyone. We like how Minneapolis has a great selection of craft brews for people interested in that, but also has a great arts/music scene for its size.
It feels more balanced. In Milwaukee it felt like a big drunk college town.

We are interested in Portland because it seems to offer a lot of what we are interested in, such as bookstores, coffee shops, awesome guitar stores (proguitarshop), and a lot of great nature/parks.
Our concern would be if there is too much of a beer/alcohol culture involved in peoples everyday life?
Also we are a bit concerned with the cost of living in Portland. In Minneapolis we can buy a house in a great, safe neighborhood with parks nearby for $250-300,000. In Portland it seems you can't even break into a decent area under $350,000. Also there are a ton of houses in Minneapolis available for sale in areas we like, where as it seems in Portland there is a big lack of available houses.

Would love any info you have!

[Nell Plotts]

There are lots of folks who don't consume alcohol or who consume it only on special occasions. Just make friends with those who have similar habits.

You may need to look outside Portland's 'hot' neighborhoods to find a house in your budget but they are there. Using jlscott's map search tool I see lots of them in the vicinity of NIKE's campus.

[bler144]

Definitely depends on what you mean by 'decent.' The market on the whole is tight, and pickings at 250 and under in particular are fairly limited, but in the 275-300 range you could do reasonably well.

That said, you don't mention anything about work/income. While there are things I prefer about Pdx over MSP, MSP isn't a place to leave at any cost. I'd make sure it represents a good career move as well - you can't eat vinca or evergreens, as lovely as they are.

[weinerdog]

Very interesting post, since I live in Mpls now and have spent a week here in Portland to check it out for possible relocation. I drove out to the Spokane/CDA area and stayed 4 nights as well and wanted to compare both.

Random thoughts after all of 7 days for Portland:

1) Housing - as you know, it's expensive, so my better half and I drove around some of the outer areas to get an idea of what we could get for our $. We're a couple years away but figured it wouldn't be too different. Anyway, I want to be near a train line so for the most part that seems to mean either head west(Hillsboro/Beaverton) or east(Gresham).

I was sort of disappointed at the housing options. Gresham had very little or no newer SF homes, and a few that I stopped by for open houses were around 250k, and not updated. I read somewhere that Gresham could be considered 'rednecky', and that makes sense seeing as some places had trucks parked in the front yard and various other crap. So that part of town wasn't for me.

As for Hillsboro/Beaverton, we did find a few new developments with stuff in our price range, but from what the agent was telling me very few new homes have much of a yard. The model we looked at was great, but the yard was literally 50sf. I know they do this to keep costs down, but it seemed our options in that area were either new(and zero space/trees) or old(and almost without fail) not updated. Some of the properties were out in pretty open areas, by that I mean I wouldn't be able to tell I was in Oregon just standing in my yard and looking in any direction.

The other thing I couldn't wrap my head around for all areas - it's been dry the whole time I have been here, but I guess the 8 months of rain (right?) isn't helping the yards we saw. 95% of them looked liked straw, and it almost makes me think that people are just like 'screw it, the grass gets rain the rest of the year - it can do without for the summer'. Might sound trivial, but there just didn't seem to be much pride in ownership in the areas I drove through. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right spots...dunno.

2) Culture - great restaurants, and it was nice to see so many food trucks and street vendors. The Japanese Garden and the Pittock mansion were awesome, and there are so many gorgeous parks and things to do here. It really does seem to be such a young demographic, and I've never seen so many joggers/bikers(yay!). I think the two cities are 1 and 2 in terms of bike friendliness. We went to a Timbers game as well...crazy!

3) Beer/Alcohol - I don't drink, but I don't think this area would be too much different than Mpls. Both have very active craft beer scenes, but I've never felt that it was a negative thing. The restaurants we went to here offered them up just as they do there.

As for the negative....it's been mentioned plenty, but the amount of homeless people was surprising to me, even after what I've read on here. Just sad.

Traffic - it was pretty awful just about anywhere we went, so we walked whenever possible. I was told by a few people that living across the river can be tough if you have to commute downtown - basically there is no good way in from that area if you're driving since all the bridges turn into parking lots. But who knows...maybe I can get a job out in the suburbs.

So, after a week out here I wish I had a better feel for a potential area to move to, but I really only have an idea of where I don't (or can't) be, assuming me and the better half can find jobs there eventually.

All just my .02 of course.....

[SETabor]

One comment on the dead grass. I mow my lawn from April to October at least. If I get a month off in August because it's not growing, I'm going to embrace it. There are plenty of other yard chores to do. Plus, it's wasteful of water and water costs a lot of money.

[skiffrace]

Originally Posted by weinerdog

I read somewhere that Gresham could be considered 'rednecky', and that makes sense seeing as some places had trucks parked in the front yard and various other crap. So that part of town wasn't for me.

The same can be said not just about Gresham, but most of the East Side (east of Willamette river) The only nice parts of East Side are the so-called 'close-in' areas (near downtown), but they are very expensive.

.. very few new homes have much of a yard. The model we looked at was great, but the yard was literally 50sf. I know they do this to keep costs down, but it seemed our options in that area were either new(and zero space/trees) ...

A brand new house on large lot is very difficult to find, and will be very expensive.
If a developer has an acre, he prefers to build and sell five $400K houses than one $1M house.
This is standard throughout PDX metro area due to Urban Growth Boundary economic drivers.
If you want acreage, simply buy an older house and update it.
There are 3 key factors when buying a house: Location, location and location.
You can add acreage to this list. You cannot move the house, or expand the land around it, but you can do almost anything to the house itself.

The other thing I couldn't wrap my head around for all areas - it's been dry the whole time I have been here, but I guess the 8 months of rain (right?) isn't helping the yards we saw. 95% of them looked liked straw, and it almost makes me think that people are just like 'screw it, the grass gets rain the rest of the year - it can do without for the summer'. Might sound trivial, but there just didn't seem to be much pride in ownership in the areas I drove through. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right spots...dunno.

Yep, we don't water lawns in the summer. The only people who do it either just landed here and haven't learned our ways, or are obsessive with the appearances. So the grass goes yellow for 2 or 3 months? So what. We're happy we don't have to cut it every week or so, like what's needed in the spring.

Traffic - it was pretty awful just about anywhere we went, so we walked whenever possible. I was told by a few people that living across the river can be tough if you have to commute downtown - basically there is no good way in from that area if you're driving since all the bridges turn into parking lots. But who knows...maybe I can get a job out in the suburbs.

Over and over a question appears on this forum: "I am looking for a neighborhood that..."
The answer should always be: live close to where you work, otherwise don't come here to create more congestion for everybody.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by SETabor

One comment on the dead grass. I mow my lawn from April to October at least. If I get a month off in August because it's not growing, I'm going to embrace it. There are plenty of other yard chores to do. Plus, it's wasteful of water and water costs a lot of money.

Agreed - I dispute that it's 'pride in ownership' it's just a very different growth cycle. You wouldn't suggest that MN owners install electrical wire to heat their yards so grass can grow through the winter, because that would be wasteful, and runs counter to the natural growth cycle. Here it's green from Oct/Nov through June, like a milder version of CA.

Some people do water through the summer here (and some leases require it), but it's exorbitantly expensive. One thing you won't see as a visitor is that water is very expensive here - technically it's not the water itself but the sewer, but that's billed in part as a function of usage. A SFH can spend $100/mo easy on the water bill without watering a garden (much less a lawn in July/Aug).

And as SET said, by July you've been mowing/weeding/gardening for 4-5 months. Why make it harder for yourself? Take a break and enjoy the summer.

[Tipsy McStagger]

It's not really any different than allowing your lawn to go dormant in Minneapolis in late summer, except that Portland's drier period lasts a few months instead of a few weeks.

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by weinerdog

The other thing I couldn't wrap my head around for all areas - it's been dry the whole time I have been here, but I guess the 8 months of rain (right?) isn't helping the yards we saw. 95% of them looked liked straw, and it almost makes me think that people are just like 'screw it, the grass gets rain the rest of the year - it can do without for the summer'. Might sound trivial, but there just didn't seem to be much pride in ownership in the areas I drove through. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right spots...dunno.

Looking at my yard, you'd never guess I have-and use-a sprinkler system. Mostly, I do it for the garden which is currently exploding with tomatoes. My water bill is about $35-$40 every two months, $160-$170 in the summer.

Originally Posted by skiffrace

We're happy we don't have to cut it every week or so, like what's needed in the spring.

I've mowed my front yard twice this summer and my back yard 3 times. It's been great!

[kander63]

Originally Posted by skiffrace

The same can be said not just about Gresham, but most of the East Side (east of Willamette river) The only nice parts of East Side are the so-called 'close-in' areas (near downtown), but they are very expensive...

As an East Sider, I'd have to say that's a bit of an overgeneralization. Almost all of the East Side west of 82nd Ave. is pretty nice. Some parts are very expensive (Irvington, Alameda etc) but there are areas that are not as expensive that are still very nice.

If anything, I'd say that the East Side overall is more expensive for what you get than the West side because it's a lot more interesting living over here. 90% of the hip restaurants, clubs etc are on the East Side or in North Portland. Most of the West Side is nice enough, but could be Anywhere, USA.