Moving from Knoxville, TN to Portland, OR

[StealthRabbit]

Consider living on the outskirts of Portland, smaller towns can be MUCH cheaper / easier to barter / live sustainably.

WA (7 minutes away) can avail INCOME TAX FREE living (and cheaper) (as is TN).

If you can get your rents low,,, other stuff can be had very affordable (Yr round gardening and driving a 'grease car').. I have bought many grease 'capable' cars in Portland for under $100.

I have recently bought 2 rural properties for under $100k with GREAT gardening / views / shops / barns / views. (I never buy from realtor and I ONLY buy bargains that I could sell tomorrow and that will rent for 1% of purchase price)

[urbanlife78]

I would try to plan a trip this summer or early fall if you can.

[Nell Plotts]

The cost of time and transportation from WA to most OR jobs exceeds income tax savings. The exceptions would be working at PDX or the retail malls in that immediate vicinity or working for Corning.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

The cost of time and transportation from WA to most OR jobs exceeds income tax savings. The exceptions would be working at PDX or the retail malls in that immediate vicinity or working for Corning.

What is that comment?

ANY earnings from OR based employment is taxable by OR, whether you commute from WA or from the moon.

If you work in WA, live in WA. if you work in OR, live in OR. If you work on the moon, live on the moon. (generally a good rule of thumb)

[sloyd]

Originally Posted by bpw19

Hi all,

My husband and I have decided upon Portland for our new home. We will be making the move around February of next year (2016), as this is when our current lease here in Knoxville will expire. We decided upon the city of Portland because of several different factors, such as the fact that it is within driving distance of so many great, beautiful places like the beach and Mt Hood(Knoxville's close proximity with the smokies is great, but I've been going there literally every year since I was born, and the well-rounded peaks here have nothing on the beauty of the cascades or the rocky mountains), its public transportation options (there are none in knoxville besides the bus line, but even then the best most of the city has to offer is a bus stop sign tacked on to the side of a telephone pole in a ditch), and the social and political climate being less blatantly hostile towards us as a married gay couple hoping to one day adopt children.

I have a few questions though, and was hoping for some input from residents there in portland. As with our move when we came to knoxville, we won't be able to visit the city before we move there, due to just how friggin' far away it is. Has anyone dealt with moving there sight-unseen, and how was that experience for you? Like I said, we did this when moving here and it wasn't a problem at all.

We live on a modest budget, as both of us work in the retail and food service industry. We don't mind this, and actually run a pretty tight budget with both of us making just above minimum wage here in TN (Which, keep in mind, is still only 7.25 compared to Oregon's 9.25). We don't have a car payment, as the only one we own is fully payed for, and we really strive to be energy efficient, so we don't really use the AC/Heating in the apartment (this will be much easier when the climate isn't so awfully humid like it is here), and actually have quite a bit of money left over to put back at the end of the month. Does anyone on here that lives in Portland do so on a modest budget, and if so what would be your experience with such? Everyone seems to say how expensive Portland is, but if you shop cheap with food and are living in a modest size apartment, is it still enjoyable to live on or just above minimum wage? We really don't mind a downgrade in apartment size (I've found several listings for apartments between 700 and 800 a month for a one bedroom. This is perfect for us, as we really don't need a big place to begin with.)

Lastly, coming from Tennessee, I was wondering if anyone has made the big move from the southern red states, and if so, what was your experience of it? How does the culture compare? How do the people compare?

In summation, is it possible to enjoy living in Portland while keeping to a very modest, tight budget? I know this is long, but hey, it's my first post and I'm full of excitement about the move!

Everybody notices your accent and talks about it, most of the people here are from California and haven't been exposed to a lot of people from the SE.

[Nell Plotts]

That is also true when folks from the west move south or east.

[Leisesturm]

I noted that the o.p. made reference to a husband. I think it would be ironic to leave a city where same sex marriage is legal because it isn't progressive enough, to go to another city that although more progressive socially will not recognize a same sex marriage (yet). This is less of a commentary on same sex marriage, and more on the perceptions of what is or what isn't 'progressive'.