Another "Moving to Portland" Thread (Eugene, Beaverton: appointed, transplants)

[SyraBrian]

Portland's economy is okay. The Bureau of labor Statistics ranked Portland's metro in its top 10 for both year to year percentage wage increase and year to year percentage job growth.

Housing is a struggle as people kept moving to Portland during the recession. Operating under the assumption that domestic migrants would behave rationally, developers stopped building.

Plus, since Portland is well known for its urban growth boundary area, it mostly attracts people who want to live as close in as possible. They're pretty much like the driver who circles the parking lot until the space right next to the store opens up.

[Bluesmama]

To the OP:

Your chances are better if you risk breaking your lease by looking for a job in Portland NOW, not later. Because it may or may not take you a while to find what you want, and "just any ol' job" may not comfortably cover rent.

Transportation: Depends on where you live and how much time and patience you have with mass-transit. I can't off-hand think of anybody who doesn't have a car (seriously). If you don't want to futz with having a car then you definitely would need to do intensive research on places within lightrail AND busses. And the bus system isn't as good as it should be, so study the lines AND their schedules.

I agree with Post #42. There are vegeterians and vegans here but it is NOT a "utopia", and not everyone can afford groceries at New Seasons Market. So, yes, there are options for that way of life where diet is concerned, but it's still in the minority.

[SyraBrian]

I have read that TriMet is working on Bus Rapid Transit out to Gresham, so the east side of the bus system may improve by the time OP arrives.

[crisw]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I will say this and a lot of posters will disagree with me but...there are not as many vegans here as one would think.

There may not be "as many vegans as you think" but it's a lot easier to live here as a vegetarian or vegan than it is in many other cities. Most restaurants have at least something you can eat, there are plenty of places to shop, etc. That, to me, is more important.

[MurrayOlive]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I will say this and a lot of posters will disagree with me but...there are not as many vegans here as one would think. For example, I lived in close to the "Portlandia" part of town with families and non-child households and I can count only one of two truly vegan families. It's obvious whether a family is vegan when your kids go to school because you know which kids being vegan food/ meals. A lot of families don't shop at New Seasons or Whole Foods for groceries, maybe just specialty items or prepared food. I shop at those places and buy animal products for over 50% of my purchases. I am not trying to be a downer but moving to an area because of a diet/ lifestyle choice over a good job and place to live does not seem like a great idea. It's not my business but I am a little older than the OP and the Portlanders in our demographic are not going to bond or socialize with new people based on their diet. Most people in our demographic are figuring out where their kids are going to be best educated and what to do for child care when their kids get sick. Portland isn't some liberal utopia where people gorge themselves on tofu skewers sitting outside food carts. Some of the most successful food businesses sell burgers, beer and donuts. I hate to be negative because it's not my style but I worry about the age of the OP and trying to start over here. Most people will ignore you daily here unless their kids want a playdate otherwise it's easy to not see your neighbors when the grey sets in and Portland is the least social place I have ever lived in. Just my two cents...

Hello Yankeemama. I would like to clarify some things that may not have been clear in my original post:

I am not under some illusion that Portland is a vegan utopia and I am not looking to join a vegan cult, as you seem to imply above. I have lived in NYC, Austin, San Francisco/Oakland and, currently, St. Petersburg FL. St. Petersburg has been, by far, one of the more difficult places for me to be vegan...this is now beginning to change, with the recent opening of Trader Joes, Taco Bus, etc. but the West Coast (in general, and I know because I have lived there) is MUCH more welcoming and open to the idea of veganism - which make vegan CHOICES that much more abundant.

In many, many ways - GENERAL attitudes towards women, animals, vegans, homosexuals, minorities, so on and so forth - St. Petersburg FL is still operating as if this were 1955 rather than 2015 and this makes me very unhappy and very uncomfortable living here.

The point of my mentioning being vegan (among the other preferences that I listed) was to try to make clear that I want to settle in a place that is MUCH more PROGRESSIVE and VARRIED than where I currently live.

[MurrayOlive]

Originally Posted by crisw

There may not be "as many vegans as you think" but it's a lot easier to live here as a vegetarian or vegan than it is in many other cities. Most restaurants have at least something you can eat, there are plenty of places to shop, etc. That, to me, is more important.

YES crisw - this is EXACTLY what I was getting at!!

[GiovanniTheGreat]

Originally Posted by borntorun1180

It will be like a disappointing version of SF for you, you will be lucky to find pay over $35K, you will be lucky to find an apartment under $1200, and you will find that you will still need a car here to do even the most basic things.

If I had to give a suggestion, I would say Seattle or Bellevue would be a better choice. Heck, even Tacoma is a better city than Portland.

If I was going to stay in the NW, I was literally looking into that area. I talked about it to my stepdad at the time who used to live in Portland how Portland wasn't working out for me and I didn't like it so I want to seek more jobs.. Is Seattle area good? But then I realized it was a long drive from Portland for me to move all my stuff.. I didn't do it in the end. But I take your word for it.. everything I heard about Bellevue was good and its a normal place too with down to earth normal day to day people.

[GiovanniTheGreat]

Originally Posted by kbcali

Hi, you seem like a really passionate person. You also sound like you really want to move to Portland. My best advice is to listen to your gut. Forget what people are saying about money. I moved to los Angeles when I was 23 without a job OR place to live set up. I had $1000 to my name. In three days, I had a place, in two weeks I had a job, and in two months I was on a TV show featuring my music. I never ended up homeless because I knew what I
wanted and I was willing to take any respectable job if it meant I could live in Los Angeles. This was during the market crash in 2009. It was the best decision of my life! Only you know what feels right, and by all means, do NOT stay in Florida a minute longer if you feel horrible there. You seem like a smart person, you're clearly an adult, you lived in San Fran-Freakin-cisco! Trust yourself, live your life, take risks, or pay the price.

That still the wrong advice to give people because lets face it, not everyone accomplishes this. It was a pure fluke if they did. I couldn't do it plus it requires going out all the time, spending money at bars and so forth. It takes a ton of energy to just show up with $1000 dollars in a new city and Portland of all places and even L.A too. See, I am grounded in reality now so I see where this kind of advice will lead someone.. This guy you're talking about should stay in FL.. in fact I returned to FL because that's where I lived when I wanted to go live in Portland but Portland ended up being bad and then I wanted to go back to FL again.

[borntorun1180]

Originally Posted by GiovanniTheGreat

If I was going to stay in the NW, I was literally looking into that area. I talked about it to my stepdad at the time who used to live in Portland how Portland wasn't working out for me and I didn't like it so I want to seek more jobs.. Is Seattle area good? But then I realized it was a long drive from Portland for me to move all my stuff.. I didn't do it in the end. But I take your word for it.. everything I heard about Bellevue was good and its a normal place too with down to earth normal day to day people.

Bellevue is more of a real city than Portland, they care about what is important. Their streets aren't full of lazy junkies, people are there to actually make money, and the feel of the city is much better.

Unfortunately if I wanted to move there I would have to leave my current job and I always hate having to start over sewing how far I have come with the company I work for now.

[MurrayOlive]

Originally Posted by GiovanniTheGreat

That still the wrong advice to give people because lets face it, not everyone accomplishes this. It was a pure fluke if they did. I couldn't do it plus it requires going out all the time, spending money at bars and so forth. It takes a ton of energy to just show up with $1000 dollars in a new city and Portland of all places and even L.A too. See, I am grounded in reality now so I see where this kind of advice will lead someone.. This guy you're talking about should stay in FL.. in fact I returned to FL because that's where I lived when I wanted to go live in Portland but Portland ended up being bad and then I wanted to go back to FL again.

I don't understand the "requires going out all the time, spending money at bars..." thing