Some Questions about Portland... (Hillsboro, Tigard: apartments, rentals, house)

[Gimmethecreeps]

Hey guys and gals!

I actually read an older thread on Portland, and I've been looking into the city for the past few weeks...I'm 23 and my best friend who's 24 are both considering a move out there.

We'd obviously be roommates, and obviously be renting.

I guess most of what I want to know revolves around the economy of Portland. I live in New Jersey, and when I read posts about "things getting expensive in Portland" I sort of laughed, after using a Generic cost of living Calculator, and finding that a 324,000 dollar house in the Portland area is worth the same as a 536,000 house in the Newark, NJ Area. (Which isn't even a very nice area of New Jersey...at all...) Monthly rent also looks nearly 700 dollars cheeper each month...

So, now the mixed bag of questions: How easy is it to find jobs in the City, and what kind of collective yearly salary would be neccessary if we'd like to live somewhere in/near the NW/Downtown area (apparently the "lively" Portland, from what I read.)

Thanks in advance.

[subsound]

Going from the people around me, 60k+ for a dump in downtown or pearl...100k for something pretty decent. However that's from the people around ma and dealing with finding a place to live myself, most live out in the burbs and I have to look for places that accept big dogs without paying through the nose.

[malone7384]

Alot of the places downtown are going to run you at least $1000 for a one bedroom and closer to $2000 for a two bedroom.

Downtown and the Pearl area are hot areas so therefore more expensive.

Now if you want to go someplace like Hillsboro (you can get to downtown on the Max train) you can get a nice 2 bedroom place for around $1000 - $1500 depending on where you want and how nice you want to go.

Now of course there are places where you can rent a 2 bedroom in the Tigard area for $700.

Hope that this helps some.

[Minervah]

Don't laugh too soon. You might be making the same mistake many people make: comparing housing costs between a mid-size city like Portland and a large one like New Jersey. Of course in comparison Portland will be less but the catch-22 is so are salaries. That is if you can find a job that will pay you a salary. Remember we do have an 8% unemployment rate.

Seriously I personally know of at least 4 people who have made this mistake over the past few years and wound up moving back to where ever they came from after a year's time. Cheap won't help if you can't get the money to pay expenses to begin with.

[kimhamblin]

You can still find cheap rentals in Portland- maybe a small house or shared living. Also, an apartment. The Pearl is expensive, but you could live in NW Portland- up around 21st street there are many apartments available.
Jobs are a little hard to come by depending on what kind of experieince you have and what you want to do. Lots of restaurants, bars and coffee shops to get you through.
Check out Craigslist Portland and Oregon Live in the classified to see about jobs and rentals.
Portland is a great place to live, good luck.

[EnricoV]

I think NW would suit you better, anyway. I get an older vibe in the Pearl. Not sure it'd be exactly what would suit you.

And, yeah, "expensive" is a relative term. One man's expensive is the next guy's cheap.

[Bluesbabe]

Wages are considerably lower here than back east. In fact, it's lower than California.

[seven of nine]

try the Hawthorn District

[DFWgal]

do you think a teacher with a masters deg. with experience in schools and universities, and a vet would be able to find a good place in Portland not too far away from the city?

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by DFWgal

do you think a teacher with a masters deg. with experience in schools and universities, and a vet would be able to find a good place in Portland not too far away from the city?

In Portland (PPS) teaching jobs are hard to come by. BUT lots of teachers will be retiring in the next 5 years or so. You would probably do better looking at districts in the burbs. Line up a job before you go. I know lots of teachers w/ Masters in Portland who are working other jobs because they could not find teaching jobs.

Good luck.