My Mom is thinking of moving from Northern CA to Protland any advice? (Portland: health insurance)

[lobster5757]

Hi, My Mom is concidering moving from the bay area (Northern California) to Portland in about a year and a half. Is there anyone out there that has made the same move and any advice for her? Than you in advance.

[lobster5757]

(She is looking for a good place to retire that still has Kaiser-medical insurance)

[Todd.LA]

Do you have any specific questions? Tons of folks have moved from California to Portland to retire, so that's certainly no uncharted territory. I had Kaiser health insurance when I lived in Portland, and it worked well for me, though I was in my 20's. I wouldn't choose Portland just based on the availability of Kaiser, though...

[lobster5757]

Thank you. She is worried about the weather, people-attitudes toward people from CA etc. Any advice is appreciated.

[Minervah]

Yes we have Kaiser here. You will have to be more specific in your questions. Also if you look at past posts you may find answers to your concerns.

[Nell Plotts]

CA origin isn't a serious issue. There are a lot of people who move between San Francisco and Portland.

Weather... well it does rain more. There is a new book by a weather professional about NW weather. She should read it. She will learn that there are neighborhoods that are dryer than others, micro climates.

If overcast (cloudy) days are a potential issue she should look for a home with lots of windows to the south. Consider the sun's angle in the winter too (avoid a lot of evergreens obstructing south windows).

FYI, I hear that Kaiser is (finally) going to construct a hospital west of Beaverton. I have been a Kaiser member for many, many, years and received excellent care. As your Mom is a retiree she may want to make sure that transit is convenient for the clinic she wants to use. The Interstate Clinic is where chemo and other complex treatments are available. I have relatives who live in suburban Lake Oswego. Over time she developed MS, he cancer and driving isn't as easy as it once was.

[Minervah]

I liked Kaiser when I was a member but the problem I had was the different doctors I had to see were all over the place from North Portland to Sunnyside to Vancouver. If your mom needs to see more than one doctor or a specliast she may have to travel. Their specialties are located in the different facilities. If she drives, it wouldn't be a problem except for the price of gas.

I also would not be worried about being from California. Those who make an issue of it are not worth knowing and there are plenty of other people here who don't care where you are from.

[Todd.LA]

Winters are mostly overcast, with on and off drizzle. Your mom would be well advised to come spend a week in town in the winter to make sure she can handle going many days without seeing the sun. It's a bit like SF proper with its fog, except the clouds don't burn off as frequently in Portland.

There are lots of Californians in Portland, and living in the city of Portland proper, absolutely no one will care that she comes from California. A small minority of folks do like to ***** about how "Californians are ruining everything" (on this forum in particular), but that attitude is less and less common, and even if someone does hold that view, Oregonians are super polite, so you would likely not find out about it anyway...

Even if you do occasionally have to drive to a few different Kaiser locations, Portland is still way way more compact than the Bay Area, so it won't take terribly long to get treatment. Kaiser is pretty big in Portland, so they can do all but the most complex treatments within the system.