will i like portland?? dry skin, sunny girl... (Beaverton, Clackamas: houses, neighborhoods)

[emilyr14]

HELP!! we are looking to move to portland. clackamas area possibly??? we have 4 kids ages 5 months to 7 years so we're looking for family friendly area with young families and lots of young kids, good schools, safe etc.

questions:
1. does the rain affect outdoor sports? park with kids? backyard?
2. what area will you find most young families with lots of kids?
3. how is the weather as far as humidity? i have REALLY dry skin that cracks in the dry weather. grew up in utah/idaho and was miserable. living in the south now and love what it does for my skin... will oregon do the same??

so many more questions..... i'll just start here.

[HonuMan]

1. Most of the rain that falls here is light and intermittent. If you end up staying, you'll get used to it. This area is known for outdoor sports and other activities. When I moved here, I opened my umbrella for the slightest mist. Now I only use it if the rain is truly going to soak me. My stepsons regularly played soccer in the rain.

2. Other posters may have more to offer, but I'm guessing most of the suburbs rather than in-town Portland. I live in Beaverton, and there are plenty of young famlies with kids. We have good schools, and houses are inexpensive compared to what you pay closer to downtown Portland.

3. I moved here from the South. Portland summers are shorter and milder, but we do get a handful of really hot days. This past summer had one of the worst heat spells on record. Summers aren't humid like in the South, but they aren't bone dry like in the desert. For the most part, they're quite comfortable. The other three seasons can be humid due to the rain, but the temperatures are cool. Our climate is kind to skin.

[Durian Beach]

Portland is remarkably dry, yes it does have a long rainy season, but it is really more of a mist than the soaking rains you get east of the Mississippi. Only in the dead of winter do you get strong soaking rainstorms. I lived there for 11 years and only recall 3 instances where there was thunder and lightening. The dew point is about 55 year round meaning that in the warm months the air is almost as dry as Vegas.

[figmalt]

The air is not nearly as dry as UT/ID (where I grew up). Since it's at sea-level, the sun is not as intense and I find that I don't burn as easily either. I still get dry skin and use moisturizers regularly, but not the cracked, bleeding hands, elbows, and lips I used to get in ID.

Otherwise, I agree with the other posters. There is some humidity, but not terrible. It is overcast and gray for most of the winter whether it rains or not, but when it does rain it's mostly drizzly. People do most everything in the rain including yard-work, sports, and other recreation. Washington County (west of Portland) has a fairly good selection of indoor parks, libraries, and other activities available for young families. In other words, the rain does not keep people from being active, and I've never had the kind of cabin fever in Oregon that I would get in the winter months in Idaho.

[emilyr14]

figmalt- glad to hear someone can relate to my dry skin... the humid weather in the south has been the BEST thing for me. i am nervous about the move to portland because of the skin issue. just as long as it isn't as dry as utah and idaho! i LOVE the humidity and will miss it, so i am hoping that my skin will do better in oregon than it did in idaho.

durian beach- i will miss these rainstorms .... nothing beats them! it dumps... then it's over and the sun comes out!!

honuman- how does beaverton compare to clackamas as far as young families???

anyone out there- do i just count on having wet feet and wet bottoms of my pants for 9 months out of the year??? can you tell i'm a bit nervous about the rain?? does it drizzle then the sun comes out, or does it stay gray for 9 months?? I have been to seattle in the summer time and it is beautiful. I will admit I will miss the humidity!!.... but the northwest really is beautiful. My favorite weather has been when we lived in baltimore for 4 years... if only I could pick it up and move it to the northwest so we could be closer to family.

thanks for your info everyone. we've got some big decisions to make....

[figmalt]

One of the previous posts mentioned that the dew point is similar to Vegas, but having lived in a high mountain desert, it probably took 1-2 years for me to acclimate to the humidity. It's not like the southern states, but it is still humid. My brother likes to visit from UT because his breathing always improves in the moist air.

It's also not like Idaho where it snows and then the sun comes out. It actually is overcast and gray even when it's not raining. There is very little cloud break during the worst months of year. With that said, here is my non-scientific analysis of the weather through the year, I added some flora descriptions so that you get a sense of the growing season, and what you'll actually see. And keep in mind that even though there isn't a lot of sunshine during the winter, there's still a lot of lush greenery, and the temperature typically stays between 32 and 45 degrees during the winter (the cloud cover keeps the air warmer).


Jan: Gray for most of the month, rainy, cold and greater chance of snow/freezing rain
Feb: Like Jan, early bulb flowers will start to bloom if not too cold
Mar: Still gray and rainy, more chance for sun, narcissus, early daffodils
Apr: 75% gray, lots of bulb flowers (e.g. tulips, hyacinth, etc.) Trees start to bloom.
May: 30-50% gray, rhody's, azalea, early roses. Memorial Day is typically sunny.
June: Mostly sunny, may have a several days of rain (usually around the Rose Festival). Strawberries!!!
Jul: Hot and sunny
Aug: Hot and sunny
Sep: Can go either way, but usually sunny.
Oct: Same as September, expect rain again by Halloween. But the fall colors are beautiful!
Nov: Maybe 50-60% rain, depending on the year. Fog and mist.
Dec: The rain and cold really begin in earnest, probably 80-90% gray and rain. But as I said in a previous post, last year was pretty mild and we had roses still in bloom when the snow hit right before Christmas.

Most of the Portland suburbs are very similar. I haven't lived in Clackamas County, but I've lived all over Washington County. There are young families and family oriented activities all over the metro area. It's probably going to come down to commute and school district. Housing prices are pretty comparable in the Tri-county area (Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas).

Here's a good website to get a sense of the activities in the area: OregonMom.com "Where to go with kids in tow!"

[Élan vital]

honestly this is the first time in my life I've read a thread about or heard of anyone wanting humidity. I hate it. Can't breathe in humid areas.

[Bluesmama]

I have noticed that Oregonians (well, Portland-suburbanites, anyway) as a whole have good skin that holds up better than our California neighbors, and I attribute that to the extra moisture. Also, most Oregonians don't like much heat so they probably stay indoors more during the hotter days of summer.

[Neal2009]

June 15th til October 1-8=pure paradise, no better place to be in the country than the Pacific Northwest. Truly unbeatable in every sense of the word.

October 8th til April 1st=75% chance it will be rainy or grey. In October you may get a week in a row where its sunny, but in the other months during this time, its usually about 10-14 cloudy and rainy days followed by 1-2 sunny or partly cloudy days.

April 1st-June 15th--Better chance of seeing the sun. I would say during this time, its 50/50 between rainy and cloudy days and sunny/partly cloudy days. Mabye 60/40, but there is at least some break from the gloom during this time, I promise you that. Of course some years April and May are complete washouts, while on other years there can be some really nice weather.

All in all, I find the 9 month statement exaggerated, it is more like 5-6 months of complete gloom and rain followed by 3-4 months of partial gloom.

[sarahkate_m]

Here are some threads from city data:

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Pretty sure I want to move to Portland but... (little help?)

Good schools, neighborhoods in Portland

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Where should we live based on these requirements:

Kate