Sacramento to Vancouver/Portland, Take 2 (lease, how much, home)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello again. In January, I had posted about contemplating applying for a promotion to Vancouver (I'd be working downtown) from Sacramento. At that time, although I got some really great advice on this forum and the Portland one, I passed on applying, my major hesitation being the winter rains... and we had a more "normal" winter here in SMF and it rained - a lot.
I really hate rain. But I also dislike working in an office where I'm quite frankly, underutilized, underappreciated and where the morale issues are becoming - at least for me - a major issue.
Anyway, the job in Vancouver apparently was not filled and has been readvertised for whatever reason...
This is not an easy decision for me to make as I have a fairly serious GF that I have very mixed feelings about leaving behind; she is 5 years service from being able to retire with full benefits from UC-Davis med center, and as a Type 1 diabetic having relatively free health care in retirement is very important to her. I do not think she will move with me, and I have asked her to consider marriage several times, but she keeps telling me she is not ready.
That said, the promotion would bump my salary about 5K a year to 100. I obviously would live on the WA side, and instead of having the feds suck away my take home gains in taxable income I would put more in the retirement account.
I'm 48, male, divorced, with two young children that live in CT with their Mom most of the year. One consideration that weighs in on my decision is that the public schools in Vancouver appear to be much - MUCH - better than what's available in general in Sacramento, and if my children decide - when they are older - that they want to live with me (10 and 8 now, will be entering 3rd and 5th grade this fall), the only really decent public schools are at least an hour's drive in from the burbs to my office downtown here... and Sacramento just seems completely overrun with 'bangers and tackiness compared to a lot of other places I've lived. Vancouver seems a lot more compact; I see on the maps there's some of kind of art/science academy downtown as well (?).
I hate the idea of leaving someone I love for the uncertainty of an office that may not be any better where I am right now, and moreover, moving to darkness and mizzle a great deal of the year. OTOH, spending 40 hours a week pretty much being miserable in a position isn't a good thing either, no matter how much sunshine there is outside... and when you add in California's dsyfunctionality, incredibly high taxes, and wacko liberalism, it seems like Vancouver might be a good solution... its not as liberal as Portland, and you've got the culture on the other side of the river - but you can drive away from Portland's wacko liberalism
You're willing to pull up stakes to move for a measly $5k and the chance that your kids might decide to move away from all their friends to come to high school in Vancouver, WA? Plus all you have to give up is your girlfriend / fiancé, whatever home you've made, and lousy weather for even lousier weather? Seems like a tad bad trade in hopes of getting an Employee of the Month coffee mug.
Well this "wacko liberal" (you sound like my brother!) thinks you should stay in Sacto and keep the girlfriend. In 5 years you guys can think about leaving. I went to UC Davis and no way would I leave a good job like that for freakin' Vancouver. I've had jobs where I was under-utilized (one in particular I can think of was in downtown San Francisco but dang the salary was great). I sure wish I had that job and those wages back, because up here they think what people were paid in California 35 years ago is acceptable today. (Meaning: current jobs are offering LESS than what I made 35 years ago in San Francisco.)
So if you want $5k more and want to try and find a conservative girlfriend in Vancouver, maybe you'd want to try it, but it looks doubtful. (I once left a minorly crappy job for $5k more, and jumped from the frying pan to hellfire and that was only a 2-floor move in the same bldg.)
Plus, you hate rain! Nobody, and I mean NOBODY should move here if they "hate rain!!" I was so stoked by Portland for two solid years (even with the paralyzing halt we came to in January 2004) but now, not so much. If you move here hating rain, you're going to be flat out miserable and you're leaving a great girlfriend for that??!!
On the other hand, the girlfriend sounds non-committal so maybe it isn't such a bad idea. You'll have to weigh that out. I'd suggest visiting soon. We're heading into really decent weather.
One time 30 years ago my ex and I decided to move to Portland, then changed our minds (job scene). We had landlords BEGGING us to lease option. We should have done it. While here for a solid week, the weather was absolutely glorious. I kept telling him, you don't understand... it's not like this most of the time! (I grew up spending summers in Oregon.)
Last edited by pathrunner; 06-07-2010 at 02:55 PM..
Yes, but both sides of the river have their pluses and minuses
Are you even really contemplating a move to Portland? For $5000 more in salary? You're all over the Portland forum in the last few days complaining about Portland's weather, urban planning, and "whacko liberals"--and you don't even live here yet. Save yourself the stress and just stay in Sacramento... Or if you do move here, just move to Vancouver so you don't have to pay the Oregon income tax---but Portland is clearly not for you.
I would come over to Portland for the art and culture - that part sounds GREAT - but it makes no sense for me to live in PDX as my job is located on Officer's Row in Vancouver, has bike parking and showers... and of course, I do like the idea of not being taxed to death like you are here in California.
1. I think it is extremely easy to tolerate the rain if you have enough money that you can get away once or twice a year during the winter (especially between March and May, those are the three months where it wears on most people).
2. Portland to Sacramento flights are easy and dirt cheap (about $150 plus tax roundtrip most days on Southwest).
3. I'm not sure I understand why the "Portland wackos" are easier to get away from than the "Sacramento wackos", but OK.
From what you've said it sounds like you'd be better off staying with your girlfriend and finding a place to hide from the "fruits and nuts" (quoting Archie Bunker).
1. I think it is extremely easy to tolerate the rain if you have enough money that you can get away once or twice a year during the winter (especially between March and May, those are the three months where it wears on most people).
2. Portland to Sacramento flights are easy and dirt cheap (about $150 plus tax roundtrip most days on Southwest).
3. I'm not sure I understand why the "Portland wackos" are easier to get away from than the "Sacramento wackos", but OK.
From what you've said it sounds like you'd be better off staying with your girlfriend and finding a place to hide from the "fruits and nuts" (quoting Archie Bunker).
You can't get flights that cheap from Omaha to SMF
(they have a whole different kind of nuts in Nebraska)...
Its a tough decision. The fact that I'm just not jumping up and down crazy to go says a lot...
Even though this area is generally liberal, there are LOTS of conservatives here. You won't have any trouble finding any, especially if you join activist or interest groups. Downtown Vancouver is nice now, and if you lived nearby you'd probably enjoy it. But for $5K you need other reasons to move. Changing jobs is a gamble. It could end up being a negative experience like you have now. People everywhere - here included - are nervous about their ongoing employment. That means power plays and backstabbing will abound - it's human nature. You'd be the newbie and therefore possibly the first to go in a downturn. Personally, I wouldn't want to live in the Sacto area, even in Davis, because I think other areas are more appealing, but it isn't a horrible place to be. You just have to look at your lifestyle or desired lifestyle and then choose an area and make sure you engage in activities you enjoy regardless of the weather.
I think planing and executing at least two long weekends away during the winter is a good place to start. I never met a snowbird until I moved to Portland. Now I understand.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
