Sacramento or Portland OR??? (Arden-Arcade, Roseville: insurance, job market, pros and cons)

[nicolebdbd38]

Hello,
I currently live in Pittsburg CA and want to leave the bay area and I am considering Sacramento if I choose to stay in CA or move to Portland. I have visitied Sac over the last few months and like Elk Grove, not sure about Racho Cordova.

I just want to find out about the job market, I see some jobs and know that I will have to work harder to find a job but just want reasurance that it is possible.

It cannt be any worse then Pittsburg, can it?

I want to work in medical billing, insurance, claims and office work, customer service.

Thanks for any advice.

[DontKnowIfImComingOrGoing]

I live in Elk Grove. Read my posts on the pros and cons and PM me if
you have any questions. It's actually quite nice to live here.

That being said, Portland, OR is a lot of people's dream city.
Its progressive, well planned, diverse, vibrant. Not that Sacramento
doesn't have its benefits, but a lot of people just like Portland a lot.

Good luck!

[cityx]

My vote is for Portland....hands down!!

[CityGirl72]

HMMM depends. I love Portland but I could not handle the PNW weather. I lived in the PNW for five years and became seriously depressed. I recently moved back to Sacramento and love it all over again

[Mossy]

My vote: Portland! Much nicer city but the weather isn't as nice as it is in CA.

[edwardius]

I would think long and hard before moving to either Sacramento or Portland.

As citygirl pointed out, the rain in Portland can be pretty depressing.

The other issue is finding a job.

Sacramento and Portland are both cities where the government is pretty involved in land use regulation. As a consequence the housing boom in both places was experienced more as price spike than a building boom. Now the correction is being felt as big local problems with unemployment. Note how unemployment rate is 11.7% in Portland and 11.6% in Sacramento. Now compare that with say Austin where its 7.1%, Pittsburg PA where its 7.7% or Salt Lake City where its only 5.9%.

Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA Economy at a Glance
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA Economy at a Glance

Austin-Round Rock, TX Economy at a Glance
Pittsburgh, PA Economy at a Glance
Salt Lake City, UT Economy at a Glance

If the purpose of this move is to improve your employment prospects, I probably wouldn't be moving to either Sacramento or Portland right now. I would be looking at these other cities where the local economy is much stronger. Housing prices got nuts relative to incomes in both Oregon and California and its going to take a while for these areas to recover.

[nicolebdbd38]

Thanks edwardius. My family is in Seattle. I am very familiar with the rain having lived in it for 30 years. Out of the list you provided, SLC is the only one I can consider.

I will look into to

[cityx]

If gloomy, damp weather doesn't particularly affect you, or if you think you'll be able to overcome it, than yes, Portland or Seattle is the place to be. A lot more culture, liberal slant politically, and honestly -- WAY more things to keep yourself entertained if you want more out of life than Second Saturday and weekend yard sales. Lush, green hills and mountains surround you -- no scorching 108 degree days or crappy brown sagebrush there.
Plus, the overall environment is healthier and much safer, I think, with clean air to breathe year round.

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by cityx

If gloomy, damp weather doesn't particularly affect you, or if you think you'll be able to overcome it, than yes, Portland or Seattle is the place to be. A lot more culture, liberal slant politically, and honestly -- WAY more things to keep yourself entertained if you want more out of life than Second Saturday and weekend yard sales. Lush, green hills and mountains surround you -- no scorching 108 degree days or crappy brown sagebrush there.
Plus, the overall environment is healthier and much safer, I think, with clean air to breathe year round.

Agreed on all counts, the NW is a beautiful place and culturally very sophisticated & progressive. The economy is probably better than Sacto as well. But did we mention the rain?!!

Seriously, the NW climate there (like all over) has changed quite a bit. And these days, the heavy overcast, drizzle and lack of sunshine, have now been replaced by long periods of serious wet stuff, and lots of it! Add an arctic cold front blowing thru in the winter, and it starts looking alot more like Buffalo! That's why I moved back to Cali, where I'll take those (sunny) dry hills any day!

[angelbug]

Originally Posted by mateo45

Agreed on all counts, the NW is a beautiful place and culturally very sophisticated & progressive. The economy is probably better than Sacto as well.

The unemployment rate in Portland is much higher than Sac...I posted a link to an article on the Portland forum a couple weeks ago that said the "Employment Underutilization Rate" is 24%. That includes people whose unemployment benefits have run out as well as an estimate of those working part-time who would like to be working full time. If you go on the Portland forum board, there is post after post warning people against moving there without a job, and post after post from people who didn't heed that advice and are really regretting it.