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Im in Real Estate from Portland Oregon. I need to find an area that the market is good but also has that Portland feel. I love everything about Portland but the bad market and sky rocketing prices have made it tough. I havent been to either place but I plan on taking a trip b4 the big move. Just wanting a heads up. I think Tennessee would be more like Portland in how clean it is (going by pictures) and just how it looks. But im assuming its humid and winters arent as cold. I havent heard much about Idaho so anyone whos been to Portland and either Tennessee or Idaho would be very helpful. If anyones been to Bend Oregon..that area is ideal to me...small city/big town but near cities.
Thanks
I don't think the market will be good for you ANYWHERE. Boise is adjusting like most of the west coast. Growing up in Boise, Portland was the closest big city other than Salt Lake which isn't much of a city IMO.
I don't know much about Tennessee but Downtown Boise often looks to Portland for inspiration and many Portlanders have made their home in Boise. Boise Area is really a mix of the Northwest urban planning and Intermountain West and California sprawl.
If you are looking at staying in real estate do not move to Boise. I was a market research analyst for a large company here, specializing in residential construction and just got laid-off along with 100+ others from the same company. The market here is awful and as someone who knows this downturn will carry through 2009 with a very slow recovery.
I am likely leaving the Treasure Valley and it pains me. I love it here, but jobs suck here. Everything is service based with no educational requirements and even those that require a college degree pay like crap.
As for Tennessee, I cannot say. I have only ever driven through that state.
Idaho is a high tax, low wage state, and they aim to keep it thataway. At least Tennessee doesn't tax your earned income. Idaho gets really, really cold in the winter, although there's skiing & winter sports. Here in Boise we've lost several big corp HQs lately and accd to my friends at HP & Micron, may lose them too. Crime here is low, (but you'd better do as your LDS bishop says or you'll get excommunicated!). At least in Tennessee, you can drive to the beach from the East side in less than 1/2 day and actually swim in some great water w/o a wet suit. If you have kids to educate, you'll defintely need private schools in Idaho, even though our property taxes are outrageous (can't tax all those churches & their land).
Im in Real Estate from Portland Oregon. I need to find an area that the market is good but also has that Portland feel. I love everything about Portland but the bad market and sky rocketing prices have made it tough. I havent been to either place but I plan on taking a trip b4 the big move. Just wanting a heads up. I think Tennessee would be more like Portland in how clean it is (going by pictures) and just how it looks. But im assuming its humid and winters arent as cold. I havent heard much about Idaho so anyone whos been to Portland and either Tennessee or Idaho would be very helpful. If anyones been to Bend Oregon..that area is ideal to me...small city/big town but near cities.
Thanks
This is interesting...even though I am currently stuck in the hellhole known as New Hampshire; I will have the opportunity to leave soon, and am considering a return to Tennessee or a NEW venture to Boise. Boise looks like a great place to live, but I am a bit concerned about the wages, the summer heat, and long-term availability of water. I have lived in Tennessee for most of the past ten years, and would recommend it to anyone with the exception of those on the political left. If conservatives or Christians make you uncomfortable, Tennessee may not be for you. Otherwise, go for it. No income tax. (There is a substantial sales tax, though.) $24 to register your car, no local excise tax. No car inspection requirements. $20 for a five-year driver's license. Wonderful people. (Yankees are easily spotted by their extended middle finger when stuck behind southern driver out enjoying the scenery.) Loads of fresh produce. LOW housing costs...I mean LOW. (Sell one house in New England, buy three in Tennessee with the proceeds.) Pigeon Forge for fun and kick-ass outlet shopping. The Smokies..? "Nuff said. Wouldn't give you a wooden nickel for any part of Tennessee west of Knoxville, though. Wages are depressed by Tennessee's 'right to work' laws, but that never really concerned me much. Tennessee has picked up several auto plants over the last few years...most recently; Volkswagen announced that they are headed for Chattanooga. (Higher wages can be found around Nashville, but I lived there ten years, and never got within 200 miles of Nashville. Ick.) Mild winters...no snow shovels, no financially-crippling heating bills. (I'm going to get slaughtered in NH by oil prices...) The only down sides..? Air quality in the summer isn't the best, and traffic in the touristy areas can drive you nuts. Southerners' obsession with college football and NASCAR can get under your skin, but that really isn't that big a deal.
People are flooding into Tennessee from everywhere...I run into people heading there every day or two here in NH...it's amazing.
Tennessee? Sounds good to me. Visit the Smokies, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge in the fall...it's a blast! (...and I'm over 50...)
if you're moving from portland.. I'd choose boise, the market is correcting itself everywhere, and boise really hasn't exploded like it has on other western markets so the correction process will be a lot shorter. I moved to boise from seattle in 04 and love it is a bit more heartlandish than portland, but certainly nothing like the cultural difference of portland and tenn. Best of luck
I grew up in Tennessee and recently moved back there from Colorado. TN is nothing like the west. The previous mention of NASCAR and college football is dead on. I am counting the days til I can move back west. Probably Spokane or Boise. I lived in Eugene for a while and loved it. Housing is cheap (very cheap!!) in TN for a reason. You get what you pay for. The only decent part is East TN but that is getting very crowded and the Smokies are difficult to enjoy really. It is hot and humid in the summer. and cold and wet in the winter with no nice snowfalls. Just ice storms! It would be a huge change to go from Portland to TN but Boise would be a similar culture.
^Agreed. Portland to Boise would be much less a culture shock than Portland to Tennessee. With Boise you are in a smaller area but still in the "Northwest" culture for the most part. Tennessee is the South which is a whole different ballgame...
Portland Or and the Willamette valley will be nothing like any part of Tennessee.
The latter is a 'Green area' that leans far to the left politically, at least in the large cities.
Tennessee has a culture that tends to be very conservative politically, is not proactive on the environment, and on social issues is in sync with the rest of the south- 50 years behind the east and west coasts- except in perhaps Atlanta, Houston, Dallas etc.....
Boise is a very pretty and interesting area, with an arid, and slightly colder climate then Portland- that has more sun. The cities Mormon climate has a fair amount of cultural influence- but not like SLC and Utah. Boise was seeing a fair number of Californians migrating in- but this has slowed with the collapse of real estate in the Golden State.
Tennessee is going to be the cheapest area- but like was said above- the cheapest areas sometimes give little back in return in overall lifestyle satisfaction except the ability to spend more more at a chain restaurant or a big box store.
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