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My husband and I are ready to move out of San Diego. We've lived here out entire lives but we have two children now and are ready to settle down and hopefully buy a house.
We have narrowed our options down to Seattle Washington, Portland Oregon, and Denver Colorado.
Ideally, we would like a city that Is very green, gorgeous, safe, and with good schools. I love nature, so I want to be surrounded by trees. We don't mind the rain, or snow. So neither would be a problem. We want to be around some nice attractions, including zoo's, museums, sports, good parks, libraries, etc. We love going out on family outings, so having a lot of family events Is a must.
We also want something that is not crazy expensive, maybe a nearby suburb in Seattle area would be nice.
Which of these cities would you recommend for raising a family? Thanks in advance!!
Another Denver resident here- Have to agree with David- this is not a green city at all. Not that many trees either. It is a high plains, very arid environment. The mountains are green (if you are in areas where there are lots of Conifers), but Denver is not in the mountains. Denver meets lots of your other criteria though.
Seattle and Portland are very nice options, but they are almost too wet. Check out the days per year of rainfall and overall precipitation they both get. Lots of people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder because so many days are gray and wet.
Don't know much about the real estate prices in each city, but remember that WA does not have an income tax, while OR does (and a pretty high one compared to many other states, though not maybe CA).
Don't know much about the real estate prices in each city, but remember that WA does not have an income tax, while OR does (and a pretty high one compared to many other states, though not maybe CA).
Seattle is a rung below Los Angeles on the real estate price ladder. Portland is about on par with Denver (cheaper than Seattle).
Seattle is a rung below Los Angeles on the real estate price ladder. Portland is about on par with Denver (cheaper than Seattle).
OR does not have a sales tax.
You'd have to buy an awful lot of things to make up for the up to double digit income tax OR has. I suppose one could look at that as a challenge though
You'd have to buy an awful lot of things to make up for the up to double digit income tax OR has. I suppose one could look at that as a challenge though
If you could pull it off, it would be nice to live and work in say, Vancouver, WA so that you don't have to pay income tax and then simply drive across the bridge into Oregon to shop and not pay any sales tax.
If you could pull it off, it would be nice to live and work in say, Vancouver, WA so that you don't have to pay income tax and then simply drive across the bridge into Oregon to shop and not pay any sales tax.
That is a practice that many Clark County, WA residents practice.
We interviewed in Portland several years ago, but nixed it in part because of the income tax. I think we were told that OR requires you to pay taxes if you work for an employer in OR. Hence, living in Vancouver (WA), but working in Portland still requires payment of income taxes. Of course, shopping in OR and no sales tax is pretty sweet.
Perhaps I am mistaken, though. Regardless, real estate in Vancouver is bound to be less expensive and probably have a lot less quirky laws and rules than Portland does (or so I've heard).
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