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Okay people, I've got 2 days to decide, and I want your opinions.
Living currently in Santa Fe with my English hubby....and we want to get to a greener place....My job will relocate us, but I need to decide quick!
Our options are the Tigard/Lake Oswego area of Portland Oregon
or Glastonbury/Hartford area of Connecticut.
We are looking to become part of an active, caring community, and to put down some roots after years of traveling.
Our preference is for quiet, friendly neighborhoods, with close access to forests,mountains, coasts, farmers markets, history, culture, and within a couple hours of a big city for adventures!
We are both early 40's and have traded in our interests in a vibrant nightlife for the more peaceful life.....Gardening, birdwatching, photography, cooking, dogwalking, all the boring, happy stuff I never imagined I would enjoy! We enjoy 4 seasons, and spend a great deal of times in outdoor activities......
We will be renting at first, and our budget is up to $1800 for a 2-3 bed single family house...with a big yard for the 2 dogs!
SO, Pacific Northwest or New ENgland........whatcha think?
Opening the doors for your opinions,
be a part of advising us on where to begin our new lives!
If you love the outdoors, the Pacific Northwest for sure. Although you won't get a "real" winter here, you can still enjoy outdoor activities year round. Lake Oswego is basically a forested suburb of Portland (which has all the big city amenities and close to Seattle for what it lacks), an hour and a half from the gorgeous Oregon Coast, 30 minutes to the Columbia Gorge and waterfalls, mountains everywhere, and definitely green in all senses of the word. Oregon is big on farmer's markets too, though I don't know that Lake Oswego or Tigard has one. You'd probably have to go into the city for that. The only thing lacking is history, as the area is rather young compared to the East. But quality of life is wonderful. Portland is easily more livable.
New England autumns are probably unmatched in the USA, but those in the Pac NW are no slouch either.
Connecticut is obviously closer to lots of bigger cities. And fast pace, obnoxious people. CT: More yuppies. OR: More hippies, with the good and the bad that both groups offer. Lake Oswego is probably the most affluent area of PDX so you will have more yuppies and fewer hippies than elsewhere in town.
Natural locations: Tigard wins this easily, although New England is no slouch. And farmer's markets in the Portland area are just downright ridiculous because of how fertile the farmland is. You wouldn't believe the variety of produce you'll find. There is a farmer's market in LO but I've never been to that one.
Your money will go much farther here in Oregon.
But my advice overall is to visit both so you can see for yourself, and decide accordingly.
Okay people, I've got 2 days to decide, and I want your opinions.
Living currently in Santa Fe with my English hubby....and we want to get to a greener place....My job will relocate us, but I need to decide quick!
Our options are the Tigard/Lake Oswego area of Portland Oregon
or Glastonbury/Hartford area of Connecticut.
We are looking to become part of an active, caring community, and to put down some roots after years of traveling.
Our preference is for quiet, friendly neighborhoods, with close access to forests,mountains, coasts, farmers markets, history, culture, and within a couple hours of a big city for adventures!
We are both early 40's and have traded in our interests in a vibrant nightlife for the more peaceful life.....Gardening, birdwatching, photography, cooking, dogwalking, all the boring, happy stuff I never imagined I would enjoy! We enjoy 4 seasons, and spend a great deal of times in outdoor activities......
We will be renting at first, and our budget is up to $1800 for a 2-3 bed single family house...with a big yard for the 2 dogs!
SO, Pacific Northwest or New ENgland........whatcha think?
Opening the doors for your opinions,
be a part of advising us on where to begin our new lives!
Thanks!
Both have their “pros” and “cons”. I think Connecticut and the East Coast are a better choice if you are into excitement of the big cities (NYC/Philly/Boston…etc), history, and like the beach (on the East Coast you can swim in the ocean…on the Northwest Coast you would freeze to death – lol)…however the Pacific Northwest is less crowed and housing costs are less. Also, Connecticut is really part of the Tri-State region - not New England…so it’s not quite as rural as the true New England States which can be a good thing if you are searching for work..
My concern is that you are coming from Santa Fe, New Mexico…one of the sunniest places on the USA mainland. Although Connecticut/ East Coast is humid and cloudy periodically…it is nothing compared to the gray/gloomy skies of the Pacific Northwest. Below is a map of December (the cloudiest month of the year in the USA). As you can see, once you get south of Massachusetts …the East Coast is rather sunny in winter. On the other hand the Pacific Northwest much above San Francisco is pretty cloudy…and from Portland, OR northward... is downright gloomy.
So move to the East Coast if you want more sun… or the West Coast if you like more rain.
There is a lovely farmer's market in Lake Oswego and I would be surprised if Tigard didn't have one. Either way, Tigard is a stone's throw from Portland and Beaverton which both have great markets.
Lake Oswego is the richest suburb of Portland, Tigard is more middle class. Where (location wise) will you be working? Is commuting a concern for you?
If outdoors recreation is what you value, then Tigard is perfect.
Hi all, and thanks for the feedback...
in response to PDX_LAX, I'd be working in Tigard, right down by Bridgeport Village.....
Went out to visit Portland last week, absolutely breath taking! Headed to Connecticut in 2 weeks to compare......but need to have my decision for work by Friday morning, so we are going to have to jump and make a decision without hands on experience of Connecticut..... wish us luck!
Don't move to Oregon. Too many transplants already here. The city is being polluted with traffic, tear down of buildings and history, and skyrocketing prices for housing. Talk to native Oregonians and you will get the same, not the transplants that "consider" themselves a local.
You had only days to decide, so what happened? I've lived in both of those areas and that's a pretty great decision to have to make. To me, CT wins on access to more big cities and history. Oregon wins on all else. I'd go PNW.
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