Relocating... What city to choose?

[nep321]

I would choose Portland, OR hands down.

[missmc66]

Oregon is one of the cleanest states The PNW is absolutely beautiful. Too much crime in Charlotte and Memphis and they are way too humid.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by epa21

My husband and I want to move to a new, bigger city (we currently live in Greenwood, SC and we HATE it.) We are considering Charlotte, NC... Portland, OR... and Memphis, TN (because those 3 cities have job openings at the moment to where my husband could transfer.) Opinions? We are also open to other suggestions.

I don't know Charlotte. I lived in Nashville, and there were a lot of things I liked about TN, especially fireflies. But, being from the west coast, I found the humidity horrible, and the culture too foreign.

Portland has cloudy weather a lot of the year. Winters are fairly mild, but you'll encounter wet cold, including ice storms, but not a lot of snow that sticks. The culture used to be pretty crunchy (as in kind of hippy/granola types) and a little quirky. Granted I haven't lived there for a long time, but I did live in the Porland area, as well as Seattle and Bellingham.

I understand that the Charlotte area also has high humidity and icy winters.

I hate humidity, so I'd choose Portland. At least there, if you make yourself go out when it's cloudy and maybe even a little rainy, you can still get out and do things. The weather is not terribly humid in summer, so you are not as restricted year-round by the weather IMO, as you would be in the other two cities, where you'd be restricted by winter weather AND humid summer weather, as well.

As far as what type of culture is important to you - western, quirky vs. southern "polite" but not very straightforward, that's something you will have to decide.

I personally felt lost in TN in the southern culture, as they are not straightforward. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out if people wanted to do business with me or be my friend, etc. That is not how it is in Portland. They are more straightforward in the west, and I prefer that, as that's where I grew up and I understand that culture.

[Davy-040]

1.Portland

2.Charlotte

3.Memphis

[bler144]

If you're from the southeast and have family there (or anywhere in the east), I'd choose Charlotte. Particularly assuming you're going to have kids at some point, getting back to the east coast to see family is a pain.

As others have said, though, it partly depends on what you're looking for and what you don't like about where you are. My spouse would choose Portland of the three every time - I'd be torn between Portland/Charlotte. I prefer the climate of Portland (not a fan of humidity) but the economy isn't anything to write home about. Cost of living is relatively high, and job market/salaries are somewhat slack outside of certain fields - health and IT/engy mostly.

That said, depend on your spouse's income it can vary. If your household income is 80,000+, you can do very well in Portland with no kids. Living in Portland on 45,000 with kids is a much different challenge, however, since you'd be likely to spend 1/3 of your income just on housing.