Oregon suburbs vs Washington suburbs in Portland metro (Corvallis: sale, car registration)

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Thanks, Texasdiver. I'll have to tell him about the ride over by Vancouver Lake. I've seen that biking map before. Even with that, some of those roads aren't the greatest and can get narrow without enough room for cars/trucks and bikes. There are so many roads without shoulders and even fewer with bike lanes. So, its a biker beware safety type issue. We also get our fair share of crazy drivers in big trucks (or cars) not always paying attention or drunk along with associated accidents. A friend of ours just suffered a head on collision with a drunk driver who crossed over into oncoming traffic = multiple car pile up in an instant.

Regarding Portland bike paths, yes, I've heard about that on other forum threads. There are places the locals won't even ride anymore due to homeless camp overflows and concerns with being harassed. Heck, I've even witnessed some of that stuff in downtown along the Waterfront Park Trail. Some of the homeless can act aggressively toward women riding by or running - loud, following them. Quite a number seem spaced out, drugged out along with other mental illness issues leading to 'acting out.' I would imagine in other less open, visible parts of those trails it can get more sketchy. However, since we're talking about Portland suburbs, it seems like a number of those areas have a bit more bike friendly roads by original design - at least in some of the neighborhoods I've visited.

Derek

The Portland west side has REALLY NARROW roads all over the place, many even lacking sidewalks. Here is Skyline Road in the west hills. This is pretty typical of the biking conditions over there: https://goo.gl/maps/RvnrrmB4kyQBA8zm7

There is a decent network of streets with wide bike lanes on the east side and in north Portland. I used to bike to and from Reed College and had lots of good options. But if you get further out into the suburbs, bike lanes mostly disappears just like in Vancouver. My parents live in Canby and the roads are just as bad or worse than the rural roads around Vancouver. Here is a very typical example: https://goo.gl/maps/KbvVoqXwD1aodeVRA

Honestly the rural roads around Waco TX where we lived for a spell are far superior for cycling to anything in the Pacific Northwest, either in OR or WA.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

The Portland west side has REALLY NARROW roads all over the place, many even lacking sidewalks. Here is Skyline Road in the west hills. This is pretty typical of the biking conditions over there: https://goo.gl/maps/RvnrrmB4kyQBA8zm7

There is a decent network of streets with wide bike lanes on the east side and in north Portland. I used to bike to and from Reed College and had lots of good options. But if you get further out into the suburbs, bike lanes mostly disappears just like in Vancouver. My parents live in Canby and the roads are just as bad or worse than the rural roads around Vancouver. Here is a very typical example: https://goo.gl/maps/KbvVoqXwD1aodeVRA

Honestly the rural roads around Waco TX where we lived for a spell are far superior for cycling to anything in the Pacific Northwest, either in OR or WA.

Yes, there are narrow, crummy roads like that throughout the PNW especially in the country or closer to some of the impacted, urban cores. I was actually thinking more about the east PDX as well. There are some nice neighborhoods out there where the original builders and cities planners gave a bit more forethought to bicycle traffic.

Here's a pretty good list of the more bicycle friendly areas within Oregon. I'm sure there are other similar lists. Funny that Corvallis tops the charts and was also one of our top picks as a place to relocate to initially. Oregon's top city for bike commuting? You might be surprised

However, Vancouver and PDX have far superior paddling opportunities among other things. So, it's all relative to one's own requirements and interests when weighing *everything* out.

Derek

[ejisme]

You mention you are working from home, but where is your company located? If the company located in Oregon, then you will be paying Oregon income tax even if you live in Washington. Something to consider.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by ejisme

You mention you are working from home, but where is your company located? If the company located in Oregon, then you will be paying Oregon income tax even if you live in Washington. Something to consider.

You pay income tax beased on the physical location you perform your work.

I know a few Oregon school teachers and admins who Completely work from home (online), while living FT in WA. Their Oregon school teaching is done from WA and they do not pay OR income taxes, UNLESS they physically go to Oregon for meetings / field trips. Only that portion of time they actually perform their work while in Oregon, is taxed by Oregon for income. (Commute time is not taxed, nor is Oregon mileage reimbursement).

[CamThomas]

Originally Posted by ejisme

You mention you are working from home, but where is your company located? If the company located in Oregon, then you will be paying Oregon income tax even if you live in Washington. Something to consider.

Utah. I'm full on remote.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

:You pay income tax beased on the physical location you perform your work.

I know a few Oregon school teachers and admins who Completely work from home (online), while living FT in WA. Their Oregon school teaching is done from WA and they do not pay OR income taxes, UNLESS they physically go to Oregon for meetings / field trips. Only that portion of time they actually perform their work while in Oregon, is taxed by Oregon for income. (Commute time is not taxed, nor is Oregon mileage reimbursement).

Yes, this is how it works.

My wife works in the Vancouver clinic of a big health care network that is headquartered in Portland. The corporate address is Portland and the address on the W2 forms she gets is Portland.

However she only has Oregon income tax withheld when she physically crosses the river for a meeting or training. They are meticulous about this and keep track. Every hour she spends in Oregon gets taxed when she has to go there, usually for meetings or training as she doesn't actually practice over there.

Every year we have to file income taxes in OR for these few hours and she usually gets some or all of it back.

[StealthRabbit]

With 'mixed' income (OR / WA) I usually ended up with ~5% of my gross OR income being paid to OR. (It has some adjustments based on your AGI / IRS return, but withholdings is ~9% of Oregon income IIRC). So there was often a token refund from OR tax withholdings.

[CamThomas]

Originally Posted by ejisme

You mention you are working from home, but where is your company located? If the company located in Oregon, then you will be paying Oregon income tax even if you live in Washington. Something to consider.

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Yes, this is how it works.

My wife works in the Vancouver clinic of a big health care network that is headquartered in Portland. The corporate address is Portland and the address on the W2 forms she gets is Portland.

However she only has Oregon income tax withheld when she physically crosses the river for a meeting or training. They are meticulous about this and keep track. Every hour she spends in Oregon gets taxed when she has to go there, usually for meetings or training as she doesn't actually practice over there.

Every year we have to file income taxes in OR for these few hours and she usually gets some or all of it back.

Yuck

[Silverfall]

I think if I were in your situation and my kids were nearing high school/college, I would move to Washington. The University of Washington is an excellent school and to get instate tuition and preference would be well worth living in WA. Both of my kids are out of state as Oregon's university system isn't as good as WA.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I think if I were in your situation and my kids were nearing high school/college, I would move to Washington. The University of Washington is an excellent school and to get instate tuition and preference would be well worth living in WA. Both of my kids are out of state as Oregon's university system isn't as good as WA.

That was our thinking as well when making the decision. Our oldest just graduated from UW and had a job offer 6 months prior to graduation. Plus, he really enjoyed the experience and that was at one of their satellite campuses - Tacoma in his case. I hear great things about the Bothell campus as well depending on one's major. Of course Seattle offers the most variety as well as conducting excellent research in a number of fields. There are also professors who sometimes work at and/or perform research at both a satellite and the main campus.

I will say though that OSU has some very well respected programs as well. We were considering moving to Corvallis where they could 'potentially' ride their bikes to school there. It's not a terrible school. The Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems (CoRIS) program looks really interesting, among others.

Derek