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My wife and I are considering a position for her in Portland at one of the universities. We moved to Richmond, VA over 3 years ago from Rochester, NY. We like it here, but want a bigger city where we can live without the daily use of a car. We visited Portland this past summer and thought it was great. I have read numerous threads in this forum talking about issues with employment, political woes and the climate (cloudy/rainy).
My wife and I are very familiar with bad weather (6+ months of cloudiness, cold and snowy weather). We would be planning to take advantage of the PT and walkability of Portland. I'm a 30 year-old certified (CBAP) Business Analyst with 9 years of experience and a Master's degree. My wife is also in her early 30s. Neither of us care to talk to random people on the streets (a rant in one of the threads), we meet people easily, even though the same complaints existed in the Richmond forum about people having trouble meeting people, and we're both good at absorbing a new culture after moving.
I'd be interested in anyone who has relocated to Portland from the WNY or anywhere within the Northeast and is a NE native. I'm also interested to hear how you like the city, the people, and any experience from anyone who does what I do for a living.
Portland was the first large city I moved to after growing up on eastern, Long Island and spent a few years in Buffalo. You may experience a little culture shock, I did. The weather never really bothered me, I'm very busy with work and enjoy many hobbies. I got used to the rain, in NY people tend to stay in during rainy periods, in PDX it's a part of the day. I would rather Portland's rain over Buffalo's snow by a million miles.
I lived in NW Portland, in an area called the Alphabet district. The closer you are to downtown, the more walkable it is and a lot more transit options. I've noticed people to be a bit more friendly and talkative in this area. When I walked my dog, I would frequently run into conversations with neighbors.
Do you have children? Are you looking to rent or buy? A condo/apartment or a house? East of the river tends to have more housing/yards. West of the river is downtown and neighborhoods that are a little more dense, more apartment buildings, etc. The pearl district seems to have a lot of business professionals and a lot of nice dining options, also a great night life. It's hard to meet people anywhere, Portland isn't any more or less special.
Unless you are a far left liberal, I would try to avoid political conversations. Portland is known to be an open minded place, unfortunately I haven't experienced this. As a Business Analyst, you sound like a smart person, you'll run into a lot of morons like anywhere. If you can find employment, it sounds like a good fit for you. I would research cost of living in Portland, although rent is cheap salaries are not very high.
Portland was the first large city I moved to after growing up on eastern, Long Island and spent a few years in Buffalo. You may experience a little culture shock, I did. The weather never really bothered me, I'm very busy with work and enjoy many hobbies. I got used to the rain, in NY people tend to stay in during rainy periods, in PDX it's a part of the day. I would rather Portland's rain over Buffalo's snow by a million miles.
I lived in NW Portland, in an area called the Alphabet district. The closer you are to downtown, the more walkable it is and a lot more transit options. I've noticed people to be a bit more friendly and talkative in this area. When I walked my dog, I would frequently run into conversations with neighbors.
Do you have children? Are you looking to rent or buy? A condo/apartment or a house? East of the river tends to have more housing/yards. West of the river is downtown and neighborhoods that are a little more dense, more apartment buildings, etc. The pearl district seems to have a lot of business professionals and a lot of nice dining options, also a great night life. It's hard to meet people anywhere, Portland isn't any more or less special.
Unless you are a far left liberal, I would try to avoid political conversations. Portland is known to be an open minded place, unfortunately I haven't experienced this. As a Business Analyst, you sound like a smart person, you'll run into a lot of morons like anywhere. If you can find employment, it sounds like a good fit for you. I would research cost of living in Portland, although rent is cheap salaries are not very high.
Thanks for the response, this is helpful. Having lived in Rochester for 27 years, I don't think Portland's weather could possibly bother me (you know what I'm talking about...90+ inches of snow and cloud cover for at least 6 months straight, then hot and humid summers).
My wife and I have no kids and probably won't have any for 4 or 5 years, and even when we do, we want to live in the city. I would probably want to be somewhere like the Pearl District...lots of art, good restaurants, etc.
I'm also glad to hear you say that Portland is the same as anywhere in terms of meeting people. When I visited, my wife and I were taken back at how nice everyone was. Coming from the cranky east coast (which I do love), I'm not used to people being so helpful and polite. I would expect the less we integrate into Portland's culture, the less accepted we will be (like anywhere).
I do have to say that I'm surprised about the salaries being lower. I make good money in Richmond, VA, and I would expect I would make as much or maybe a bit more. In researching this on Monster and other sites with salary calc tools, it seemed to be the case. However, I realize those tools probably aren't too accurate and don't take into account some of the more subjective criteria associated with specific professions.
The one thing that I assume would be a culture shock for me would be the homeless. I'm used to east coast homeless which are much different from the West Coast drifters and beggars. When I was in Portland, I felt that the homeless were much younger. They almost appeared to be kids that were making a choice to drink, do drugs and live on the streets...a little different. However, maybe I would get involved at a shelter or do something to improve the situation.
The only issue you MAY have is finding employment. Evidently your wife has, or expects, a job offer. In the past employers have been reluctant of offer a candidate a lower salary than they are currently receiving. That may not be true today.
I strongly recommend you rent housing for a year or two, particularly if there is a chance you will want to start a family. Housing prices have not hit bottom and a home that meets your needs today may not with the arrival of children.
The only issue you MAY have is finding employment. Evidently your wife has, or expects, a job offer. In the past employers have been reluctant of offer a candidate a lower salary than they are currently receiving. That may not be true today.
I strongly recommend you rent housing for a year or two, particularly if there is a chance you will want to start a family. Housing prices have not hit bottom and a home that meets your needs today may not with the arrival of children.
Yeah, that's a good recommendation. We have a few possible places for relocation, and regardless of our selection, we'll be renting for a couple years. Unfortunately, rents are increasing nationwide due to more renters flooding the market. Funny thing is that rent in Portland is actually comparable to our other potential cities (Philly, Baltimore, etc), even though the other cities are bigger and in the NE corridor. However, I see a Portland relocation as a change of lifestyle, rather than staying in the NE hustle...which is very attractive.
The employment thing is certainly a concern, as I've never went longer than 3 weeks in the job search, but this may be a different case. However, if my wife has a good paying job, then I'm not too worried (except for my own sanity).
We moved to Portland from NY a couple months ago. We spent the previous six years in the Hudson Valley (lots of snow, although not nearly as much as you had upstate) and, before that, NYC. I can't tell you about winter yet as we haven't experienced one, but we were thrilled -- THRILLED -- to get rid of our snow shovels and snow blowers. Although we're very new to the city, we *love* it. It's a great family city and seems to be a terrific place for those w/o kids, as well. We brought our jobs with us -- the local job market does seem to be pretty abysmal so I wouldn't come until you or your wife is definitely offered a job. Renting sounds like a great idea so you can get a feel of which area appeals to you more. There are quite a few short-term rentals around. I wouldn't rule out buying, though. Interest rates are low and there's tons of inventory. People are shockingly friendly, compared to NY. (And many of those friendly folks are ex-NYers who've been here awhile.) We've been invited to lots of people's houses for dinner. Even drivers seem friendlier - they actually let you merge on the highways. For a Twilight Zone experience of Portland niceness, hit the DMV. My husband is still reeling from the experience. Good luck!
We moved to Portland from NY a couple months ago. We spent the previous six years in the Hudson Valley (lots of snow, although not nearly as much as you had upstate) and, before that, NYC. I can't tell you about winter yet as we haven't experienced one, but we were thrilled -- THRILLED -- to get rid of our snow shovels and snow blowers. Although we're very new to the city, we *love* it. It's a great family city and seems to be a terrific place for those w/o kids, as well. We brought our jobs with us -- the local job market does seem to be pretty abysmal so I wouldn't come until you or your wife is definitely offered a job. Renting sounds like a great idea so you can get a feel of which area appeals to you more. There are quite a few short-term rentals around. I wouldn't rule out buying, though. Interest rates are low and there's tons of inventory. People are shockingly friendly, compared to NY. (And many of those friendly folks are ex-NYers who've been here awhile.) We've been invited to lots of people's houses for dinner. Even drivers seem friendlier - they actually let you merge on the highways. For a Twilight Zone experience of Portland niceness, hit the DMV. My husband is still reeling from the experience. Good luck!
Haha, that was our experience in just visiting for a day. People were so nice compared to the East Coast. My wife said "I'm not sure I could adjust to the niceness" as a joke. Funny enough, my wife is from Utica, so I'm very familiar with the Hudson Valley (which of course Utica is on the fringe of).
I'm glad to hear of the positive experience, even though it's just a couple months in. There is a lot of great info on this site, but there are a lot of doomsday points of view as well (some of which has some truth, but is a bit removed from reality). Thanks for the post!
Thanks for the response, this is helpful. Having lived in Rochester for 27 years, I don't think Portland's weather could possibly bother me (you know what I'm talking about...90+ inches of snow and cloud cover for at least 6 months straight, then hot and humid summers).
My wife and I have no kids and probably won't have any for 4 or 5 years, and even when we do, we want to live in the city. I would probably want to be somewhere like the Pearl District...lots of art, good restaurants, etc.
I'm also glad to hear you say that Portland is the same as anywhere in terms of meeting people. When I visited, my wife and I were taken back at how nice everyone was. Coming from the cranky east coast (which I do love), I'm not used to people being so helpful and polite. I would expect the less we integrate into Portland's culture, the less accepted we will be (like anywhere).
I do have to say that I'm surprised about the salaries being lower. I make good money in Richmond, VA, and I would expect I would make as much or maybe a bit more. In researching this on Monster and other sites with salary calc tools, it seemed to be the case. However, I realize those tools probably aren't too accurate and don't take into account some of the more subjective criteria associated with specific professions.
The one thing that I assume would be a culture shock for me would be the homeless. I'm used to east coast homeless which are much different from the West Coast drifters and beggars. When I was in Portland, I felt that the homeless were much younger. They almost appeared to be kids that were making a choice to drink, do drugs and live on the streets...a little different. However, maybe I would get involved at a shelter or do something to improve the situation.
The first thing I would say is....a lot of people talk about how hard it is to make friends in Portland, how people are reserved and don't make good friends. I think people move to Portland with some expectation to have some super social experience. I also think people assume since Portland is a city, they are going to have some sex in the city experience. Aside from the recent transplants, it seems long time residents are very family oriented. I think people get upset because their expectations weren't met. The pearl is a very nice place for young professionals, you'll be more likely to run into fellow business/white collar workers.
It all depends on who you are and what you want out of friendship. I wouldn't get so hung up on other's experiences, I did that prior to moving to Portland and I was miserable. I don't trust those salary tools, when I used the one on indeed.com, it said people made an average of 57,000 a year in Portland and 58,000 in Seattle. It all depends on what you do, I would network with professionals and company's in the area. Maybe look at some census data, I never looked too much into salaries.
The homeless are concentrated downtown and I would guess average the age of 25. They have a punk rock look to them and get snarky when you ignore them. I'm kind of a loud mouthed east coaster and have put them in their place by either freaking out and telling them to get bent or asking them to come over my house and I'll pay them $100 a piece to do yard work. They more more upset about the second reaction I mentioned. I also helped out at a shelter one Thanksgiving. The shelter filled up fast (we only had so much food and so much space, we couldn't let everyone in) and these kids were eating dinner and listening to their iPods while people in real need were outside in the cold. This type of thing wouldn't fly in NYC or many other cities, I really hope the Portland police and government people grow a pair and do something about this. These homeless kids, in my opinion, hurt tourism downtown.
Oh also, just for those who move to Portland from areas like Northern NY with a lot of snow, prepare for heck when two inches fall in Portland. The snow storm of 08/09 ( I think 1 ½ feet or so fell) shut the city down for days. People were walking the city with skis on, people were attempting (and failing) to ride bikes in the snow, it was pretty entertaining. Unlike the east coast, they don't salt the roads in Portland and the plows aren't as good, most people use snow chains. I remember after the highways cleared up, people were passing me on the dry highway about 80mph with snow chains still on their car, which are rated for 45mph in the snow. I would later see them parked on the side of the road with severe car damage from broken snow chains. Snow is rare, people just don't know how to drive in it. A friend of mine works at a body shop in Portland and tells me he sees mostly SUV's and 4 wheel drive vehicles come in crashed. 4 wheel drive doesn't mean you're invisible.
I provided a Youtube video. Obviously everyone doesn't drive like this but don't be surprised if you see something like this in 3-4 inches of snow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMzeiMJQrvk
I've heard what iliketrains has said from many folks who've come from places with lots of snow. Our neighbor told us that during the '09 snowstorm, schools shut for the entire week! I've heard that schools will close and everything will shut down when there's a tiny bit of snow since there are only a few plows and only the major streets are plowed -- no one bothers with the surface roads. I've also heard that there have been some pretty awful (but quite pretty) ice storms and things get really treacherous.
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