Curious and wanting to get more info on Portland -Thinking about moving there

[greenfrog]

To KUBE on the comparison of PDX and Austin. Spot on. I spent some time in PDX and came back to Austin thinking it (Austin) had kind of "jumped the shark" in comparison. I found it was very easy and inexpensive to eat out and have fun in PDX in comparison to Austin. Every time I turn around I feel like it costs something here...and the LINES! The people in PDX are more civilized by a long shot though it was certainly not always this way in Austin....I think too many people competing for too few resources such as water and a share of the road. I would love to hear how you make it through the winter there in Portland.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by giacomo107

Hello my name is Tracey, my husband & I are thinking about moving there to Portland. I am 48 and from Pittsburgh, Pa. my husband is 38 he is from Austin, Tx. I am a Area manager of a large commercial office cleaning company for the past 12 years and my background has always been management, my husband is a Painter and he has an advertising degree. He has been painting for about 10 years and does advertising media on the side. We are focused, professional individuals and hard workers. We have been doing some research and looking at a lot of pictures of Portland it looks like a very nice city. Most of the pictures are from 2004 so I don't know if there is a huge difference or not. Here is the link of pictures we were looking at Very beautiful. On the right side we even clicked all the suburbs and looked at all the pictures
portland ground: Downtown Archives: Pictures of Portland Oregon

We also have been reading up on demographics. What we found out unless we are wrong, The economy is pretty good in Portland, the jobs that we have seen in the Portland newspapers and on Craigslist does not look bad at all. Rental prices are not that high it seems to us.
We don't understand what this means we went online and read this "As of the 2010 Census, Portland had an estimated population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the U.S Portland is Oregon's most populous city, and the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest. Approximately 2,260,000 people live in the Portland area" What does that mean? So the city went from half a million people in 2010 to over 2 million in 2011? Just checking.
I have been reading some posts that people are saying the opposite, the economy there is bad, the jobs are scarce, and the rent is high but to us 600 to 750.00 is not that high is this true? I know where we live jobs are not scarce it is just there is a lot of people that don't want to work in Pittsburgh, Pa. The economy is really bad and has always been in Pittsburgh. I have been in Pittsburgh my whole life but Pittsburgh People are not the friendliest, a majority of the people are not educated and MY husband is actually from Austin, Texas and told me there is way better places than Pittsburgh so with that in mind his friends from Austin have told us Portland and Austin is alot like except Portland is a little smaller and more laid back. I have never been to Austin or Portland but he tells me the people are way friendlier, economy is way better in the central-west areas. Any help would be appreciated and sorry for the long post :P

How is the economy good in Portland? Portland hasn't had a good economy in the last 10 or 11 years.

And I'm sorry but your age(48) is going to work against you in Portland, it is very much a younger persons city. You will be competing with people 20yrs your junior for jobs, and there are going to be hundreds of them for every job that does come up.

[zackdotcom]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

How is the economy good in Portland? Portland hasn't had a good economy in the last 10 or 11 years.

And I'm sorry but your age(48) is going to work against you in Portland, it is very much a younger persons city. You will be competing with people 20yrs your junior for jobs, and there are going to be hundreds of them for every job that does come up.

100% agree, This town, it is no city! This town is full of creative types that have long been laid off living in basements and drinking tall boys like, seth rogan in knocked up! They have one client and milk it till Weiden starts hiring again.. It is a great place to live though I must say apart from the hipsters, and hippies escaping real life for this green wonderland, I do love it here.

Make sure you can go 6 months looking for work... or be willing to work a starbucks line or at costco... safe bet is to place a fake advert on craigslist for the job you would like to find... collect the resumes, and then you will know what you are up against!

Good luck! Go Ravens!

[giacomo107]

I guess we will just visit first. I have just been reading and watching Craigslist, and news and it seemed was a great place to come to. The economy is bad everywhere but seems to me I never have a problem with work as I am a go getter and very professional. How is the painting trade there? anyone know for my husband