Thinking about moving from Houston to Portland (Salem, Albany: obgyn, credit)

[jpimus]

I currently live in Houston and my wife's family is from Portland, so we go there often. I am originally from CT and Brooklyn, so Oregon, socially and climate wise is more to my liking. Portland has much less in the way of business, diversity and big city skyscrapers, but it is MUCH more pedestrian friendly. It is much more of a social amd leisure city than Houston and for that it actually feels more like a city despite being much smaller. Houston is really just a working city. It rains a lot in Portland. There have been trips where we went there for ten days and it rained for nine. Not an all out Texas like downpour, but a light rain. Portland does have amazing bars and coffee shops, again it is more social. Portland also has a lot to do outdoors where Houston has nothing given it is in the most boring part of the country. As a RN, your chances of being steadily employed are much better in Houston. In terms of hospitals and employment opportunities Houston is miles ahead of Portland, so there are pros and cons to both.

[doggiemama]

I wouldn't say Houston has *nothing* to do outdoors. Lots of nice golf courses if you're into that sort of thing, and a sandy warm beach close by, and lots of warm sunny days throughout the year for cookouts and pool parties. It's just a very different outdoors scene from Portland where we can be very athletic outdoors and not risk a heat stroke

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by jpimus

I currently live in Houston and my wife's family is from Portland, so we go there often. I am originally from CT and Brooklyn, so Oregon, socially and climate wise is more to my liking. Portland has much less in the way of business, diversity and big city skyscrapers, but it is MUCH more pedestrian friendly. It is much more of a social amd leisure city than Houston and for that it actually feels more like a city despite being much smaller. Houston is really just a working city. It rains a lot in Portland. There have been trips where we went there for ten days and it rained for nine. Not an all out Texas like downpour, but a light rain. Portland does have amazing bars and coffee shops, again it is more social. Portland also has a lot to do outdoors where Houston has nothing given it is in the most boring part of the country. As a RN, your chances of being steadily employed are much better in Houston. In terms of hospitals and employment opportunities Houston is miles ahead of Portland, so there are pros and cons to both.

This a is very evaulation. Often people from other areas who want to move to Portland cannot imagine the efforts they will have to make to be able to find a place to live and a job. Many cities have high unemployment rates but Portland has the added burden of lots and lots of competition for most jobs.

They will ask many, many detailed questions as if when they find the answers they will be able to move right into what meets their exact needs.

It may work out that way for the lucky ones but most people have to be flexible and take whatever they can get both job-wise and housing. Then, after living here for awhile they can network and find better opportunities for both.

It's a matter of getting the foot in the door and then working to open it wider.

[WynnieM]

Thanks for the clarification about the hospitals. That has me wondering more about what they're like (as in work wise), but I suppose I won't find that out until I get there. I may get there and decide after 6 months or so that I dislike the work environment, people are nosy, or I could get there and just love it. Regardless, I still have a while to figure this out, and maybe by the time I have the means to move to Portland, things may have changed (or they may not have) in my favor, or I look elsewhere.

Thank you!

[Nell Plotts]

One of your challenges may be that we have a medical school with a top notch nursing program, as well as other college RN programs, in the metro area. That said there is still a demand for nursing graduates with a college degree. You may want to consider communities somewhat distant from OHSU, such as Eugene. Peace Health is affiliated with Providence and is well regarded by other health care organizations.

FWIW, Eugene (Springfield is adjacent) is the home of the Ducks. I have heard mixed reports of other mid-Willamette hospitals (Albany, Salem) so if you were my child I would not recommend them.

[pw72]

It has only been touched upon in this thread, but the weather is extremely different between these two cities. While Houston does have a lot of cloudy days, it is much warmer year-round, and the humidity is hard to explain to Northwesterners. From April through October it is down right uncomfortable to be outside. While in Portland, this IS the time to be outside. A big change for anyone. And, likewise, Portland is dreary between October and April.

Quick anecdotal story: I once travelled from Seattle to Houston in early May. Got off the plane and immediately was uncomfortable. The temp was about 82, and the humidity was high. Of course I was flying from a city that was 54 degrees. Got to my hotel in a total sweat, turned on the tv news, and noticed the weather guy saying, "hope you are enjoying these cooler temperatures". Yeah, sure...

[WynnieM]

Ha, I had the total opposite -- I got off the plane from Houston to Seattle, and I thought, "...WHAT THE CRAP!? I NEED A SWEATER!"

The weather doesn't bother me as much. I like the rain and cold, though I've been told the rain isn't so much "rain" as it is mist in your face.

[WynnieM]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

FWIW, Eugene (Springfield is adjacent) is the home of the Ducks. I have heard mixed reports of other mid-Willamette hospitals (Albany, Salem) so if you were my child I would not recommend them.

Are the Ducks a sports team? What have you heard about with Albany and Salem?

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by WynnieM

The weather doesn't bother me as much. I like the rain and cold, though I've been told the rain isn't so much "rain" as it is mist in your face.

Almost everyone who moves here says the this, the sad truth is that you really can't know until you live here a few winters. This is by far the hardest time of the year for me. It's supposed to be spring, everyone you know in other cities is raving about their warm temps, and we still have almost the exact same weather we have had all winter (with a little more day light). We've had only 2-3 days over 60 so far this year, and it has pretty much rained every day for the last 2 weeks at some point. This is the time of year when you're ready for a change and winter to be over, but it just kind of gives you more of the same. It's hard to really know how you will deal with this until you have to living here. So just prepared and don't write it off as locals just being paranoid. That said the overcast doesn't bother me as much (I grew up in Northern Ohio, which has the same amount of cloudy days), but I have been bummed on the colder temps this lat in the year.

And the rain here is many times real rain. Just rarely (maybe once every month or two) comes in really hard "storm" bursts.

[doggiemama]

Exactly how I feel, davemess10. I've been here since June and this is the first season that has seemed tiresome. People complain about the rain here but for me it is the long cool season of needing a jacket and closed toed shoes Those teasing 60 degree days only make the 48 degree days seem colder. Having said that, though, I recently visited San Antonio and 75 degrees with humidity seemed stifling! The air was so thick and there were bugs everywhere! I don't know how I acclimated to the PNW so fast.