Why are people so desperate to move here? (Portland: for rent, employment)

[VTHokieFan]

I'm sure it's a minority of people, but in looking for roommates particularly through Craigslist, I couldn't help but notice that people are super desperate to move here, to the extent that most sane people would consider it a very poor financial/career decision.

"I'll sleep on a garage floor."
"I'm from Sacramento and I'm trying to get to Portland. I'll work for rent, I just want to get on my feet."
"I'm from Texas, but am trying to get to Portland. I'm even willing to sleep on a couch."
"All I want to do is pitch a tent in your yard and use your bathroom."

I mean if you're unemployed in X state located 1,000 miles away, whats the allure of Portland? Will moving here make it better?

I don't mean any insult to the city of Portland or to the unemployed or anything (I mean I loved the place so much that I'm moving there in October), but Portland isn't billowing with employment (seems to be about average to me).

[Minervah]

Barring the more practical reasons like job relocation or moving to be near family or things like that, I think that is a very interesting question and one to which I do not have the definitive answer as to why people move to Portland or any other place for that matter.

I like to poke around various city forums on CD. I have noticed that there are many very much like this one on which people will say they have a dream that they just have to live there. Maybe it's because they have vacationed at a place and fell in love with it. Maybe it's because they have only heard it was a great place to live. Maybe they saw pictures of it somewhere. Maybe they then begin to idealize the place and even when they are told that their dreams are not quite reality they do not get discouraged. They are determined to follow through no matter what.

Not talking just about Portland but just anywhere USA where someone is willing to take a chance on relocation where, as you say, they are willing to take a chance on a successful relocation because they want to live there so badly.

Maybe it's the pioneer in many of us. Maybe that's a good thing or this vast country of ours would never have been settled. People like to take chances. They like challenges. They have to see if the grass is really, truly greener. Of course for some it turns out to be true. For some it doesn't. But I guess you can never know until you find out for yourself despite what anyone may say pro or con.

[Beenhere4ever]

Some places I'd leave a job to get away from. St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans. This has been a MISERABLE summer in many places in the country. It is only rational to want to move. Secondly, unemployment is seriously higher in California. So some people down there are scraping by in a very expensive state probably at some subsistence job. For them it would be rational to look elsewhere. The evidence is that they'd be better off looking at places like Utah and Idaho. But then, I wouldnt want to live in Utah or Idaho either. Someone might think "It'll be hard but if I get a foothold, I'll be living in a better place". Okies flocked to California in the Dust Bowl days. With the extreme drought all thru the midsection of the country, we have some of those conditions again. Not surprising if people get that itch to move to greener pastures.

[badalchemist]

These are technically all relocation forums, so they are disproportionately filled with people looking to relocate.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by VTHokieFan

I'm sure it's a minority of people, but in looking for roommates particularly through Craigslist, I couldn't help but notice that people are super desperate to move here, to the extent that most sane people would consider it a very poor financial/career decision.

"I'll sleep on a garage floor."
"I'm from Sacramento and I'm trying to get to Portland. I'll work for rent, I just want to get on my feet."
"I'm from Texas, but am trying to get to Portland. I'm even willing to sleep on a couch."
"All I want to do is pitch a tent in your yard and use your bathroom."

I mean if you're unemployed in X state located 1,000 miles away, whats the allure of Portland? Will moving here make it better?

I don't mean any insult to the city of Portland or to the unemployed or anything (I mean I loved the place so much that I'm moving there in October), but Portland isn't billowing with employment (seems to be about average to me).

There are also a lot of scammers on CL, and these are the most prevalent ones. They say they're moving from out of town and then they want to pay you up front, and then after some friendly email exchanges, they want to direct deposit the money from their bank to your and all along they're trying to gain access to your bank account to steal from it.

As to your question in a general sense, we have good weather (overall), decent schools, friendly people (for a big city) and we’re close to both skiing and ocean beaches. So Portland has a lot of allure to it.

[Discovery1]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

There are also a lot of scammers on CL, and these are the most prevalent ones. They say they're moving from out of town and then they want to pay you up front, and then after some friendly email exchanges, they want to direct deposit the money from their bank to your and all along they're trying to gain access to your bank account to steal from it.

As to your question in a general sense, we have good weather (overall), decent schools, friendly people (for a big city) and we’re close to both skiing and ocean beaches. So Portland has a lot of allure to it.

Everything is nice accept fighting for low paying jobs.
It's all come down to 1 question :
What is the first thing you will think when you are hungry ?

[NWGirl74]

I moved here just after graduating from college in '96. For me, it was the allure of the opportunity to have a better life than I would have had if I'd stayed in northern Idaho.

[Discovery1]

Originally Posted by NWGirl74

I moved here just after graduating from college in '96. For me, it was the allure of the opportunity to have a better life than I would have had if I'd stayed in northern Idaho.

I missed those old days.... It was so easy to find jobs... Today is a diff story and i am having problem when hearing kids packed up and moved to Portland just because Portland is cool.

[VTHokieFan]

Originally Posted by Discovery1

I missed those old days.... It was so easy to find jobs... Today is a diff story and i am having problem when hearing kids packed up and moved to Portland just because Portland is cool.

Yeh I'm not moving here because Portland is cool. I'm moving here because Oregon is untouched.

[ElaineMonkey]

We're moving from NYC, because of the lower cost of living, cleaner air, easier access to open space, good food, art and music, not too much snow, friendly people, fewer crazy aggressive speed-demon drivers. We researched a lot of cities, and most of the ones we liked in general were also super cold and snowy in the winter, hot and humid in the summer, dirty, loud and expensive. We don't want to be stuck out in the suburbs with the strip malls and the cookie cutter developments. I don't love the south. We have a couple of friends in Portland who really like living there. So, overall, Portland looks like the best fit for us. I don't expect it to be a utopia, but I do hope to be happy there.