Young teen couple from Utah to Portland, need help! (live, buses)

[Metlakatla]

I was wondering about the constant anti-car rants.

It seems to me that saving up for a car shows maturity and foresight. Certainly, finding a place to live will be tough in Portland's tight housing market. Not sure about the accusations of "ducking out on their lease;" many buildings allow for the type of subleasing mentioned in the OP.

[EnricoV]

I just can't get over the sense of "this is the way I choose to live my life, this is what works for me ... therefore, everyone else should make the choices I have" kind of attitude.

Now if it were me ... I'd stuff what I could in a backpack, sell the rest, and hop a bus to Portland. And then I'd rent something like the $395 studio "apartment" in downtown Beaverton I saw listed on CraigsList (with the bathroom down the hall), and start pounding the pavement for a job. Any job.

And I'm sure that makes a lot of you cringe. That's because your choices aren't mine. And that's ... okay.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I was wondering about the constant anti-car rants.

It seems to me that saving up for a car shows maturity and foresight. Certainly, finding a place to live will be tough in Portland's tight housing market. Not sure about the accusations of "ducking out on their lease;" many buildings allow for the type of subleasing mentioned in the OP.

Because I work at a shelter. Where we have to find parking for clients cars. I don't know... maybe I've seen more people brought low by their need to have wheels than the rest of you. I noticed that people had plenty to say when the other poster still had her car. After she lost it no one had anything to say. Not a single thing. Just avoided her post like a bad smell.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

I just can't get over the sense of "this is the way I choose to live my life, this is what works for me ... therefore, everyone else should make the choices I have" kind of attitude.

Now if it were me ... I'd stuff what I could in a backpack, sell the rest, and hop a bus to Portland. And then I'd rent something like the $395 studio "apartment" in downtown Beaverton I saw listed on CraigsList (with the bathroom down the hall), and start pounding the pavement for a job. Any job.

And I'm sure that makes a lot of you cringe. That's because your choices aren't mine. And that's ... okay.

Would you keep your car? That's the question. You're saying two contrary things at the same time. If our opinions don't matter then why bother post. I don't know... in this thread I saw plenty of posts telling the o.p. they had little chance in Portland because they didn't have jobs or the right kind of job experience. That seems to be o.k. Telling people that they might find employment at Trader Joes or Costco but that those jobs don't pay well enough to support car ownership AND allow progress towards a sounder financial footing is "everyone should make the choices I have".

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Get off the anti car jag, will you?
Seems like you work it into every post you make.
Very tiresome.


I'm sure that there are also thousands of stories where people DID make a success of themselves because they DID HAVE A CAR.


You can always sell a car you have if you can't afford it.
Having a car is not a resource draining lifetime commitment.

I've got over 5,000 posts and less than 100 mention cars at all. Maybe 50 are of an anti-car nature. I'm sorry if that offends you but it is a message that needs to be sent occasionally. I get that you aren't the one to do that. My experience at the shelter says that, no, people will not sell their cars when they can no longer afford them. My experience with an ex who just happened to have her car repo'd a week after we met shows that a car can be a resource draining commitment. I get that these aren't your experiences. Tell me why the o.p. and his lady need a car, in Portland, and I'll shut up.

H

[Metlakatla]

If you worked at a shelter, surely you know that the reasons for homelessness are far more complex than whether or not someone owns a car.

I'm pretty sure that it wasn't vehicle ownership that brought your ex lady friend down but rather the fact that she was living beyond her means. It sounds like this kid bought his car with cash that he saved, so I don't imagine that the repo man will be knocking on his door anytime soon.

I really doubt that the main reason that many have become homeless is because they wouldn't "give up their cars."

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Would you keep your car? That's the question. You're saying two contrary things at the same time. If our opinions don't matter then why bother post. I don't know... in this thread I saw plenty of posts telling the o.p. they had little chance in Portland because they didn't have jobs or the right kind of job experience. That seems to be o.k. Telling people that they might find employment at Trader Joes or Costco but that those jobs don't pay well enough to support car ownership AND allow progress towards a sounder financial footing is "everyone should make the choices I have".

You're taking things very personally ... I was talking to the thread in general.

But to answer your question ... whether I'd keep the car or not would depend on circumstances. Where is my job, and where am I living? If they're far apart ... can I move closer? But, yeah, getting rid of the car would be a top priority to me. One of the issues I think we're dealing with here is, two young people from smaller-town Utah probably don't have a great concept of the ability to live without a car. They'll learn. In the meanwhile, they have it. It'll get them here (if that's where they want to get to). After that, yes it's an expense I'd try my best to do without.

[SETabor]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Because I work at a shelter. Where we have to find parking for clients cars. I don't know... maybe I've seen more people brought low by their need to have wheels than the rest of you. I noticed that people had plenty to say when the other poster still had her car. After she lost it no one had anything to say. Not a single thing. Just avoided her post like a bad smell.

If I recall, the other poster with the car lived in Happy Valley and drove to work in North Portland. She didn't have car insurance. So, when she totaled her car, she was SOL. Based on not having insurance, she couldn't afford having a car and should have sold it before it got wrecked. Having a paid-off car is not the cause of her woes but rather having a paid-off car that she couldn't afford. You have to know when to cut your losses and suck up the long public commute.

I think we've all told the OP to sell one of their cars and keep the other until they figure out if the carless life can work for them. I have to occasionally drive my car for work, I couldn't not have a car.

[yunglean]

Originally Posted by SETabor

If I recall, the other poster with the car lived in Happy Valley and drove to work in North Portland. She didn't have car insurance. So, when she totaled her car, she was SOL. Based on not having insurance, she couldn't afford having a car and should have sold it before it got wrecked. Having a paid-off car is not the cause of her woes but rather having a paid-off car that she couldn't afford. You have to know when to cut your losses and suck up the long public commute.

I think we've all told the OP to sell one of their cars and keep the other until they figure out if the carless life can work for them. I have to occasionally drive my car for work, I couldn't not have a car.

How did you arrive at the conclusion that I have two cars?

I only have A car, two road bikes, and 5+ years of experience with buses, rails, trains.

Thank you very much, I am already in Portland with few job interviews tomorrow.

This thread is useless now

[SETabor]

Originally Posted by yunglean

How did you arrive at the conclusion that I have two cars?

I only have A car, two road bikes, and 5+ years of experience with buses, rails, trains.

Maybe because there are multiple I want to move without a job and barely enough money to pay to get an apartment threads going on right now. I confused you with someone else who has two cars - easy enough to do.

If you can't afford the insurance on your car, sell it.