why is Portland so expensive? (Phoenix: transfer, buy, wage)

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by indieco

Portland is probably the cheapest major city on the West Coast. All of what you listed is subjective (I happen to love rain and overcast).

Why'd you move there in the first place? Seems to not make much sense.

The south is cheaper because it has the highest obesity rates, highest illiteracy rates, highest poverty rates, etc etc.

And not to mention the south also has terrible weather with the heat and humidity, no real natural scenery compared to places like Oregon (and Washington and California)- the old phrase "you get what you pay for" definitely is true with the South.

[Discovery1]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

You can't just look at take-home. You have to factor in all the taxes you will have paid by the end of the year.

Are people really too "living-in-the-moment" to realize that? For one thing ... are you complaining that everything you buy costs 8.25% more in Texas?

Not everything is 8.25% sale tax in Texas.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by bler144

Curious how much you're paying in property taxes there. The stated rates are higher here, but you have to factor in the Measure 50 impact. It's quite possible to have a tax assessment that's half the current market value (and therefore only half the stated rate).

Look at a few $400k houses and you may notice the effective current rate on most is 1% ($3900/yr). Go over to the WA forums and post about property taxes and you'll get a furious rant (maybe we can lure StealthRabbit over to these boards). Pretty rare to see that type of property tax rant on the OR forums.

That's actually roughly what we pay around here in Washington. Property taxes last year on the $405K house we are looking at were about $3800.
5 years ago we were living back in Nebraska and considering a move to Texas- we considered it for about a year or so, looking at houses online as well as going down there and meeting a realtor to look at places. It's true the homes were cheaper than out here on the west coast- quite a bit cheaper- but the actual property taxes on the ones we looked at were really high, not too far off from what we'll be paying here on that $405K house. No homestead exemption on any of those. Add to that some extremely expensive electricity rates due to privatization of that industry there, and you would add another $200-$400 per month for electric bills in the summer according to estimates many there gave me from their own experiences.

So you add up some of those factors and it doesn't seem quite as cheap compared to Oregon. And when you consider then that you'd also be dealing with the lack of any real natural scenery, the bugs, and the terrible heat/humidity- it just makes any remaining premium between the two places well worth it to live in Oregon (or Washington).

[bler144]

Originally Posted by jm31828

That's actually roughly what we pay around here in Washington. Property taxes last year on the $405K house we are looking at were about $3800.

The main WA beef seems to be that assessment is all over the board on the whims of local assessors. So you may get a great deal, but the next town over gets hosed.

Measure 50 in OR creates somewhat related issues - because the assessments are based on 1996 values, you have some neighborhoods that are proximate value now but the effective rates are quite different. So complaints about it are rare, despite the inequity (and possibly, the iniquity as well). It does seem to be catching the attention of a few legislators, but it's liable to be difficult to get the rule changed in a way that actually makes anyone happy.

[Ankhharu]

Portland expensive? Lol, Portland is cheaper than most of the big cities in the West. As a man born and raised in Mississippi, lived in Texas for 17 years, having been everywhere in the South due to family or work, I say: Portland > anywhere in the South. Portland has better food, better weather, better scenery, less bigotry, etc. Wished I lived there, until then, I'll just keep visiting.

I find it humorous when people in the south complain about PNW rain. Give me some overcast and drizzle over hurricanes, tornado's, and hot as hell summers any day of the week. And show me a place in the South that doesn't get a ton of rain. Can't do it. Nothing like having to cancel plans due to severe thunderstorms. I don't miss that garbage at all.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by PDXNative2Houston

Argh...this is short minded thinking. YES I have noticed this and YES I will pay significantly more in Oregon on taxes. Are the rates of property taxes higher in TX? Yes...but the value of my home is significantly less as well, causing me to pay much less in taxes. Is there a sales tax in TX? Yes...but the base price of goods is also less so this comes out to be about equal. Are gas taxes in Oregon higher? Yes...and we're closer to refineries here so my gas prices are significantly less.

Moderator cut: removed orphaned post reference

Sorry, but you're the one who's doing the short-minded thinking ... looking only at what your take home pay is.

Moderator cut: referencing orphaned post

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Discovery1

Not everything is 8.25% sale tax in Texas.

And not every dollar you earn in Oregon is subject to income tax.

[EnricoV]

Hey, I'd pay more than double the taxes I do if it meant I didn't have to live in Texas. You're welcome to it.

[Leisesturm]

Moderator cut: Removed referenced orphaned post but left content as it pertains to OP

My parents retired to Florida. Taxes was one of the draws of Florida retirement. Also the fact that they bought their first and only house in NYC with $3,000.00 and sold it 30 years later for $185K. They bought their first Florida house for $50K and it was a mansion compared to the NY house. A hurricane destroyed it and everything in it. Insurance can't ever compensate materialistic strivers who have managed to amass a small fortune in 'stuff'. It just can't. Nevertheless they rebuilt, in another part of Florida. 10 years later another hurricane ripped the roof off that house and dumped six inches of water inside. Mold grew on every inside and outside surface and they eventually had to flee that house as well.

I think there was a town in Texas called Galveston. Jimmy Webb wrote a song about it. Put it on the map, so to speak. Is it there anymore? I don't think so. I've got a couple of Texan's in my church. They wouldn't go back to Texas for all the money in Texas. To each their own. It really is that simple. Perspective is a heck of a thing: NYC has Oregon's income tax AND Washington's state tax simultaneously. It has the country's highest gas taxes, cigarette taxes, lodging taxes. It has the most draconian Parking Violations Bureau regulations in the developed world, and I lived there for 45 of my 55 years. I raised a family there.

For me, and others, Portland represents as tax break! I've left a city with a COL of 216 and settled in a city with a COL of 104. I'm happy! Can you see how that might be the case. But the real takeaway is this: while living in NYC I didn't ever feel that the COL was really that extraordinary. The outrageous COL index of NYC is not why I left! I don't live any better day to day, in PDX, because things cost less here, taxes are lower, etc. etc. etc. It doesn't matter on the ground. But I like the fact that in January when a NY'er might be looking at a 8*F overnight low (-2 real feel), I will be enjoying a 25*F overnight low on the same night. I like that the major streets have implicit "share the lane" with bicycles as an operating standard. I live better in Portland day to day than I did in NYC and not because of the lower taxes. Or lower prices. They are lower but not that much lower. But a tornado isn't likely to destroy my apartment (or kill me).

Enjoy Texas, but know this, Oregon, Portland doesn't deserve all of the ire that you've heaped on it. No place is perfect and I'm hearing some jaw droppingly nasty stuff about the way Texas is conducting itself with respect to its Latino population, its Black population, its disabled population, its criminal offender population. I get that it artificially creates a safe space for those who operate without those demographic handicaps, but man the bad Karma is going to be a beyotch when it comes back around. No city is blameless and perfect to an absolute, but I for one wouldn't want to be in the census count when it comes time for the rest of Texas (Galveston has paid already) to settle accounts. But, to each their own...

H

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Portland expensive? Lol, Portland is cheaper than most of the big cities in the West.

Ha. Not for too much longer.

I predict that soon, Portland will be just as expensive as any other large west coast population center.

Especially if we get state leadership that is more pro-business and pro-growth.