Too expensive to live here (Portland: how much, houses, find a job)

[The_Rational_male]

Which is why I'm leaving in a few months back to Florida, although I feel very fond of this place.
Portland is one of the best metro areas in the U.S., definitely in the top 5 for all it offers.

I just don't make enough money here and can't find a job that will pay me the salary I want, and sqeaking by every month is not the kind of lifestyle I want to live.

[SyraBrian]

Originally Posted by The_Rational_male

Which is why I'm leaving in a few months back to Florida, although I feel very fond of this place.
Portland is one of the best metro areas in the U.S., definitely in the top 5 for all it offers.

I just don't make enough money here and can't find a job that will pay me the salary I want, and sqeaking by every month is not the kind of lifestyle I want to live.

Portland can be expensive. That's why I bailed.

That being said, if there are plenty of people who have enough money to gentrify you all the way to Florida, there's got to be a way to make enough money off them to stay.

Maybe you can take a job at a ride sharing service or learn to teach yoga or something like that. Unfortunately, I was unwilling to change my spots and now I'm gone.

[Fiddlehead]

I think the OP is wise. The West Coast is full, and it is too expensive for what you get. You arrived a generation too late. For someone starting out, I think you can do much better east of the Rockies, buy a decent house, save for retirement, take a vacation out west, or wherever. If you decide to buy a boomer's overpriced house, you will be running full tilt just to make the payments, if you can even afford one in the first place. When houses start off at > $300k, and wages are flat, it is just not a good deal.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by The_Rational_male

Which is why I'm leaving in a few months back to Florida, although I feel very fond of this place.
Portland is one of the best metro areas in the U.S., definitely in the top 5 for all it offers.

I just don't make enough money here and can't find a job that will pay me the salary I want, and sqeaking by every month is not the kind of lifestyle I want to live.

I don't blame you, that is why I moved away from the NYC metro, after two years there, my wife and I felt like all we were doing was commuting and working, and still barely getting by. So we moved back home where we are much more comfortable and closer to family.

Good luck with the move back to Florida, hopefully that works out better for you than it did here.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

It's amazing how much things have changed in Oregon during the last 25 years.
Like Fiddlehead said, you arrived a generation too late.

The dream of the nineties still alive in Portland, but that's all it is, a dream.............

[Yankeemama]

If people want cheap property then there are states like Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona that you can find reasonable work and cheap housing. You get what you pay for though. Living in beautiful and desirable states comes with a steeper price tag. Gosh, I wish I could afford to live in London but you know, we don't always get what we want. My hometown, S.F., is crazy expensive. Portland is close enough to home but so much more affordable for my family. I am already teaching my older child that she better be ready to work hard, work smart and network if she wants to live the life she dreams of. There are dreamers who also work their butts off and then there are just dreamers...

[SyraBrian]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

I think the OP is wise. The West Coast is full, and it is too expensive for what you get. You arrived a generation too late. For someone starting out, I think you can do much better east of the Rockies, buy a decent house, save for retirement, take a vacation out west, or wherever. If you decide to buy a boomer's overpriced house, you will be running full tilt just to make the payments, if you can even afford one in the first place. When houses start off at > $300k, and wages are flat, it is just not a good deal.

You'd think so, but most of the best income growth is Texas and parts west. Not enough to keep up with gentrification, of course.

The Midwest, portions of the Northeast and most of the South are in an affordable death spiral. Wages are declining in relation to inflation while areas race to the bottom in order to remain affordable. Folks are probably not going to be able to accumulate enough money to splurge on a visit to a still unaffordable west coast city.

It's pretty much a case of pick your poison.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

If people want cheap property then there are states like Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona that you can find reasonable work and cheap housing. You get what you pay for though. Living in beautiful and desirable states comes with a steeper price tag. Gosh, I wish I could afford to live in London but you know, we don't always get what we want. My hometown, S.F., is crazy expensive. Portland is close enough to home but so much more affordable for my family. I am already teaching my older child that she better be ready to work hard, work smart and network if she wants to live the life she dreams of. There are dreamers who also work their butts off and then there are just dreamers...

I don't want cheap property, I want property in an increment I can afford.

[Nell Plotts]

I wish you the best in your search of a community where the cost of living correlates closely to your earning power. There is a real problem in the US with the spread of earning power, those who have skills highly valued in the work place are earning more (and buying homes) while the earnings of a large segment of the workforce remain flat and struggle for affordable housing. This isn't just a Portland problem.

[Sherwoody]

Or a new problem.