So You Want To Move To Portland? LOL! (sales, apartments)

[Raisinet]

Originally Posted by NWGirl74

I'm amazed by how bad it is getting on weekends - at least as far as I-5 is concerned. I headed downtown from Vancouver around 12:30 on Sunday and northbound traffic rivaled that of rush hour! Coming home just after 5:00, there was a solid backup to get onto 84 E from the I-5 split. I seem to be seeing that more and more on the weekends and am getting to the point where I avoid I-5 in favor of I-205/84. The last time I met a friend after work on a weekday downtown for happy hour, I left Vancouver at 4:15 and got to the restaurant just after 5:00. It took me 20 minutes to go the last 3 miles due to congestion from 84 onto the I-5 split.

I spent 2 hours one evening not long ago going from Portland to Wilsonville to shop at Fry's. It's like a less than twenty mile trip.

Vancouver is a joke too. I was originally going to move there until I saw how hard it was to get from there to Portland for medical care because of the traffic.

And the Vancouver homeless problem is no better.

"VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The Vancouver city council voted Monday to allow the homeless to camp in public places overnight."

Overnight homeless camping now legal in Vancouver

[Raisinet]

Originally Posted by FrogCross

Because you don't want anyone else to move in?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

To the contrary: I am self-deporting.

Feel free to rent my soon-to-be-empty-overpriced-expensive Portland apartment.

Bring some spare change for the homeless begging at the front door.

[Familyman6]

All of those tings were on my list aswell before we moved out. I agree 100% with " its not the amount of money, its the value for the cost".

Where we moved, I spent $50k less on a home and bought twice the house and it came with a nice private yard and it needed no renovations. I also kept my income relatively the same.

I would add a few things to the complaint list:
extreme liberal culture. ( nothing wrongs with libs but these folks are flat out nuts- AND VOCAL)
weather- I don't miss all the grey and rain BUT I do miss the summer/fall nice cool evenings and no humidity most of the time.
cyclists- For goodness sake, if you are going to be on the road follow the laws .

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Raisinet

Just to clear up any confusion: I'm not being priced out of Portland. I'm capable of paying a significant amount of rent. What I object to is I feel as if there is no value for the rent I am paying. You really have to see this homeless train wreck to believe it. I'm not paying large amounts of rent to have to ask some homeless guy to get off the sidewalk, so I can exit my expensive building.

These rental increases are not really being driven by demand either. They are being driven by things like hedge funds buying apartment buildings, flipping them back and forth, and squeezing the tenants until they refuse to pay another dime. I have significant income and mobility. I don't have to play this silly game.

I don't think you gave that impression. I was giving my reasons for leaving Portland and agreeing that people should really think twice about moving there if they don't have the means.

To me this is nothing new. Back in the mid to late nineties, my neighborhood was beginning to become gentrified. My building was sold and the rent shot up $100 a month. Then $150.00. I could afford it but most of the people who lived in my building, long time residents could not.

I stayed because I figured that rents would be increasing everywhere in the area and I was right. Like you I felt that I wasn't getting value for dollar but I loved my neighborhood and I loved Portland. Then came the time when I could no longer afford the rents so I became one of the migrants to another city. By that time I was ready to leave.

We always had homeless people in the neighborhood but they were pretty much out of sight. Now they are all over the place.

[Raisinet]

Originally Posted by CanuckInPortland

The job market is better here these days, though a lot of people seem to lack any real marketable skills or connections and have trouble finding much.

I'm not affected by the job market, but I certainly wouldn't call that rosy here in the Rose City either.

In my year here so far the Port has shutdown, which made the traffic situation even worse due to increased truck traffic.

Hanjin Shipping officially leaves Port of Portland, taking vast majority of port's business with it | OregonLive.com

And of course stalwarts to the area like Intel have also laid off people.

Intel layoffs: Employees say chipmaker changed the rules, undermining 'meritocracy' | OregonLive.com

Like everywhere else, a lot of the jobs being created are service jobs whose pay doesn't match Portland's rent prices.

[Familyman6]

where are you moving to?

[Raisinet]

Originally Posted by Familyman6

where are you moving to?

Unsure at this point. My current plan is to go spend the winter somewhere warm in the southwest, and then start thinking of where I want to go from there.

I had really high hopes for Portland when I moved here last year, but I've quickly become disenchanted.

This place is pretty bizarre. They hit you with an "arts tax" every year to support the arts, but do nothing to prepare for their earthquake problem.

Here's our "Arts Tax" that the city can't seem to get people to pay. Or pay for lots of other things, like buses and streetcars etc.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...itor_says.html

Here's our joke smoking ban on the homeless that sit around smoking in the parks all day.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...ritz_said.html

Ever seen an ordinance that is self-enforced by the offenders?

[Familyman6]

Yeah they do a great job of " keeping Portland weird" . Too good of a job. lol.

We stayed 8 years and that was long enough. I absolutely hated the culture to the point I avoided downtown at all costs. Absolutely hated the long grey and rainy days and hen as you mentioned we noticed traffic getting worse every month and COL going through the roof. Our last house here, we spent close to $500k just to have a nice lot and the house needed updating!!
Another gripe was the public school system was garage

BUT Portland is the most beautiful pace I have ever lived and they have great food.

[CanuckInPortland]

Originally Posted by Raisinet

I'm not affected by the job market, but I certainly wouldn't call that rosy here in the Rose City either.

In my year here so far the Port has shutdown, which made the traffic situation even worse due to increased truck traffic.

Hanjin Shipping officially leaves Port of Portland, taking vast majority of port's business with it | OregonLive.com

And of course stalwarts to the area like Intel have also laid off people.

Intel layoffs: Employees say chipmaker changed the rules, undermining 'meritocracy' | OregonLive.com

Like everywhere else, a lot of the jobs being created are service jobs whose pay doesn't match Portland's rent prices.

It's a lot better than it was a decade ago(and far better than it was after 2008 also). At least in terms of jobs that I would apply for or my wife would--and no, we aren't looking at service industry jobs. I see way more postings lately for a lot of companies that are hiring.

[Raisinet]

Originally Posted by Familyman6

Yeah they do a great job of " keeping Portland weird" . Too good of a job. lol.

We stayed 8 years and that was long enough. I absolutely hated the culture to the point I avoided downtown at all costs. Absolutely hated the long grey and rainy days and hen as you mentioned we noticed traffic getting worse every month and COL going through the roof. Our last house here, we spent close to $500k just to have a nice lot and the house needed updating!!
Another gripe was the public school system was garage

BUT Portland is the most beautiful pace I have ever lived and they have great food.

I'm actually quite a liberal and all for "keeping Portland weird," but the folks running this place are just plain stupid and make real liberals look bad.

But in all fairness also, the hands of the folks running Portland are tied to a certain extent. When you don't have shelters for the legions of homeless that are showing up here, then the courts side with them and they get to camp or sleep on the sidewalks. The obvious is there's no bathrooms, so you can use your imagination on that.

Again on the negative side though, Portland does attract all the "occupy types" that make other people miserable with their social justice agenda. Try getting to a doctor's appointment with these folks shutting down your hood.

Don't Shoot PDX protesters block downtown traffic, face Lars Larson | OregonLive.com

One of the draws for me was Oregon's medical marijuana program, but that is now in the process of being gutted so they can try to put it under the recreational program and tax the heck out of it.

This lady wrote a nice letter to the editor that pretty much sums up the state of affairs.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/in...at_doesnt.html