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Congratulations on leaving Florida. I also lived in San Francisco before moving to Florida and I couldn't wait to get back to the west coast.
My suggestion to you is to register with a temp agency as soon as you get here. I did some temping this summer and I could have worked every day if I wanted. The pay was $12-13 dollars an hour for entry level work - receptionist, etc. They also do placement for long term and permanent positions. If you want more info, pm me.
As far as rent, Zillow says the median rent is around $1750 or $1.50 per square foot. My neighbor is renting his one bedroom condo out and is asking $1400. Affordable housing will be a challenge.
You do not need a car to live here. But you will have to choose your location wisely so you don't have to walk a mile to the bus stop or max station. I live along a bus line and it's just fine. Just slow, but if you lived in SF you know what that's like.
Good luck with the move! Don't listen to the trolls.
Not me. I couldn't wait to return to Florida after being in Sacramento and then trying out Portland. Even if its transient, its still east and more transplants from New England can still be found unlike out west for me.
Why do I want to move to Portland? Well, I think I described why in my original post, but I will reiterate:
* I live car-less and need to live in a town/city with great public transportation, which is also bike-able/walkable.
* I have been vegan for most of my life and want to live in a place where that is acceptable, common and where I can find plentiful food options.
* I enjoy the outdoors and want to live in a place that does NOT have extreme weather - where I live now, I have endured 6 years of HORRIBLY hot/humid weather 7 months out of the year and that is pure misery for me. I was also born in NY and live all over the state until I was 25 - including Albany, NY - where the winters were brutal, snowy and miserable - I do not want to do that again. I know that Portland is grey and drizzly for a good portion of the year - I am thrilled by the prospect!!
* I am an artist and want to live in a place where I can befriend/become part of a community with other artists/like-minded people.
* I am a huge animal welfare proponent and I want to live in a place where this is acceptable - heck, even "normal". Here in the south, this is ABSOLUTELY NOT the case...and I don't want to get into an Animal Welfare discussion here, so that's all I'll say about that.
* I am an Atheist - nuff' said there too!!
Also, I am not a "20 something" coming to Portland with a duffle bag and a dream of becoming famous.
I am 45 years old and looking for a place that I love in which to settle. I have been sober (no drugs/no alcohol) for the past 10 years, have much work/life experience/education, the drive and tenacity to make things happen in my own life (meaning I will take a job in retail/a restaurant/temping/etc. if necessary, if that's what pays the bills until I find what I am looking for).
Does that answer your question?
Yea I already mentioned how that's misguided advice. Most people literally cannot and do not just go somewhere with a duffle bag and 1000 dollars or less unless they are asking for trouble. I guess when you grow up rich, you're so desperate to live in the rough depending on who you are..
I live in Tampa area now though and watch what you're doing. You may think Portland is a better city but it is not. Read the posts from people who want to get the hell out of there. I discourage this personally. I used to live on the fringes of Portland which is probably where you'd end up. I found very quick that the job prospects were less than here in Tampa. Not that its wonderful and that people hand jobs out in FL but at least you know what it is.. a transient economy that has boom and bust cycles but carving out a life isn't impossible either. If you live near the beach, stay put especially. If you're in a craphole like Plant City or Lakeland then ya just get out and go to a nearby city, theres plenty around. You got Orlando, you got Tampa, you got Jacksonville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Lexington. Why Portland? You will only be disappointed and while bus lines run better in Portland than most of those, it will still not be Boston or NY, Chicago for transit so just go for the gusto and move to Boston for the money you'll spend. Its totally documented that tons of people can live in Boston without a car the easiest and its closer to FL so try that. Forget SF and Portland. Hell even try Philly. It might appear to have more crime but it really doesn't nowadays. Portland caught up to all these cities in crime.
Jeez people, just because you've had a bad experience in Portland doesn't mean everyone will. People are different and are looking for different things. The ridiculous blanket statements and negativity swarming around this thread are just nauseating. You've provided your cautionary tales and advice, so why not move on now? Why keep haunting this thread and repeating your same negative advice?
I'll provide my own story. I moved here in 2004, a year after graduating college. I had a degree in Philosophy and not a ton of work experience when I packed up my belongings and left for PDX. I found a job the very first day I went out looking. I applied for a job at a temp agency, ended up signing up with them, and was sent out on a job (not the one I first applied for) that turned into a career that I am still in. That job right off the bat paid quite well, and I have more than doubled my wages since then. I even changed companies in 2011 when the job market was really dismal, and got a massive pay increase on top of that. I also got lucky with timing and was able to buy a house in 2009 after the bubble burst. The value has increased more than 60% since I bought it. Moving to Portland was one of the best decisions I ever made. Yes, times are different from when I moved, and Portland certainly has its problems, but it also has a lot of great things. I'm a pianist, and this place is a freaking mecca for someone like me. The classical music scene here is insane. We have an incredible symphony, a full time classical radio station, an international piano festival, several very excellent piano dealers that sell the top brands, and so much more. I'm not an alcoholic or drug addict, I'm not lazy, I don't hang out in bars all the time (though I do enjoy a good happy hour), and I don't think I'm any kind of exception to the rule.
My advice to the OP, listen to the cautionary tales and the negative posters, make sure you are willing to accept the bad with the good, but also know that success if very possible. Portland may very well have what you are looking for.
Hello Yankeemama. I would like to clarify some things that may not have been clear in my original post:
I am not under some illusion that Portland is a vegan utopia and I am not looking to join a vegan cult, as you seem to imply above. I have lived in NYC, Austin, San Francisco/Oakland and, currently, St. Petersburg FL. St. Petersburg has been, by far, one of the more difficult places for me to be vegan...this is now beginning to change, with the recent opening of Trader Joes, Taco Bus, etc. but the West Coast (in general, and I know because I have lived there) is MUCH more welcoming and open to the idea of veganism - which make vegan CHOICES that much more abundant.
In many, many ways - GENERAL attitudes towards women, animals, vegans, homosexuals, minorities, so on and so forth - St. Petersburg FL is still operating as if this were 1955 rather than 2015 and this makes me very unhappy and very uncomfortable living here.
The point of my mentioning being vegan (among the other preferences that I listed) was to try to make clear that I want to settle in a place that is MUCH more PROGRESSIVE and VARRIED than where I currently live.
Please re-read my post as I mentioned several times that I wasn't trying to be negative. You never mentioned in your original post about attitudes regarding homosexuals, minorities and women. You do, however, make a lot of assumptions about Portland IF you do indeed think Portland is Sooo progressive towards these groups. You need to actually be apart of communities in Portland and then talk to me about it. People who moved to Portland to find a "progressive yet cheap" town gentrified areas of Portland which has left underserved minority groups, blue- collar whites, and students with special needs in understaffed, underfunded public schools which is REAL. What is real about Portland is that people who move here based on their political beliefs often end up hating it here because they find out that even though people vote similarly and wear the same liberal, progressive uniform( outdoorsey clothes that tell the world you love to hike and drink kombucha), drive Subarus and have the same no- makeup makeup look... there is no guarantee you will like your peers. HA! One of my closest friends in Portland is a moderate Republican who rears her kids similar to me BUT she never shops at New Seasons...no organic in her fridge! Please, move here with 10k in savings and no particuar skill that separates you from any other person in Portland. Go ahead. No family. No friends. But, wow, lots of vegan options. Sounds like a real sound reason to move somewhere which will probably disappoint you. Most Portlanders your age are not as progressive as you think they are and are way too busy trying to juggle family life that they won't have time to meet you. Good Luck meeting people your own age. I normally don't "go negative" on this board but your accusation that I think you are in a cult is presumptuous on your part.
Last edited by Yankeemama; 10-10-2015 at 06:41 PM..
Jeez people, just because you've had a bad experience in Portland doesn't mean everyone will. People are different and are looking for different things. The ridiculous blanket statements and negativity swarming around this thread are just nauseating. You've provided your cautionary tales and advice, so why not move on now? Why keep haunting this thread and repeating your same negative advice?
I'll provide my own story. I moved here in 2004, a year after graduating college. I had a degree in Philosophy and not a ton of work experience when I packed up my belongings and left for PDX. I found a job the very first day I went out looking. I applied for a job at a temp agency, ended up signing up with them, and was sent out on a job (not the one I first applied for) that turned into a career that I am still in. That job right off the bat paid quite well, and I have more than doubled my wages since then. I even changed companies in 2011 when the job market was really dismal, and got a massive pay increase on top of that. I also got lucky with timing and was able to buy a house in 2009 after the bubble burst. The value has increased more than 60% since I bought it. Moving to Portland was one of the best decisions I ever made. Yes, times are different from when I moved, and Portland certainly has its problems, but it also has a lot of great things. I'm a pianist, and this place is a freaking mecca for someone like me. The classical music scene here is insane. We have an incredible symphony, a full time classical radio station, an international piano festival, several very excellent piano dealers that sell the top brands, and so much more. I'm not an alcoholic or drug addict, I'm not lazy, I don't hang out in bars all the time (though I do enjoy a good happy hour), and I don't think I'm any kind of exception to the rule.
My advice to the OP, listen to the cautionary tales and the negative posters, make sure you are willing to accept the bad with the good, but also know that success if very possible. Portland may very well have what you are looking for.
Thank you, con brio, for your sound advice and post here! I realize that ANY place one moves to has it good and bad - it's how you respond to it that counts!
Please re-read my post as I mentioned several times that I wasn't trying to be negative. You never mentioned in your original post about attitudes regarding homosexuals, minorities and women. You do, however, make a lot of assumptions about Portland IF you do indeed think Portland is Sooo progressive towards these groups. You need to actually be apart of communities in Portland and then talk to me about it. People who moved to Portland to find a "progressive yet cheap" town gentrified areas of Portland which has left underserved minority groups, blue- collar whites, and students with special needs in understaffed, underfunded public schools which is REAL. What is real about Portland is that people who move here based on their political beliefs often end up hating it here because they find out that even though people vote similarly and wear the same liberal, progressive uniform( outdoorsey clothes that tell the world you love to hike and drink kombucha), drive Subarus and have the same no- makeup makeup look... there is no guarantee you will like your peers. HA! One of my closest friends in Portland is a moderate Republican who rears her kids similar to me BUT she never shops at New Seasons...no organic in her fridge! Please, move here with 10k in savings and no particuar skill that separates you from any other person in Portland. Go ahead. No family. No friends. But, wow, lots of vegan options. Sounds like a real sound reason to move somewhere which will probably disappoint you. Most Portlanders your age are not as progressive as you think they are and are way too busy trying to juggle family life that they won't have time to meet you. Good Luck meeting people your own age. I normally don't "go negative" on this board but your accusation that I think you are in a cult is presumptuous on your part.
I did re-read your original post and the part that stands out for me is: "I am not trying to be a downer but moving to an area because of a diet/ lifestyle choice over a good job and place to live does not seem like a great idea."
I am not moving ONLY due to lifestyle/diet choice, and that's what you seem to be missing...you are also not aware of how utterly miserable a place Florida is for someone like myself. I currently make $26,000 a year working for a Catholic (and I am an Atheist!) non-profit and had to take the job because it's actually one of the better ones here and I am told VERY frequently how lucky I am to have it...even though I am completely miserable 40 hours a week and struggling my a** off financially in a place where I hate living to boot. Moving to Portland/PNW is not about finding utopia, it's about living in an environment that is more suitable to me in EVERY way...as "bad" as everyone is saying Portland is, it will be a HUGE step up from where I currently am and that's what matters to me.
I did re-read your original post and the part that stands out for me is: "I am not trying to be a downer but moving to an area because of a diet/ lifestyle choice over a good job and place to live does not seem like a great idea."
I am not moving ONLY due to lifestyle/diet choice, and that's what you seem to be missing...you are also not aware of how utterly miserable a place Florida is for someone like myself. I currently make $26,000 a year working for a Catholic (and I am an Atheist!) non-profit and had to take the job because it's actually one of the better ones here and I am told VERY frequently how lucky I am to have it...even though I am completely miserable 40 hours a week and struggling my a** off financially in a place where I hate living to boot. Moving to Portland/PNW is not about finding utopia, it's about living in an environment that is more suitable to me in EVERY way...as "bad" as everyone is saying Portland is, it will be a HUGE step up from where I currently am and that's what matters to me.
The criteria for a future city in your first post is quite different from your most recent criteria. Also, you have a discrepancy in the salary you intend to make in Portland and what you actually make now. I can't say if the job you seek here will pay you more than in FL but a friend of mine with experience in non-profit work and an undergrad from a prestigious East coast university is looking at jobs here in Portland paying around 30-35k. Most service jobs seem to go to young hipsters in Portland proper but out in the suburbs you will see older people working at Starbucks and grocery stores. New Seasons is hiring in Beaverton and is a good company to work for. I would suggest you bring more than 10k and being open to living outside the core of Portland as there is shortage of rentals and many apartments aren't terribly desirable. Good luck to you... I am off to another site where I can pin my favorite things. Normally this forum isn't so negative but maybe the five months of hot weather has given us reverse SAD.
Seattle: sure - the jobs are plentiful and pay more, but talk about expensive apartments!! What they are calling "apodments" (a closet with a sink and bathroom, really) for $900 a month!!! I imagine the chances of becoming homeless are MUCH greater in Seattle than in Portland. Who can afford those rents! I realize it rents in Portland are also climbing, but chances of finding SOMETHING in the $900 - $1,200 range seem (from this distance, at least) to be greater.
Someone else mentioned Eugene, which I have also been looking into: from the Google Street View scenes that I have been looking at, Eugene looks almost EXACTLY like St. Petersburg FL - where I am now. And that looks like backwater sprawl and an unemployment rate that's higher (4.8%) than Portland (current rate 4.4%) AND St. Petersburg (4.6%)...
LOL it figures you're in St Pete. That was the side of TB I liked the LEAST and the part I felt was the most like Portland in that it was cool AT FIRST but then it wore off. I like Brandon area more, Bloomingdale. More my speed and more normal. In fact if I had stayed out in Portland area, I would have picked Beaverton or Milwaukie. Seriously though, what makes you think Portland will be any different if you cant enjoy yourself in St Pete? And busses run in St Pete last I checked and pretty beaches so if you do live in a trendy area and can get to the beach, whats the problem? Why do you need Portland so bad? St Pete is the same thing just with FL weather. The stadium is also a bit out of the way like the Rose Garden is too.. Its really not much different.
I came here to visit a few years ago and thought the city would be a cool place to live, it seemed lively and interesting. Over two years here and I realized I was wrong. The people that live here are boring and this city is void of any real culture. The city wastes money on useless choo-choo trains and bike lane that only a small percentage use while neglecting it's roads that the majority of the city uses when they drive everywhere.
All the city seems to care about are drug addicts and letting lazy homeless sleep on the sidewalk while some of us try to make a living.
Had I found this site before I moved here, I would have decided otherwise. I just want to warn others not to make the same mistake I made, the only interesting people here are the tourists that visit Portland, Seattle is a much better option if you are looking to make a decent living and want a city that care more about itself than lazy bums and drug addicts.
Just like Meatloaf says.. YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUTTA MA MOUTH!
This was exactly my experience. I felt Portland would be great because for starters, I had what I thought would be a lifetime friend that I met online, she urged me for a bit to come out to Portland and see her.. I eventually did, fell in love with it BUT.. BUT I was in the best parts the whole time. I didn't see the garbage that the city had to offer so much. I mean ya I stayed on NE 82nd at Comfort Inn but it wasn't bad because I had easy MAX access to the better parts. That's kind of how I treat life. I like to live close to the good stuff if possible even if I am not right in it and might have to sacrifice. For cheaper hotel prices but still not far, I could stay on NE 82nd and still get to Hawthorne and DT Portland.
Living there officially 3 yrs later though, I Had a car, it was so not what I expected since I had to drive everywhere and the best cigar shop was in Troutdale! It wasn't even in the city. Its just an overrated city once I saw what was really what and I lived off DIvision too.. the fringes of town with all the strip clubs, dive bars and some of Portlands worst most ratchet whores BUT iced cold beer at Mama Sons haha. I am glad I saw it and got it out of my system but never again. Tampa is a lot better and even Tampa area has its issues but more to my interest set in the area, same with Bradenton which is another place I like. I have however since I been in FL been looking for a roommate who gives a **** about the place he stays in like the one I had in Portland. The guy was a neatfreak so if I have any complaints about FL, its that it can be transient or so laid back people don't care about things so much like the very own place they own to care for and keep maintenance to but other than that, it beats Portland. But ya that's why Tampa has so much code enforcement. The standard of living is slowly getting back on par in many areas. It has a long way to go though but at least there is employment if you can get a stable place to live UNLIKE Portland.
Perhaps "how much of a letdown" Portland is sank in for YOU; can you entertain the idea that Portland may be EXACTLY what some others have been looking for in a city? While I have been reading some negativity here, there are also people who seem to LOVE Portland - thoughts?
OHHH I thought it was too.. look what happened to me though. I thought Portland was the be all end all, I'd love it here but I am back in Florida.. ya that's right.
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