Anyone else who has moved to Portland find it vastly overrated? (Beaver: 2014, rentals)

[sloyd]

Originally Posted by harrishawke

Actually I did my due diligence and researched forums like city-data, and visited before the move. The problem was that the consensus stated that Portland had recovered from the recession. What I didn’t find, was that the reality of the labor market is seriously saturated. Usually there are over 100 applicants per open position, and the ones that get preferential treatment are those of University of Oregon/Oregon State Alma matter and non-transplants. Many job positions aren’t even real. They either end up being canceled or are boiler plate ads for recruiting firms. Just look at Portland Craigslist; countless positions that require professional level skills are paying just above minimum wage (usually $10-$20/hour). The county bureau says the unemployment rate is only 4.9%, but that seems deceptionaly low. I wonder what the true rate would be if you counted the underemployed and folks who exhausted their benefits. Before I got temporary work, I saw a lot of people of working age just lounging around at my apartment complex during working hours. Now if the economics of this place were more favorable, I don’t think I would be so alarmed. But this is BIG DEAL. Many people that come here want to buy property, start a business, or be gainfully employed. If the local economics prohibit this, then it really not worth the commitment. I’m just trying to figure out what to do next. Whether I seek a stronger job market such as Seattle (which has dealt and learned to live with transplants since the early 90s) or move to a place with a truly lower cost of living and less competition like Spokane.

My company recently opened a office here and after months of advertising no-experience necessary jobs for 45,000+ a year for months, and getting no responses we ended up transferring people. I would have loved to hire locals, but no one applied.

[Mini-apple-less]

I love visiting Portland, but I hated living there after the first couple years. It's very cliqueish, the people are exceptionally snarky and unwelcoming (except in the poorer parts of town where it's much friendlier and less snobby), the economy is terrible and full of corruption and favoritism, and the housing stock is poor quality yet very expensive. There's also a "hive mind" mentality you're not supposed to go against and too many people who believe in stupid conspiracy theories. And God forbid you imply Portland or Oregon is anything but the best place on Earth, or not perfect in every single way imaginable.

The traffic is horrific and compares to anything in California or China. It can take two hours to drive through the city during some rush hours nowadays. Streets and roads are too narrow, have lots of potholes and in some parts of town aren't even paved or still have cobblestone on the surface.

Wages are low across the board and crime seems to be worse than the statistics suggest. Even though there isn't very much murder, there is a lot of sexual violence in Portland as well as theft. Portland has few cops, and the cops they do have are often criminals themselves. Portland is widely known for being a human trafficking capital, going back as far as the late 19th century. When murders do happen they're often horrific in nature, such as the Clackamas shootings and all the serial and child killings over the years that have happened in the city. I think it's the introverted culture, people bottle their anger up here but when it does come out it's really ugly.

The homelessness problem is very visible and sad. The weather is not as mild as people say either, it's dark and wet most of the year and feels very cold because of the dampness and strong winds, and the summers are much hotter than people claim they are. Especially considering many apartments are too stingy and control freaky to allow you to install air conditioning. It's often in the upper 80s and 90s with considerable humidity and 100 degrees is not that rare. This year it was hot from May to October, and in stretches hot and humid. Tenants in Portland have very few rights. Oh yeah and aside from newly built places, the insulation in Portland apartments is almost nonexistent. It will be 50 degrees inside during the winter and 85 during the summer.

Portland is very nice to visit and has lots of fun things to do, especially if you're into beer and strip clubs. But in many ways it feels like a third world city. It's not nearly as modern and progressive as it and the media believe it to be.

I think the crappy weather, combined with decades of slow economic development and rising cost of living has made Oregonians bitter and extremely protective of what they have yet to lose, so the society is very nepotistic and closed off. Unless you're rich or have roots in Oregon it's very difficult to prosper in Portland. Even the transplants quickly adopt the local attitude and tend to be cliqueish and keep to their own transplant circles.

It's only going to get worse the more people move here in search of Shangri-La and the more global warming makes the rest of the Western US uninhabitable.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by harrishawke

Actually I did my due diligence and researched forums like city-data, and visited before the move. The problem was that the consensus stated that Portland had recovered from the recession. .

So its our fault? It's our job to make life safe for you? Let me just say that my life didn't turn out the way yours has.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

It's only going to get worse the more people move here in search of Shangri-La and the more global warming makes the rest of the Western US uninhabitable.

Gotcha! A number of your posts had me wondering if, in fact, you actually left Portland like you claim. You just don't want anyone else to come here. Why would you think Portland is immune from the effects of Climate Change? Or the Subduction Big One, for that matter?

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I see so much truth in your point regarding ala mater from Oregon universities. My kids are growing up here and I know that the communities here are very close knit. Portland is like a big small town but that will change in the next few decades. The SF Bay Area had a similar reputation when I was a kid in the 70's. I remember my neighbor who worked for an insurance company say that if you weren't Italian or Irish you were screwed. Things have changed. Going to change here too!

I think you're on to something, Yankeemama. Maybe Portland is going through puberty, and an especially painful puberty at that. Next the city will enter it's sullen teen phase, then gradually open itself up more once it hits adulthood and become less provincial and more of a world city. The OP just happened to move to Portland while it's going through the tween phase.

OP: come back in 2030, maybe things will have changed!

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Here we go again with the negative Portland posts.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by sloyd

My company recently opened a office here and after months of advertising no-experience necessary jobs for 45,000+ a year for months, and getting no responses we ended up transferring people. I would have loved to hire locals, but no one applied.

What was your company hiring for that required no experience?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by sloyd

Another transplant that doesn't like it here, I don't know how the regulars on city-data are so nice. Portland sucks Blah, blah, lol, GTFO and good luck

We have this groundless hope that others will read their gripe, realize that Portlandia is a fiction and the city of Portland is not a television set complete with a script. We are hoping that people who won't fit in will catch a clue and go elsewhere.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

What was your company hiring for that required no experience?

$45K/yr. and no experience necessary... are you sure you want to know UL? I would have passed on a help wanted ad like that myself.

[EasyBeezy]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I see so much truth in your point regarding ala mater from Oregon universities. My kids are growing up here and I know that the communities here are very close knit. Portland is like a big small town but that will change in the next few decades. The SF Bay Area had a similar reputation when I was a kid in the 70's. I remember my neighbor who worked for an insurance company say that if you weren't Italian or Irish you were screwed. Things have changed. Going to change here too!

I have a bit of a unique perspective on this, as I am a transplant, but I went to an Oregon university as an out of state student. In my experience, potential employers in have been very receptive to my alma mater, even though it is far from an elite university. Perhaps the subject of this thread has something to do with the reason why there is a bias toward in state undergrads in employment. Someone from Oregon is aware of the climate and culture of the area and is less likely to bail when thing are not going their way. ALOT of people move here, find it distasteful or disappointing for whatever reason and move away. Employees that leave prematurely cost employers dearly and they are always looking for someone that looks like they will be there for the long haul.