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Old 01-25-2016, 11:01 AM
 
686 posts, read 796,745 times
Reputation: 788

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Quote:
Originally Posted by EasyBeezy View Post
Pittsburgh has dumpy areas for sure. Most cities do. But to call it a dump is, IMO, a gross overreaction. Pittsburgh isn't as homogeneous as Portland and had an extended economic downturn, but by all measures it is on the upswing. Plus, it has alot of affordable housing, which is important for non-rich people. It has a really interesting cityscape (which is, unfortunately, horrible for bicycling due to numerous huge hills), good food and nightlife, and an unpretentious culture. I think it would be a better choice than Portland for the majority of transplants.


I agree with Pitt being a better fit for low income transplants as Portland is extremely outrageous right now.


The reason Pittsburgh is so affordable is because it is not a nice place. Pittsburgh is a place where you can easily find yourself in the wrong neighborhood by just a few blocks from anywhere you might be with the possibility of not make it out. I spent 4 years of my life there and have experienced the terrible weather, giant hills, racism against whites in the inner city, etc.... I have a ton of great memories in PITT but living there isn't one of them.


However, I would choose Pittsburgh Suburbs over Portland.
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Old 01-25-2016, 11:31 AM
 
4,059 posts, read 5,594,941 times
Reputation: 2892
In the OP's case I'd recommend Kansas City or perhaps even Wichita over Pittsburgh in any case.

Pittsburgh may be more affordable, but for someone who has never been away from home and with 2 young kids in tow it's still going to be almost as big a shock to move 1100 miles to Pittsburgh (with no family, no friends, no resources) as it would be to move 1400 miles to Portland (with no family, no friends, no resources).

Both of these are a significant hike, even if Pittsburgh is perhaps easier to make a go of it on minimum wage.

Kansas City has a fair amount to show for it, and a very nice house can be obtained under 170k, and it's still only a 5-6 hour drive away depending on where in NE the OP is.

But frankly, everything in her post says "don't move to Seattle or Portland," at least right now, and at minimum should have a clear, burning idea on why Portland would be a good fit. Seems a bit pulled out of a hat.

As for Portland, housing is crazy expensive and hard to get. Childcare is expensive and hard to get. Jobs are meh, especially without skills. Yes, the $9.15 or whatever minimum wage is above the national average, but even two full-time minimum wage jobs won't cover housing plus childcare here.
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Old 01-27-2016, 12:33 PM
 
Location: Lakewood OH
21,695 posts, read 28,346,059 times
Reputation: 35862
Quote:
*I have a 2 year old and 4 year old girl, so safe but not too expensive is a big deal for me*
This is the most important issue for the OP. How expensive is too expensive for her and her kids and boyfriend? That should be the determining relocation factor. If they are determined to relocate, they should be looking into the cost of living first and foremost rather than geographical locations.
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Old 01-27-2016, 06:14 PM
 
120 posts, read 278,590 times
Reputation: 156
You don't say anything about what is motivating you to want to move, but given that you have young children and you've never lived outside of Nebraska, I think you'd be out of your mind to just pick up and move to Portland or Seattle. I really mean no offense. Housing is a lot more expensive here than in a place like Nebraska. According to Zillow, the median home value in Omaha, for example is around $139K whereas in Portland it is $345K, over twice as much. It's also not necessarily easy to get a good job here if you don't have local connections. And if you're thinking of renting in the Portland area, apartments are hard to get and rents have been skyrocketing. Just go to Craiglist and look at what apartments are renting for in the Portland area.

All that said, Portland is a great place to live. But there is nothing in your post that makes me think packing up and moving here out of the blue would be a good idea.

At the very least, if you've never been here, you should spend some time visiting before thinking about moving. And, I hate to be harsh, but if you can't afford to do that, you can't afford to move here.
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Old 01-29-2016, 06:38 AM
 
958 posts, read 1,140,543 times
Reputation: 1795
This thread like so many others is kind of pointless if the op cant provide a budget for housing or job desc. Her boyfriend could be a doctor or lawyer for all we know... or they could be min wage workers at a concession stand. Ive seen rich people ask for "affordable" so even that isnt enough of a clue.
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Old 02-02-2016, 05:33 PM
 
24 posts, read 37,500 times
Reputation: 25
Did the OP ever actually come back? Well, just reading the replies might have been enough... To be fair, housing is more affordable if people don't insist on living in the coolest and closest-in neighborhoods within the actual PDX city limits. Milwaukie is great and I love renting a small house here; you just won't impress anyone by telling them you live in Clackamas county.
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Old 02-12-2016, 02:31 PM
 
14 posts, read 11,591 times
Reputation: 12
Since you didn't mention your job situation, I will assume that it's not an issue so I won't get into it.

I lived in both Seattle / Portland areas for many years and now I'm in Portland. From the outset, it's kind of similar although portland is more laid back in my opinion. If you like living around sea water, Seattle offers Puget Sound where you can ride the ferry and go sea fishing. In Portland, we have rivers. Ocean is about 1.5 hr away and it's beautiful. Seattle is a bigger city with worse traffic mainly due to its location being surrounded by water so the freeway/highway system has limitations. Portland has more of a spreaded-out feel throughout the metro. Seattle area is more expensive to live than Portland but has more jobs too. Make sure you guys all don't mind the rain. It just keeps on coming during the rainy season, which is at least half the year! Temperature wise, it doesn't get that cold in the NW and Portland is slightly warmer in average.
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