my portland life story (Sandy, Enterprise: car rental, apartments, rentals)

[tfriss92]

i hope i don't bore anyone but i have a portland story i would like to share.

born and raise in upstate new york, minus your overcast rainy winters and our brutal cold snowy winters the rest is pretty much the same, mild summers plenty of sun endless outdoor recreation in terms of water, trails biking and mountains, however my city sucks and has nothing going on just endless chains and overseas jobs coming in for the microchip plants.

so i came across portland, seemed to fit my likes and needs in a city, great weather, young vibe, mountains and hiking, healthy city great beer and food so i plan a trip, did a lot of research had everything planned on an itinerary of what i wanted to do and see, my list included, the falls, hood river, st helens, mt hood, some biking and hiking, oregon coast, the sand dunes etc. i fly the 7 hours there bursting with excitement, come to find out they increased my room rage 100 dollars i could not afford to shell out, i called 8-10 other hotels all not in my budget, i got lost and was in a rough part of town i couldn't tell you wear but it was slum looking shady people everywhere, i was so frustrated and upset spending 3 hours finding rooms that were sold out or way out of my budget miserable lugging myself and my girlfriends luggage around public transit all day, i gave up and said F this we are renting a car and going to seattle, nope way out of my budget guy wanted 220 dollars for one day and night with so,e sh1tbox car even with my discount, so i gave up and flew to vegas and had a trip of a lifetime. come to find out there was a pga tour going on plus it was the start of summer so all the other tourist were in town everything was sold out or jacked up in price i was beyond disappointing


now 8 months later, i still have a love for the city and a want to be there even though i got to see nothing i wanted to but unfortunately the rent is some of the highest in the country and getting worse by the month

can you live anywhere near the airport for under 1200 a month without getting robbed or stabbed?

[Cliftonpdx]

Well you came here during a high room price time due to limited hotel rooms. Travellers got gorged this past summer, you would have been better off with AirBnB if you were looking for a better value. Though I am not sure how your room rate went up $100, did you have the room booked because once you book a room you lock in that rate.

I am guessing you were wandering around Old Town or something if you said the area looked slummy.

Overall, it sounds like a poorly planned trip on your part, but it does sound like it was a disappointing experience.

Not sure I would agree with you about rent being some of the highest in the country. It is high, but there is much, much worse out there.

And yes, you can live near the airport without getting robbed or stabbed. The chances of you getting robbed or stabbed in Portland is extremely slim, you have a better chance of getting into a car accident.

[crisw]

Sorry, but with the lack of punctuation and capitalization in your post, it is very hard to read.

As to whether you can live here on $1200/mo- is that your total income, or just what you want to pay in rent? If it's your total income, then Portland is not the place for you.

It sounds like you have some difficulties with money. Portland is not a cheap city to live in, by any means.You don't mention what you do for work, or how you will find work once you get here. There's another thread on here right now about living near the airport; //www.city-data.com/forum/portl...ve-thread.html - you may want to read it over.

[MountainHi]

I agree this sounds like a strange planning job. You planned, but made no reservations for hotels or a car? Enterprise car rental is the best value. How were you planning to get around to all those sights you wanted to see, and where were you going to stay, while seeing them? Did you bring camping gear?


It's a shame your plans went bust. If you can get settled into a decent job, you'll have a different impression of the place. You should do a more thorough planning job if you come out to live, though.

[tfriss92]

Yea looking back it was a poorly planned trip , I guess I was expecting to just show up grab my room take public transit the first night hit all the bars and then wake up rent a car and set off to the sights and sounds but it obviously doesn't work that way like it can in Vegas or where I am from :
And in terms of the hotel issue we had a price they told us and when we went there to book it it was 100 dollars more and at that point I panicked and tried to find rooms and everything was out of the budget or sold out .

However I guesse the highlight of my 6-7 hours in Portland was I enjoyed the views of mountains and I enjoyed a very good burger and beer in the airport

Job wise I would have a job waiting for me as a latteral transfer would be making roughly 2k-2500 a month and would eventually have my girlfriends income if she got a job .

What areas could one live in and be safe with a budget of 1200 and not too far from the airport ?

[crisw]

If your entire budget is $2000-2500 a month, life here will be very difficult. Remember that you should spend no more than 1/3 of your budget on rent. That limits you to about $800/month for rent. You may find a shared room for that much near the city, or an apartment out far in the boondocks. The average 1 bedroom-apartment here is over $1300. And this should sober you up. Portland Oregon Has Highest Rent Increases in Nation - Portland Property Management - We Rent Homes

[pikabike]

You need to reserve the hotel room and car rental when you plan the trip, not the day you arrive. This is basic advice applicable to most, if not all cities. The hotel room reservation gets you a fixed price. The car rental, unfortunately, can vary; if you pay when you make the res, that is your price. If you pay when you arrive, the rate might be different. Read all the small print for everything!

How do you know you "love" a city that you never really visited?

[bler144]

How near is "near" the airport?

If one is willing to live on the busiest streets, then finding an apt. in east portland for $1200 is more doable. Though busier streets tend to have commerce, and commerce attracts some increased risk of crime. A lot of the areas in Portland that look sketchy are still safe in terms of crime, if not aesthetically appealing.

That said, I think the underlying problem is that if you're making $2500 (pre-tax or net? though honestly one is bad and the other worse) you're going to be hard pressed to enjoy the Portland of mythos, and are more likely to find Portland to be like your first rotten, no-good night here.

Portland has good beer. Can you afford it on that budget? Mmmm...not really, since rent/utilities/phone/internet are going to chew up well over half (and perhaps as much as 2/3) of your take home.

That's before you talk about a car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance, or, you know, food, health care/insurance, etc.

[CanuckInPortland]

Here's apartments in Roseway on Sandy for $755--this is basically as close as you can get to the airport and be in a safe neighborhood. It's not a bad area, it's a nice neighborhood off of Sandy, there's good restaurants and parks nearby and you're only about 10 minutes to the airport. Not sure if there's any restrictions for those units though.

Rose City Center Apartments Rentals - Portland, OR | Apartments.com

Likewise for $1300 on a nice stretch of Fremont in Beamont there's these units:

http://www.apartments.com/beaumont-v...nd-or/qbys8jw/

Both of these areas are as close to the airport as one would need to live, and very safe.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I'd say you found the real Portland for the most part.