Young family thinking of moving to Portland (location, offer)

[Dwayne Lassiter]

The emphasis on "hipsters" in this thread (and in many more like them), is hilarious. I guess that's because Portland likes to think of itself as distinguished by millennial hippies. I suspect the OP doesn't give squat about "hipsters", but Portlandians love to bring them up because they think they "distinguish" us. So they think. Tell ya what. You'll find those types ANYWHERE. These discussions typically degenerate into hipster rant and or worship.

PLEASE don't go around seeking to be a hipster or to avoid hipsters. It's those people who define their lives on the basis of "hipsters" (either for or against them) who are maximally tiresome. They need to get a life.

You need to come visit. Hang out a bit. Portland will welcome your diverse backgrounds, and it is a pretty decent place for a young family.

[VelouriaPDX]

A 3/2 in a safe, non-trendy area will run you $2000/mo minimally in rent, but those are competitive to grab and you will have to have verifiable gross income of 3x the rent (so, $6000/mo or $72,000/yr) to even be considered.

Full-time childcare for a baby will be about $1500/mo at a licensed center.

Oregon income tax is high.

People who visit us from other areas comment that the groceries seem more expensive,but I've lived here for over a decade so I don't have a good perspective on that.

You could find a 2/1 in a less desirable area for less, maybe as low as $1300??? I'm not really sure.

You can Craigslist to get a basic idea of what rents are--use the "map view" and you can start to see where more affordable rents are clustered and then cross check those areas for crime and see if you would be comfortable there.

[Dwayne Lassiter]

Just to reiterate, tax-wise, they'll get you one way or the other. Oregon income tax is high, but sales tax is zero, and property taxes (reflected in rental rates) are low. Probably not smart to make a decision about relocating on the basis of taxes. Good advice otherwise.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by Dwayne Lassiter

The emphasis on "hipsters" in this thread (and in many more like them), is hilarious. I guess that's because Portland likes to think of itself as distinguished by millennial hippies. I suspect the OP doesn't give squat about "hipsters", but Portlandians love to bring them up because they think they "distinguish" us. So they think. Tell ya what. You'll find those types ANYWHERE. These discussions typically degenerate into hipster rant and or worship.

PLEASE don't go around seeking to be a hipster or to avoid hipsters. It's those people who define their lives on the basis of "hipsters" (either for or against them) who are maximally tiresome. They need to get a life.

You need to come visit. Hang out a bit. Portland will welcome your diverse backgrounds, and it is a pretty decent place for a young family.

Hipsters are so last decade.
It's not cool to be a "hipster" anymore.


What we have now are "quirky" individualists who all want to be weird but the same in their own unique way.
Those are the people you can refer to as "Portlandians".

Please, the rest of us prefer to be called Portlanders.
To call a Portlander a Portlandian is an insult to most.

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by pdxmikepdx

what we have now are "quirky" individualists who all want to be weird but the same in their own unique way.
Those are the people you can refer to as "portlandians".

Please, the rest of us prefer to be called portlanders.
To call a portlander a portlandian is an insult to most.

amen!

[Dwayne Lassiter]

Portlandians - PortlandWiki

Re Portlander or Portlandian, to each his own. But yes, "Portlandian" was a snide reference to the TV show, and how people are encouraged to think to think about people living in Portland. That show Portlandia is composed of, and self-defines as, those millenials I was talking about. So if you are a Portlandian, feel free to be insulted.

Now there's a lesson to a young family coming from out of state. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT let that TV show define this place. New Orleans isn't a city filled with jazz musicians marching down the street, and Dallas isn't where everyone wears cowboy hats.

[SyraBrian]

According to the Bureau of Labor Stats, the mean salary for a paralegal in the Portland area is almost 56K.

Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks make slightly less than 42K a year.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Wallsy

Dude, Portlandia sucks. You're a young guy. Don't get bogged down in a dark, cold, dank and depressing place like Portland. Spend some time traveling to different areas. Portland is one of the last places in the country I would choose to live. Bad weather, no diversity, no culture, horrible education system at all levels, corrupt incompetent government, radical far left political views of residents. Stay away.

This post is useless unless it suggests possible alternatives to consider. Let's have 'em. I triple dog dare you to make public your top five most desirable cities for a Millenial, non-hipster, non-slacker to put on their short list.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by SyraBrian

According to the Bureau of Labor Stats, the mean salary for a paralegal in the Portland area is almost 56K.

Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks make slightly less than 42K a year.

IF a paralegal job can be gotten. As I mentioned before, they are not easy to come by due to intense competition from newly graduated paralegal students and law students and one more, those with contacts within the law firms. I would suggest the OP do some job hunting before moving and try to nail down a position before moving to Portland.

[Dwayne Lassiter]

"Wallsy" is just evidently one of the trolls that hangs out around here. Maybe under one of the bridges? Isn't that where trolls hang out? Maybe there is wifi there. Though Wallsy has produced exactly one post. Maybe he/she/it is doing tryouts for accepted trolldom. They don't deign to actually offer constructive advice, which the OP, who is obviously interested in Portland, is looking for. I suspect these trolls are non-millenial, non-hipster, and non-slackers who are desperately trying to achieve some relevance in a Portland forum that they think is defined by millenials, hipsters, and slackers.

"Wallsy" seems to be in Portland, because that's where the Location points to. Pity him/her/it. He/she/it must be really depressed at having to be here. There are meds that can help! An umbrella might also help. Though maybe we're looking at a repressed standup comic, because these posts are really pretty hilarious.