Really want to move to Portland (from CA) but afraid everyone will hate me (Beaverton: rent, house)

[psichick]

Originally Posted by theforestmoon

I'm almost afraid to ask at the risk of me doing all of these things... but what makes California drivers stick out terribly up there? Speeding? Lol

Drive like any of the crazies you see in CA and that will stick out (well, depending on where you live - I work in Hillsboro, so many transplants live here that if you don't drive like a CA, you stick out).


As they say, "when in Rome..." I just wish more people lived that way.


I drive WAY toned down than when I lived in SoCal. However, I was also a very aggressive speed demon in SoCal; I knew I had to change my ways. I have a colleague who drives like he did back in CA, to me, that's just disrespectful. Don't get me wrong, I love driving 70 on some of the freeways now, but it freaks me out I'm so afraid to get a ticket. Versus, in SoCal, if you're doing 70, you better be in the slow lane. I really miss my 6th gear on my car (I have to be going at least 70 on a flat road to be in 6th gear and I rarely see that). LOL.

[angelenogirl]

This thread is really bizarre. I don't remember Portland being this unwelcoming. Listing rules for behavior, driving, staying stealth, and telling the OP to hide who he is or face wrath? Explaining what is and isn't allowed to be talked about? What year is it? (Perhaps you should all build a wall?) No wonder the OP is a nervous wreck about moving! Judging people for an accident of birth is silly, and trying to govern their lives and change who they are to make them acceptable for what you deem public consumption is plain backwards.

OP, if it feels like home, go home. It's your life. If you talk about CA sometimes, so what? You're from there! It's your frame of reference, where you've gathered your experiences and memories. Yes, it’s going to be different; talking about those differences is just natural processing. If calling the freeway "the 5" or having the wrong plates results in rudeness or even slashing your tires (WTAF?) the problem is not with you, it's with them. Folks should be proud that their city makes your heart sing, and that it does so distinctly because it’s different from where you are from. Why would you try to change the very thing to which you are drawn?

And please don't judge this or any city based on C-D posters; they tend to be a cantankerous bunch, in general. I'm sure you’ll find your people, and the people who have chips on their shoulders? You don’t want to find them, anyway. Moving to a new, unknown city is an exciting adventure, and one everyone should undertake at least once while they’re young. I wish you the best of luck wherever you end up.

Signed,
Another Accidental Californian
(Never felt I belonged there, either!)

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by angelenogirl

This thread is really bizarre. I don't remember Portland being this unwelcoming. Listing rules for behavior, driving, staying stealth, and telling the OP to hide who he is or face wrath?

I have no idea of what you mean by "staying stealth," but I'm the one who had a few things to say about driving, and I stand by everything I said, cantankerous or not. Some of us are tired of the accidents, and yes, we really do wish that more transplants would slow down. Wait until one of your parents is backended by one tailgating, honking, and flashing vulgar hand signs on a mountain pass and get back to me on that cantankerous thing. AFAIC, anyone who wants to call Portland "home" is welcome to it; it's ruined anyway. I agree that no one has to worry in Portland about being hated -- the people they meet will mostly be from California, and all of them will insist that they're "different from the others."

[pdxMIKEpdx]

AFAIC, anyone who wants to call Portland "home" is welcome to it; it's ruined anyway.

It is and it isn't.
I don't like it, but the younger ones in my family love it.

I remember the Portland of the 60's, 70s, and 80's, it is definetly a improvement over those days.

The river stank to high heaven, Union Ave, north of Weidler was absolutely not diverse in anyway, crappy economy, nobody in the USA really cared or knew about Portland and/or Oregon, lots of stuff like that.

What ruined Portland and to some extent Oregon for me was the huge influx of people in the last 15-20 years or so.
A lot of those people came from California, so that's where it comes from.

I really believe Tom McCall used reverse psychology to get people to move here.

Nowadays you would be pressed to meet someone who is not from California, New York, Texas, and most all of the "native" Oregonians you will meet are under eighteen years in age I'll bet.

[texasdiver]

Geez....some of you guys make it sound like visiting Portland from out of state is like walking through Iran or Saudi Arabia in a bikini. Portland is a big metro area like pretty much any other. No one really cares where you are from. Just get your license plates changed over to Oregon plates and don't be annoying. Simple as that.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Visiting someplace for a week is certainly not the same as living somewhere all your life.

You should know that.

No matter how long you have been somewhere, if you are a douche, it stands out.

[JonathanLB]

Originally Posted by Oldglory

I have family in the Portland area and love most all of Oregon. I know Oregon doesn't have sales tax but from what I understand their property taxes are pretty high. I would like to move near the coast as it's cooler. I'm retired so work isn't an issue. I am originally from back East and miss the greenness, rain and cooler weather but I don't miss the snow. Do the coastal areas get much snow?


I have lived in So. Calif. for many years and am sick of the heat and dry weather. I should have moved long ago but it's never too late.

Trust me I’m usually the first on the bash Portland train but you said Oregon. OR property taxes are not high, no. Multnonah County property taxes are incredibly high but out here in Beaverton it’s very reasonable. Are there other places that are cheaper? Yes, but compared to other states our property taxes outside of Portland are normal and reasonable. It’s the income taxes that are crushing, so if you’re a high earner this is an incredibly bad state.

Even just if you imagined that I loved the Portland metro area instead of hating it, I still wouldn’t live here because I can’t justify the long term tax hit as someone who doesn’t have a company here. I can move anywhere, some business owners can’t so they stay here, but for me you’re talking about paying a substantial premium for housing and taxes just to be in a place with godawful weather and little to do. A bedroom city.

[NW4me]

Originally Posted by theforestmoon

Hi there!

After a lot of consideration, I'm really really heavily considering moving to Portland from Los Angeles, CA.

I know, I know, I can hear the groans already. I will be yet another transplant jacking up rent, crowding the city, and saturating the job market.

The thing is, I've always felt like the PNW is home. I've loved forests and mountains, fall weather, the outdoors, and that entire environment for as long as I can remember. I've never felt like I belong in Los Angeles and I can't help the fact that I was born in California. I finally have enough money to do something about it and move to the area that I feel like has been calling me forever, but I'm terrified everyone will hate me right away and it'll be hard to make friends just because I'm from California.

I even read that I should change my license plates to Oregon immediately if I do move because the prejudice is that bad.

Is it really that terrible and unwelcoming to Californians up there? Especially those that are doing everything in their power to get out because they don't want to be here?

Don't worry, you'll have experiences like this one:

I was at the Portland library and asked a librarian about relocation (from CA)... she replied, "well, we moved up here in 1998, and we like it a lot."

There are plenty of other transplants up there, and many of them probably moved for the same reason you've mentioned (love for the natural world)...
it's my motivation too (although I've decided I don't need to be in a big city at all, not even a small big city).

[Soulsparkle]

Being from CA will not make you hated. Although, if you have a difference of opinion, you will be. Portlanders are extremely closed minded..

[psichick]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

It’s the income taxes that are crushing, so if you’re a high earner this is an incredibly bad state.

I'm curious, you've stated this before (I think). How are they crushing?


I'm asking because I'm able to claim 2 and break even at tax time vs having to claim 0 and barely break even in CA.