Strongly considering Portland (Dallas: apartments, renter, crime)

[dg628]

I’m a huge outdoors person so that to me is number one. All the pictures of Portland I see are georgeous with timbers everywhere, state parks , trails , ect.

All the pictures I saw only showed my hood but after doing some reading you guys have a couple of foothills within a 1-1 1/2 hour drive , no ?

I like the city as well and coming from a recent San Diego transplant I know any desireable city will cost you but compared to San Diego both Portland and Denver are relatively cheap ( yes also considering Denver as well).

From what I’ve heard is that Portland is like a much more easy going version of Seattle. The thing that worries me is the in your face politics. Not a hardcore conservative by any means , I’m a slight right leaning libertarian so I’m not pushy about my beliefs on anyone as I really don’t care about politics all that much being young. At same time I don’t want to walk outside in the morning and see my truck vandalized or missing it’s wheels.

Anyway I’m very on the fence about either Denver or protland because even though I really like San Diego I like the mountains and wilderness more. I’m trying my hardest to stay but its proving very challenging because I’m really young and have no real established credit. I’m cool with having roomates for awhile while building some credit but i cant even get a room here in San Diego without any rental history or a really good score.


I’m not joking , when you look on Craigslist there are no private owners renting out rooms in their homes, it’s all extremely wealthy slum lords who own serveral properties who get to pick and choose from hundreds if not thousands of applicants. I already got denied for two 700$ rooms in older buildings in more rundown ares that are still being gentrified. Like cmon bro , I regularly get OT and prevailing wage for out of town work and 700$ becomes a 1/5th of my net income easily sometimes.


I knew I’d be competing a lot with other people but I don’t think itd be this bad. In the back of mind I’m strongly on the fence about saving a couple of paychecks , finding a job in either city ( scaffolding sucks , trust me I’ll get one) finding a roommate and going on yet another adventure.

I Love San Diego don’t get me wrong, some good hearted peeps here too but finding a roof over my head is proving ****ing nightmare here. The bear republic is crushing me and not in prices exactly. I don’t plan on doing scaffolding my whole life either, it’s just impossible to join a union and move mid apprenticeship to another state or a huge PITA trying to get licensed in another state which I why I’m using scaffolding to tide me over until I get settled down in the state I want to live in. I thought it was California but maybe I was wrong.

Oh and no I have no support system , so no co-signers , completely on my own. The only pro Denver has imo over Portland is snow because I do like snow but being I work outside a lot I’d trade it for milder winters in Portland.

Sorry for the last long rambling part but I kinda had to explain why I’m already on the fence about leaving here. I’m originally from VA so despite the beauty here in SoCal the “beach life” has kinda worn off on me and I honestly think it’s meh. I miss being a little kid when i lived in Montana for 4 years and playing in the Rockies so the mountains have always felt like home to me. MT is way too boring for a young person though with no jobs. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy at my age.

[PNW-type-gal]

This post seems more a discussion of San Diego and Denver than Portland - but if you like the outdoors, you can certainly find quite a bit of outdoor recreation in the area.

Housing will be a similar issue here - the vacancy rate in-city is very low (lower than Denver or San Diego). There is a lot of competition for affordable or lower-price apartments. You don't mention employment, but Portland is just as expensive as Denver (neither are quite as much as San Diego, rent-wise) and the pay scale is not as good as either place. If you are in an in-demand segment, your job prospects are probably pretty good.

[dg628]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

This post seems more a discussion of San Diego and Denver than Portland - but if you like the outdoors, you can certainly find quite a bit of outdoor recreation in the area.

Housing will be a similar issue here - the vacancy rate in-city is very low (lower than Denver or San Diego). There is a lot of competition for affordable or lower-price apartments. You don't mention employment, but Portland is just as expensive as Denver (neither are quite as much as San Diego, rent-wise) and the pay scale is not as good as either place. If you are in an in-demand segment, your job prospects are probably pretty good.

I promise you it’s not. You can’t even rent a room in this city without amazing credit and making 6 figures. Atleast it seems that way IME.

[texasdiver]

If you are young and single you'll pretty much find the same crowd in both Portland and Denver. Denver feels larger because it is more of a regional center with no other cities anywhere close until you get to Dallas which is about 800 miles away whereas Portland is sort of in Seattle's shadow.

No one is going to mess with you or your truck because of politics. Honestly except for a few wackos on either side who mostly just want to wack on either other (the Antifa crowd and the Patriot Prayer crowd) people mostly don't care. If your truck gets trashed in Portland it will be because some homeless junkie broke into it looking for cash or something to pawn. That sort of thing does happen all the time. It won't be because of your politics unless you put a lot of right-wing racist bumper stickers on it or something.

As for snow. The ski areas on Mt. Hood (Timberline and Mt. Hood Meadows) are about the same distance from Portland as the ski areas close to Denver such as Keystone and Breckenridge. Although there is absolutely no doubt that the Denver area has more choices and better snow. But it is just as easy to get to skiing in Portland as it is in Denver.

The one thing Portland has over Denver is beaches. Denver is in the dead center of the country so no chance of getting to any beaches without getting on an airplane.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

No one is going to mess with you or your truck because of politics.

In Portland, you can decorate your vehicle with all the liberal political stickers you desire, but it doesn't work the other way.

I wouldn't put a big Trump sticker or big red MAGA decal on the window or anything like that.
Chances are you would get some dirty looks, but nobody would say anything to your face.

But, the minute you aren't around, someone would probably vandalize your truck somehow.
Most likely quietly, anonymously, in the middle of the night.

[StealthRabbit]

You have got good responses from your other posts, but Portland is NOT going to your Nirvana, just another detour.

You think scaffolding jobs (outdoor) are bad in SD... try it in 200+ days / rain / yr (Portland). Winter winds and ice storms too!
Mud... I mean do you like working in MUD everyday and sopping wet outdoor construction jobs? You will spend a LOT of time and money in laundromats working outdoors in Portland.
Earn your stripes while in SD.

I wished I could quit my apprenticeship every day (physically abusive coworkers (masters) in my generation... that would never fly today). We learned the hard (knocks) way. BUT I stuck it out for 5 yrs then left (Colorado) for greener pastures (Income tax free WA (39 seconds north of 9% income tax Oregon).

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

In Portland, you can decorate your vehicle with all the liberal political stickers you desire, but it doesn't work the other way.

I wouldn't put a big Trump sticker or big red MAGA decal on the window or anything like that.
Chances are you would get some dirty looks, but nobody would say anything to your face.

But, the minute you aren't around, someone would probably vandalize your truck somehow.
Most likely quietly, anonymously, in the middle of the night.

Yeah, you probably shouldn't plaster your vehicle with a lot of right-wing bumper stickers if you plan to park on the strreet. Probably shouldn't drive around with a bunch of USC or UW stickers either. But the OP said he wasn't political. I was assuming he meant he didn't want his truck vandalized simply because he was driving a TRUCK and not a Prius or Nissan Leaf or some such eco car. That isn't going to happen here. No one is going to mess with your vehicle for political reasons unless you try to drive through the middle of a street protest or something. There are a bazillion trucks in the metro area, especially outside the urban core. People do get vehicles broken into all the time but it isn't because of politics, it's because of all the homeless and meth heads and ticky tack property crime that has gotten out of control. Same reason you can't park a good bike anywhere in the central city without posting an armed guard next to it. Property crime on the streets is just out of control and politics has nothing to do with it.

[dg628]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

You have got good responses from your other posts, but Portland is NOT going to your Nirvana, just another detour.

You think scaffolding jobs (outdoor) are bad in SD... try it in 200+ days / rain / yr (Portland). Winter winds and ice storms too!
Mud... I mean do you like working in MUD everyday and sopping wet outdoor construction jobs? You will spend a LOT of time and money in laundromats working outdoors in Portland.
Earn your stripes while in SD.

I wished I could quit my apprenticeship every day (physically abusive coworkers (masters) in my generation... that would never fly today). We learned the hard (knocks) way. BUT I stuck it out for 5 yrs then left (Colorado) for greener pastures (Income tax free WA (39 seconds north of 9% income tax Oregon).

Lol what ? I never said scaffolding jobs where bad I here, I just hate doing it. What trade do you do ? I assume one of the big 3 ?

The arrangments have already been made for the most part. I already found a couple of people on Craigslist who will work with me when I move up there and will a hold a room for me with a bigger deposit. Ones even from OC himself. I’m not staying homeless in San Diego living out of my truck just because I can’t even rent a room. Money isn’t the issue, no one will take a chance on me being a first time renter while I get an established CC and build credit. No one.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

In Portland, you can decorate your vehicle with all the liberal political stickers you desire, but it doesn't work the other way.

I wouldn't put a big Trump sticker or big red MAGA decal on the window or anything like that.
Chances are you would get some dirty looks, but nobody would say anything to your face.

But, the minute you aren't around, someone would probably vandalize your truck somehow.
Most likely quietly, anonymously, in the middle of the night.

Unless you stay ONLY within the red county borders. Then you're probably okay.

[Nell Plotts]

Bumper stickers of all kinds are a bad idea. They hurt the finish of your car.