Job market/costs in Portland, OR (insurance, fence, to move)

[MycroftHolmes]

Originally Posted by Coastal_habitat

MycroftHolmes, have you considered Austin TX? It's a pretty liberal city (for Texas that is), incredibly lush, full of friendly people and still small enough to be livable.

We've been here for 2 years, and the only reason we're moving is b/c my husband misses living by the coast too much.

We're also considering Portland, but yes, it's discouraging to hear how bad the job market is... isn't it?

Hey, I definitely have considered Austin--my sis lives there and I think it's *OK* but it's missing a lot for me, and not just the general vibe about it that just sort of turns me off. The "for Texas that is" in your mention of it being relatively liberal is the key here--I still see plenty of the over-the-top Bible Belt qualities I associate with TX are somewhat bleeding into Austin, while in Portland I got none of that whatsoever for the week I was there(not to rag on Christians, it's just that the type I befriend are usually a bit more laid-back about their beliefs and not trying to convert me.) So in short, "relatively liberal" for me is different from actually being truly liberal on the whole, which I consider Portland to be a perfect example of--even NYC is really quite corporate if you take a look around, and the in-your-face ads they put up almost everywhere there is making it look like Blade Runner territory!

I hate extreme cold more than extreme heat, but I can definitely do without 90-degree heat for as long as it lasts in TX. Another important point is that there's hardly anywhere within a 500-mile radius from Austin that I'd want to visit, and I'm big on traveling to nearby places(when in NY I'd go to Boston/Philly for a break and it wasn't that far and there were insanely cheap buses that could take me there.) In Portland I'd be fairly close to San Fransisco, Seattle, Vancouver, as well as some smaller cities within Oregon/Washington I'm curious to see like Eugene and Olympia even.

Sorry, I tend to be a bit...verbose, is it? Basically I'm just not in *love* with Austin, per se. And yes, the job market thing is troubling, but I have never fallen in love with a city as quickly as Portland, possibly barring ultra-frigid Montreal(I was there October of last year, luckily, not a month later!)

Rob, thanks for the tip on that! I'll need to check that site out tonight.

John Shaft, I do realize there are cheaper places than Portland, but after paying $500/mo to live in a closet even across the water from NYC proper, these ads I see for that price or less for a studio to myself is so cheap to me that I want to laugh myself out of my chair. 8)

[Coastal_habitat]

Originally Posted by MycroftHolmes

... I think it's *OK* but it's missing a lot for me, and not just the general vibe about it that just sort of turns me off. The "for Texas that is" in your mention of it being relatively liberal is the key here--I still see plenty of the over-the-top Bible Belt qualities I associate with TX are somewhat bleeding into Austin, while in Portland I got none of that whatsoever for the week I was there(not to rag on Christians, it's just that the type I befriend are usually a bit more laid-back about their beliefs and not trying to convert me.) So in short, "relatively liberal" for me is different from actually being truly liberal on the whole, which I consider Portland to be a perfect example of--even NYC is really quite corporate if you take a look around, and the in-your-face ads they put up almost everywhere there is making it look like Blade Runner territory!

... I can definitely do without 90-degree heat for as long as it lasts in TX. Another important point is that there's hardly anywhere within a 500-mile radius from Austin that I'd want to visit, and I'm big on traveling to nearby places(when in NY I'd go to Boston/Philly for a break and it wasn't that far and there were insanely cheap buses that could take me there.) In Portland I'd be fairly close to San Fransisco, Seattle, Vancouver, as well as some smaller cities within Oregon/Washington I'm curious to see like Eugene and Olympia even.

He he. This could have been written by my husband. Word for word.

[MycroftHolmes]

Originally Posted by Coastal_habitat

He he. This could have been written by my husband. Word for word.

This just makes me feel even more certain of my decision. It's funny how like-minded I seem to be with people that know and want to move to the NW.

[subsound]

The job market is pretty fierce in that area, I would have a backup plan with the recent dump in case something happens. We interviewed some one for that position in our office and were getting 30 resumes a week. Most of it was junk but it was hard to wade through.

As for rent costs, I think it's really high. Moving from the midwest (Denver) I came from a 3 bedroom, central air, big open floor plan, washer/dryer, and energy efficient remodeled apartment.....to a 2 bedroom 1960's converted slab motel, no AC and barely heat, can barely fit our bed, and I need a spotter to get my car out assuming I'm not parked in. They are almost the same price, $1,100 a month in Denver to $1,000 a month in Portland.

[MycroftHolmes]

Originally Posted by subsound

As for rent costs, I think it's really high. Moving from the midwest (Denver) I came from a 3 bedroom, central air, big open floor plan, washer/dryer, and energy efficient remodeled apartment.....to a 2 bedroom 1960's converted slab motel, no AC and barely heat, can barely fit our bed, and I need a spotter to get my car out assuming I'm not parked in. They are almost the same price, $1,100 a month in Denver to $1,000 a month in Portland.

I can imagine maybe 3-bedroom apartments or houses may be expensive, but since I'm nowhere near looking for that much space at this point in life, for someone like me that just wants a studio and sees them regularly for $500 or less in Portland Craigslist or Apartments.com ads, Portland's prices are just hilarious to me after living with a roommate in--wait for it--a literally *1910s* room in Jersey City with no decent heat/AC and two or three wall outlets, and learning this costs $1250 a month on the fourth floor requiring a walk up a rickety staircase. The bathroom was so small you could barely walk in it, and the landlord "renovated" it by putting even cheaper stuff in it. I knew almost nobody that even *shared* an apartment for less than $600/mo up there unless they were in a very ghetto part of Brooklyn and when I lived in Manhattan I lived with four other roommates which managed to allow me to pay $300 for a tiny room in a very cold apartment. The job market there was a joke, though, so I rarely had the income to take advantage of even the price.

I could go on about what little anyone in the NYC area gets for the obscene money they pay, but you've probably heard a billion very accurate stand-up routines about it by now!

[subsound]

Originally Posted by MycroftHolmes

I can imagine maybe 3-bedroom apartments or houses may be expensive, but since I'm nowhere near looking for that much space at this point in life, for someone like me that just wants a studio and sees them regularly for $500 or less in Portland Craigslist or Apartments.com ads, Portland's prices are just hilarious to me after living with a roommate in--wait for it--a literally *1910s* room in Jersey City with no decent heat/AC and two or three wall outlets, and learning this costs $1250 a month on the fourth floor requiring a walk up a rickety staircase. The bathroom was so small you could barely walk in it, and the landlord "renovated" it by putting even cheaper stuff in it. I knew almost nobody that even *shared* an apartment for less than $600/mo up there unless they were in a very ghetto part of Brooklyn and when I lived in Manhattan I lived with four other roommates which managed to allow me to pay $300 for a tiny room in a very cold apartment. The job market there was a joke, though, so I rarely had the income to take advantage of even the price.

I could go on about what little anyone in the NYC area gets for the obscene money they pay, but you've probably heard a billion very accurate stand-up routines about it by now!

Well, out on the East Coast I do expect it to be more. I was offering my experience when I just moved out in May from what I left and came to in these two areas. Coming from a three bedroom with a ton of amenities to a two with none and almost no parking was a shock that they almost cost the same. Both are better then what a couple of our friends have in New Jersey, most certainly....except they do have AC.

Take into the account of price per bedroom, a one bedroom would be like $500 at that rate, matching what's desired....where as in Denver it would have been $366, a 37% increase. I consider 37% a pretty big hike in price myself.

[MycroftHolmes]

Originally Posted by subsound

Well, out on the East Coast I do expect it to be more. I was offering my experience when I just moved out in May from what I left and came to in these two areas. Coming from a three bedroom with a ton of amenities to a two with none and almost no parking was a shock that they almost cost the same. Both are better then what a couple of our friends have in New Jersey, most certainly....except they do have AC.

Take into the account of price per bedroom, a one bedroom would be like $500 at that rate, matching what's desired....where as in Denver it would have been $366, a 37% increase. I consider 37% a pretty big hike in price myself.

Yeah, I totally agree with that. I guess I really just mean to say that for a fairly big city with lots to do, I consider Portland to have relatively cheap rent. I know next to nothing about Denver but I'm kind of surprised it's that cheap--though I just found out in the past 24 hours it has barely more people than Portland.

[Lilly12103]

It took my husband 1 month exactly to find a job ($50K, he has a "pointless history degree"). He got two offers in the same week. All possible employers knew he was new to Portland. Bottom line, if you are a competitive hire, you will have no problem finding a job in a competitive market. If you have a bad resume, poor interviewing skills, and lack the experience or education to get a good job... well... whether it's New York or Portland you may be out of luck.

[MycroftHolmes]

Originally Posted by Lilly12103

It took my husband 1 month exactly to find a job ($50K, he has a "pointless history degree"). He got two offers in the same week. All possible employers knew he was new to Portland. Bottom line, if you are a competitive hire, you will have no problem finding a job in a competitive market. If you have a bad resume, poor interviewing skills, and lack the experience or education to get a good job... well... whether it's New York or Portland you may be out of luck.

Yeah, and I don't think I look too bad in those respects as a potential employee, but I spent my final four months in NY looking for work after racking up eighteen months of QA experience and still couldn't find anything, so after that I decided I'd definitely had enough. I think that city is just ridiculously difficult considering how many people I knew that had a decent resume and went six months without work at times. The point of me saving up in TX is so I'll have a safety net in case it takes very long to find work, but in light of the crash I'm being even more cautious and probably will have to wait until things don't look so bleak for Portland's market. $5k is a decent amount of money, but I really can't risk being forced to move back here again.

Of course, I've found that interview skills are very subjective to employers--something really simple will get you hired at one place where at another it'll do you no good at all.

[Lilly12103]

I was just trying to give you some support, people saying it is imposible to find a job, nobody is hiring, the economy here is so terrible, yadda yadda... It is possible to find a job, and people are hiring, so I wish you the best of luck!