Aussie moving abroad to OR perhaps? :) (Portland, Gresham: apartment, for rent, crime)

[D&J]

Hi all,
I'm new to the OR forum as I was initially looking at moving to Boston, MA (but that turned out to be out of the budget) and then Charlotte, NC (but that turned out to be not that great regarding job prospects) and now I am looking at Portland b/c a friend of mine lives there but we lost contact with one another due to email changes. She always had great things to say about Portland and so far from what I have read, it looks like a potential place to start off my new life.

I'm from Australia and my fiance lives in the Quad Cities in IL and our visa has almost gone through the last stage before final approval so it's getting to crunch time on where to live.
She is adamant about moving and we were originally looking at Boston but I've done some cost of living comparisons and it isn't exactly looking ideal - at least not for a couple of years yet. Then Charlotte was the next target on the list, but we have now scratched that.

My main concerns are job prospects, cost of living and location. I'm from Sydney and have lived on the coast all my life so I would prefer to be living relatively close to the coast.
I have a few questions re. Portland that I tried to research out but didn't quite get the answers too:
1. How does everyone feel about the climate? I understand that rain/overcast skies/less sun than clouds on average are the main weather conditions, which doesn't bother me that much, but does it get humid also? What does everyone do if it's raining all the time?

2. Where would be an ideal location to rent a decent 2 bedroom apartment?
Which suburbs that are close to the city have the best quality of life regarding crime rate, renting costs, etc? I'm looking so far at areas around Beaverton but am not too familiar with the different suburbs in relation to distance from the city. I'm after somewhere close to public transport but will also have a car by the time I move.

3. What's the entertainment/media industry like in Portland? I'm aiming on getting voice over/voice acting work once my green card has gone through and I am allowed to work, but I'm having difficulties finding the right info to help me with regards work in this paricular field. My fiance works in the makeup industry so she is fine for work basically anywhere - I'm just a bit more concerned for myself

If anyone would care to take the time to offer some advice and/or feedback it would be GREATLY appreciated! It's kind of hard doing it from another country when you don't know where to look.
These forums are fantastic though and have a been a great source of information. Any other website links would be more than wecome!

Many thanks in advance and greetings from Down Under!
Drew

[artichoke63]

Drew,

Do you know what kind of voice over work you can do in Portland? And make-up work? Is that something you can get a job in around Portland?

I'm sure you've already looked into it, but different cities are going to pay differently for those jobs.

I think you'll adapt fine to the weather wherever you go. Also, have you considered Austin Texas? It's affordable and might have more job opps in your field. Either that, or take the fiance back to Sydney! I lived in Australia a year in Perth and it's a great country.

Artie

[D&J]

Originally Posted by artichoke63

Drew,

Do you know what kind of voice over work you can do in Portland? And make-up work? Is that something you can get a job in around Portland?

I'm sure you've already looked into it, but different cities are going to pay differently for those jobs.

I think you'll adapt fine to the weather wherever you go. Also, have you considered Austin Texas? It's affordable and might have more job opps in your field. Either that, or take the fiance back to Sydney! I lived in Australia a year in Perth and it's a great country.

Artie

Voice over work ie. cartoons/commercials/advertising for either radio/TV etc - something along those kind of lines. I have a contact with a production company that is a client of my fiances and she has me lined up to get started but I am working on getting a short list together of production companies in and around the Portland area. My work history lies within retail sales, personal & team assistant, the telecommunications industry and the travel industry so if need be I can easily fall back on something else until I get something in VO work.
My fiance is a makeup artist so she can either go freelance for weddings or whatever or she can do retail makeup artistry in somewhere like Nordstroms so she isn't fussed where it is exactly.
I was living with friends in Houston, TX and the heat and humidity were a huge factor in not choosing TX in general - it didn't have much appeal to be honest
And yes... the million dollar question that everyone asks is why I am going to the US and not staying here haha
In all honesty, it was her decision (aint it always!)
I lived in the US/Canada for a year so it's not as much of a transition for me and I love it over there. After 5 or so years though once we have kids, I'll move everyone back here, most likely somewhere in Queensland or Perth b/c while I absolutely LOVE the States, the quality of life eg. free/cheaper healthcare, is definitely better here once kids are in the picture.
But moving back here is easy :P Moving there without knowing anything - that's the difficult part....

[D&J]

Is anyone else able to give me some input please?
I'm running blind here by not having access to fly to OR to check things out what with about 9,000 miles of ocean

[OREGONRAIN]

I can't answer about the voice over work or the media type info, I know nothing about it. As far as apts, I am always looking myself, a 2 bed near transit, well if its the light rail you are after, you will need to look in Beaverton, Hillsboro, and perhaps the gresham station area of Gresham, that is 13 miles from downtown Portland, there are a number of Apts there, shops and some restaurants, and u can walk to the train station easily. Rents somewhere in the area of $785 to 1000 for 2 beds in desirable areas out of downtown anyway. Weather, it is warm and sunny from I would say late june until very early Sept. after that the weather deteriorates quickly, clouds and then rains and winds and cool to cold weather off and on, alot of cloudy days to say the least. There was a story in the newspaper about a guy from australia that works for the cable tv in Portland, he is married to a american woman. He has been here a few years the story said, and he likes Oregon, but the weather was not appealing to him here, he did mention, he had difficulty with it, but this is home to his wife and he stays here. Do what your heart tells you to do, I wish I had some info on the employment areas u mentioned, but I have none, and wish someone had been able to give you the info you needed on that subject. Good Luck.

[D&J]

Originally Posted by OREGONRAIN

I can't answer about the voice over work or the media type info, I know nothing about it. As far as apts, I am always looking myself, a 2 bed near transit, well if its the light rail you are after, you will need to look in Beaverton, Hillsboro, and perhaps the gresham station area of Gresham, that is 13 miles from downtown Portland, there are a number of Apts there, shops and some restaurants, and u can walk to the train station easily. Rents somewhere in the area of $785 to 1000 for 2 beds in desirable areas out of downtown anyway. Weather, it is warm and sunny from I would say late june until very early Sept. after that the weather deteriorates quickly, clouds and then rains and winds and cool to cold weather off and on, alot of cloudy days to say the least. There was a story in the newspaper about a guy from australia that works for the cable tv in Portland, he is married to a american woman. He has been here a few years the story said, and he likes Oregon, but the weather was not appealing to him here, he did mention, he had difficulty with it, but this is home to his wife and he stays here. Do what your heart tells you to do, I wish I had some info on the employment areas u mentioned, but I have none, and wish someone had been able to give you the info you needed on that subject. Good Luck.

Hi there!
Thank you so much for your informative feedback.
I'll take it all on board and check out those areas for renting in. I'm working on some more 'Google-research' on the v/over work, but thanks again for giving me some further knowledge into the area and where to look.