need help in deciding - Portland or Seattle (Eugene, Green: renting, crime)

[stndrd]

Hi,

I have the opportunity to move to either Portland or Seattle with a good, full-time job (same pay). I'm at loss as to which one to choose, so I was hoping I could tell you about my family and I, then maybe some of you could make suggestions...??


I'm married w/3 kids, I'm 31 - my wife is 29 and the kids are 5, 7 & 10.
We are all from West Michigan but moved to New Zealand for 2.5 years, then Melbourne, AU for .5 years and I'm currently in Norway, working.
I work in higher-level IT engineering. My wife is a stay at home Mom.
We love the outdoors and like to see mountains, water (lakes, river & sea) without having to drive for a long time - hiking, swimming and camping are well loved by us. We are laid back, left-leaning politically (but not too left). I'm career oriented but only as a second to living a full-filling life.
We would like to be able to drive off on the weekend and find beautiful landscapes without many people around (I do realize that I may have to drive far for this...)
We love live music, mainly rock, indie and heavy types...
Love beer (and not the beer flavored water called bud ;-)
Love pubs and good food (mainly Indian, Thai & Asian)
Needs to be a great place to raise kids, a city that has a lot of parental involvement in the schools (this is more on a neighborhood level, I know..)
We like diversity in: people’s heritage, mindsets of people, food, beer & outdoor activities
We will be renting with a budget at around 2k a month
We like to either live right in the middle of it all or live in a place with not many neighbors but has abundant nature around.
Public transport needs to be solid, doesn't have to be rail - but alas, after living in Melbourne the trams are much nicer than the busses...
We plan to live there a long time, if not for good..

From what I've read we would like either place, but if anyone can point out they one may be more appropriate than the other we would greatly appreciate it!!


Cheers,
Brian & April


I've posted this in the Seattle forum as well..

[Missing the East-ness]

Seattle is a full sized large city. I have only visited, but wasn't super impressed.

I have lived in PDX for almost 5yrs a love it. Pub Transit is lightrail and bus and will take you pretty much anywhere. Living close in is so easy and affordable. See my LOOONG description in "possible relocation to Portland".

As far as schools- I know there is a "Trillium" school in N Portland on Interstate that requires volunteer hours from parents.

The ocean is an 1 1/2 hrs away, mtns 1 - 1 1/2 hrs away, and PLENTY of easy access nature stuff to get to.

[trixie09]

I concur with Missing the East-ness on that. I have lived in the Seattle area for 7 years. I am in a picturesque town south of the City. Seattle feels like a loosely-knit collection of areas, with much disparity between them. There are nice people, as there are everywhere. The biggest activities in my area seem to be skiing, boating, and vacationing to Mexico. All worthwhile activities, but not really my thing. Seattle has a city vibe, and you really feel quite anonymous as you move around. There are some cool neighborhoods around Seattle, like Greenlake, Madison, and Ballard, but they are getting having a recent issue with crime (which is the same for any big city, but unusual for those areas.)

Things that are positive about Seattle. It's very pretty! The Pacific Northwest is so gorgeous. The City is fun, but is more of a place I'd like to visit and not live directly in or close to -- it has a cold vibe. Hard to describe.

My husband is getting transferred to Portland, and we're thrilled about it. We have family and friends there and they love it. And a few of those people are ones that have moved around the Country a lot, and are hard to please (just don't tell them I said that.)

The things you mention as important to you are very prevalent in the Portland area, and because you'll be taking a job with you, and have the choice of the two, I'd vote for Portland in a heartbeat -- without knowing you personally and just going by what is important to you.

The things that I know from my people in Portland, is that it's more friendly than Seattle (or just easier to meet people.) Also, you can live right in the City of Portland, but still be in a charming neighborhood where you'll meet your neighbors and have places to walk and play.

One of the things you mentioned that struck me was being able to get to the "sea." Portland wins that hands-down. Though the Puget Sound in Seattle can be considered a sea of sorts, it's not the same. Sadly much of the Sound is privately owned and inaccessible, except at a few parks. And it's not the living and dynamic ocean that most of us love. The beaches in Washington State are at least 2 hours away, and require a ferry ride out of the City first. There is just no comparison to the beaches of Oregon, which is also known as the "People's Coast" because the State had the foresight to keep most of the beaches in the State as parks. And the Oregon coast is imho, the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Portland has close proximity to farmland, farmer's markets, and rivers, and lakes.

those are just my observations, I hope that helps! Good luck!

[Zachj7]

Seattle is a big city
Portland is a big town... well sorta...

I would say Seattle, but Portland is also beautiful. Where in west Michigan did you live? It is pretty rural out there, so would you be okay living in a large city? Seattle is certainly larger and has more of a downtown scene, however Portland is also a nice size. Personally, I think Seattle is more beautiful but Portland also is beautiful. Portland has a large river flowing through it, VERY LARGE. There is more water surrounding Seattle...

Portland has good public transportation incuding a comprehensive light rail system. Seattle is trying to get their act together with a good light rail system.

Personally I grew up about 15 miles east of San Francisco, and have recently moved to Eugene OR for school. I cant stand being in a place where the major city is like 200,000 people. I learned that I need to be near a very large city. Portland sort of cuts it for me, but Seattle is much larger. It would fit my needs better. SF bay has great food, so I have been missing that. I too like Asian food, and both Portland and Seattle have good food.

Meh, I have no idea where I am going with this post. Portland just feels like a big town to me. In Seattle, you have Tacoma and Bellevue (cities of their own) very close. The outdoor nature is closer to Portland than Seattle. I find Seattle more beautiful as a city, but one is closer to nature in Portland.

All in all, I would pick Seattle over Portland, but I could see myself living in both. I NEED a big city.

[rhodan653]

Portland is extremely left-wing, polictically. If you are a moderate democrat the political environment may or may not annoy you. An example is that while the state budget deficit is at an all time high, Portland wants to spend another $600 million on bike paths. Bike paths are great but schools are suffering along with lots of other areas that to me are more important than bike paths. Anway, don't want to start a rant on that, just give you a flavor. Also, the weather is more extreme in Seattle. They get even more rain and grey skies than Portland and that may or may not make a big difference to you. Portland is a quaint small city and Seattle is it's urban big brother with more rain and less far left political leanings. Seattle has pro baseball, football and basketball. Portland just has pro basketball. Good luck, both have absolutely spectacular scenery and outdoor activities.

[bledsoe3]

Seattle does not have pro basketball anymore.

[Aylalou]

Originally Posted by trixie09

I concur with Missing the East-ness on that. I have lived in the Seattle area for 7 years. I am in a picturesque town south of the City. Seattle feels like a loosely-knit collection of areas, with much disparity between them. There are nice people, as there are everywhere. The biggest activities in my area seem to be skiing, boating, and vacationing to Mexico. All worthwhile activities, but not really my thing. Seattle has a city vibe, and you really feel quite anonymous as you move around. There are some cool neighborhoods around Seattle, like Greenlake, Madison, and Ballard, but they are getting having a recent issue with crime (which is the same for any big city, but unusual for those areas.)

Things that are positive about Seattle. It's very pretty! The Pacific Northwest is so gorgeous. The City is fun, but is more of a place I'd like to visit and not live directly in or close to -- it has a cold vibe. Hard to describe.

My husband is getting transferred to Portland, and we're thrilled about it. We have family and friends there and they love it. And a few of those people are ones that have moved around the Country a lot, and are hard to please (just don't tell them I said that.)

The things you mention as important to you are very prevalent in the Portland area, and because you'll be taking a job with you, and have the choice of the two, I'd vote for Portland in a heartbeat -- without knowing you personally and just going by what is important to you.

The things that I know from my people in Portland, is that it's more friendly than Seattle (or just easier to meet people.) Also, you can live right in the City of Portland, but still be in a charming neighborhood where you'll meet your neighbors and have places to walk and play.

One of the things you mentioned that struck me was being able to get to the "sea." Portland wins that hands-down. Though the Puget Sound in Seattle can be considered a sea of sorts, it's not the same. Sadly much of the Sound is privately owned and inaccessible, except at a few parks. And it's not the living and dynamic ocean that most of us love. The beaches in Washington State are at least 2 hours away, and require a ferry ride out of the City first. There is just no comparison to the beaches of Oregon, which is also known as the "People's Coast" because the State had the foresight to keep most of the beaches in the State as parks. And the Oregon coast is imho, the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Portland has close proximity to farmland, farmer's markets, and rivers, and lakes.

those are just my observations, I hope that helps! Good luck!

For many of the reasons trixie cited, I chose Portland over Seattle. Both places are beautiful but there is an added (livelier) vibe in Portland that I don't get in Seattle. Portland is very child-friendly, public transportation is excellent when you don't feel like driving. The neighborhoods are versatile, each lending an individual atmosphere. I don't know the state of the public schools. This should be researched. Portland has had (if not still) budgetary problems in the past.

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by Zachj7

It is pretty rural out there, so would you be okay living in a large city?

I grew up in a small town around 2k people, and reallllllllllllllly want to live in a big city

as soon as I graduate high school

[stndrd]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been wanting to move to Portland for a couple of years now and since this job came up for both locations I started to look into Seattle in more depth. Both seem fantastic, however my initial want for Portland is holding strong and I'm likely to choose Portland... However, I'm not signed in to either spot yet so I'll continue researching for now.


Thanks,
Brian

[stndrd]

Originally Posted by Zachj7

Seattle is a big city
Where in west Michigan did you live? It is pretty rural out there, so would you be okay living in a large city?

We're from the Muskegon area, which doesn't have a large city at all. However, we've lived in Melbourne, Australia which is larger than Seattle - so, yes we'd be alright with a large city.


Cheers,