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Old 03-10-2007, 08:39 PM
 
17 posts, read 358,634 times
Reputation: 59

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I've been living in Portland for the past 2.5 years, and the gloomy weather is starting to get to my wife and I. We love the summers and autumn, but so much rain in the meantime.
Any PDX transplants here? Can anyone make some comparisons between the 2 cities?
I have friends that live in West Sac, and they love the weather, activites, and proximity to so many places.
We would be looking for a house in the $450-$500K range. Any suggestions on cities/neighboorhoods?

Thanks in advance!
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Old 03-11-2007, 12:07 PM
 
Location: Northwest
8 posts, read 24,036 times
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I lived in the Sacramento area for about 6 years but moved back to Portland about a year ago. Both are river cities, between mountains and coast, similar size, but very different culturally. For some reason I never integrated well in Sacramento, although that could partially have been attributed to my work environment. Easier access to coast here in Pdx; in Sac one had to drive through and around Bay area and it took forever! Climate not that different in winter - Sac gets fog and its gray days as well, but does not last nearly as long. Many days with beautiful blue skies, delta breeze at night, but I missed seasonal change and tired of the summer heat. It seemed there was no spring or fall and not enough green! It's also flatter and less scenic. Sac does not have the thriving downtown that Pdx does but that is changing. Also, people here are into books, nature, coffee/urban culture and are more contemplative; Sac is more "suburban" in attitude. More racially diverse in Sac and probably not as clannish as Portland can be sometimes. I thought it odd that West Sac never developed, especially being closer to SF -but that it changing rapidly with much development going on there and close to downtown. You can definitely find a house in your price range there, though you get less house for your money out in Folsom/Rocklin/Granite Bay/Roseville and prices have dropped drastically over the past year or so after soaring for a few years. Portland housing used to be much less, but now probably comparable. I lived in Folsom and liked that area much better than Sac - walking trails integrated into developments with wildlife and nature preserves right at your doorstep, friendly people and kid friendly, more scenic with some hills. Developers throughout Sac I believe are incorporating nature areas with housing so you might find this in parts of West Sac as well. Nice biking on the trails. West Sac has baseball stadium. Another place with proximity to downtown is Natomas, further north close to the airport, much development going on there. Many people commute to Elk Grove which I did not particularly care for. Both those places seemed rather bland. There are several very nice older neighborhoods with character in Sac, but need to keep close eye on schools if you have kids which can be a negative. Overall Sac can be a pleasant but somewhat sterile place to live, and the summers can be so hot people stay indoors with their air conditioners on, can tolerate outside only in the AM - many people have pools. No snow in winter except nearby mountains. People tend to go out of town for recreation; Tahoe/Reno/SF/beach/wine country. On the other hand Pdx is colder in winter, longer rainy season and winter, and dreary for days on end which is depressing for sun worshippers who usually end up heading for Arizona...But I love Portland, it's beauty and unique Northwest flavor and couldn't wait to get home!
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Old 03-11-2007, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Happiness is found inside your smile :)
3,176 posts, read 14,663,398 times
Reputation: 1313
Default Sac to Seattle

I lived in Sac for about 10 years (from age 21 to 31)

I moved to Seattle 3 years ago

WHAT A MISTAKE

Now, granted I've noticed I like Portland better then Seattle - and we've discussed moving there - but truly I just want to go back to Sac.

Sac, Portland/Seattle are UBER different, so expect an enormous culture shock and weather shock. It gets D@MN hot in Sac no matter what part you are in. But I love the heat - so you can see why I do not like the PNW.

You guys might prefer Davis to West Sac, it's got a more Portland feel to it.

Do you have children? That also would determine what area to live - because I'd say the mojority of Sac has crappy schools. I moved so my son could go to a better school.

You might want to look around Land Park, Midtown or East Sac - for your price range and ecelctic vibe...more hip in those areas.
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Old 03-11-2007, 03:30 PM
 
17 posts, read 358,634 times
Reputation: 59
Thanks for the great replies.
My wife and I grew up in Southern Oregon (Medford), so we're used to the hot summers and foggy/damp winters.
We do not have kids now, but will in the next year or so...

We enjoy a lot of the things Portland has to offer, but I think it's more of a city we would like to visit.
Currently we live in the hills of NW Portland, and have also lived in Orenco Station (Hillsboro/Beaverton area). Since we're pretty close to downtown, 23rd, and the Pearl we find ourselves venturing dwon there quite often. I like the vibe of downtown, but a lot of the people in the trendier parts of town get on our nerves. We joke around that we are "downtown suburb people", if that makes any sense. lol

How would you guys compare the traffic in PDX & Sac?

Thanks Again!
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Old 03-11-2007, 03:39 PM
 
Location: Happiness is found inside your smile :)
3,176 posts, read 14,663,398 times
Reputation: 1313
Well traffic is interesting

Postand has all that water around it (Like Seattle), and so your freeway gett all clogged up

So Does Sac - but mostly because of sprawl. If you are inner city (not ghetto areas though) you'll be fine because you are going against the sprawl, but if you go live in the yuppie areas like Roseville or Folsom/Eldorado Hills...then you are screwed (yet during college I was a flower delivery drivr, cool summer job, and I learned to get around and through Sac without the use of freeways.) So I never had a traffic problem in Sac

Seattle all different crazy traffic issue - and I don't know about Portland, but here in Seattle once a big rain comes it's like people forget how to drive and it's like no one will go over 45 mph - crazy PNW

If you want "Suburban Downtown" - you will want to look at, East Sac, McKinley Park, Land Park, River Park (over by CSUS) and maybe even American River Park, all have the good schools by them (or as good as Sac District can get)

But Also Davis is the Yuppie Eco-Friendly area...and the schools rock
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Old 03-17-2007, 01:18 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
832 posts, read 3,843,306 times
Reputation: 217
Hi Realtor Spammer
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Old 03-24-2007, 01:00 PM
 
2,003 posts, read 2,857,027 times
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I am a Portland native (presently in Lake Oswego) and plan to get the heck outta here in October. I've been researching for months, and Sacramento is one of the three finalists in my relocation project (Reno and Albuquerque are the other two).

My SAD has made living here intolerable. The grayness goes on and on for months on end. I lived in Austin TX for six years and my winter depression went away completely. I compared the cloud cover statistics for Sacramento and Austin and they are quite identical in winter (the only two months which are 50% clouded over are December and January), so I should be fine there. PDX and SAC are almost exactly the same population metro-area-wise, so I would find it comfortable in that regard.

Other than the weather and the size of the city, I'm totally done with Portland - I don't like what it's become economically, politically and socially, so I'm definitely not staying.

I'll be visiting SAC for a week at the end of June to get a feel for the lay of the land.
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Old 03-24-2007, 07:37 PM
 
Location: West Linn, OR
216 posts, read 907,989 times
Reputation: 86
I hope you like the heat. I lived there for 5 years and the heat in the summer can be brutal. Especially if you compare the Portland summers to Sac. Yikes! But then again, it might be a nice change for you. Good luck.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rah62 View Post
I am a Portland native (presently in Lake Oswego) and plan to get the heck outta here in October. I've been researching for months, and Sacramento is one of the three finalists in my relocation project (Reno and Albuquerque are the other two).

My SAD has made living here intolerable. The grayness goes on and on for months on end. I lived in Austin TX for six years and my winter depression went away completely. I compared the cloud cover statistics for Sacramento and Austin and they are quite identical in winter (the only two months which are 50% clouded over are December and January), so I should be fine there. PDX and SAC are almost exactly the same population metro-area-wise, so I would find it comfortable in that regard.

Other than the weather and the size of the city, I'm totally done with Portland - I don't like what it's become economically, politically and socially, so I'm definitely not staying.

I'll be visiting SAC for a week at the end of June to get a feel for the lay of the land.
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Old 03-31-2007, 12:46 PM
 
942 posts, read 1,382,027 times
Reputation: 224
I too have had Sacramento on my list of places also. I live in Gresham, and I also have my reasons for wanting to leave Oregon, most are similiar to what has already been listed. I however would miss one thing about the area, I have gotten very used to all the transit options we have hear. Does anyone know who Sacramento rates on transit. I know they also have light rail, how extensive is it compared to Portlands I am not concerned about the heat, I enjoy that, the month after month of gray rain and the wind here, has me checking out this year.
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Old 03-31-2007, 01:34 PM
 
5 posts, read 81,104 times
Reputation: 26
Default Why not Bend?

If gloomy weather is one of the main things making you want to leave Oregon have you considered Bend and the Central Oregon area? I'm originally from Southern California and have lived all over including Central Coast and the Bay area.... and as far as real estate prices, quality of life, great weather and things to do I'm in love with Bend. I like going back to Cali to visit but I don't think I'll ever liver there again.
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