I'm thinking of looking for a job in Portland, Oregon. What do you guys think? Improvement over WI?
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Portland, OR
- Thread starter Greencardman
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I love Portland, have visited several times. I'd choose it over WI, personally. Don't know the local economy but the general consensus seems to be that it is growing strongly.
Chuckling over that IM log since I drove through Portland once on the way to Seattle around 6.30pm. We wanted a coffee so we looked for a local Starbucks (one of those in the car was collecting mugs).
Every one we passed closed at either 6pm or 7pm (sadly we found those ones after 7) in the downtown area. The place was like a ghost town so we stopped at a gas station, grabbed a coke and high tailed it towards Seattle.
Every one we passed closed at either 6pm or 7pm (sadly we found those ones after 7) in the downtown area. The place was like a ghost town so we stopped at a gas station, grabbed a coke and high tailed it towards Seattle.
Portland is a good city. I have been there several times and its a nice place. I would choose Seattle first though.
Seattle is amazing, but Portland is great too. It's a very beautiful city and if you know where you're going, it's fairly friendly for late night people (well, atleast on west coast terms, don't expect Boston/NYC 24/7 service). I'd strongly reccomend spending some time out there in everybody's life.
Ben
Ben
Whats up with the forest bit? And the nothing to do part? Isn't the reason one moves to Portland is to do stuff outdoors? Ha, maybe because I grew up on a savannah plateau I feel the need to overcompensate later in life 
Anyways, I was also thinking about Seattle. But according to the Wikipedia, my fair and balanced fact source, though it actually gets less rain than Portland, it gets about 40 more days of rain a year. Or something like that. Anyways, I don't need that many clouds is my point.
Anyone on the BB actually live there?
Anyways, I was also thinking about Seattle. But according to the Wikipedia, my fair and balanced fact source, though it actually gets less rain than Portland, it gets about 40 more days of rain a year. Or something like that. Anyways, I don't need that many clouds is my point.
Anyone on the BB actually live there?
Portland's great! I drove there to get my G5!
Seriously though, Portland's a beautiful city. If you like the outdoors then it's a great place to be. There is definitely a Night Life for those that wish for one, but it also offers more of a family setting as well. The West Coast is a great place to be, I wouldn't give it up for any price.
And speaking of price, there's no sales tax in Oregon. I saved 200 bucks on my G5 by taking that little roadtrip!
Seriously though, Portland's a beautiful city. If you like the outdoors then it's a great place to be. There is definitely a Night Life for those that wish for one, but it also offers more of a family setting as well. The West Coast is a great place to be, I wouldn't give it up for any price.
And speaking of price, there's no sales tax in Oregon. I saved 200 bucks on my G5 by taking that little roadtrip!
Portland or Seattle
I've lived in both. Currently I'm in the Seattle area. Like most things, it depends on what you're looking for, how old you are, etc.
In my opinion, Portland is the superior city. The one thing no one seems to mention is its amazing public transit. Light rail covers most of the major suburbs and runs to the airport. It's also free in the downtown core, which includes the street cars and buses as well as the light rail. Weather wise, it's a bit warmer than Seattle. It rains less, but they occasionally get winter ice storms when the wind whips through the Columbia River Gorge. Portland also has a great, understated night life, excellent restaurants and of course lots of outdoor activities in the city and close by. Someone else mentioned Oregon's lack of a sales tax. They make up for it with an income tax of approximately 9%.
Seattle has the nightlife, restaurants, and outdoor activities but it's more expensive. The public transit sucks. It rains a fair amount, but that's deceptive too. Most rain is of the light variety. Florida gets more rain than the Northwest. Washington has no state income tax, but an 8.25% sales tax.
If you're tired of Wisconsin you could choose either and probably enjoy it. Take the job in Portland, live across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA and have the tax benefits of both.
I've lived in both. Currently I'm in the Seattle area. Like most things, it depends on what you're looking for, how old you are, etc.
In my opinion, Portland is the superior city. The one thing no one seems to mention is its amazing public transit. Light rail covers most of the major suburbs and runs to the airport. It's also free in the downtown core, which includes the street cars and buses as well as the light rail. Weather wise, it's a bit warmer than Seattle. It rains less, but they occasionally get winter ice storms when the wind whips through the Columbia River Gorge. Portland also has a great, understated night life, excellent restaurants and of course lots of outdoor activities in the city and close by. Someone else mentioned Oregon's lack of a sales tax. They make up for it with an income tax of approximately 9%.
Seattle has the nightlife, restaurants, and outdoor activities but it's more expensive. The public transit sucks. It rains a fair amount, but that's deceptive too. Most rain is of the light variety. Florida gets more rain than the Northwest. Washington has no state income tax, but an 8.25% sales tax.
If you're tired of Wisconsin you could choose either and probably enjoy it. Take the job in Portland, live across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA and have the tax benefits of both.
Drove through Oregon once, stayed there one night. Doesn't seem like anybody does anything. (don't mean to offend anyone)
Someone else (not me) said it was that way because all the hippies packed up and moved to Oregon.
edit: and it's illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon - very weird!
but no sales tax!
Someone else (not me) said it was that way because all the hippies packed up and moved to Oregon.
edit: and it's illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon - very weird!
but no sales tax!
Well, to try and bridge a gap here - I have lived in Madison and Portland. I just recently left the latter to move (back) to Austin.
To save on space, if you have any specific questions (OP), feel free to PM me.
I will say that Oregon was hit pretty hard (if not the hardest) by the recession and it was hard for me to get a job at first. Several years later, however, the situation has improved somewhat - it really depends on your line of work.
Also, Portland did rank dead-last in cities of it's size as a place to be a single guy - so a good woman may be harder to find than a good job. I found that to be (mostly) true.
As I said above, I don't know enough about your situation to comment - post to this thread or PM and I will try to respond.
To save on space, if you have any specific questions (OP), feel free to PM me.
I will say that Oregon was hit pretty hard (if not the hardest) by the recession and it was hard for me to get a job at first. Several years later, however, the situation has improved somewhat - it really depends on your line of work.
Also, Portland did rank dead-last in cities of it's size as a place to be a single guy - so a good woman may be harder to find than a good job. I found that to be (mostly) true.
As I said above, I don't know enough about your situation to comment - post to this thread or PM and I will try to respond.
BearRanger said:I've lived in both. Currently I'm in the Seattle area. Like most things, it depends on what you're looking for, how old you are, etc.
In my opinion, Portland is the superior city. The one thing no one seems to mention is its amazing public transit. Light rail covers most of the major suburbs and runs to the airport. It's also free in the downtown core, which includes the street cars and buses as well as the light rail. Weather wise, it's a bit warmer than Seattle. It rains less, but they occasionally get winter ice storms when the wind whips through the Columbia River Gorge. Portland also has a great, understated night life, excellent restaurants and of course lots of outdoor activities in the city and close by. Someone else mentioned Oregon's lack of a sales tax. They make up for it with an income tax of approximately 9%.
Seattle has the nightlife, restaurants, and outdoor activities but it's more expensive. The public transit sucks. It rains a fair amount, but that's deceptive too. Most rain is of the light variety. Florida gets more rain than the Northwest. Washington has no state income tax, but an 8.25% sales tax.
If you're tired of Wisconsin you could choose either and probably enjoy it. Take the job in Portland, live across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA and have the tax benefits of both.
It is amazing how many people from my area (Bellevue/Redmond) drove to Oregon during the holiday season to buy presents. Whatever works.
Yes it does rain here more but that what makes the Northwest beautiful. You get used to the rain pretty quick. And yes traffic in the Seattle area is terrible. If they don't do something about it soon, we are all in a lot of trouble.
Go see Dead Moon live - incredible, the original. SubPop would never have existed were it not for their genius.
I'm looking for a job to start next winter, and I'm basically looking at San Francisco and Portland. From a job market perspective (for me in the semiconductor research industry), San Francisco is better. From a housing cost perspective, Portland is better. It will be a difficult choice, I think, since both places have quite a bit to offer. I think that Portland's quality of life (less traffic, closer access to open spaces) will likely win out.
mac_head101 said:An IM with w_parietti22:
I'd still like to see it.
Haha.... did I say that??? Well its kinda out of context. I was talking West Coast and If you could go anywhere on the West Coast I would say Seattle or LA.
I would go to Seattle personally. Portland is kinda boring. Seattle is much much more fun. Yes, Portland does have a good public transit system... we're working on ours. And yes, Portland gets similar amounts of rain to us... but its a lot hotter in the summer. When Portland gets 105-110, we have like 95. Much more bearable. Seattle is a lot more prettier and than Portland in my opinion.
cycocelica said:
HA! As somebody who grew up in Boston and then moved to Seattle/Tacoma, one of the best points was how little traffic there is. Ya'll don't know how bad it can br...or how good you have it.
Ben
Portland kicks ass. Oregon as a state sucks, because as said before, it is all forest and desert. The biggest employers in the state are Nike (HQ's right outside of Portland, in Beaverton, my dad works there), and Intel. Might want to check them out if you have any skills concerning what they do. Portland is a great city, small, to be sure, but not a tiny backwater. Very liberal. If you are a conservative, move...somewhere else.
What kind of work would you look for out that way? Nike has its office there.
Edit... more specifically, its HQ is in Beaverton, OR just outside of Portland. I mention it because I got a lot of recruiters asking me about working on some software apps for Nike when I was looking for a job about two years ago.
Edit... more specifically, its HQ is in Beaverton, OR just outside of Portland. I mention it because I got a lot of recruiters asking me about working on some software apps for Nike when I was looking for a job about two years ago.
Took the Greyhound from SF to Seattle once. Got screwed on my first leg (SF to Sacramento), so instead of the 12 hour express, i got on the 24 hour local. Portland and the rest of OR was kind of like....like...Swiss cheese. Nothing really amazing, nothing really offensive about it. WA was very different. Tacoma was rotted American (does plastic rot?) while Seattle was a nice bit of cheez whiz (mmm.....pat's "cheese wit"....mmmmm...so hungry).
I'd be looking for an attorney job at a small/medium law firm. So its not high tech, but something every place has. We'll see how it goes.
saabmp3 said:
No I have seen bad traffic. Lived in LA, been to NYC/Newark plenty of times. Traffic is pretty damn bad and it is in no way getting better. Yes not as bad as some places, but still pretty effing bad. And the people bitch and bitch but when it comes time to vote for better roads or raise our tab taxes people reject it and then they bitch more. The one thing I hate about seattle: traffic and the bitching and doing nothing about it.
cycocelica said:
Well I'm with you on the last part. I'm anxious to see what they a) do with the alaskan way via duct, b) how they handle a HOV lane all they way down to olympia (as a Tacoma lover, I want to see it span between all three "major" cities of washington) and c) some kind of commuter rail with a USEFUL schedule atleast down to tacoma. The current one is useless for me because it's basically a 9 to 5 only deal.
As I lived through Boston and the big dig (where I lived through some of the worst traffic ever...think hours/mile, not mph....I'm 100% serious there), I would hate to see the via duct go underground. Anyways, if you clean it up a little, I like how it cuts through the city and unlike the centeral artery, it doesn't "aleniate" the coast from the rest of the city.
I guess that bring up my biggest complaint with Seattle; the politics. As we just saw with the keyarean (which, IMO, needs a facelift as much as I hate basketball), nobody can make up their **** mind in time to do anything effective, especially when going between the governor and the mayor of Seattle.
Oh well, back the orginal point....move there!
Hooray Portland
Portland has more breweries per capita than any other city in the world, and more strip clubs per capita than any other city in America. What more could ya want?
But seriously, it's green and clean, and Republicans are generally frowned upon here (something to keep in mind). It rains like mad, but has great summers. Forest, mountains, and a safe and clean downtown. I love it here.
Portland has more breweries per capita than any other city in the world, and more strip clubs per capita than any other city in America. What more could ya want?
But seriously, it's green and clean, and Republicans are generally frowned upon here (something to keep in mind). It rains like mad, but has great summers. Forest, mountains, and a safe and clean downtown. I love it here.