Post # 1
Member
889 posts
Busy bee
Hey y’all,
Mr. H and I currently live down south. I work in college admissions, and he is a glass artist; he blows glass, sculpts, and will eventually have his masters in teaching as well. He graduates college in May, and will obviously start looking for work. Because of the specialized nature of his career/degree, the job market just isn’t on his side here. There’s not much of an employment boom or sales market in lower Alabama for blown glass; people are just like, “Ooh y’all look at this glass, I bet we could fill up this vase with some uh them beads from Wal*Mart and it’d look real nice next to my Dale Earnhart poster.” Or they bypass fine art for Roll Tide collectibles. Eye roll.
We are 2 people who have been bitten hard by the travel bug, and we have a serious love of Portland (based solely, of course, on Portlandia and awesome articles we’ve read). Moving to Portland is in our 5 year plan, after the engagement and wedding of course.
Do any of you lovely bees reside in/near Portland, and if so, what are the things you love about it? Hate about it? Feel we should know about it? I’d love some real life input on this, since we will be moving across the country. We certainly don’t want to do it blindly (even though we kind of are).
Post # 3
Member
9123 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
- Wedding: August 2013 - Rocky Mountains USA
@MrsHalpert: I have a lot of family and friends in Portland. It’s a great city – vibrant communities, lots of music and great food, good public transportation, nice outdoor spaces, tons of local coffee and beer and art, etc.
However, like most cities, it’s fairly expensive to live in. And it’s cloudy and/or rainy ALL the time! Like 80%+ of the time, at least. And their summers are pretty chilly and cool. I grew up in Central Oregon and am used to 300+ days of sun a year, and I can NOT deal with Portland’s weather. Living there would put me in a deep dark depression, literally. But if you can handle that weather ok, it’d be a sweet place to live.
I think the job market is fairly tight there, because a lot of people want to live there for the wonderful lifestyle…
Post # 4
Member
889 posts
Busy bee
@lolot: Hmm..I figured it might be cloudy/rainy, but I’m somewhat used to that. I live in the rainfall capital of the world and we are only about one factor away from being recognized as an official rainforest. lol. I didn’t realize that the job market is tight…that sucks. We decided not to move before at least one of us has a job, but luckily his current job has already told him that they will transfer him if/when we move. So he’s covered at least.
We definitely like the idea of the great community feel but with bigger city things to do (but still feeling local). I found an awesome website with moving resources for Portland. I’m currently stalking rental properties now, haha. Cost of living is a bit higher, as I can see just from rent prices. I will say though that Mr. H’s company will adjust his salary based on the regional cost of living so that’s comforting…
also thank you for responding! 🙂
Post # 5
Member
2615 posts
Sugar bee
its rainy alot here– lots of vitamin d deficent people— i aprently need perscription strength supplements to try to boost my levels- i didnt think i was that bad…. i like you can go to the beach or mountain with in “short” drive 2 hours or less. glass blowing they do they alot on the coast here..
Post # 6
Member
27 posts
Newbee
@MrsHalpert:
SO and I are actually moving to Portland in mid-March from South Carolina! 🙂 He fell in love with it when he went out to visit the area with a friend of his, and told me all about it when we first started dating. After having 3 houses fall through last year, we took it as a sign that we weren’t supposed to put down roots yet, and decided that we’d make the move out there!
We went to visit it in September, which was really the perfect time, because we got to see Portland in gorgeous weather as well as typical weather. I would HIGHLY suggest you go out there before making any plans, and spend at least 5 days. We stayed with a friend that lives there, and she took us around all the different areas (we’re planning on moving to the southeast). Each area has it’s own style and price range.
http://www.portlandneighborhood.com/ is a great website to answer a lot of general questions. 🙂
Feel free to PM me as well with any questions you might have. 🙂
Post # 7
Member
1443 posts
Bumble bee
I’ve lived here almost 19 years. If you don’t like rain, Portland is not the place for you. As for cost of living, it does depend on where you plan on living. Jobs are tight, too, so it’s best to have a game plan before you move here. My daughter graduated from PSU in October 2012 and had a rough time as a new grad looking for a job. Any questions, shoot me a message.
Post # 8
Member
129 posts
Blushing bee
My brother lives in Portland, very close to downtown in northwest. He loves Portland’s quirkiness and doesn’t seem to mind the wet weather. It’s glorious in summer, long hours of daylight, very green. Right now it’s dark and dreary, but the days are getting longer every day!