Help Me Pick: Tucson or Portland, Oregon For Under $1000/Month

July 19, 2009 5:05 PM

I'm thinking about relocating to two cities that are wildly different. One city is Portland, OR and the other is Tucson, AZ. Yes, I have visited Portand, and I've visited Tucson and spent considerable time living in Phoenix. I do not intend to buy. So here are questions: What can I rent for no more than $1000 per month? What neighborhoods should I consider? Avoid? Is it realistically possible to live in Portland without a car? By that I mean within a 5-minute walk of groceries and other needed shops, like a pharmacy. Yes, I know it rains a lot in Portland, and that Tucson gets hot and almost never sees rain. Getting rid of the car has been a long-term goal, so that's why Portland is on the list. Otherwise, Arizona holds much more appeal.
posted by justcorbly to society & culture (19 comments total)

I have relatives who have lived without a car for years in Portland. Tucson, you need a car. But it's a lot cheaper to live there, I think you could rent pretty much anywhere in Tucson for less than $1000 a month. Portland you could probably get a studio for that much if you look.
posted by entropyiswinning at 5:19 PM on July 19

My understanding is that Portland is a very very non-driver friendly city - good public transport. If recollection serves, living closer to the river will put you within walking distance of cool stuff. Just "above" the main city central, there is a great residential arts district - housing, shops, restaurants, some trees, funky vibe - the lot;) Someone else will remember the name, I'll bet!

I also think Flex Car is very popular there, or a service very much like it. Google. For a certain fee you get X number of hours rental on a Hybrid vehicle per month. Very useful.

I don't think it is the rain in Portland that is so much the bother, I sorta remember it had a sad vibe overall. Does that make sense? I've visited Portland and Tucson and I would maybe go with... shit. That is a hard call! I think it depends on what lifestyle you are after.

That said, wherever you choose to go, maybe keep a back-up fund in case you want to jet?

(I also think Tucson is a lot cleaner, spiritually speaking. But that is juju talk, and maybe not helpful in terms of your interests;)
posted by jbenben at 5:22 PM on July 19

I've lived in both Tucson and Portland... and there seems to be a weird axis of people who move between the two places. Portland, you can totally live without a car. Tucson, you can do it, but it's going to be a pain in the butt.

Just to echo entropyiswinning -- Portland is clearly the more expensive of the two towns, but Tucson is a nice place to be broke. Both towns have really great music scenes.

Just a word of warning, of course -- both Portland and Tucson have pretty tough job markets right now, though...
posted by ph00dz at 5:26 PM on July 19

Tucson has a lot of strip malls, for which a car is pretty much required.
posted by dfriedman at 5:38 PM on July 19

Not having a car and walking places here in Portland is just great, but bicycling is even better. I have never had a car, and never learned to drive either, and it is rarely an issue. The hourly car rental service mentioned above is called zipcar, and I hear nothing but good things about it. There are bike racks and bike friendly streets just about everywhere, and while many car drivers do seem to feel that they own the road and bikes are just in the way, this attitude is less common than in other places in the US.

I am pretty sure that for $1000 you could find a rental in any part of town east of the river, especially if you are OK with having roommates. My rent has never been over $400 a month. No matter where you go in Portland, there is at least one grocery store within a couple of miles, as far as I know.
posted by idiopath at 5:46 PM on July 19

Looking on Craigslist, I see a lot of places in Portland for less than $1000/mo., even near the Pearl District, where it's supposed to be very expensive. In Chicago, which is much more expensive than Portland, I am renting a 2 BR for $1100 in a pretty nice neighborhood. You should have no problem finding a place for less than $1000.

2nding idiopath - live in SE or NE Portland, and you will have better luck with cheaper rents. Also, living with roommates is going to make your rent a lot cheaper. When I lived in PDX, I never paid more than $550/mo, and that was for the bottom floor of a house w/ one roommate.

SE 39th and Belmont/Hawthorne will put you near a lot of grocery stores, as well as a lot of other cool stuff.
posted by baxter_ilion at 5:54 PM on July 19

Yes, you can definitely live without a car in Portland. Just rent one for the times you want to go to the coast, Mt. Hood, etc. Amtrak can get you to Eugene, Seattle, and Vancouver (BC) for cheap.

If you want to live with roommates, less than $500/mo per person (if 3 or 4 people total) can get you a really nice house in SE Portland (e.g. near Hawthorne & 39th) or in NE Alberta where all the indie cafes, theaters, bookstores, etc are. If you want a place by yourself, you will probably have to go for a 1 bedroom apartment ($700-1000) but the bus or MAX can get you to all the hip stuff in just a few minutes.
posted by bengarland at 5:56 PM on July 19

Do you really want to be living in Tucson in August with no car? Really? Seriously??
posted by Sassyfras at 6:05 PM on July 19

It is far, far easier and more pleasant to live in Portland without a car than Tucson. I live in Portland, my sister and her family live in Tucson, and I could not imagine living the life I live in Portland (own no car, bike/bus, zipcar when needed) if I were in Tucson. Portland's mass transit system is far better than SunTran.

Almost every neighborhood in Portland has walkable amenities. It should not be understated, though, how gray and dank it is here in the winters - if Arizona's appeal to you is largely sun-and-warmth based, you will not be happy in Portland for about 8 months out of the year. If you can put up with the gray dampness, though, Portland is a fantastic place to live and can be done within your budget.
posted by pdb at 6:11 PM on July 19

You can do pretty decent in Portland without a car and for less than $1000/mo. Just browse through Craigslist. You can easily get a pretty rad studio for under your limit in downtown Portland. If you'd prefer a larger place over location, look at north Portland and out into SE.
posted by floam at 6:22 PM on July 19

I'd rather walk in the rain with an umbrella than walk in the sun in Phoenix dressed however.

The key thing about rain & cool weather is that comfort is a matter of clothing. Growing up in Fresno, and later living in Tokyo, I found that heat is something you've just got to soldier through, regardless.

Now, regular blizzards and arctic weather in general is a parallel world of pain, but a bit of rain is good. Makes things GREEEEN.
posted by @troy at 6:23 PM on July 19

I've lived in Tucson and visited Portland frequently. I love both places for different reasons.

Living without a car in Tucson is very difficult, especially during the summer (which frequently sees 110-degree days). Not every area of town is accessible to public transit, and that concern aside, public transit is often undependable, limited, and sketchy. That aside, Tucson is friendly, affordable, and a fun, relaxed place to live. A small one-to-two bedroom house can be had in certain areas of town for less than $1000 dollars, and apartments for similarly low prices. The town really has a character all its own, and has many of the cultural trappings of a city like Portland without the hipper-than-thou attitude (I mean, Portland is a wonderful city, but really).

If you really want to ditch the car, though--stick with Portland. Beautiful, green, walkable, with fantastic neighborhoods. Just as long as, as pdb pointed out, you're sure the climate is what you're looking for--it really is the polar opposite of weather in Arizona.
posted by sarabeth at 6:26 PM on July 19

@troy: Phoenix is generally about ten degrees hotter than Tucson, and the climates in the two cities really do differ, but I see your point.
posted by sarabeth at 6:26 PM on July 19

Portland usually scores high on the most walkable cities index. That link further breaks down walkability by individual neighborhood. I Nth scouring Craigslist for apartment deals. You'll get more apartment for your buck the further away from the city center you get. Portland's excellent, and growing, public transportation system makes that a less painful proposition than it might seem. Do you bike? Tucson just lost the game.
posted by tristero at 7:44 PM on July 19

In Tucson, you can rent just about anything for under $1,000/month. Location is not likely gonna be an issue in terms of money. Cost of living is really pretty reasonable.

Stay away from the University (between Oracle and Country Club, Broadway and Grant) and South Tucson. Those are not the safest parts of town. North Tucson is gonna be a bit higher-end, nicer area (pretty much anything north of River).

You can't get around Tucson without a car. The public transit is terrible.
posted by jgunsch at 7:59 PM on July 19

Sassyfras, I wouldn't think of living in Tucson in any month without a car. The no-car business applies only to Portland. Very few cities in the U.S. are amenable to car-less living. After I eliminate the others based on cost/weather, Portland's the one that is left. That said, the eight months of gloom is not appealing.

jgunsch: Thanks for the Tucson neighborhood advice. That's what I'm looking for.
posted by justcorbly at 8:29 PM on July 19

Check out these articles on the local economies of mid-size cities, with particular attention given to state of unemployment in Portland.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:16 PM on July 19

Oh, also, as far as groceries, if you're looking for a whole/organic foods place, consider locating near a Trader Joe's. There are a few (three or four, I think?) around Tucson, and they're very reasonably priced.
posted by jgunsch at 7:24 AM on July 20

FWIW, I moved to Tucson in January, and rented (via craigslist) a 2BR apartment (in a triplex) for $550/mo located between Grant and Speedway, midway between the downtown Pima campus and the UA. As I'm here primarily for school, it's a very convenient location, and my car isn't really necessary (even in the summer) for most destinations (class/groceries/entertainment).

Also, while we certainly get less precipitation than Portland, I'd have to dispute that Tucson "almost never sees rain". It was uncommon (perhaps a one shower in a month) in the Winter, sure, but experiencing the monsoon season would quickly dispel this notion.

I looked at Portland prior to moving here (as living in Chicago). It's a great town, but the impression I got was that cost of living was significantly higher and everyone is between 20-35 years old. It's very lush. Friends I stayed with complained about the fickle weather.

It's been very satisfying to explore SW Arizona.
posted by unmake at 2:04 AM on July 25