Need opinions on Oregon, Portland areas..

February 27, 2008 3:00 PM

Places to visit in Oregon, costs of living, etc..

Heading out to Portland and surrounding areas in a month. May move there.
After speaking with many about it I'm becoming quite enamored.

Biggest concern, Near(ish) Portland and more to the west, hows the costs of living? For those who may be familiar with Michigan, I'm in Birmingham, Troy, Clawson area for comparison.

Also, & I think I already know the answer but, are mountain biking and rock climbing abundant? Lots of biking / rollerblading trails as well? I always used to say that there was more bike path in Colorado than roads.
Perhaps a bit off the wall, any skydiving out there?

Last one, anyone who's lived in both states, hows Oregon compare to Colorado?

Thank you.

posted by mrflibble to society & culture (18 comments total)

Perhaps this cost of living calculator will help give you a good idea of how far your money will go. For a city of its size the cost of living is really pretty decent. There's no sales tax, but property and income taxes are higher than average, I think.
posted by JohnFredra at 3:16 PM on February 27, 2008

As for the Portland area vs. say, Denver, it's a lot more compact, but the weather is greyer.
posted by herbaliser at 3:34 PM on February 27, 2008

I just moved to Denver from Portland and honestly, I think Portland is a million times better. Denver is dirty and the weather, while sunny, is a lot more extreme temperature wise. Public transportation here is way worse than Portland both in cost and usability. My neighborhood barely has sidewalks. Groceries cost a lot more plus the sales tax to general costs of living. People in Portland always seem somehow nicer and I didn't think that mattered to me since I'm from Flint, MI but turns out I really miss it. Portland has awesome little neighborhood pockets while Denver is more sprawl. I just think overall Portland is a lot nicer, prettier and easier to live in. But I have only been here 6 months so maybe some magical change will occur on down the road and I won't want to go back to Portland every day.
posted by yodelingisfun at 3:40 PM on February 27, 2008

My sister just moved to central Oregon from Los Angeles, and it's cost them a lot more to live there than they thought. Groceries are a lot more expensive, and if you happen to be an alcoholic, forget it. In Oregon, two-buck chuck is called three-buck chuck.
posted by clh at 3:43 PM on February 27, 2008

I moved to Portland (well, I was in Eugene, OR for a few months first) from southeastern Michigan (Royal Oak/Ferndale area) about two years ago.

Rent or own? I found that renting in downtown Portland is cheaper than renting comparable units in suburban SE Michigan. I do think, however, that your dollar would go further in Michigan for a house of comparable size/security.

I don't ride bikes myself but I think I'm the only person in Portland who doesn't. I live downtown for the most part and walk to where I need to be. I have many friends who bike around town for daily transportation purposes, however, and who take advantage of the many trails, hills, scenery, etc. in and just outside of town for recreation purposes on the weekends. For comparison, my biker friend in Michigan rides only in the sping/summer months and has to transport himself up north for decent trails (his opinion).

I actually think grocery and food costs here are cheaper here than in SE Michigan. Produce items that are priced higher here are of better quality, IMO. My restaurant dollar is stretched further here than in Michigan and I think the overall produce and fish quality are superior.

(I'm sending you a mefi mail to answer all the questions you didn't ask.)
posted by click at 4:50 PM on February 27, 2008

Don't expect to rollerblade much since nine months of the year the pavement is wet. That said, during the summer there are a couple of nice rides along the river downtown, and a longer trail that goes along I205 on the east side. Portland Skate does organized events when the weather permits.
posted by kbuxton at 5:25 PM on February 27, 2008

As to rock climbing, the Columbia River Gorge is great for rock-climbing, or so I've been told. Large sections of the south side of the gorge are sheer basalt faces cut clean by an amazing series of floods a few millennia ago.
posted by Class Goat at 5:36 PM on February 27, 2008

Portland has really come a long way in livability since I lived in the state (left in '88), and I know a number of New Yorkers who have moved there and are quite happy with the change. As for places to visit, you can't go wrong with Central Oregon. Yeah, it's more expensive (due to all the Californians who moved there in the last thirty years), but the Cascade Mountains are gorgeous, and there are lakes, caves, and deserts worth exploring as well. There's the John Day Fossil Beds. Also, the coast is beautiful, and worth seeking out the quieter, less developed stretches. Also, closer to Portland is Multnomah Falls. And, if you ever saw "Old Joy," a small indie film that came out last year, you'd know about the hot springs that are in the mountains around Mount Hood.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:59 PM on February 27, 2008

Wow, thank you all for your great input. I had been wondering about how much rain there really is. I'd heard that it was exaggerated a bit. I guess we'll see when we get there.

Just the thought of a place where people are approachable is exciting to me. Royal oak and other past tense "nice" downtowns have become so clicky and uppity.

I understand the shielded nature of the people here, the economy is shot and a majority of people are afraid of losing their job or home or everything. It makes for a very defensive community, very reactionary as well.

I can't wait till the road trip. Can't believe I'm actually taking this forever ago planned road trip. Life is nicer when you don't have to look back with regret. I think it was either Chemical Brothers or Crystal Method, the song was Satan, young boy asks his father what regret means, father tells his son that "The funny thing about regret is, it's better to regret the things you have done than the things you haven't done."

Well, thanks again everybody, this all really helps us out a lot. Until Next time,
richard
posted by mrflibble at 8:15 PM on February 27, 2008

The regret song you're thinking of was originally the Butthole Surfers' "Sweet Loaf," but it was Orbital who sampled it in "Satan."

As to the rain... well, it rains lightly a lot, you know? We walk around in it without umbrellas and hats and whatnot a fair amount, English-style. Rarely do we have sky-opening downpours. I'd say it looks like rain more often than it rains, and when it does rains, it's generally not so bad. It can be over-all gloom-inducing, however, if you're susceptible to such things.
posted by mumkin at 11:36 PM on February 27, 2008

Dear god I cannot believe I was that far off on that song. I own the friggin cd. Somewhere. Buried. I could picture the top of the disc, the artist bit was fuzzy though, ah Mobeus, gotta love the Warf loop. I think I need to find that cd. Thanks for the original bit info, figured it was a dub. And the Butthole Surfers to boot.

Thanks for the rain bit too. I wonder if I should do another question on people effected by Seasonal Affective Disorder and living in that area. I wonder what percentage of the year it's grey. I think that bit's worrying me a tad. I'm bi-polar and a relatively well adjusted bi-polar but lack of sunshine can really hit me.

Ooh.. wonder how the rain is up in the mountains in higher altitude.
posted by mrflibble at 5:23 AM on February 28, 2008

It's snow.

The east side of the Cascades is much sunnier, so if you're feeling a bit oppressed by the grey-ness, take a drive and get a fix of sun.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:24 AM on February 28, 2008

I wonder what percentage of the year it's grey.

Scroll about 1/2 of the way down the Portland page at city-data.com to see graphs of cloud cover and sunshine for Portland vs. a US average. Apparently we do achieve the national average for sunny days in mid-July, though we're below it the rest of the year, and outside the SD for Sept 15 - Mar 15. Winter is a bit grim (though it's a lovely sunny day right now!)

I should correct my earlier statement, by the way. It appears that only about 20% of the time do we have an overcast day without any precipitation. Of course, that could be a 15 minute shower at 3am. Still, I think the graphs will give you a fairly good impression of what to expect. It can be gloomy at times, even for those of us who aren't explicitly SADdened by it.

Weather's going to pretty similar for the greater Portland metro area, but I notice you say "Near(ish) Portland and more to the west," which makes me wonder if you already know where you're going. If so, drop an actual town name on us, because other than the weather, a lot of these quality-of-life issues are going to be very location-specific. Portland neighborhoods tend to be dense and many are excellent for walking to nearby stores, for example. This is much less the case as you head out to the burbs.
posted by mumkin at 9:50 AM on February 28, 2008

I lived in Northern Colorado from 1983-1992 and have lived in Portland from 2003 to now.

About the rain... yes, it does rain quite a bit here, but then there are sunny days (like today), gorgeous sunsets, dramatic breaks in the clouds, etc... When my partner moved up here from California (waystop for me between CO and OR :)), she had a bit of a time adjusting. Getting out of the house in the wintertime is essential. The full-spectrum lamps seem to help some. Like mumkin said, people just walk around in the rain. Shorts, flip-flops, no rain coat, etc... :)

Now, about skiing. I skiied a lot in CO. I-70 was a nightmare when I lived there, and from what I can see, it looks worse now. Mt. Hood ski areas are 1.5 hours from my home on the west side of Portland. The real skiers go to Bachelor from what I understand.

The main things I like about Portland are:
- The city is very compact due to (what some people think are probably overly) restrictive planning laws. What this means for me is that I can get from my home on the west side to the airport on the east side in 30 minutes normally, maybe 45 if there is traffic. However, I-5 has evil traffic as it seems to have in every major metropolitian area it passes through :).
- Portland is very liberal. Since I am too, I like that :).
- Both Portland and Denver have great bookstores (Powells and Tattered Cover). However, I like Powells for economy since they have both used and new books shelved together & if I am just reading a novel, I can pick it up for a reasonable price.

Best of luck to you!
posted by elmay at 9:53 AM on February 28, 2008

hahaha I notice people are saying, Oh the rain's not that bad. That's because the rainy season is ending. Ask a Portlander in November/December how the rain is and they'll kill you out of sheer desperation.
Seriously. However---we do have a long slow spring that is starting now and that tends to win us over pretty easily.
Portland is good for: public transportation (especially if you live close-in), outdoor activities (e.g. 40-mile loop), dog friendly, liberal (although this is somewhat of a false identity b/c you might be able to discreetly smoke a joint when no one's around but we also have a law that prevents people from sitting in many public places--mostly aimed at the homeless and street kids), music (a lot of good local bands and bigger names come through pretty often), community involvement/cohesiveness (people tend to adopt their neighborhoods as The Best), and also---this can be annoying or fun depending--flash mobs and zoobombing.
Portland is not so good for: infrastructure (bridges and roads), employment (depends on your field, but much of the market is oversaturated), being alone outdoors (when the weather is good everyone gets outside so that makes public places--even like Forest Park and Sauvie Island--pretty crowded)...

but I've only lived here 2 years, so I'm still learning
the people----super nice. and smart!
posted by hulahulagirl at 10:48 AM on February 28, 2008

Both Portland and Denver have great bookstores (Powells and Tattered Cover). However, I like Powells for economy since they have both used and new books shelved together & if I am just reading a novel, I can pick it up for a reasonable price.

For some reason, people rarely mention our library system. I guess because more often than not the AskMes are about what to do when you're visiting town, as opposed to living here. So, let me just add some big ups for my longtime crush, the Multnomah County Library. Convenient branches all over town, nothing but the grooviest librarians and assistants, and yeah, that's right, while Queens edged us out from the number one spot this year, the NYPL and the rest can suck it: we circ. more in puny little Portland.

Not that you asked about books at all, mind, but apparently one thing that we're doing when the weather's keeping us indoors is reading. Lots.
posted by mumkin at 4:01 PM on February 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

oh dang I forgot about the killer library!! seriously, big perk.
posted by hulahulagirl at 6:16 PM on February 28, 2008

Another plus-one for the library. My husband and I are in love with it. We go online, put books on hold and take weekly trips to our local library to pick up our books and return the last dozen or so. It's fantastic.

I'm loving hulahulagirl's comment about people say the rain is not so bad because we're having a false spring right now (which happens every year, thank gods). It's just so true. This past winter has been crappity crap for me and I got quite annoyed by it. I've lived here long enough to know what to expect, too. The summers are glorious, spring is pretty, fall is fantastic and you pay for it in winter. However, of course, YMMV. Plan a sunny trip in January to recharge.
posted by amanda at 8:50 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]