Moved to Portland from Austin a little over a year ago.
Benefits:
- natural surroundings are gorgeous, not surrounded by the rest of Texas, have seen more breathtaking scenery than at any other point in my life
- better coffee, beer, restaurants, food carts
- no sales tax is great while making a transition to a new place if you aren't bringing in any income yet, cost of living isn't very high
- it seems to be a good place to live for an introvert like myself. people are friendly, the neighborhood bars on the East Side are low key/don't have the loud fratty types, and people seem to keep to themselves a bit more.
- no 4-5 months of 100+ temperatures, or extreme temperatures at all
- lots of small live music venues with shows that rarely sell out, such as Doug Fir Lounge and Mississippi Studios
- There are many affordable local conferences such as Open Source Bridge. And the Portland Digital Experience + MusicFestNW badge is a steal.
- Very walkable/bikable, I don't have a car and plenty of access to great coffee/beer/entertainment. Love the neighborhood/small town feel.
- Powell's, Board Game Night at Lucky Lab, Ground Kontrol, Backspace, music video night at Beulahland, love it.
Drawbacks:
- January - March the cloudiness/drizzle gets a bit old. I personally enjoy the transition to Spring/Fall when the flowers come out, and the leaves turn colors, so after being here a year I wouldn't say the weather sucks 9 months out of the year, but maybe 4 months.
- Haven't really formed much of a social circle, many of the people I have met have moved away already because of the weather or go back to keeping to themselves and don't see them again.
- I hear the developer pay is lower
- high state income tax (vs. no state income tax in Texas), losing 9% of your income is much worse than paying no sales tax, and the cost of living is a little higher than in Austin.
While it is still high compared to zero in Texas, you get to deduct how much you paid in federal taxes from the state taxes, making that 9% sting a little less.
Funny that you say cost of living is higher than in Austin, I felt Oregon has remarkably low cost of living compared to every where else I have lived (I have never lived in Texas though).
If you've ever been curious about what's happening in the Portland startup scene, this is the post to read. Luc does an amazing job of capturing both the tech and the culture of the town. And if anyone has any additional questions about "Why Portland?" I'm always happy to answer those, too.
Nice polite people, food carts, good restaurants, possibly the best coffee in the US, Ocean is 1 hour away, greenery, Mt Hood, the Cascades .... and much, much more.
Why would you choose Portland over Seattle? It's nearly identical weather wise, except you have no state income tax, Canada a couple hours away, the ocean right next door, a second tier international airport (vs portlands third tier) and two large tech companies to help create a tech base.
Have a look at the article. Portland is consistently rated above Seattle according to all kinds of livability metrics. The public transportation is far better, it's more bike-accessible, there are more breweries and coffeeshops per capita, etc. Now, this is not to bash Seattle, which is unquestionably one of the best cities in America. But Portland's strengths outweigh Seattle's for broad swathes of people.
I moved here from a place in Colorado with 300 days of sunshine a year. Everyone said, upon hearing I was moving "You know it rains a lot there?". Buy a jacket. Go outside when it's nice, don't when it's not. Living your life by the weather is pretty silly.
I have been on 100% travel in the US for the last year, and the three weeks I spent in Oregon were very depressing. It literally rained every single day; the longest period without rain was about 6 hours, or the couple of days it snowed. I would never want to live there for that reason, I was happy to leave.
As for Portland itself, a friend told me to watch the show Portlandia before I went. At first, I thought the show was way too over the top to be funny. After actually spending some time there, it became apparent that if it was any less over the top, it would be a documentary.
On the plus side, Oregon is very nice. Crater Lake is spectacular in the winter, and perhaps the most beautiful area in the US. There are also many awesome Art Deco bridges along the coast.
Grew up in Portland, live in SF. I'm the opposite. Prefer SF. Both have their pluses and minuses but for the tech and startup scene, it's not comparable for me. I love Portland and it'll always have a place in my heart but it's just not close to being comparable for me in this regard.
larrykubin|13 years ago
Benefits:
- natural surroundings are gorgeous, not surrounded by the rest of Texas, have seen more breathtaking scenery than at any other point in my life
- better coffee, beer, restaurants, food carts
- no sales tax is great while making a transition to a new place if you aren't bringing in any income yet, cost of living isn't very high
- it seems to be a good place to live for an introvert like myself. people are friendly, the neighborhood bars on the East Side are low key/don't have the loud fratty types, and people seem to keep to themselves a bit more.
- no 4-5 months of 100+ temperatures, or extreme temperatures at all
- lots of small live music venues with shows that rarely sell out, such as Doug Fir Lounge and Mississippi Studios
- There are many affordable local conferences such as Open Source Bridge. And the Portland Digital Experience + MusicFestNW badge is a steal.
- Very walkable/bikable, I don't have a car and plenty of access to great coffee/beer/entertainment. Love the neighborhood/small town feel.
- Powell's, Board Game Night at Lucky Lab, Ground Kontrol, Backspace, music video night at Beulahland, love it.
Drawbacks:
- January - March the cloudiness/drizzle gets a bit old. I personally enjoy the transition to Spring/Fall when the flowers come out, and the leaves turn colors, so after being here a year I wouldn't say the weather sucks 9 months out of the year, but maybe 4 months.
- Haven't really formed much of a social circle, many of the people I have met have moved away already because of the weather or go back to keeping to themselves and don't see them again.
- I hear the developer pay is lower
- high state income tax (vs. no state income tax in Texas), losing 9% of your income is much worse than paying no sales tax, and the cost of living is a little higher than in Austin.
laaph|13 years ago
Funny that you say cost of living is higher than in Austin, I felt Oregon has remarkably low cost of living compared to every where else I have lived (I have never lived in Texas though).
lucperkins|13 years ago
turoczy|13 years ago
arjn|13 years ago
lucperkins|13 years ago
xradionut|13 years ago
lucperkins|13 years ago
mahyarm|13 years ago
lucperkins|13 years ago
malachismith|13 years ago
malachismith|13 years ago
lucperkins|13 years ago
I should also note that this summer has been absolutely magisterial.
bjclark|13 years ago
jcnnghm|13 years ago
As for Portland itself, a friend told me to watch the show Portlandia before I went. At first, I thought the show was way too over the top to be funny. After actually spending some time there, it became apparent that if it was any less over the top, it would be a documentary.
On the plus side, Oregon is very nice. Crater Lake is spectacular in the winter, and perhaps the most beautiful area in the US. There are also many awesome Art Deco bridges along the coast.
unknown|13 years ago
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OafTobark|13 years ago
OafTobark|13 years ago
jpxxx|13 years ago
lucperkins|13 years ago
adverscott|13 years ago