Oregon, Northern California?

[Threehz]

I plan on moving somewhere in these areas in the next few years after I finish my bachelors. Ironically, out of all the places I've been, I haven't been to either of these areas.

Just looking for some information, what's the good, the bad, the worst, the best, anything peculiar about both of these areas?

I'm going to take a West Coast trip within the next two years, and I want to know which cities I need to go to, and hopefully find some places that I will want to move to.

Thanks, and sorry if this has been discussed.

[absolutdog]

Rains too much in PDX, but summers are B E A Utiful
San Fran is oddly cold...
Yosemite NP is the best place on earth

That is all

bet if you put this in PNW or Nor cal ... you would get ALOT of responses

[monkeyodeath]

That's a big question - between both areas, you're talking a million different kinds of cities and types of weather.

Oregon is great, but the weather is the biggest issue - Portland is a gorgeous, clean, progressive city with an amazing culture, but you need to be able to deal with a lot of rain, drizzle, and overcast skies. Summers are amazing though, for the 3 months they last. Same goes for all the other cities in the Willamette Valley. Portland is a pretty intellectual place - hipster ground zero, so lots of organic food and cool bookstores and record shops. Close to the mountains too if you like to ride.

The weather is better on the eastside of Oregon - Bend is a really nice town with great weather, hot summers and cold snowy winters. A great place to live if you love the outdoors - great skiing, kayaking, hiking, the whole 9 yards. The downside is that you're 3 hours from the nearest major city, so if you're a city person into city things, you're going to get bored pretty quickly.

The Oregon economy sucks, especially in Bend. Unemployment is pretty high, and jobs are hard to come by. Definitely not a place to go to get rich.

California's economy is not much better, and the price of living is higher. But in NorCal, especially in the Bay Area, there's a lot more opportunity to make money if you get in the right position - the tech industry, etc.

In NorCal, you have the Central Valley, with cities like Stockton and Sacramento. Cheap to live there, flat, and pretty damn hot in the summers. Close to a ton of amazing recreation in the Sierra Nevadas, though - Lake Tahoe, Yosemite - great skiing and scenery and hiking.

The Bay Area is another thing entirely. The east side of the bay is a lot more suburby and affordable. The south bay and peninsula (San Jose, Palo Alto) are nicer suburbs that are also pretty damn expensive. SF itself is a wonderful city with an amazing, totally unique and fun vibe, but is super expensive to live in, and has pretty iffy, cold, foggy weather, unlike the rest of the Bay Area which is pretty nice.

In both Oregon and NorCal, you also have tons of places in the sticks - along the coast and in the mountains. Some beautiful places, but usually isolated and not super full of opportunities.

If I wanted to take the grand tour, I would see Portland, Bend, Eugene, Sacramento, and the Bay Area, maybe taking detours to the Oregon coast and the Sierra Nevadas (Tahoe, Yosemite). That would cover most of your bases in terms of what's out there.

The biggest thing, especially when moving to California or Oregon is to FIND A JOB FIRST. This is huge, especially in California, where the price of living can drain your savings quickly. Where you live should be determined by where you can find a good, steady job and how much that job pays you. I've had friends move out to California (I live in LA) without plans or employment, and the economy and cost of living can send them back home with their tails between their legs quickly. Don't move here until you find a good job. Then, once you get the lay of the land and feel things out, you can move around until you find what's perfect for you.

[Thizzelle]

how much you want to spend cuz I'm in sonoma county and you pretty much get a shack of a house for 200,000, even some for 300,000. Rent is exspensive too $1000 a month for a 1 bedroom in a rundown apartment.Prices get doubled when you live in the city. Talked to a girl in SF who was paying something like 1900 for a 1 bedroom sardine can.

[StereoInstaller1]

Find a way to come up and stay with someone. 2 weeks of couch surfing will tell you more about an area than anything

[Threehz]

Great info Monkey! I've dreamed of living in Portland all my life, not sure how I would do with constant rain though, I love rain more than anything, but everyone says that it gets old.

I do luckily have people to stay with scattered around Oregon, in Napa, and maybe Luke will let me camp on his lawn ;P

I'm getting a bachelors in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and I don't think I'll have luck finding work in any smaller towns. Anywhere with a university may work though.

Preferably I want to settle down somewhere that has a slightly colder climate, plenty of rain, as close to the coast as possible, and needs to be close to rivers/lakes/forest/mountain, and have access to good outdoors activity.

Housing is not a big concern, once I find work, we'd rent a small house/apartment until I find some land to buy. I plan on building my own house for many reasons. I know the cost of living in most places in California is quite high, is Oregon similar?

[apm]

Dood I've lived in the bay area for 3 years and now in Oregon for almost 10yrs so I think you can guess my preference.

Btw, I used to work close to Phoenix/Tucson on and off so I kinda know how it's there.

If you're single, I think Bay area is better to find good high paying opportunities. If you're a newly grad in biology I think I know of a very good small town university that you can land a job/internship if you want it in Oregon.

Hit me up if interested.

[mbonanni]

Great info Monkey! I've dreamed of living in Portland all my life, not sure how I would do with constant rain though, I love rain more than anything, but everyone says that it gets old. I love rain as well, but only three month w/o it, no thanks..

I do luckily have people to stay with scattered around Oregon, in Napa, and maybe Luke will let me camp on his lawn ;P Yay

I'm getting a bachelors in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and I don't think I'll have luck finding work in any smaller towns. Anywhere with a university may work though. Congrats, universities are plentiful in either state I am sure.

Preferably I want to settle down somewhere that has a slightly colder climate, plenty of rain, as close to the coast as possible, and needs to be close to rivers/lakes/forest/mountain, and have access to good outdoors activity. Sounds like the Bay Area to me

Housing is not a big concern, once I find work, we'd rent a small house/apartment until I find some land to buy. I plan on building my own house for many reasons. I know the cost of living in most places in California is quite high, is Oregon similar? We'd? Who is we? are you moving alone, or with someone? I think Oregon is a bit cheaper, but still up there.

[Thizzelle]

Preferably I want to settle down somewhere that has a slightly colder climate, plenty of rain, as close to the coast as possible, and needs to be close to rivers/lakes/forest/mountain, and have access to good outdoors activity.

this is west side bay area not east as it is hot and dry like sac and concord

[ohthejosh]

this is west side bay area not east as it is hot and dry like sac and concord

If you were looking into living here Id research Half Moon Bay, Daly City, San Francisco (Sunset and Outer Richmond District areas), South San Francisco.


I think you'd like it in a suburb called Westborough in South San Francisco, it gets the combination weather you are looking for in a relatively affordable area. Everything you need is all within a 5 mile radius.

Ask me how I know LOL

[Threehz]

APM, good to know that those opportunities are available. I want to see what I can do with my Bachelors (don't laugh), and at least get out of Arizona. Eventually I may chase a graduate degree wherever I end up. Sadly I still got a couple years of school to go.

mbonnani, in a couple/few years when we move it'll be my girlfriend, kid, and myself. Bay area has always sounded perfect, just that perfect comes with a pretty hefty price-tag. If there is a demand for ecology/biology related jobs maybe that won't be an issue..

Daly City and Westborough both look nice. Close to the big city, close to the ocean, and it appears to be pretty close to some wilderness as well. Housing is definitely more expensive though.

[ohthejosh]

Ecology and Biology is the definition of South San Francisco. lol

Genentech my friend.

And if that isn't a plus you can do Gymkhana all up in our beautiful city.

[monkeyodeath]

The rain is something that I think you just have to experience for yourself. Some people don't mind it, for others it's a major bummer. If you've never experienced it it's hard to know how you'd like it.

The Bay Area is closer to the coast, but definitely has better weather and less rain.

One thing that you should keep in mind is that the Bay Area is like 5x more city than Portland. More traffic, more hectic, more stuff going on, more crowded. Both places are pretty close to fun/outdoorsy stuff to do, but it's easier to get to from Portland - getting out of the Bay Area at rush hour can take a really long time.

To me, if you can get a good job, don't mind the rain, and aren't hell-bent on living in a huge city or getting really wealthy, Portland is pretty damn nice. Cost of living is much lower, and life there just seems...easier, more relaxed. Less of a rat race. The state services aren't as broken. You can get a decent house or piece of property in a decent neighborhood without having to compete with multi-millionaires like you do in the Bay. There's enough city there to make it interesting, and within an hour or two you have uncrowded wilderness, lakes, rivers, and hiking, not to mention that it's the kind of place where people are really into that stuff. I know few people living in Portland who don't spend their weekends snowboarding, hiking, or kayaking.

The Bay Area is more of a major city. More diverse, more stuff going on. More opportunities to get rich. It feels much more like a big city than Portland, so there's more to do, more major shit going on. Better junkyards lol. Pretty much anything you can think of to eat, see, buy, and do is going to be accessible. But you have to be prepared to make the trade-offs - the traffic, the cost of living, the terrible CA public schools, more competition for just about everything.

I'm from Oregon but I live in LA because I'm really into big-city stuff and need nice weather to be happy, but if I was older, had a kid, and didn't mind the rain, I would seriously think about setting in Portland...just so much more chill there and easier to deal with.

[absolutdog]

not sure how I would do with constant rain though, I love rain more than anything, but everyone says that it gets old.

I know the cost of living in most places in California is quite high, is Oregon similar?

Took me five years to get sick of the rain, but every winter I used to spend a week in Hawaii to get over it, I think the weirdest thing is it rains a lot but NEVER thunders and no lightning

I found pdx quite affordable to live in, and the pay wasn't too bad (culinary industry) compared to NYC, and NOLA

[Cliche Guevara]

I've lived in Eugene my whole life and I love it here. There's great culture, great food, and great beer. We get a decent amount of good concerts and Portland is a relatively short drive away for the ones that skip us. I'm close to both the ocean and the mountains and there's tons to do if you love the outdoors. It's a big enough city that we get a lot of the big city perks without the big city drawbacks. Oh, and if you've never been to an Oregon football game it is a truly amazing experience.

That said, if you hate the rain then don't more here. I'm grown up with the rain, I'm used to it, I like it. But a lot of people that move here hate it simply because of the rain. There are literally people that get mild depression from all the rain because they don't see the sun nearly as much as they used to.