Moving to portland any pointers?

[Kozworth]

I am tryig to move to portland oregon from central nj by september. I fired some applications to about 5 jobs based in portland. However thr housing status now is nearly non existant.

Can anyone recommend a place in portland affordable (<600$ month), safe, close to work (basic auto shops since im a mechanic. Applied to the lithia dealers), has some liveliness, etc?

Never even more west then central pa and was just looking for some input.

[e34john]

Never been there. Always wanted to visit though.

Drink good beer, they have lots.

[ST1G]

Watch Portlandia for an accurate account of what it's like.

[KenC]

You're going to be a 20-30min drive from downtown for rent in that range if you want something that's not a total dump/unsafe.

Westside suburbs are probably your best bet - Beaverton/Tigard.

[Mlarsen]

^ This. Downtown PDX is pretty expensive. Beaverton/Tigard "isn't that bad". My girlfriend at the time moved there for school. Plus you can just hop on the MAX (Portland's public transit) and be downtown pretty quick. I love Portland, tons of good food and beer, titty bars galore, little too liberal for my liking but, it's a pretty legit place.

[george graves]

Watch Portlandia for an accurate account of what it's like.

this. http://www.hulu.com/portlandia

[Jand3rson]

Watch Portlandia for an accurate account of what it's like.

Yeah, not really.

Check out Vancouver (WA), too. We just moved up here, and Vancouver is much cheaper to live in, and a short trip into PDX. It takes us 20 minutes to be over I5 and into downtown.

[kickinindian]

all these move to the PNW threads are starting to get to me man! I love rain!

[shameson]

Check out Vancouver (WA), too. We just moved up here, and Vancouver is much cheaper to live in, and a short trip into PDX. It takes us 20 minutes to be over I5 and into downtown.

I second this. Living near downtown is expensive. The suburbs, especially Vancouver, are you're best bet. I pretty much live in Vancouver and can be in dowtown Portland in 20-25 minutes. Beaverton or McMinnville isn't bad either

Also, stay away from SE Portland, not the best area as far as crime. I don't really like Gresham either

[TurboJake]

Well, as someone who doesn't live there I can't answer that. But the first thing you need to do is go and get a steak and beer at Acropolis.

You'll thank me later. I promise

Also, I found the MAX to be pretty nice and very effective. Would save much money and leave the E30 with less miles. So keep that in mind when finding a place.

[ajhostetter]

Watch Portlandia for an accurate account of what it's like.

^ Only 50% true. The west side isn't too bad. We're living in the Cedar Hills area, easy access to MAX, cost of living isn't too ridiculous. The political/taxation structure here is incredibly fucked up. That said, I could deal with it and stay if we didn't have young kids and no family nearby. So next year it's back to Denver.

Also, if you're looking for a tech job, you'll want to be out this way.

[ajhostetter]

Yeah, not really.

Check out Vancouver (WA), too. We just moved up here, and Vancouver is much cheaper to live in, and a short trip into PDX. It takes us 20 minutes to be over I5 and into downtown.

^ Not during any kind of rush hour or heading north between the hours of 3-7pm. If you can avoid bridges for your commute, do it.

[flyboyx]

my wife and i want to move up there in the next couple of years. its pretty fucking awesome in the summer especially. people are crazy nice. the city is generally very, very safe. the titty bars are full nude and serve alcohol. they chicks are really hot and sexy too. i think there are something like 65 micro breweries in that city alone.

the negatives: expensive and there are bums everywhere. they generally smell like hell. you have to step over them in some places because they are allowed to literally sleep anywhere.

i say go for it. i know this thread isn't about your career choice, but have you considered being a diesel mechanic instead of working on cars?

[Matt-B]

Yeah, not really.

Check out Vancouver (WA), too. We just moved up here, and Vancouver is much cheaper to live in, and a short trip into PDX. It takes us 20 minutes to be over I5 and into downtown.

This, I recomend everyone look at vancouver first. Way less crime, way better schools, no 5ft wide streets, and close to portland. Way cheaper living, your allowed to pump your own gas etc.

I would never live in portland. But visiting it is ok. You canget houses for what apts go for in pdx.

[einhander]

Prepare to nail girls with 70s bush, wear birkenstocks, and be bored out of your mind while drinking coffee with 14 words in it.