I didnt realize that, cool.

Sapo,

I prefer Portland to the Oregon coast (like Astoria) because the Oregon coast only has like 3 months (or 4 tops) of nice weather a year. The sunny spring and fall days are warm enough at the coast, but typically windy and sweatshirt weather. Downtown Portland is like 90min away from the coast and even less than that from Mt Hood (multiple ski resorts if you're into that).

I grew up in a suburb of Portland, went to UW in Seattle for 4 years, then moved back to Portland after graduating.

I slightly prefer Portland, but love Seattle as well.

People definitely underestimate the better weather in Portland, everyone just assumes Seattle/Portland have the same weather, but it's always 5-10* hotter here and you get about an extra month of decent weather (http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2012/0...e-is-cool.html).

Like Seattle, Portland is broke down into subsections that suit pretty much everyone's needs. I lived on NW 23rd for 2 years, then moved to NE to be closer to my golf club/get more space for the dog. Rent in our new apartment on NW 23rd was $2,400/mo for 2bed/2bath, rent in our brand new condo in NE is $1,725 for 1b/1bath, but it's higher end. You can definitely get decent 1 beds for ~1k. Both are great depending on your needs. NW if you want to be able to walk out your building and get anything you need or walk to bars/restaurants. Eastside if you want cheaper rent on average, but everything is more spread out.

If you don't care about being in the city and are considering suburbs, that changes a lot of your options.

Don't live in one of the coast towns, they are great for about 3 days, then you'd slowly go insane.

Tough to beat Portland though, less than 2 hrs to some of the best mountain resorts and the coast. Only 3 from Seattle/Bend. Great food/beer as mentioned of course, very young and liberal.

Yeah, I'm a little afraid of this. I have it in my head that I don't need to be in a real urban area, but who knows if that changes once reality sets in.

I'm looking at going out to Portland in December to scope out the Portland-Bend-Hood River area. Does anyone have thoughts on living in Bend?

I think the safest and easiest option would probably be in or around Portland. The housing seems fairly affordable and if freelancing dries up there are more job options. I sent a resume in for a reporter position last week also.

$700 rent sounds amazing to me, so I wonder if I could go cheaper. I'd be looking to rent an entire apartment or home, not into roommates. Walkable/bikeable is good.

Right now I'm paying $1,425, and I thought that was pretty affordable for the area.

Bend is really awesome to visit, but can't speak on living there. Used to go there and sun river a lot. They get good summer and winter so it is cool for that aspect. Probably a little pricey but it's been years since I went out there

Other than not being very close to anything else, the only downside I see to Bend is the climate. I'm not big on dry environments, so that would be a turn off for me. But that's just, like, my opinion.

el sapo we have a different agenda but one that overlaps a lot. my cities besides portland are

portland
seattle
oakland

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others

I've considered all of those cities. Oakland is pretty nice these days, and is a quick ride to San Francisco.

Spaceman I like your list. Portland is the most manageable of the three. Oakland will be more expensive.

I'm sure there are gentrified areas of Oakland that would be safe enough for Spaceman's unique brand of Kansas Whitebread.

Is there any way this thread doesn't end with Bryce and ElSapo sharing a place in Portland?

my lease ends in june I loosely plan on moving to portland in april or may, and sending my place a check for the last months rent. I have a vacation planned for christmas with family to colorado and i loosely plan on visiting la and jmakin in late march and playing some poker while there. Those are all "plans" not set in stone.

Portland - where young people go to retire!

I am actually traveling to Oregon next summer, staying a few nights in Portland and a few in Bend. Will be my first visit to the Pacific Northwest. I've wanted to go since I saw the movie Old Joy which is set in Portland... in the movie they drive to some awesome-looking hot springs that are in the middle of the forest somewhere, and it is all so green and beautiful and completely unlike the NJ turnpike where I am from. Also housing-wise it seems like they have a lot of really cool architecture in Portland.

Bend looks beautiful to visit but I wonder if it is too full of wealthy retirees? I get that vibe from some of their advertising etc.

Sapo: If you moved to Oakland, we could party!

Bryce: I think Portland is a way better fit for you than Oakland, but Oakland is really close to San Francisco, and San Francisco has tons of dudes who like banging other dudes, so that's obv a factor for you to consider.

Yeah if oakland wasnt near sf it wouldnt be on the list. portland is actually creeping me out by being too good a fit for me in my research, its like:

portland is a liberal minded town with scenic bike trails mountains and near the ocean with full lbgt equality and a large gay community

ok, great

but watch out it has really cold weather and everyone drinks all the time

I love cold weather and drinking!

residents of portland may grow up to 8 marijuana plants in the privacy of their own home and are allowed to keep farm animals as pets


wow!..... is this place even real

It's all relative, but see my above post, it's much better than most people think and noticeably nicer than Seattle.

cool. basically on new research i want to move somewhere in portland were i can say i would like to sign a 6 month lease for 900 a month here is two months rent in advance *hands 1800 i got from playing poker and or begging and or e-begging and or selling stuff* ok great now you have a nice one bedroom and a place to park your car for 6 months.

i would def prefer to live in the part where everything is within walking distance but could live in either one. what is the worst neighborhoods in portland?

I know this is always on the top of my list when it comes to non-negotiable items.

Bought a ticket to PDX, Dec. 6-9. My plan is basically to spend a couple of days looking at Bend and Hood River and neighborhoods in Portland.

Have fun and good luck on the search!!

You're going to have a hard time finding somebody to rent you a place under those terms. Standard apartment lease is 1st (or 1st and last) month's rent + security deposit + proof of income. You have no income. It's problem.

I also think you're seriously underestimating how large Portland is. There isn't one part where you can walk to everything, there are dozens of them. There is also a nice light rail system that will get you most of the places you might want to go.

Your best bet would be to find a room to rent, either in somebody's house or in one of the places downtown that caters to short-term occupants (NB: most of those are pretty sketchy). Set up something like that for a 2 or 3 month period. Leave your car in Kansas. You'll do fine without it as long as you're within a mile or so of a MAX stop.

Think of this as an extended vacation. Get to know the area, see if you can find a job, make some friends, whatever. Get a handle on what exactly it is you plan to do before you commit to a lease and move all your earthly possessions.

Best pizza in Portland is Sizzle Pie. And if you end up going to seattle, stay in north seattle. Everything south of E. 45th is nothing but a shoot out.

Hood river is great, driving up the gorge in December may be difficult depending on weather, but like the coastal towns you are bound to get pretty bored if you live there imo.

I love bend, extreme seasons, lots of outdoors stuff and golf, but much more conservative due to the older population and rural surrounding areas.

I've never heard anyone claim this.

Sizzle pie is great for a drunken slice, but it's quite unanimously Apizza Scholls