yes, i meant stay close to the city as a whole. the further out you go (both east and west), the more it turns from nice walkable neighborhoods to car dominated strip malls. portland's downtown is far from dull if you spend any amount of time there. I won't try to speak price since we own a house, but CL is definitely the way to go if you're looking for a place. there are several great neighborhoods on both sides of the river that have their own neighborhood retail centers (shops, restaurants, banks, etc).

decent info on the r/portland wiki http://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/wiki/index

this is also a decent, if simplified, list
http://www.7x7.com/travel/7-best-neighborhoods-portland

starts July 1 next year...before then you're on your own.

Lots of good advice itt. I'm an old and a coast lover and would snap relocate to Newport if I weren't so tied down. Coos Bay and Lincoln City are also acceptable. I'd avoid Astoria and seaside, too much in the way of Portland weekend warriors. Not much for young liberals anywhere on the coast though I'm afraid.

If you want small town liberal in a sea of 'Murica red state check out Ashland. Small university, Shakespere festival runs most of the year, and lots of outdoor recreation options. I Spend a lot of time there and bought property there a couple years ago.

Portland, Eugene, Seattle all have plenty going for them too. I visit both once or twice a year. No one has mentioned the Portland Timbers yet I dont think, but if you have any remote interest in a well supported local MLS club, Portland is the best city in the country.

I'd scratch Eureka and Crescent City off the list. Neither of you would like it there. Arcata, near Eureka, might appeal briefly but the young kids from Humboldt move to Portland by the bucketload. They refer to themselves as Fromboldt.

Portland was a ****hole when I was young, it's come a million miles since then, is well thought out, easy to navigate, and is as crunchy as you want it to be.

OP, every city has it's downsides...but just so you know what you're getting into

you should watch Portlandia. The reason it's so funny is because there's truth behind it.

Then google "Portland Oregon sucks" and browse some of the top searches. These sites are unquestionably biased so take what they to say with a grain of salt. But they have some valid complaints about Portland (and the state)

futhermore, most Portlanders don't actually leave the city that often. So besides the occasional weekend trip to seaside or astoria, or a day on the mountain, they don't really know much about the rest of state.

LOL you seattle slappie. do you work for the chamber of commerce?

Oakland is really cool. If I were single I'd be in downtown Oakland right now. Currently I work in downtown Oakland and I way prefer it over downtown SF for work as well.

From north of Seattle as well so I like that area too. Lots of similarities culturally, but Oakland has better weather. More expensive, but pretty awesome.

I grew up there. Yay for least amount of sun in lower 48!

Its a good city to raise kids. I would be bored there now. The art scene is good, but when I turned 21 I discovered that the other bars were fairly redneck. Seattle would be more fun. Lot of friends of mine from Bellingham love Ballard.

This is a solid point.

Apparently while Ashland is cool, they also have something like a 20 pct unvaccinated rate and the cdc is studying the crazy hippies.

There's a lot to like about Ballard. Huge farmers market, up there with the best markets in California. my college roommate lives in Ballard, been visiting there for many years. Not sure it's the right neighborhood for spaceman. But it's close.

Seattle traffic sucks. It's has to be in the top 5 worst in the country by most any objective measure. Maybe even top 3.

Can vouch for Seattle traffic. I've been driving for Uber in Seattle the last 3 months. ****ing nightmare.

My traffic laughs and kicks sand into the face of your puny traffic.

I thought it more like 26%. It's obnoxious.

I moved from Kansas to the St. John's neighborhood in Portland.

True story.

I love Ballard, but have never considered moving there. Great restaurants and bars, close enough to the downtown, near the ocean, etc. Traffic in Seattle? Yeah it is bad, probably worse than Vancouver BC which is gawdawful horrible.

I concur

Stay on the west side please There are enough hippies in hood river now. Can't even fish the klickitat without bumping in to obnoxious fly fishermen from Portland. I lived in Seattle for a few years in the mid oughts. I personally like bell town and west Seattle. Cap hill is too much for me. Although there are some really cool lofts in sodo that are appealing. I have a family now and I live like a king on the eastside of the state. Cultural wasteland yes, but lots of great wine and soooo much cheaper. Also if you are a engineer or union pipefitter or electrician there are many great paying jobs at Hanford.

If poker is a priority than Seattle is where you need to be. If strip clubs are important there is one on every corner of Portland.

Also no state income tax in Washington. Portland does have very good mass transit for a city it's size.

Between Seattle and Portland, it comes down to matter of personal taste.

Portland is weird and proud, and as a lifelong resident of Seattle, I wouldn't mind one bit living in Portland - minus the situation with sports.

Apparently I have discovered the exact lowest price for which you can rent a Portland apartment and have a cat. ... Seriously, wtf? From $850 to $851 max rent, look what happens when you factor in a cat.









Weird.

Keep in mind that just because a place doesn't explicitly say cats/pets ok doesn't mean that they won't. Some people don't mark it on Craigslist, but will mention pet policies in the ad itself.

Yeah, I just thought it was weird.

Just playing with maps. Seems like if you head outside of the downtown a lot of larger apartments open up at cheaper prices -- though I'm not sure what these areas are like.

Overall, there's a big jump in available apartments as you move to the $1,000/month range. From $900 to $1,100/month there are double the available units.

i haven't done any research lately on median 1 bedroom places (which is my assumption of what you are looking for) but i'm guessing that $1k is generally the dividing line between sketch-ish places and decent places. nice 2 bdrm/1 bath houses near downtown (15 minutes away) can be had for around $1,400.

wow thanks for all the info divides by zero and guys. yeah i will probs be moving without a job so was thinking about temporarily staying at a hostel until i find somwhere i know is safe .Thoughts? also on the short term lease, what are the best short term

[QUOTE=Malice's Attorney;45301485]I've never heard anyone claim this.
Sizzle pie is great for a drunken slice, but it's quite unanimously Apizza Scholls[/QUOTE


Over priced, over hyped, long wait... but yes the pizza is good. I'll go to Sizzle every time.