Living in Portland

[OSUchris]

Hey all, My wife and I are considering a move to Oregon, and the Portland area specifically. Anyone out here who lives or has lived in the Portland area? I am curious about the schools (elementary specifically) and whether you lived on the Washington side of the river or on the Oregon side. And just any general impressions of the area. Thanks all...

[WyomingOSUAlum]

You will want to talk to Poke John I. I don't think he's on the board as often as he's been in years past. Look him up in the "members" section at the top of the page and zip him a message!

[Poke John I]

The nicest places to live are west of the Willamette River. Lake Oswego is considered the nicest. Many places on the West Side of the Willamette and also very nice like NW, Raleigh Hills, parts of Beaverton, etc. Where you live probably will depend on where you work. Nike & the high-tech industries are in Beaverton & Hillsboro. If you work way east there are also pockets of nice places to live. You may also want to also commumicate with "Justdoitpoke" but he normally posts on the Orangepower borad. I'm retired and drive a School bus for health insurance purposes while "Justdoitpoke" works for Nike.

I made up the below information about living in Portland a few years ago but it's still good information

I’ve lived in the following places:

Tulsa, OK.
Stillwater, OK.
Houston, TX. (3 times)
Casper, WY.
Evansville, IN.
Matamata, New Zealand
London, England (2 times)
Johannesburg, S. Africa
Dallas, TX.
Portland, OR.

Portland has a lot to offer and the only place close would be Johannesburg, S. Africa. Although, London is nice but it takes about twice (now it's probably three times with the fall of the dollar) as much money to live the same there.

Portland is reputed to get a lot of rain. In fact we get about the same as Tulsa but it takes 60 more rainy days. In other words, we get lighter rain. Our rain is usually so light that you don’t bother to put an umbrella up or a rain coat on. Annual figures for Portland and Tulsa and a few other benchmark cities are shown below:

CITY - RAIN (INCHES) - RAIN (DAYS) - JAN. AVG. TEMP. - JUL. AVG. TEMP.

PORTLAND - 37.39 - 154 - 38.9 F - 67.7 F
TULSA - 38.77 - 89 - 35.2 F - 83.2 F
SEATTLE - 44.8 - 158 - 34.1 F - 64.8 F
DALLAS - 29.5 - 78 - 44.0 F - 86.3 F
HOUSTON - 44.8 - 105 - 51.4 F - 83.1 F

Most of the cold fronts go north of us and sweep down the center of the country and make it to Tulsa. Portland is west of the Cascade mountain range and the cold fronts generally stay east of the mountains. Our coldest nights for the last two winters have only been about 26ºF. From the numbers above you can see that Portland’s winters are about 3-4º warmer than Tulsa and the summers about 15º cooler. The light rain is a good trade off for the 15º cooler summers. That 4 months of “Blast Furnace” like heat in Oklahoma and Texas is not missed by me.

From Portland you have great snow skiing in about a 2 hour drive. The skiing is as good as Colorado but is less commercialized. The Mt. Hood ski areas are mostly drive to for the day type areas but the skiing is great. Portland has a great view of snow capped Mt. Hood from many places in the city. Your can also see Mt. Saint Helens to the north on many days.

The second largest river in America, the Colombia, runs through one side of Portland. We have great salmon & trout fishing. We are about 1.5 hours drive to the coast. Many people surf up here but the water is cold enough that practically all wear a wet suit. The coastal area is great for hiking, bicycle ridding, etc. The Colombia River gorge works like a wind tunnel and is reputed to be the best wind surfing area in the Country. All in all Portland has a lot of outdoor activities very close at hand.

Jobs may be a little harder to find than in Dallas or Houston but probably easier than Tulsa. Most houses are not air conditioned and its not really necessary. We have fairly cheap electric rates from hydroelectric damns on the Colombia river. Thus you can save $100-200 per month on the electric bill. Anyway, I’m very happy living here and, in many ways, wished I’d have moved here when I was younger. Although, I’ve lived some interesting places and wouldn’t trade that experience either.

We have no sales tax but property taxes are probably higher that most. As you know, they will find a way to get it (taxes) one way or another. All and all, Portland is a great place and I like the cooler weather and don’t mind the rain. I hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, please let me know?

[OSUchris]

Wow, thanks for the info Poke John... We are flying up there next weekend to check some neighborhoods out. So is the public transit as good as what I have heard. I would love to get rid of one of my vehicles and use public transit to get around. Any good restaurant recommendations seafood etc... Thanks for the info...

[Poke John I]

I didn't address the Elementary school question. In general, the better Elementary Schools will be in the better areas with a few exceptions. I'm sure most cities have a similar trend.

Below is a website that shows how Portland area schools scored in 2005.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pdfs/education/portland_scores_2005.pdf

This shows Portland schools but not Lake Oswego or Beaverton. I know Reike Elementary School has a very good reputation and grades high. It is located in Wilson Heights (near Wilson High School) in SW Portland and has been scheduled for closure several times. However, a few "heavy hitters" in the area always manage to save the school (Reike) and it doesn't close.

Public transportation is good but probably not so good for your purposes. It will be slow and frustrating. The Max (light-rail) does not go to Lake Oswego and only has one spoke through Beaverton. The areas around the Max lines are usually not the best. This would leave you with City Buses to see specific areas. I suggest you rent a car and you should be able to get a week-end rate. I would also suggest you rent a house or an apartment for the first year or two in order to give you time to better understand the city and respective areas.

[Poke John I]

For seafood restaurants there is a moderately-expensive chain called Jakes. They have two restaurants downtown and several around the suburbs. I little less expensive is a chain called "Newport Bay" which also has restaurants scattered around the city. The best Newport Bay (now called the Marina Fish House at Riverplace) is just south of downtown in an area just north of the I-84 bridge that floats on the west side of the Willamette River. There is a ramp down to the restaurant and they even have outdoor seating if the weather is good enough. There is free trolley service from downtown to this area and to Northwest. There are also a lot of restaurants in NW Portland on NW23rd st. This is more of a singles area or young professional area but an older part of town.

Portland has done a great job of saving their Downtown which still is one of the main shopping/dining areas. The west side of Portland in not an easy place to navigate around for a stranger. There are lots of hills to go around, rivers, creeks, gorges, and the original roads were ferry roads taking the Pioneers down to various Ferries. Any road with a ferry name in it will wind and meander around but sometimes they are still the best road. The east side of the river is better laid-out with more north and south running streets. Suggest you buy a "Thomas Guide" which is the best street guide around Portland, They are $13 at Costco or a little more at book stores or at the airport.

[OSUchris]

Thanks Poke John, I appreciate the info.

[legelegel]

The name of the City of Portland was determined by a coin flip between the two owners of the land. By chance it is was not Boston. Instead it got it's name from a town in Maine and not Massachusetts.