live in portland?

[merovingian]

I may end up there James.

We physically move into our house Oct. 1st. That gives me 6 days to decide if I want to drive 30 minutes down to Euege from Corvallis...

However, it is a 3,500 mile drive to get there and Im not sure I will be totally recovered in 6 days (epsecially since it wont be 6 days of resting)

-Joe

I'm considering moving to Portland myself. What made you choose Corvallis over the big, bad city?

[terin]

If you go to portland you'll know exactly why you don't want to live in portland :) that was my experience anyway.

Portland is a big city (for oregon). It is filled with big city ideals... namely a lot of traffic, angry people, and largish buildings. The city is nice compared to many cities. Take a 2 hour trip south to Corvallis... you'll see the difference.

Corvallis acts like it is a small down, with a cute downtown filled with 1-2 story buildings and tons of mom&pop joints (it even has a Rexall). There are parks everywhere, bike trails everywhere, and everyone I met seemed friendly and quite interested in simply stopping where they were to have a chat with some total stranger.

Also housing prices are MUCH cheaper in Corvallis. If you go just outside Corvallis (which is what we did) it goes down a ton as well. The numbers are like this:

1400 Sq. Ft house- Portland 500k+
Corvallis 300k+
Philomath (literally 8 minutes outside Corvallis) 160+

So... yeah price had a lot to do with it too :)

That has nothing to do with who's going to Eugene, where I have also lived briefly... and can say it has a great culture, high house prices, and is a little too run down for my taste. I like small towns (or at least small town feeling)

-Joe

[merovingian]

If you go to portland you'll know exactly why you don't want to live in portland :) that was my experience anyway.

Portland is a big city (for oregon). It is filled with big city ideals... namely a lot of traffic, angry people, and largish buildings. The city is nice compared to many cities. Take a 2 hour trip south to Corvallis... you'll see the difference.

Corvallis acts like it is a small down, with a cute downtown filled with 1-2 story buildings and tons of mom&pop joints (it even has a Rexall). There are parks everywhere, bike trails everywhere, and everyone I met seemed friendly and quite interested in simply stopping where they were to have a chat with some total stranger.

Also housing prices are MUCH cheaper in Corvallis. If you go just outside Corvallis (which is what we did) it goes down a ton as well. The numbers are like this:

1400 Sq. Ft house- Portland 500k+
Corvallis 300k+
Philomath (literally 8 minutes outside Corvallis) 160+

So... yeah price had a lot to do with it too :)

That has nothing to do with who's going to Eugene, where I have also lived briefly... and can say it has a great culture, high house prices, and is a little too run down for my taste. I like small towns (or at least small town feeling)

-Joe

Thanks for the info: I was in Portland last weekend actually and I can say that prices Depend on where you look - I saw a really nice 1800 sq foot suburban ranch for $390K in the west hills. $450K takes that up to 2500 sf down the road. I was originally considering Eugene, but then after a pass through Portland last weekend, I was really impressed by the place - that and I got to browse through Powell's after hearing of it since the early 90s.

I visited Corvallis for a week in 1990 and I loved it. But the job market kind of sucks in Portland. I can only think it's worse in Corvallis. Am I wrong? I still plan to check it out again but the clock was ticking.

Oregon seems like a really promising place to start an online business though due to its nice quality of life and low cost of living.

[terin]

The job market sucks in BOTH places, depending on what you call a job. Overall Corvallis is a horrid job market, it has a lot to do with the previous described mom&pop stores (Corvallis doesn't allow any major companies to build retail establishments inside the city limits) and a college full of educated students willing to work for peanuts.

However, since I run an online business and my wife is considering opening her OWN mom and pop store... problem solved!

A big "pro" of oregon is there is no sales tax and house insurance rates are fairly low, other than water damage there isn't too much that is dangerous in Oregon (occassion minor earthquakes).

A big con is that this is made up in an extremely high property tax, which gives you some incentive to rent, and a state income tax (In Florida state income tax is zero, as is TN, SD, and a number of other states).

Oregon has two weird situations: It has a massively high quality of life and a very high poverty rate. You'll notice the poverty in Eugene more than anywhere, but even Corvallis and Portland have a depressingly high number of people below the poverty line. This has some to do with the job market and some to do with the "culture" of Oregon.

Cost of Living: I would say Oregon has a great cost of living when you compare it to, say, California. It really isn't that great when you compare it to running an online business from South Dakota, Western New York or anywhere in Pennsylvania.

If you were going purely on the dollars and cents, SD wins hands down. No state income tax, AMAZINGLY low property prices (like 100k for a 2,500Sqft), and low property tax with a decent education system state wide.

However, we selected Oregon because we were impressed with the CULTURE of the area more than anything. The people we met and talked to convinced us that in Oregon it will be easier to find friends and have fun with outdoor activities... because when you work from home you sadly begin to miss the outside world. Here in Florida it is too hot, humid, and gross to go outside anyway... so hopefully Oregon will revitalize my will to go rock climbing, hiking, biking, and a variety of other activities I did a few years ago before FL and this brilliant VGsmart idea sucked it all away.

-Joe

PS: Thanks for moving this thread to it's own home!

[merovingian]

However, we selected Oregon because we were impressed with the CULTURE of the area more than anything. The people we met and talked to convinced us that in Oregon it will be easier to find friends and have fun with outdoor activities... because when you work from home you sadly begin to miss the outside world. Here in Florida it is too hot, humid, and gross to go outside anyway... so hopefully Oregon will revitalize my will to go rock climbing, hiking, biking, and a variety of other activities I did a few years ago before FL and this brilliant VGsmart idea sucked it all away.

-Joe

PS: Thanks for moving this thread to it's own home!

This is exactly why I'm considering it. Corvallis sounds like it may have many of the same problems as Santa Cruz (not all development is bad, especially when the economy is in the can) minus the high cost of living. So I guess what I'm looking for is a quiet townlet on the outskirts of Portland where I can live in peace so to speak and still have a city to visit when I need excitement. I live in Santa Cruz precisely so I stay active as I make the bucks from the tech industry so I know where you're coming from.

The other alternative for me is to go back east (I'm from upstate NY). That has its pros as well - I love summer, fall and thunderstorms (and winter's not so bad when you have a snowblower and work at home).

[Dan MacDonald]

There's a lot of new development in Corvallis, or fairly new. You can get a lot of house for a little money (relative to urban areas). You are sort of a half hour from anything, but if you're not commuting that might be just right.

[terin]

I know one game developer in Corvallis its self (www.kosumi.com), and Garage Games in Eugene (perhaps I will come visit them). I also know one reviewer who lives in Covallis and has requested I join his gaming group already (talk about having an "in" for reviews)


Corvallis is nice because of its strangely central location:

20 Minutes from Salem
30 Minutes from Eugene
40 Mins from the Pacific
40 Mins from the Mountains
1:30 from Portland

To top off the interesting-to-note list. I have been told that Corvallis lies the windward path of a mountain pass, which means it rains slightly less than in Portland and Eugene (I said slightly less). Those were some other factors that influenced us...

Apartments in Corvallis are not that expensive... I love Powell's books but a book store would not make me want to move near a big city. Plus it isn't like moving outside LA where there are a ton of industry related people that I could network with. Portland just doesn't have that saturation... anyone who IS there I can just take a day trip to visit.

-Joe

[terin]

Also consider this:

Consider moving to Washington State right on the border near Portland.

IE: Saint Helens, WA.

There you benefit from lower income tax (im not sure if WA has 0% state income tax) and lower property tax (by a long distance) and lower BUSINESS tax (if you are planning on running a business), and can drive 5-10 minutes and do all your shopping in Oregon and pay 0% sales tax.

Saves you a bundle :) This was reccomended to me by someone and seems like a great idea.

-Joe

[milieu]

Yup, no income tax in Washington. Sales tax is pretty high (8 something percent), but of course you don't pay that on everything so it's a fair trade.

One caveat about living in Washington...there is no income tax, but if you live right on the border and end up working at a job in Oregon, you will pay the full Oregon income tax. All of the commutes to/from Portland from the Washington side are frickin' horrible too.

I really liked Portland. Lots of good food, best bookstore (http://www.powells.com) in the world, the Japanese gardens, the Oregon Zoo, great museums, and the ever-more amusing antics of the Trailblazers. The traffic is getting really bad though, and there isn't much they can do about it. Jobs in technology tend to be more towards the hardware side, thanks to Intel & Tektronix, but I still managed to make a living without much effort.

Wow, you guys are really looking in the wrong places in Portland for houses! I just sold mine last year for $170k. The guy who bought it ended up selling it at the start of this year for around $200k. Take a look up in North Portland for much better prices. The houses are older, though...1950s are typical. But then I had a 6000 sq ft lot, and not a postage-stamp in a development.

[JoeMaru]

I think that KnifeEdge (http://www.knifeedge.com/) is in Corvallis (or near there). It is not game development as we would understand it, but they apparently do quite well. A friend of mine who is an experienced games artist works there.

[terin]

I honestly didn't look at Portland that much, the city just didn't impress me (despite having the best bookstore in the world). All the attractions just seemed like something I would like to do on a day-trip (like a zoo, or the waterway). I can stand an hour and a half drive for a day's entertainment.

So, yeah, I just glanced at the housing prices without looking for the "best deal"

Corvallis is certainly more expensive. We saw some condos and stuff in our price range (under 200,000), but only 2 BR stuff.

Outside Corvallis prices dropped dramatically. The house we purchased is:

3 BR, 2 Bath (one half-bath, one full), totally remodeled, has a Sunroom (glass window front porch) and a well landscaped front and back yard (back yard fenced in) with a detached 1 car garage. 1400 Sq. Ft, $168,000.

Everyone who sees it say is looks awesome.

-Joe

[Pyabo]

There you benefit from lower income tax (im not sure if WA has 0% state income tax) and lower property tax (by a long distance) and lower BUSINESS tax (if you are planning on running a business), and can drive 5-10 minutes and do all your shopping in Oregon and pay 0% sales tax.

Saves you a bundle :) This was reccomended to me by someone and seems like a great idea.


Just don't do this with a vehicle. It's illegal, and people get busted for it in WA all the time.

[terin]

*I* certainly can't do it, im moving to the middle of the state :)

... can't you have dual-state-citizenship? haha.

-Joe

[Larry Hastings]

Just don't do this with a vehicle. It's illegal, and people get busted for it in WA all the time.That's a little ambiguous. Do you mean "don't buy a vehicle in OR and import it to WA", or do you mean "don't buy arbitrary products and bring them into WA using a vehicle"?

I have long said that, if I was going to just pick a spot on the map and move there, it'd be Vancouver, WA. That's the city just over the bridge from Portland. My dad had a house there years ago. As already cited, this is one very good arrangement for cheap bastards.