Portland, OR

[CookieCutter]

Ok so who here lives in Portland, or has lived in Portland? I'll be moving there after graduation and want to know pros/cons, cool places to hangout, where to live/not live. Thanks in advance!

[Elphaba]

Welcome Cookie! There are some wonderful folks here that live in the greater Portland area. I am only a visitor to that great city and I love it. Perhaps OneSnowyOwl is the best source of information even though she lives south of the city. If you don't get a response from anyone else, I recommend that you pm her for her thoughts.

The one thing that I can tell you is that the Portland gridlock is just as bad as Seattle's, if not worse. Give some consideration to that when you are choosing a place to live. Think about alternative transportation if you are not keen about spending hours commuting.

[la petite moi]

OMG, this is actually where nwlinkvxd and I want to move after graduation, as well.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Elphaba

The one thing that I can tell you is that the Portland gridlock is just as bad as Seattle's, if not worse. Give some consideration to that when you are choosing a place to live. Think about alternative transportation if you are not keen about spending hours commuting.

Portland has one of the best regional mass transportation systems, though. Seattle had a late start on mass transit, and the difference between the two cities is clear in that respect. Sure, Portland traffic may be bad, but there's always another choice--the MAX, the bus, the streetcar, etc. And lots of people in Portland bike.

In moving to Portland I would consider choosing a place close to the MAX line. The MAX connects you to everything in downtown Portland as well as the suburbs, and a lot of nice places to live have sprung up next to the MAX lines catering to commuters. Portland is a really great place to live, whether in the city itself or the suburbs. I used to live in a suburb of Portland, not far from the MAX line, and really enjoyed it (had to move away for college). The West side of greater Portland is home to major employers like Intel and Nike as well as a ton of retail and other tech businesses. I would say it's generally easy to find work here, the economy is doing well, and housing is not too expensive yet--provided you don't want to live downtown. The people are friendly of course, because this is Oregon.

I live about an hour and a half south of Portland, but I've spent a significant amount of time there, so if you have any specific questions, I can certainly answer them, or ask my roommate (also from Portland) to consult.

[CookieCutter]

Thanks for the info. I did read up on the public transportion (I've heard about the traffic and am very nervous about driving in large cities) and I am trying to find a place near the MAX. I was surprised rent is not as expensive as I thought it would be.

I've also heard it rains a lot. Not as bad as Seattle though? Probably my main concern is the job market. My boyfriend and I both need to find jobs. Is there a website catering to job openings in Portland? So far I've just been looking at generic sites, which have proven to be fairly useful.

[Elphaba]

Pst...Cookie. We will tell you the secret of PNW weather if you sign a secrecy statement.

[snowy]

www.oregonlive.com is the website for Portland's newspaper, the Oregonian.

Craigslist also has job listings. Monster.com, careerbuilder.com also have listings for the Portland area.

As for the weather...well, as Elphaba said...that's a secret!

[Sugar&Spice]

I'm moving to Portland as soon as I can get a job lined up. I'm heading there Thursday and have interviews scheduled for Friday morning. I have been applying for jobs I found on Craigslist and Jobster. I have also gotten into contact with Express Personnel, Staffing Solutions and Apple One which are staffing agencies. It seems to take forever to get anyone to look at your resume and application, but I think it is finally all starting to come together. Good luck with your search!

[passthru]

I can't be the only Portlander on TFP.. I feel so alone..

First, there are tons of things to do in Portland. I really love it, so unless you give me some interests or guidelines, I'll probably just go on and on about things that aren't relevant to what you're looking for.
Rent can vary a lot, even between relatively close areas. Most of the more expensive areas are trendy or hip, but they have enough draws that they are still nice for somebody who doesn't like that status. Most neighborhoods, especially in SE, have distinct personalities even when their main thoroughfares are 10 blocks from each other. You should be able to get a good general idea by looking through something like the Portland Mercury which frequently has articles about a specific area.
I think statistically there are more rainy days in Seattle. The real weather adjustment is to how overcast it is here. The rain we do get is generally lighter than rain in other areas, just more frequent. Unfortunately, people here do not know how to drive in conditions they haven't seen in 30 days or more. The first rainy day after summer will ruin many cars. 2 hour increases to your commute are not uncommon on the first rainy day. For your first fall season here, remember that and drive defensively.
As far as jobs, I've always had more luck with portland.craigslist.org than with oregonlive or the printed classifieds. Big job sites like onesnowyowl mentioned should all have search parameters for the Portland metro area (503/971). portlandjobfinder.com is a smaller site but I think it has grown in popularity. I've found promising leads there before.
Try scanning through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland%2C_Oregon for more info, you should find lots of things about the neighborhoods and parks/recreation available in the area. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask, I'll tell you what I know.

[CookieCutter]

Thanks so much for all the information, everyone. I guess my biggest stress is finding a job (I'm in the science industry, chemist). I will definitely check out all the suggested sites. I've heard lots of good things about Craigs List.

I'm assuming finding a house won't be that difficult. Unfortunately, I do have some limitations because we have two dogs. It doesn't sound like there are any areas to avoid, so we'll just look for something decent that is somewhat near public transportation.

I can't believe people have trouble driving in the rain, thank God it doesn't really snow in Oregon. My old roommate from Salem was terrified of driving in the snow when she came to Idaho for school. I will definitely be driving defensively!

My only other concern is that I have heard income taxes are rather high. Is it that bad???

[snowy]

We have no sales tax to compensate for the income tax.

If you're a chemist, look at Intel. They frequently hire people with chemistry degrees.