It is true that Seattle has a terrible and worsening transportation infrastructure. Joe Taxpayer in Washington State has swallowed, hook line and sinker, the fantasy that they should be getting tax cuts at the same time as government services are increased. So, it's going to get much worse before it gets better. And it's not very fun now. Some days I spend, no kidding, fifty miles in first gear with my foot on the clutch. If I don't get out of here until mid-afternoon on Friday, it's probably going to take me three hours to get home. That's about seventy miles.

But yeah, the PNW is a bit like Heaven, and I can confidently recommend Portland or Eugene. There are many many happy people in both those cities. But Eugene is quite small comparatively. You cannot buy a bad cup of Jo here, and you have to look hard for a weak beer. And more liberal free rags than you can shake a stick at. Five national parks, many national forests, volcanos, thousands of fresh water lakes and streams, thousands of miles of hiking trails including the revered Pacific Crest Trail and many many many others, hundreds of miles of rugged coastline, much of which is totally undeveloped and inaccessible except by foot (Olympic National Park coastal trail), the nation's busiest seafood port (there's a lot of critters in our waters and especially North near Alaska), the finest oysters on the planet by far and away (Hood Canal).....the list goes on. PM me for a beer meeting and discussion, if you wish.

I recently bailed on Seattle as I could not stomach the ridiculous housing prices(*), traffic congestion and general urban density. I now live in Bellingham, a place much like Eugene. Small college town an hour to Seattle or Vancouver, lots of hippies, brew pubs, coffee houses, mt biking trails, mountains and water. Jobs are hard to come by but it worked out for me. Got a four bedroom, two garage, half acre house in the woods and a 15 minute commute for $300K.

While I cannot recommend Seattle, I would Portland.

(*) Bought a house in a decent 'hood for $230K in 1998 and sold it this year for $400K

Thanks Superman (how many times have we heard that phrase?!?). To be honest, I'm not really political, so when people ask me if I'm liberal or conservative...I'm never sure what to say. And I'm never just one way on everything. Although it sounds like this is my kind of crowd.

Being a designer, I think if I want to continue a successful career, I need to stay around more of a metropolitan area. As much as we're more smaller town people, it's harder for me to find a good job in smaller areas. We've heard a lot of the same things about Seattle (traffic, escelating costs, etc.) so that's why we're focusing on Portland. We can't wait to get out there and see!

SmileWavy

I need to remember this if people chastize me for trading my Boxster in on a C4 TIPTRONIC. ...because that might happen. (But only if I still have an early 911!)

Last I heard the fastest growing area in WA is the tri-cities area. Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco. lots of oppourtunity spurred by the 20+ year projected clean up of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

the Tri-cities is the only metropolitian area in the northwest with a cost of living below the national average acording to the ACCRA cost of living index.

average new home price is about $150K and there is lots of inventory. new developments are filling up every day and they sell about as fast as they go up.

I'm considering moving my office there.

PWS, i had hoped for more from you on this topic....

matt, would probally have to rent my house out for a few months after a move until i could find a place and sell. i am currently (not this moment but) at home with a map open hitting city web sites looking for employment oppertunities. as i said klamath falls has a job opening but it pays about 2/3 of what im making now. i do have nearly 300k equity in my house so cashing out will give me a nice start for a home purchase, and a low payment. that would have to be the key if i was to take a cut in pay as described above. the fact that i have no wife and kids it would allow for a place with some property and a junk house that i could rehab. i will need to be near a major city for employment but commuting is no issue.

the only down side is at 3500 a month and the cost of living just slightly less as described i would still have to pay the same for porsche parts. is there a cost decrease wayane offers for out of state purchases?

thanks for the input by the locals by the way. and the el paso thing?? cliff you know me well enough to know my act would not work in texas....

http://bluebook.state.or.us/local/cities/bycounty.htm

No sales taxes on parts from CA. That will save you 8.25%

Yeah, but I bet I can't get overnight shipping for UPS ground prices...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by k911sc
[B]PWS, i had hoped for more from you on this topic....

Turn your California clock back a few years, and you pretty much have Oregon & Washington, politically and economically...Portland currently has 2 candidates for Mayor, since the incumbent has announced she'll not be running again. The campaign seems to be each candidate trying to outliberal the other. So, plan on taxes and regulation going up. Avoid Multnomah county..it has an additional income tax over and above the punative 9% State income tax. As much as Eugene pretends to be a city, the Portland area is Oregon's only city of real size. I avoid going to either area as much as possible...but hey, I'm a country boy conservative. You may be a liberal government worker.
The job picture in Oregon seems to be improving, but not as well as in Washington. This because of Oregon's unfriendly biz climate. If I'm not mistaken, Oregon is still among the top 5 in UNemployment rankings. On the plus side, your $300K equity could buy a nice home in parts of Oregon. Oh, and it does rain a lot up here...that part is true.
A legal brush burning day here...and I have a LOT of trimmings to burn...bring your hot dogs & buns! ;) outahere!


SmileWavy

can anybody tell me about the klamath falls area? i hear white trash (not that it is a bad thing), and the climate can be compared to northern central (redding/red bluff) california.

i have to this point concentrated my search/feelers to oregon. i think thats the speed of life i am looking to have. when i think washington i think starbuck and curt kobain.... i am looking for a place that i can find employment and live out where i can not see street lights at night, where the end of my driveway is a 911 type road, and i can kill my dinner.

and have a burn pile once or twice a winter, sitting around a burn pile is like being on vacation at my folks' rural cabin. forget the hot dogs, im thinking a flask of some ten-high whiskey, for warming purposes only.. i know that logic seems flawed being there is a fire burning but you gotta keep the innards all warm too.

thanks for the climate insite pws, politically and weather wise.

Actually alcohol lowers your body temperature.... ;) (Doesn't stop the flask from being tucked away at the slopes though..lol)

BTW, I find this thread very interesting as I knew just about zero about these two states.

K-falls used to be (literally) cowboys and indians...but I haven't been there for decades, so things have probably changed. Still, a booming metropolis, it ain't. If you're into boating...Klamath lake is just North of town...fishing, water skiing, sailing, whatever floats your boat. K-falls climate? "High desert"...hot & dusty summers, cold winters...like below freezing, with snow cold winters.

Your absolutely right about the state income taxes. I also know that your schools in the poorer counties absolutely suck, but they certainly can't be worse that the Los Angeles Unified School District (my kids don't attend there, were in another school district). Your right, for what I pay in taxes, I don't get much. On the other hand, I have the priviledge of paying to put someone else's kids through school, who can't afford to pay to feed, clothe and educate their own progeny. Hmmm? any major motion picture and television studios in Texas where I can get a job doing what I do now?

Neilk:

I was down in El Paso yesterday and today, boy, what a 3rd world country that is!!! I walked over to Juarez, MX and that's a REAL 3rd world country!!! I decided I should get out of Dodge (Juarez) before the sun went down. There's something like 750,000 people in El Paso, and 2.5 million in Juarez just a few blocks over the border. Not my cup of tea, or beer or whatever