Moving to Portland...crazy?

My wife and I are thinking of moving our 3 year old daughter, baby boy, tikis, paintings and 50's furniture to Portland, Oregon from San Francisco.

Are we crazy?

And, does anybody know someone who works in the design or advertsing biz in the area with any words of advice? (Or job leads?)

Thanks to the insane home prices in the SF Bay area, we are prepared to move with no job, and freelance or just "do art" for awhile 'til I find a job.

The more I hear about the rain being an issue, the more I think that the fog here is just as bad. Am I right?

We have a few friends and family who live in Portland, but we think that their opinions may be biased as they want us to move up there. We really love Portland when we visit, and have been talking about this for a few years now. Any neighborhoods that are more kid friendly? Any great elementary schools? We love living in the city and enjoy walking to neighborhood bars, shops, restaurants, etc.

I know I'm asking for a lot of information, and I really appreciate any feedback (biased or otherwise) from my fellow tikiphiles.

Thanks,

David

Well, a few TCers live here... Tikitronic & TikiMaxton are involved in design & advertising, but the job market here is not good. On the other hand, I understand SF isn't great either, and Portland's housing is much, much cheaper.

The rain is somewhat lame, true, but it's not anywhere near as bad as Seattle or farther north. And summers are very nice, sunny, 80-90 degrees. The good news is that, unlike Seattle & north WA, you don't get unremitting grey for weeks on end. The weather breaks most days.

The neighborhood we live in is family-friendly and extremely walkable-- inner SE. However, good-sized houses near here run $200,000-350,000 (nice 3-4 bedroom places). We rent, so mrtikibar & TikiMaxton might be better resources for housing prices. I'm not sure about schools-- you may have read about Oregon's budget issues, which are effecting the education system pretty negatively right now. Portland's public schools are suffering particularly badly. However, Oregon historically has pretty decent public schools, so I am still hoping that it turns around when the economy picks up.

All I can say is, as a native Portlander who moved to San Francisco -

TAKE ME WITH YOU!!! :wink:

Seriously. Job market bad, quality of living good. Enjoy. I hope to get back there some day, too.[

I neglected to mention this before-- Melintur and his wahine moved to Portland from SF pretty recently. They didn't come to last month's Happy Hour, though, so I don't know how they're liking it here so far...

Frenchy's right in her take... to elaborate on the "walkable" aspect-- we live within an easy walk of 4 grocery stores, 3 second-run movie theaters, innumerable resturants and bars, and 3 shopping districts. Portland is largely mult-use zoned, so most residential areas have commercial areas nearby. Like SF, but not so hilly.

If you move down & you're one of the Halloween-TCers, there's a terrific haunted attraction that a few of us volunteer for too!

Kim and Frenchy,

Thanks for the information. Everything helps. We're actually flying up this weekend to look more closely at neighborhoods and houses. (Kim, if you don't mind me asking, what's the name or zip code for your neighborhood?)

How'd you know that Halloween is my favorite holiday!

Thanks,
David

I almost forgot one of the big reasons for moving to Portland...a couple of years ago, my wife promised that I could build a tiki bar if we moved. This was when she wanted to go more than I did...We're both about equal in our desire to move now.

I'll have to reread the home bar name thread to find a name that isn't taken. :)

Kingslod,
I work in commercial animation. Our sister company does print and design work for packaging, websites, brochures and the like. I know several people in agencies here and would be happy to at least give you their names. What is it that you do?

Maggie and I live in an neighborhood (St. Johns) that is very much up and coming, with improvements to the downtown area (really more like a small town all its own), and a complete refurbishment of our historic bridge (designed by the same architect who did the Golden Gate, but 7 years earlier. He always claimed the St. Johns bridge was his favorite, till the day he died). We're about 20 minutes from downtown. Many houses (including ours) are on double lots, and it's easy to find a 100 year-old house if you want one. Our 4 bedroom house on a double lot with 2 additional outbuildings cost us $167k three and a half years ago. We moved from the bay area too, so of course we were shocked at the low prices.

This is an excellent restaurant city; a lot of really good comfort food, too - you won't see a lot of artsy, skimpy "haute cusine" here, just really great food.

We have 2 classic tiki bars in town, the Alibi and Jasmine Tree. In June there will be a Tiki Crawl that will include those bars, live entertainment, and a tour of 3-5 home tiki bars.

Portland has something I've never encountered in another city, though I'm told they exist elsewhere: Theater Pubs. In my humble opinion, these are one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. You get to see a second-run movie, sit and eat pizza and drink excellent beer. And the movies are like $3. You'd have to find a sitter, though, as kids aren't allowed. There are at least 7 of these in town.

Don't know how you or your wife feel about nice clothes, but unless you want to stick out like a sore thumb (as Maggie chooses to do), leave your interesting, formal and stylish clothing in SF - Portlanders don't know how to dress. Shorts and hoodies can be seen even at events like the opera or theater. Columbia Sportswear is the uniform, and God help you if you violate it. The exceptions? Punks and Goths are still in style here. Mullets can be seen from time-to-time. Frankly, the whole town could use a visit from the Fab 5.

There are a lot of upscale suburbs to be found here, if that's your thing. Personally, I much prefer the true Portland neighborhood scene, as all the 'burbs here look pretty much like any burb anywhere else, 'but some people prefer that. Among the places to consider if this is what you want: Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Tigard, Cedar Hills. Troutdale if you're hurting for money.

Other things to know: Some people never get used to the weather. Ever. Even some natives. Our solution is to travel as much as possible between November and March. Spring is beautiful, but Summer is the Great Portland Season. People here don't leave the area during the summer. It's just too nice. Nothing here is pronounced the way it looks like it should be. The town of Aloha is pronounced Uh LOE uh. Just one example.

Email me offlist and I'll be happy to answer any more questions you might have, and help in any way I can.

Mark

Theatre Pubs are great. My dad was in the theatre business, operating the Blue Mouse and the Bagdad here in Portland. About the time he was getting ready to retire most of the big theatres, like the Bagdad, were either closing or "chopping up"--adding screens to stay competitive. He sold the business to one of the Moyer Brothers who seperated the balcony from the main floor and added a small
third screen behind the stage. I understood the economics of Moyer's decision but I hated to see the historic building hacked up.
Then a few years back the McMenamin brothers (of local brewing fame) bought the place and returned it to its past glory, tearing out the extra screens and adding some mighty tasty microbrews. I love those guys.
And if you are thinking about moving to Portland you might check out The Bagdad Pub
and the nearby neighborhoods. Kim and Tikitronic live nearby as do I.

Tikimama and I are extremely happy in Portland. It's taking us a bit to unpack because we're too busy with the nightlife and sights! One of these weekends we'll definitely need to stay home...

I say MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! :)

On 2004-02-02 08:49, Kim wrote:
I neglected to mention this before-- Melintur and his wahine moved to Portland from SF pretty recently. They didn't come to last month's Happy Hour, though, so I don't know how they're liking it here so far...

Frenchy's right in her take... to elaborate on the "walkable" aspect-- we live within an easy walk of 4 grocery stores, 3 second-run movie theaters, innumerable resturants and bars, and 3 shopping districts. Portland is largely mult-use zoned, so most residential areas have commercial areas nearby. Like SF, but not so hilly.

If you move down & you're one of the Halloween-TCers, there's a terrific haunted attraction that a few of us volunteer for too!

Loving it!

Halloween attraction, you say? (ears perk up)... When I lived in SoCal, I worked the Halloween Haunt at Knott's Scary Farm for about six successive years and have been dying to help out in that fashion again anywhere. Count me in for help/work/voulenteering!!!

weee!!

Tikitronic & I live in the Belmont/Sunnyside neighborhood, 97214, on SE 29th Ave. mrtikibar lives in the Hawthorne district, which is very close by-- within 20 blocks or so. The Laurelhurst area (just up the street from us) is nice too, though the houses are more expensive. Inner NE, the Albert Arts district (97211) is up & coming too, as is the Sellwood area (97202).

And the Theater Pubs are fabulous! It makes for great cheap entertainment.

Regarding Halloween—the haunt is Baron Von Goolo’s Museum of Horrors and Something Else (something else changes year-to-year). It was The Petting Zoo of the Unsettling 2 years ago, and last year it was The Freakshow of Freakish Freaks. The haunt is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun, and the other folks are terrific. Tikitronic & I, TikiMaxton & the Mrs., and Maori-Man are (I think) the current TCers on board, and the haunt overall is populated by grown-up Halloween junkies, designers, and other creative types, so the quality & originality is much higher than average. But I may possibly be baised—look at the website (designed by Tikitronic!) and see if it looks like something you’re interested in.

http://www.baronvongoolo.com/

Anyone who’s interested in being part of the fun can PM or email me & I can get you in touch with Dave, who runs the show. We’re actually having a brainstorming meeting tonight for next year’s haunt!

Additionally, kingslod, if you’re going to be in town & would like to try & meet up with at least Tikitronic & I, feel free to PM or email! We might not have all the answers, but we’re friendly!

Portland has turned out to be a great place to live.

Work is slow, and the winter grey season can be trying, but in the 2 years we've lived here we've found alot of reasons to stay.

Not least of which, the Haunt that Kim was talking about. We thought it was going to be a short term fun thing to do, but it has turned into a hobby, and something of a community too.

[ Edited by: Tikitronic on 2004-02-02 16:23 ]

Damn! Thank you so much! Everyone! I really appreciate all the feedback! I've gone exclamation point happy!

I'm feeling much, much better about our plan!

Belmont/Sunnyside is one of the neighborhoods we're looking at this weekend...As well as Hawthorne and Laurelhurst. Currently we live in between the Mission and Noe Valley in SF and love being able to walk to restaurants, shops, etc. We'd like to have that again, or maybe even live amongst the trees!

Looking forward to buying everyone a drink at the NW Crawl! Hopefully we'll be moved by then...

David

BTW...Great web site! Love the animation....

On 2004-02-02 12:35, Kim wrote:
But I may possibly be baised—look at the website (designed by Tikitronic!) and see if it looks like something you’re interested in.
http://www.baronvongoolo.com/

Thanks!
The TC'ers involved in the haunt are trying to work in a Tiki element to this years haunt. If we get away with it, I'm hoping to be able to work that into 2004 Von Goolo website as well.
Fingers officially crossed on that one.

We have a theatre pub in Oakland, and the programmer is on this board, so if he sees this thread, he will blow a gasket.

On 2004-02-03 13:47, martiki wrote:
We have a theatre pub in Oakland, and the programmer is on this board, so if he sees this thread, he will blow a gasket.

That will be one happy gasket!

/rimshot

It's been a while since I have posted, but I too find myself in a similar situation. I will be moving to Vancouver, WA. I just got back from a visit and liked it enough to plan a move from Atlanta (primarily for a job, but the visit to the Alibi was also quite convincing!)

I am a bit reserved since I am moving to start my career. It's a massive undertaking especially since it's my first "real" job out of college. However, after visiting Vancouver and taking the short ride over to Portland, I don't feel so bad, especially since there are so many TC'ers already established there. I will definately miss the Atlanta Trader Vic's, but I guess the Alibi and the Jasmine Tree will help fulfill my tiki fix. :)

I have decided to live in Vancouver because that's where the business is and also (correct me if I'm wrong) there is no state tax. From what I gather folks that live in Vancouver do the bulk of their shopping in Portland since there is no sales tax. It seems like the best of boths worlds to me!

I will be arriving in Vancouver on March 4th. My fiance will not be out until the end of April, so I will have tons of free time. It would be nice to meet some of the NW tiki folks and gain some insider info on the two cities. I can't wait to go!!

--Matt

[ Edited by: Matt Tiki on 2004-02-12 23:51 ]

Matt, you're right-- no state income tax in Washington, so if you work & live in Vancouver you'll avoid paying Oregon income tax.

Traffic between Vancouver and Portland can get pretty bad at times-- primarily rush hour-- but we have freinds & relatives that live in Vancouver with no apparent ill-effects. I personally prefer Portland, but if your job is in Vancouver, save yourself the commute & just visit a lot!