Another considering Eugene post, TIA (Portland, Lake Oswego: real estate, rent, condos)

[torinn]

Hello everyone. I am delighted to still see activity on these forms. I had an account a long time ago, but have since forgotten it. Ah well, I'm hoping the discussion is still enlightening and valuable. I haven't come across many posts beyond 2020 and hate to contribute to yet another post considering relocation, but here goes. (First, some background which may be useful.)



My wife and I are currently in central Florida, but are looking to relocate to either Oregon or Washington. She has family in Portland and has wanted to live in or near the Portland area for many years. Similarly, I've been drawn to the Pacific Northwest for the climate, the beautiful outdoors, and the assumed cultural improvements.


Politically, we are both a little left of center with some social issues being much further left. Florida has become hostile to some of our friends, and who knows how far things will go. We'd just as soon move to a more pleasant climate with more outdoor options, and with a friendlier, human-centric political environment.



We are planning for retirement and while I'd prefer to live some place more affordable, my research so far has left me wanting for cities that are 1) affordable (read: lower COL than central Florida), 2) fairly liberal, and 3) offer a more comfortable climate for outdoor activities. My wife on the other hand is less concerned about affordability and more concerned with how happy she'd be. Both viewpoints are valid and taken into consideration. Admitedly I'm having a hard time with the PNW simply because it seems, at least lately, more expensive than where we are.


One other note, I've been reading for months how homelessness and crime are out of control, both in Eugene and in Portland, with no resolutions in sight. People seem to have given up on the local municipalities for solutions. I've also read though, that these data points are largely spellcraft from the "far right" who paint a picture of urban hell. My sister-in-law in Portland says it's not really that bad, but she's also not in downtown Portland. It's hard to know what to believe these days, so I'm hoping to get some first-hand accounts from residents.


On our list of places to visit (to see if we like the area) are Eugene, Portland, Seattle(ish), and Bellingham. I work remote for a FinTech company and my wife would quit her job for a part-time/hourly something. We'd take a bit of a haircut in pay, but would still be in the mid-100s.


We'd likely rent first, but are looking for good areas in both Eugene and Portland, that are safe, convenient, and offer easy access to fantastic outdoors. Oh, and they should be dog-friendly. What are the areas to avoid? Is Eugene and Portland as bad as they say? I hear Washington has more trees, and Eugene is mostly farmland - is this true? What is traffic like? Is it really as "gray" as some say?



Thank you all in advance!

[AnythingOutdoors]

The problems in Portland are somewhere in the middle between right-wing hype and leftist ideologues that won't (or can't) admit that anything is wrong. Here's a recent report from highly factual centrist local media:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMnzeq7uNlE

[ejisme]

Eugene and Portland are generally safe, just like any major city nation-wide (Seattle too). They are big cities, so some areas are certainly nicer than other, and some you'd want to avoid especially at night. You'd likely recognize these areas pretty quick after visiting, or can probably figure it out on line from crime maps, etc. People actually live in condos in downtown Portland and survive and thrive. I assume they do in Seattle too. Not sure if Eugene and Bellingham are high-rise condo towns.

There are lots of trees around and in Eugene and Portland. The Willamette River runs down the valley from south of Eugene to Portland... hence the Willamette Valley. The Valley is a rich agricultural valley that has been growing a wide variety of crops for more than 150 years, so where crops are grown there will be fewer trees, but not like Iowa or Kansas. Plus, the edge of the valley has two mountain ranges west (Coast Range) and East (Cascade Range) that are heavily tree covered. You'll see trees most anywhere in the Willamette Valley.

I'm most familiar with the Portland area since I'm from there and most of my family is still there. I come in from the east on I-84 from Idaho and usually take I-205 around to West Linn and now further out to Newberg. I notice the homeless camps along the freeway have been somewhat cleaned up, but they absolutely STOP at the Multnomah (has the camps) and Clackamas (no camps) County line. Even downtown Portland isn't as bad as it was a couple years ago, but still there are camps in some parks, visible drug users and lots of pan-handlers, but again not as bad as it was. They've been moved somewhere. I'm just not sure where, but the city made an effort to cleanup downtown and it's worked somewhat.

So, where to live. I'd recommend any Clackamas County town. Most were small towns on their own years ago that have been swallowed up into Portland Suburbia. Most expensive will be Lake Oswego and West Linn, or anywhere in the West Hills. Oregon City, Gladstone, Milwaukie, Clackamas, Estacada, Molalla, Canby and others all have very nice neighborhoods, and their own downtowns, with various real estate prices. If you don't mind living further out... Mom's in Newberg, OR now, which is very safe, tree covered, and still only 30 minutes or so out of Portland (traffic can make it much longer). A bit further would be McMinnville, Or. Also pretty nice and a bigger town of it's own about halfway between the Oregon Coast and Portland.

Months of gray skies is not wholly accurate. October to April can be pretty gray and wet. Hence why the trees and crops grow so well. It's not gray every day, but can stretch on for a week or two before a nice sunny afternoon or two. We visit every Thanksgiving for many years for a week. Some years it has rained every day, sometimes for 2 or 3 days without ever stopping. Spring and fall are more mixed... some nice sunny days, maybe a week at a time, then maybe rain for several days. Then mid June to early October are fabulously sunny and beautiful. But, even when it rains you can pretty much do everything outdoors in the rain just like in the sun. Just wear the right clothes and use an umbrella. It's not usually very windy, so umbrellas actually work.

Good Luck to you and your family.

[torinn]

@AnythingOutdoors Thanks for sharing that news video, and for clarifying where Portland problems sit on the political scale. Can you speak to the surrounding neighborhoods at all, not downtown Portland? Do these issues extend into the subburbs and surrounding areas?


@esjime Thank you for the thoughtful response, and for suggestions for locations to investigate.


What are property taxes like? Is a guess of $4000-$5000 per year too low or high?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Anywhere in the PNW is going to be high cost of living. Eugene specifically has been in housing shortage mode for over 30 years. That keeps rent and home purchase high.

Eugene has always been known for being both liberal and crunchy granola. There are lots of activities linked to the university, lectures, concert, street fairs. There is a homeless problem, but not as bad as Portland or Seattle. You would need to go and walk around and see for yourself whether or not it falls within your tolerance range.

I can't think of any city anywhere in the country that is known to be liberal that does not have a homeless problem and high taxes, which make for a high cost of living. So if you are looking for liberal, you will be comparing apples to apples when you compare one city to another.
.

[ejisme]

Not sure how accurate this is, but it is a property tax estimator. I'd guess there are some exemptions that might lower your property taxes based on your personnel and property situations.

https://smartasset.com/taxes/oregon-...tor#WK3YCn9cju

[AnythingOutdoors]

Originally Posted by torinn

@AnythingOutdoors Thanks for sharing that news video, and for clarifying where Portland problems sit on the political scale. Can you speak to the surrounding neighborhoods at all, not downtown Portland? Do these issues extend into the subburbs and surrounding areas?


@esjime Thank you for the thoughtful response, and for suggestions for locations to investigate.


What are property taxes like? Is a guess of $4000-$5000 per year too low or high?

Residential neighborhoods outside the downtown core are generally fine, though public land along freeways/roads and other such places may have encampments.

Property taxes in OR are a combination of home value and taxing districts, so it's difficult to generalize. Anywhere between 0.5% and 1.2% of home value is fairly normal.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by torinn

Eugene is mostly farmland
Thank you all in advance!

The city of Eugene is wedged into the bottom of the Williamette Valley where the town literally gets funneled into the hills. Due north/northwest of town IS the valley as it opens up and it is a lot of farmland. But there are trees galore on the hills in south Eugene and in the mountains in the near distance. Thickest and greenest forests in the country. The west side of the Cascades are stunningly green with flowing streams and rivers everywhere.

In the flat part of Eugene it is converted farm land and has a lot less Furr trees and conifers.

An ariel view (or one from Skinner's Butte) of Eugene in the fall is interesting because in town you see all the colors of the trees with changing leaves and in the back ground you see this vast backdrop of green in the hills. Very pretty.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Anywhere in the PNW is going to be high cost of living. Eugene specifically has been in housing shortage mode for over 30 years. That keeps rent and home purchase high.

Eugene has always been known for being both liberal and crunchy granola. There are lots of activities linked to the university, lectures, concert, street fairs. There is a homeless problem, but not as bad as Portland or Seattle. You would need to go and walk around and see for yourself whether or not it falls within your tolerance range.

I can't think of any city anywhere in the country that is known to be liberal that does not have a homeless problem and high taxes, which make for a high cost of living. So if you are looking for liberal, you will be comparing apples to apples when you compare one city to another.
.

On a per-capita basis, Eugene has a WORSE homeless problem than either Portland or Seattle.

[SkyLark2019]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

On a per-capita basis, Eugene has a WORSE homeless problem than either Portland or Seattle.

That is really interesting.