Moving to the PNW... Tips/Suggestions

I grew up living all over Portland and Beaverton and now live in Tacoma. It really all just depends what your flavor is. I have my own personal preferences and biases of different areas but they are just that, others may agree or disagree. I have also lived in Eugene and had grandparents in Salem. Portland traffic during rush hour and rush hour is really 2:30pm to about 6:30-7:00pm is as bad as anywhere else Seattle and LA included. The one difference that I have noticed is that Portland traffic is a little better in non-peak hours and days where as in Seattle/Tacoma area you can have traffic at any time for any reason. If you do not like or want traffic the entire metro areas of Portland and Seattle are jacked there is no safe place from traffic and it will get worse with each year. When I last lived in Portland I lived in NE Portland the hipster zone and worked in Tigard/Tualatin area in a semi yuppie zone. They were about 15mi apart and I would leave early in the morning 5-5:30am to avoid traffic and it would take me 20-30mins to get to work from cross town. At the end of the day getting off at 4:30-5pm it would take me 1.5-2hrs to get home the same 15 miles and I would be dead when I got home. I would be lucky to be home by 6. To describe the difference in drivers between Portland and Seattle is Portland drivers are dumbasses and Seattle drivers are Assholes. People seem a tad friendlier in Oregon vs Washington but again that's just me. Both Portland and Seattle have excellent food and beverage options I would give a slight edge to Portland just because you can actually to to places on non peak hours and weekends easier. Even though this is a truck forum Portland's mass transit is far better than Seattle's. if you don't feel like driving to downtown for a game or show or Saturday market etc it's pretty easy to get around via bus or light rail. I personally like SW Portland, NW Portland, NE Portland and the Eastern Part of Beaverton like the west slope Raleigh Hills area. SE Portland not so much, Gresham and Troutdale for sure no. Outer Eastside Portland as the locals call it the 100's not so much either. Wilsonville is a no go, as well as Woodburn no go also. Salem is not bad at all if you can find a job there, it's slower and still close to beaches and mountains like Portland and it's not far away from Portland to play there on the weekends and not have to live with the traffic daily. Salem is more affordable also. Coming from Flagstaff as others have Mentioned Bend may be an easier transition, there is not as much rain, I call it doom and gloom. The darkness effects me more than the rain I could care less about the rain but day after day going to work in the dark and going home in the dark sucks, if you work a regular 7-4 or 8-5 don't count on being in the sun for about 5-6 months. Bend is high desert climate and from what I hear has good food and bear also. Lots to do outdoors all over the PNW. When I moved to Tacoma I moved literally next door to my work as I heard about the traffic in the area and did not want the commute nightmares that I was all to familiar with. It takes me 4-5mins to walk to work and I could not be happier, I could never go back to the 1hr plus commutes it was literally killing me. In Washington anything from Tummwater to Marysville along the i5 corridor or 405 for that matter and you will be dealing with traffic nightmares. So if you find somewhere in the Seattle area just make sure you live close to where you work.

 

I forgot to add that if money and circumstances did not matter I would probably look to live outside of Woodland, LaCenter, or Kalama Wa up in the hills tucked away in the forrest and work from home or at worst commute to Vancouver or some other area in SW Wa. I could also settle for working and living in or around Vancouver, the Ridgefield/Battleground area is nice and if you live and work in Wa then you will not have to pay income tax and is close enough to Oregon to avoid paying very much in sales tax as there is no sales tax in Oregon. The only downside is that you would have to still pay for sales tax for automobile purchases and in Wa you have to register and get tags every year vs in Oregon it is every two years for older cars. New cars you can get registration for up to 3 maybe 4yrs initially. Vancouver Wa is nicknamed Vantucky for its hillbillyish carachters sprinkled throughout. If you see WA plates in Portland they are usually from Vancouver and are either driving too slow or too fast never in between. Same with all the Prius drivers in Portland either too slow or too fast. The catch that all to many get caught into is living in Vancouver and working in Oregon it sucks because you still have to pay income tax plus you get caught up driving on one of two bridges to and from home and work and the backups at the bridges suck royal. As I said if you can find a job in Vancouver and live in or around Vancouver that would not be so bad.

 

Thanks for all your input dude! We definitely want to stay away from all that bad traffic so we'll stick to some of those smaller towns/suburbs that have been mentioned. Vancouver definitely sounds like our speed though. I believe with my girlfriend's job, she has to get licensed in the same state of our physical living address, so if we living in Vancouver, she has to work in WA.

 

We'll be touching down tomorrow and I'm already looking forward to all the great breweries. There is SO many... Any recommendations on your favorites?

 

Sure,

I have more options, but this is my short list:

Portland:

• Rogue

Tacoma/Gig Harbor:

• 7-Seas Brewing
• Engine House 9

Seattle-Area:

• 9lb hammer (Georgetown - Seattle)
• Hellbent (Lake City - Seattle)
• Two Beers (SoDo - Seattle)
• Rubens Brews (Ballard - Seattle)
• Stoup Brewing (Ballard - Seattle)
• Green Frog (Issaquah) - Also a Rogue Brewery
• Sumerian (Woodinville)
• Triple Horn (Woodinville)

Everett/Mukilteo:

• Scuttlebutt
• Diamond Knot

Bellingham:

• Boundary Bay
• Kulshan

Spokane:

• No-Li

 

Hell yeah! Thanks man. This helps because I was definitely overwhelmed by the 350+ listed on WashingtonBeer.com

 

If you can get over to Ellensburg, head to Iron Horse and drink an Irish Death for me!

 

Ill stand by these two all day long. Seven Seas has a new Tap Room in Tacoma now too thats huge. A couple others in Tacoma that i know of that are so so.

Might consider checking out The Red Hot for a hot dog and a awesome beer selection.
http://www.redhottacoma.com/

 

I live in snohomish which is small town but have the 40 min commute. Bellingham sounds right up your alley. Small but not too small, big enough to have a fair amount of health services and not a very red area in town.

 

From what you describe, Bend and or Central Oregon will be your best bet.

Portland/Beaverton area is horrific with traffic on weekdays. Ranked in the top 10 most congested cities in the US. Beautiful city, but the bridges are major choke points. Not bad if you avoid rush hours, but the rush hours have been increasing in duration over the past few years.

 

@jewish and @irish_11 and anyone else... You been to Island Hoppin in Eastsound? Worth the ferry ride out? Seems like a cool place to go

 

I'm excited to check Bellingham out. I did apply to a position at Western so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We definitely experienced the traffic yesterday in small areas and it sucked. Not digging it too much but getting through it because my GF seems a bit more interested. Bend/Central OR is too inland for us, I think. I've heard great things about Bend though!

 

If you can you should look into forest grove, banks and Gaston. It's a little west of Hillsboro but has the touch and feel of living in the country. Traffic isn't a issue in that area. One positive thing about it is it's right around those city area so shopping isn't so far.
That area is pretty much between the Oregon coast and Portland.

 

My in laws have a vacation house on San Juan island and some friends I grew up with now live in East Sound. Its totally worth the ferry ride. May thru about Sept the orcas are consistently up and down the west side of San Juan. We usually see them around 3-4 in a weekend. All the islands are great but San Juan and Orcas have the most to see.

 

I've been out there just to see if a few times. Nothing specific jumps out as places you really NEED to visit/see, but there are some cool things out there. Bremerton is an old military town with a very working class feel. I'm sure there are some breweries out there to check out. Shelton has Vance Creek Bridge (closed to the public, but there are ways out there). It is the second highest railway bridge in the US. If you are scared of heights its not for you (300+ ft down), but it is something fun to see.

 

I suggest bagby hot springs / silver falls / columbia river gorge!!!

There are a bunch of amazing things...it's magical out there! My avatar is in Oregon too!

Portland is legit if you like weird =)

 

Thanks man. We'll probably go out there on Monday.

Checked out some suburbs yesterday and didn't really dig it. Loved Corvallis though

 

We have a train tressle like that but not as high....although its safe if a train goes on it I wouldnt be up there...

 

I live in Mill Creek/Everett and commute to Seattle. Don't do that.

The biggest issue will be how much you want to spend on rent/mortgage. A recent report came out, and 40% of all houses in Seattle are listed for more than $1M.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/y...in-seattle-are-listed-at-more-that-1-million/

I'd also suggest Bellingham if you can swing it. Snohomish is a cute little town on the river, and I go there often. I would work there if I could find something that paid decent. Not much in the way of breweries, although Prison Break and SnoTown both opened in the last year and Sound to Summit is right up Hwy 9. Edmonds is a great town with lots of shops/restaurants, but again, is spendy to live there.

 

Been up there a few times, mainly lopez and camped on san juan once Time it right and youll see a ton of orcas just cruising. I've lived here my entire life and didnt get out there until I was 25 ish. Id save a trip out there until spring/summer when its actually fun to be outside.