I'd have to go down and visit Mt Hood for a day to know if I'd move there. Then on another day visit Tigard. We had ski traffic problems up here too, but I'm told they are now resolved. Ours was the last 1/2 hour to the mountain.My best friend lived in metro portland. She's given up skiing due to the traffic..
Yes, for me it's primarily the laws and policies. Even if I moved to a more liberal area of Montana such as Bozeman I'd still be in a red state. Not to get into politics - it's just my preference!I guess I shouldn't speak for everyone, but it seems like what matters, no matter if a person prefers to be in a red or blue state, is the laws and policies of the state, rather than the geographic extent of either party's dominance. I imagine that since rural areas are conservative, nearly all states are going to have big swaths of red (except probably Hawaii?), but it often doesn't really matter because relatively few people live in those places.
Thanks, yes I really appreciate all the information!.... My house in Spokane will be going on the market in May. We are building a new one, not leaving the area. Anyway I'm your Spokane source if you have questions. I've been posting positives in this thread since the beginning.
Thanks for the insight!I lived and worked in Portland from 2012-2018. Moved there from the DC area.
I skied Mt Hood Meadows 2 or 3 times before I started driving to Bachelor instead.
The first time, the primary part of Meadows was pretty icy. I was advised by a young man that it wasn't really suitable for an intermediate skier who doesn't know the mountain. So I skied the green trails off to the left and worked on skills.
When I did get to the main body of Meadows on another day, I couldn't tell much about where I was. All I could think was "why don't you put some money into some damn SIGNS". I am very comfortable with ski maps, but I couldn't find signs to match up to the map.
It may have been 1.25 hours from home (near PDX airport) to Mt Hood, but it took that long just to get off the mountain on a weekend. Drive home was close to 3 hours.
Then a friend told me that Meadows has ditches or gullies or something that I should be cautious of. I dubbed Meadows a "locals mountain" since apparently you have to already know the place to ski it safely solo.
I skied Timberline a few times, but only midweek or late season, and really enjoyed it.
I did more skiing when I lived in the DC area than in Portland. And skied Bachelor more than Mt Hood.
I'm sure there are others on here who know way more about Mt Hood than I do and who like it. It was just a PITA to me.
During my last full year in Portland, a radio announcer informed us that that was the 300th consecutive day without sun. IIRC, Portland actually gets more rain than Seattle.
Vancouver, WA may offer the best of both worlds wrt taxes. No income tax and you can cross the river to shop tax-free in Oregon.
Seattle had more of a city feel to me, so Portland might seem friendlier. But I was never convinced it was actually true.
To me, in DC, if someone doesn't like you and sees you coming down the street, they'll probably avoid you. In Portland, it felt like if they didn't like you, were on the other side of the street and saw you coming, they'd cross the street to stop you and chat with you, then talk about you behind your back. I had been forewarned that the Northwest has a reputation for passive-aggressive behavior. Since you're in that region, you may be used to it. I was not.
OTOH, Portland is full of locally-owned restaurants. I'm a picky eater, so exploring them felt risky! But I felt welcome and appreciated. My current location is south of Denver ... and this is the mecca of chain restaurants. That's one of the things I do miss about Portland. But you may find more of a chain restaurant culture in the family-friendlier areas around Portland, so YMMV. And you may find the people to be very accepting of newcomers.
Charts from Wikipedia:
View attachment 22972
Blue areas are more populated so the state may lean that way, but that doesn't mean you'll encounter blue attitudes everywhere you go
I didn't spend any time in Tigard, but based on the people I knew who lived there, it did seem to be family-oriented. Beaverton and Lake Oswego also seemed popular with families.
I'm not trying to argue your pros and cons, but my experience differs from how you're seeing it. There may be a whole host of reasons why Portland is the right place for you. And your priorities will be different than mine. I met many people there who were born and raised in Portland who cannot imagine ever living somewhere else.
There were pockets of people and places in the Portland area that I really enjoyed and that I miss. But I had retired and Portland seemed to be declining, so I decided it was time to move on.
That would be hard! But nowhere is perfect. :-)You'll find your tribe, wherever you end up! I go between "I want out of Utah because I'm tired of the gerrymandered BS that allows for the churchislature to rule here" to "I'm going to stay and work to loosen this place up!" Regardless, I have found my tribe, partly thanks to my husband who grew up here and has been embedded in the ski community here for 30+ years. We have an incredible friend network and it just keeps growing. The air quality does upset me on a regular basis. The latest legislative session ended up declaring "we will continue to burn coal!" (I'm not kidding--the stuff they battle against here vs. what REALLY matters boggles my mind.)
I miss California, but it's expensive and the places I liked didn't have skiingYou will definitely find your people. I've always felt finding your happy place for home is one of the most important things, even more important than work. Now that we're in remote land for work the possibilities are endless for home utopia.
I wanted to move back to California but then we moved to uncrowded NWCT near the mass border and I also fell in love with the londonderry area of Vermont. Both places are home now. We'll move likely to VT one day full time but until them we're perfectly content with 2 happy places.
I miss California too but living in Southern California would no longer work for me unless I had 2 homes; one in the OC and one in the mountains. I used to go to big bear or mountain high every weekend and mammoth once a month but that was a lot of driving and wouldn't work for me any longer. I've got skiing 6 months of the year where I am now anywhere from right out the door to an hour away so I'm actually quite spoiled. Hard to give that up, nor do I want to.I miss California, but it's expensive and the places I liked didn't have skiing
This is so true.One thing about finding your tribe: it can take a lot more effort on this front than when we were younger. I've encountered a bunch of media (books*, podcasts, NPR) lately about how many Americans are most isolated than ever--they don't belong to the institutions prior generations did, they are working at home--and they often don't understand why it seems so hard to make friends. One thing this all made me think about is how many of my current friends made the effort with me whereas I've generally done very little in terms of making the effort to make friends. Working at home full time also made me realize how many friends I always made through work, but that pipeline is gone.
*One very funny and interesting book about trying to make friends (in London) is Jessica Tan's Sorry I'm Late But I didn't Want to Come.
The only possible hook is volunteer work.
Mammoth or Heavenly both sound great! Both unaffordable.I miss California too but living in Southern California would no longer work for me unless I had 2 homes; one in the OC and one in the mountains. I used to go to big bear or mountain high every weekend and mammoth once a month but that was a lot of driving and wouldn't work for me any longer. I've got skiing 6 months of the year where I am now anywhere from right out the door to an hour away so I'm actually quite spoiled. Hard to give that up, nor do I want to.
Moving to mammoth or heavenly one day full time would certainly fit the bill. Moving to Reno would also work but we're good where we are for the time being.