The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Portland, Oregon

Sid23

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
17%
Aug 9, 2007
682
114
Anyone here ever been to Portland? What is the city like? Do you like or dislike Portland?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

SteveO

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
456%
Jul 24, 2007
4,228
19,294
I like Portland in general. I have friends there and have spent some time working in the area.

My only issue is the weather. Summers are incredible and the entire region is an emerald green when the sun is shining. Winters are long, wet and gray though. I recall seeing two people looking out a window. The conversation was that the sun might peak through the clouds. It seems that they had not seen the sun in weeks.

The Columbia River Gorge is unreal with lots of hiking, waterfalls, open space. It is loaded with micro-breweries which help ease the lack of sunshine issues. :smx6:

You might also notice that there is moss growing all over the place. It is on rooftops, trees, and most other immobile objects.

A lot of people love it. Not my cup of tea though.
 

Jito

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
6%
Dec 2, 2007
140
8
Bay Area
I think SteveO pretty much nailed it. Portland is definitely a cool place, with lots of outdoors activities, however the wet rainy weather is a negative for some. Lots of good beer is always a plus. Cost of living is a bit cheaper than the Bay Area. My mom is considering retiring in Oregon. She can trade her WC house for two Oregon homes.

You thinking of leaving the BAY?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Sid23

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
17%
Aug 9, 2007
682
114
I think SteveO pretty much nailed it. Portland is definitely a cool place, with lots of outdoors activities, however the wet rainy weather is a negative for some. Lots of good beer is always a plus. Cost of living is a bit cheaper than the Bay Area. My mom is considering retiring in Oregon. She can trade her WC house for two Oregon homes.

You thinking of leaving the BAY?

We just spent a weekend there and were thinking about it. We're fine now in the Bay, but we're thinking more down the lines in 3-5 years when we have kids.

It is VERY important for us to be within 10-15 minutes of a downtown-ish type of area. We also want to have a yard for our kids to play in, neighbors to interact with, etc. And we are both architecture buffs whose main extravagance in life will definitely be our home.

We just can't see paying $1.5M for a home that doesn't give us everything we want. We would pay that much if the home/city/area met all of our criteria, but few areas within 10-15 minutes of SF do that.

Burlingame does. Mill Valley does, but I'm also not keen on my children thinking its common place for everyone to drive Porsches. Marin has gotten quite snotty for my tastes.

And let's be honest, you don't live in the Bay Area for the weather. You live in SoCal if you need California sun all year round. I don't think Portland's weather is that different from Marin.

I'm interested to hear what others think. One of my main concerns is opportunity for success in real estate development/investment (what I do now).
 

White8

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
17%
Dec 6, 2007
276
48
52
Salem, OR
I'm in Salem, OR which is 60 miles south of Portland. Weather is mild with an average of 30-80f if you don't mid some rain. The coast is an hour+ west and mountains hour+ east. Portland is the metropolitan center of Oregon will all that comes with it so it's an interesting city. Real estate development is slowing somewhat but not nearly as badly as some parts of the country. Rents have been pretty stagnant until recently so rentals are not overly lucrative but rents are climbing.

I personally prefer Eugene which is 120 miles south of Portland. It's a college town with some of the features of Portland but on a smaller scale. Real estate prices are more reasonable and you don't have the crowd issues.
 

hakrjak

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
7%
Sep 15, 2007
1,887
127
Colorado Springs
My sister lives outside Portland in a small upscale suburb called Lake Oswego.

Portland is a nice town, but like most big cities it has it's bad parts too. Some places where the cops won't even venture ;) Stay on the right side of the tracks and you'll be fine!

If you like rain and green, and coffee -- you'll be in heaven. Personally I'd be on anti-depresents if I had to live there! LOL Just like Seattle....

- Hakrjak
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

WestCoast

Gold Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
311%
Jan 20, 2008
506
1,573
Rhode Island for now.
moved from bay area to Portland a few years ago, best choice I ever made.

people are friendly, and it makes you feel good to be friendly back.
Lots of natural beauty in very close proximity.
Forward thinking, direct rail to airport, small downtown blocks very walkable.

It doesn't rain much more than anywhere else, but there is certainly more overcast, low cloud days.
 

Diane Kennedy

Bronze Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
25%
Aug 31, 2007
780
193
I was born just east of there in The Dallas, OR. Grew up around Oregon until I was old enough to leave to college...and quickly moved to the driest places I could find.

A true story that illustrates what it is like to live there:

When Mt. St. Helens was ready to blow the first time, the papers were full of the news. Everyone was on edge - when it would go? Most people thought it would be a big blast with lava, etc. So, it was no surprise when a bus in Portland suddenly had a woman screaming, "Mt. St. Helens has erupted." The bus passengers looked at the back and saw the glow and completely panicked. Luckily the bus driver was able to get the bus pulled over to the side and calm the group down.

It turns out it was the sun peaking out from a cloud. It had been so long since anyone had actually SEEN the sun, that they thought it was the volcano.

True story. Nuff said. Not in a million years.

(Oh, when I moved from Oregon, someone gave me an Oregon coloring book: it came with two colors: grey for west, brown for east. Doesn't matter if it's pretty and green if you never see it.)
 

Russ H

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
21%
Jul 25, 2007
6,471
1,363
62
Napa Valley, CA
And let's be honest, you don't live in the Bay Area for the weather. You live in SoCal if you need California sun all year round. I don't think Portland's weather is that different from Marin.

Wrong on at least 2 counts.

I can't imagine living in a place with better weather than the Bay Area.

When I lived in LA, I had chronic, serious breathing problems. I literally couldn't breathe the air for more than a few days at a time, or I got pneumonia!

When I lived in Corte Madera (Marin), we were in the rain shadow of Mt Tam. Literally close to 300 sunny days a year (the low clouds and fog parted around the mountain, and this meant NO clouds for a small patch of Larkspur and Corte Madera, but not all of it). Overall numbers for Corte Madera (as well as Portland and Napa) are listed below.

*****************

Napa, CA,

-gets 23 inches of rain per year (US average is 37).
-Snowfall is 0 inches. (average US city gets 25 inches of snow per year).
-The number of days with any measurable precipitation is 55.

On average, there are 260 sunny days per year in Napa, CA.

*******************

Portland, OR

-gets 42 inches of rain per year.
-Snowfall is 3 inches.
-The number of days with any measurable precipitation is 154.

On average, there are 144 sunny days per year in Portland, OR.

*************

Corte Madera, CA

-gets 48 inches of rain per year.
-Snowfall is 0 inches
-The number of days with any measurable precipitation is 69.

On average, there are 263 sunny days per year in Corte Madera, CA

(data from Sperlings best places, which uses data from over 4000 weather stations).

-Russ H.

PS Oops, almost forgot. I stopped driving my Porsche when I moved from Marin to Napa (since it got too hot inside-- you literally could fry an egg on the seat). Bought a Karman Ghia convertible, and later a Mustang convertible. Most common car in Napa by far? A pick up truck (no lie).
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Hoop

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
13%
Dec 8, 2007
32
4
Different stokes for different folks, I guess. I moved here from Phoenix 12 years ago and would never re-trace my steps.

Portland is big enough to offer everything you might wish to have but still small enough to keep city life very manageable. Like others have said, 30 minutes to the SW, and your in wine country. 1 hour due west, and the Surf's Up. Due east, snowboarding or kite sailing depending on the season.

People actually live downtown...not to many metro cities can still claim this. Driving last week, I counted 5 highrise cranes in operation. Still thriving.

As far as safety is concerned, I grew in Detroit and my wife grew up in St Louis....its Candyland here.

Downside? Ineffective state government, extremely liberal city government (opinion, of course), and a very poorly managed city school system. Oh, and since we are so tolerant of people, tons of pan handlers and/or runaways.

The weather can be tough, especially in January. But that is why we go east to ski Bachelor. Everything else is manageable...I got my round of golf in yesterday:banana:.
 

SteveO

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
456%
Jul 24, 2007
4,228
19,294
Average days of sun in Phoenix, AZ is 306 days.
:coolgleamA:

Sometimes "furnace" is a better description. I certainly prefer the open and bright feeling out here though. "Everything is Illuminated" :cool:
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Russ H

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
21%
Jul 25, 2007
6,471
1,363
62
Napa Valley, CA
Phoenix, AZ

-gets 7 inches of rain per year.
-Snowfall is 0 inches

-The number of days with any measurable precipitation is 28

***************

-Russ H.

Link to above stats:

http://www.bestplaces.net/

And another one of my fave data about places sites:

http://www.city-data.com/ (better for smaller cities/towns)
 

Sid23

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
17%
Aug 9, 2007
682
114
I appreciate all of the thoughts and insight from everyone...
 

ptownREI

PARKED
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
0% - New User
Jun 3, 2010
1
0
39
anyone have any recommendations for business team members...specifically CPAs in Portland?
 

Wonder3581

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
25%
Jul 31, 2012
20
5
Portland, OR
Hey all, looks like it has been a couple years since the last post here. I was going to start a thread re: a local meet-up with members of the forum in Portland, OR. but thought I would just post here. If people are interested in meeting up to talk about business in general, projects your working on, successes failures, etc. please keep let your presence be known here. If there are even 2-3 (hopefully more) people interested, I'll reach out to each of you and schedule a happy hour so we can meet up!
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top