Thinking of moving, need your thoughts!

Okay so my fience and I are SICK of Florida.
Its overly hot and the humidity is almost unbareable. I hate all the theme parks and tourists that it drags in. I hate seeing subdivision and subdivision with no nature or wildlife outside of the random state park. I dont like the traffic and crime is beyond outrageous in most places in this state.
I hate not having season changes. It was 80* during Christmas last year. We are DEFINITELY ready to leave the rednecked hicks behind. I'm not talking about southern farmers either. I mean the rebel flag flying, beer chuging, jacked up truck driving morons who think they're the coolest thing since plumbing was invented. (no offense to any rednecks =/...)

We are looking for a new place to live in Oregon seems to fit almost everything we are looking for.
Right now we are looking at the Mount Saint Helens and Milwaukee (sp?) area. We would like to move to a place that fairly small and quite but is within 15-20min of Portland.

What is everyone's opinion on the cities that I mentioned and what cities would you all suggest?

I prefer the quite, country type living where as my fiance prefers the large cities and people so we are hoping to find the best of both worlds.
We both love the outdoors and look forward to FINALLY having a snowy Christmas and other regular season changes for once.
We are also looking for a VERY LOW crime area.

The job problem is a bit of a worry. What do you think of the job availability in the Portland and surrounding areas?

Also, what is the price of living compaired to Orlando, FL?

We are hoping to take a trip in June to visit Portland and the surrounding areas to kind of get a feel for it ourselves.

Thank you all in advance!

"(No offense to any rednecks)"

Really?

Actually, almost everything (except possibly the theme parks) you will be able to find in Oregon.

Oregon is VERY expensive to live in. Check on their car registration, just as a starter.

All that said, I have a cousin and an uncle living in Astoria, OR. Very pretty area, and very quiet.

I have been to the Portland area many times, and I've never been as impressed with that as Seattle, but I know plenty of people who love it.

Portland is a great place, and the people are very warm from my experience.

mrblanche is right that it is probably more expensive to live than in Florida, but it's still much cheaper to live there than California or here... I've lived inexpensively lots of places by living simply and without luxuries like a cell, a car, cable TV, etc. etc.

Good luck and please keep us posted how it goes! I always hated the heat, too, living in Texas. My sisters would crank up the air conditioning on Christmas Eve so they could put a fire in the fireplace, lol!

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Oregon is VERY expensive to live in. Check on their car registration, just as a starter.

I have been to the Portland area many times, and I've never been as impressed with that as Seattle, but I know plenty of people who love it.

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ahem... actually... car registration in Oregon is nothing compared to California... and as for cost of living, it's also way cheaper here, with the exception of downtown/The Pearl. and Seattle is blindingly more expensive than Portland.

To the OP: The St. Helens and Milwaukie areas are not too bad. I have friends in Milwaukie and they love it. Me personally, I love being in the middle of everything, so I hate where I currently live, which is near 82nd and Sandy Blvd in NE Portland (I want to live very close in... like in the Pearl, but it costs $$$$). The further out you go from downtown, the quieter it is... if you want quiet, Milwaukie is good. I haven't been out to the St Helens area... it's also cheaper rent the further out you go.

As for employment. Emmm... I'm not the best one to talk about that. I have a retail job. It depends on what you want in terms of work. There's been a hiring freeze in a lot of places, and many chain stores are closing down. Well, the high-end chain stores. What type of work are you two looking at? Look at Craigslist for the Portland area and see what types of jobs there are. it's still tough, even here. The economy is hitting us hard here too... as it is everywhere.

It certainly gets colder here than Florida (I laugh when I visit family and friends in CA... they all have scarves and hats and big thick winter jackets on... and it's 50 degrees out...HAAAAA... try sub zero back east in Chicago or Syracuse before that coat goes on... sorry... my sarcasm snuck in there), but you're not always going to get huge drifts of snow this close to Portland. St Helens might be another matter... Honestly, I'd look at work first, then find a place to live within a reasonable drive of work... Unless you expect to be making lots of money and can afford tons of gas (BTW, you don't pump your own gas in Oregon, they pump it for you), then live further out and get a job 'close-in', but having had a similar situation recently, blech. Don't do it unless you LOVE traffic.

Look at work first... then look at decent places fairly close. You may be loving closer in, but on days off, you can always go out to the outlying areas and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Good luck... and if you move here, there's a few of us TCS'ers around... we've been meaning to get together... maybe we will now...

Amanda

I used to live in Florida, and there is actually a huge amount of fascinating nature to look at and hike through. However, I never lived near Orlando (so I didn't see as many tourists and I didn't have to live with Theme parks), and nearly all of the outdoors requires being able to deal with heat and humidity. The open, hot, sunny forests with trees every 15 feet are actually really amazing, if you're dressed properly (hat to shade your face, light, long sleeves and long pants to protect you from the sun) and you hydrate well.

There are amazing places to canoe and kayak not so far from you: Juniper Springs Run, for example, starts out as a tiny creek just deep enough to put a canoe in, crystal clear, and covered by an amazing canopy.

Itchetucknee is a fair ways a way, but the whole area around you is dotted with beautiful, cold springs and clear runs, some of which that are almost set up as public pools, some of which are lonely and dense with vegetation.

A long ways away in the opposite direction is Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, which is a wonderful boardwalk through a fantastic old-growth cypress dome operated by the Audubon society. It is something not to miss before you leave Florida. You should take a trip to see Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, canoe in the Ten Thousand Islands (a wild maze of mangroves), and visit the Everglandes before you leave Florida.

All of that said, I don't particularly plan to live in Florida again, and I, too, absolutely adore the Pacific Northwest. Getting used to the heat takes a lot mental and physiological adaptation, and developing a pattern of drinking a lot of water. If you think of nature as mountains there is absolutely none of it in Florida. But if you adjust your expectations and look for the beauty that exists, it is amazing how much is there. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no-where to go if you want to live without stupid people who will annoy you. It's the human condition.

Living in Orlando isn't all that cheap as far as living in southeast goes, but living in the southeast is simply cheaper than living anywhere else in the US. Oregon is also a place with a low cost of living, but it's not going to be as cheap.

Originally Posted by RubSluts'Mommy

...It certainly gets colder here than Florida (I laugh when I visit family and friends in CA... they all have scarves and hats and big thick winter jackets on... and it's 50 degrees out...HAAAAA... try sub zero back east in Chicago or Syracuse before that coat goes on... sorry... my sarcasm snuck in there)...

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LOL! I remember getting my wool winter coats out when the temps would go down to 50ºF in Austin. Here we get days in the 50's and 60's (F) all summer long and get by with hoodies, shorts, and sandals! But we don't have any 40-50º temperature drops in an afternoon here, either, that's quite a shocker to the body!

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

LOL! I remember getting my wool winter coats out when the temps would go down to 50ºF in Austin. Here we get days in the 50's and 60's (F) all summer long and get by with hoodies, shorts, and sandals! But we don't have any 40-50º temperature drops in an afternoon here, either, that's quite a shocker to the body!

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The one time i was able to visit my family in California when i lived in CHicago, I remember asking my dad what the temps were like out there, while i packed. He said it was chilly at mid 50's... I blurted out 'oh! t-shirt weather!'

he said I was nuts. it's too cold for t-shirts.

here in Portland, I will carry or wear a coat at 45-50, but usually not button/zip it up. more often than not, I'll only have a long sleeve cotton shirt (long sleeve t-shirt, usually) and a sweater over that... if I'm driving. If I'm taking the bus or at least know I'll be outside for extended periods, I'll have a fleece jacket or a short wool coat, but no scarf or hat. I did that last night when I went downtown to go to the theater, and it was low 40's. I saw A Christmas Carol... awesome!

And don't get me started about driving with chains... I can drive in several feet of snow without them... and very little fishtailing... but people around me here? forget it! they freak out if there's an inch of snow on the ground.

To the OP: it's really kind of mild here for winter. we get more ice (usually hiding under the snow), but I have yet to get into an accident driving here or anywhere back east. but it ain't no Florida! it's a little TOO mild for my tastes... I'd take Chicago over this any day.

I'll reiterate my original suggestion: look at and/or get jobs first. Then look at places to live. Seriously. I've been trying to improve my job status and have had no luck. I realize I'm REALLY lucky having a job... but it barely pays over 8 bucks an hour (and will be going up next month, due to Oregon's required minimum wage cost of living raise, which happens annually or every two years... or something like that... so those of us who are wage-based get automatic required raises... it still won't pay the rent completely... hence my other attempts at making money)... make sure you have income before coming here...

Amanda