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Hi Oregon Nesties! I'm headed your way...
Just to visit. 
I lived in Oregon for part of my childhood, and have missed it everyday since. We moved back to MD/PA when I was in elementary school. Anyway, I am SO excited to be flying into Portland tomorrow for the first time to visit since I was in my single digits. lol.
Unfortunately, DH couldn't come this time. He's never been..and I told him I know this trip is going to make me want to move back. Which, he was actually receptive to...and has started talking about visiting next summer.
So, if you wouldn't mind, could you give me some positives and negatives to consider when looking to move to Oregon? Also, like I said it's been forever since I've been there...what are "good" and "not so good" areas to live/work? Clearly, the spiders are on my negative list. But what else should I consider before I get overwhelmed by the beauty and decide to go? TIA!
Re: Hi Oregon Nesties! I'm headed your way...
Right now I'd say the unemployment rate. It's one of the highest in the country with a still relatively stable housing market with higher prices for things though more affordable than Seattle. My DH has been unemployed since January 09....had lots of interviews, but no offers. SUCKS.
As far as where to live. SE Portland and N Portland are probably the most affordable to buy and both have great neighborhoods to explore. We live in NE (rent) and I LOVE it. We're close in, on a quite street with great freeway access and can be downtown in less than 10 minutes. Tends to be less traffic on this side of the river as well.
you can check out portland neighborhoods here.
http://www.portlandneighborhood.com/portland-neighborhoods.html
Enjoy your visit!
Hi and welcome back!! We live on the west side and LOVE it! But DH has been out of work since Dec 08 and still hasn't had a job offer. So the unemployment is a big con, but other than that Portland is a great place to live and start a family.
And it's so funny people's perceptions of the "sides" of Portland. We used to live in NE before we moved to NW, and we thought the traffic was much worse on the east side. ;-)
Moving blog:
http://movingtooregonpdx.blogspot.com/search/label/Employment
I find that people definitely have a preference as to what side of the river they live on (east versus west). I would actually argue that much of SE Portland is not all that affordable for first time home purchases (if you're wanting to live close-in SE). All this being said, every year Portland Monthly Magazine puts out an article where they rate all of the neighborhoods by numbers (crime, education, median income, median home price, etc). My husband and I found this really helpful when we were home shopping several years back.
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/real-estate/articles/neighborhoods-by-the-numbers/
My amateur photo blog