i know there are subdivisions of these places on the forum but id like to get the most opinions weighed in on this-

my soon to be wife and i are planning on moving somewhere on the west coast

shes pretty set for a job kind of and ive got my degree in painting and printmaking (not much help) but job experience in a lot of other things

in these three cities what can the average rent run?
cool neighborhoods to live in?
car vs bike vs public transit?
things happening?

im sure there are a lot of other questions i havent thought of yet but id love to get locals opinions on all the matters.

thanks in advance!

Pdx - 400s/mo on the low end and up from there depending on space & location. Bike friendly, many good neighborhoods. As a couple with established careers you should be a credible renter. It's also very safe. With an art background you should have no problem finding connections and things to do.

Waterfalls, mountains, parks, rivers. Rainfall up to 5 months a year. Will be entering my third year here soon and can't remember ever being so content.

My girlfriends lived in all three, currently portland, and is laughing at this because of how awesome portland is.
because its so affordable you can live comfortably.
The only downside is the rainy season.
I dont find it that bad, compared to chicago winters (where im from), but the gray can take its toll. I definitely appreciate sunny days now.

Cheapest studio in sf is 1500 in a crappy part of town.
we live in a 3 bedroom house with a huge backyard in pdx and its 1150.
Only 15 min from downtown.
Oaklands a bit cheaper than sf but its not a very safe place.

You can bike everywhere in portland. I thinks its the most bike friendly city.

just come to Portland. Low cost of living and its bike friendly. It is very safe. We've been here 5/6 years now and dont want to be anywhere else.

for your first couple years I would recommend winter sun vacations. We absolutely needed them (its just too much time between sunny days). The only other thing that took some getting use to was the early closing time for a lot of shops. We came over from LA and it was shocking how early some places close.

If you need a big city go to SF. The only good thing about Oakland is how close it is to SF.

We had a 3 bedroom townhouse w/ 2 car garage in Beaverton for 1000 a month.

The bigger question is which city has worse hippies?

After visiting PDX, my wife and I are really thinking of moving there some day.

hahahahhahahhaaaa. we just went to seattle, which has an amazing hippie network.

I grew up in the bay, have lived in portland now on and off for the last 10 years.

Rents in PDX are cheap, but availability is an issue. Currently portland has the best market for landlords in the country, with a 3% vacancy rate. so be prepared to elbow 6 other people out of the way to get the place you want. use padmapper for sure. we rent a huge 2 bed duplex with a big garage in NE for less than $900.

Depends on what you want in a neighborhood, because PDX can get culty about its hoods. If you're classy, NW somewhere, if you're a hippie, Clinton/SE, if you are glam or in the middle of a hippie and classy NE all the way.

PDX you can bike most everywhere, the bus works mostly.
City of Portland is making parking for cars difficult, but not as bad as SF just from a quantity standpoint.

In terms of shit going on, I'm on fence about Portland. everyone here is an artist or in a band, so there's a shortage of supporters. there's not a lot of $$ for art/the Arts in PDX, while the bay area and seattle have well established arts communities. PDX is still finding it's way, but if you want to jump in the struggle you can.

Also, if you love authentic mexican food, Portland has few outposts for that but otherwise this is a booming foodcentric town.
SF has great eats too though, probably at a better price point on quality, but the cart scene in portland is obscene.

I have heard from folks that the job market is tougher here in PDX than SF, but I don't know other people's experience.

Good luck in your hunt.

Berkley has the worst hippies. Or maybe santa cruz.
portland has a lot of dirty accordion playing gypsy kids.

Arcadia has the best hippies.

You should move somewhere outside of the city, that way you can save on rent, but still have access to the Bay area. If I were moving to California, I would want to be closer to the mountains, but then again I snowboard a lot in the wintertime.

THIS.
And yes, despite appearances our art scene sucks here. Everyone is an "artist" and there's all sorts of "art events", but mostly it's all amateur-hour. I lived in Seattle for several years and their art scene - while not fantastic - blows the SHIT outta Portland's.
Also - DO NOT COME HERE WITHOUT A JOB. Better yet - come here if you can create jobs (even 1 or 2!).
Public transit here sucks compared to Seattle or NYC (the only others I've experienced), but you can bike from one side of town to the other in an hour or less. You can definitely get from Point A to Point B on a bike quicker than public transit - which is both good and bad.
You can also buy a house for pretty much the same monthly cost (aside from maintenance!) as you can rent one.
Rain sucks.

Sounds like you're ready to come back to Seattle

Watch portlandia, then decide : )

Also, stop posting rents. You're all making me jealous up north!

Ha ha! Sometimes, sometimes...
But when I visit I'm generally glad I live here and visit there. But there are definitely things I miss, and I love how beautiful the geography of the city is - what with all the lakes, hills, canals, bay, etc.

Portland gets my vote!!
going on three years now and not moving again as I just bought a house Get the keys this Thursday.
Rent has definitely been better than my CA days, but definitely more competative

I also agree with NE being the best. There is this general concensus with most that you dont want to live past 50th. Personally I think its BS and lazy. Ive been renting a place off 15th for a year, its cool, but not worth the rent.

Congratulations, Miles! Although, being a homeowner myself I don't know if I should be congratulating you or commiserating with you. Whereabouts is your place?
And yeah, no reason NOT to live past 50th - even growing up here I've never heard that as a "cut off" line. Pretty much 82nd is the only street that has a stigma associated with it - and now that Chinatown has pretty much all moved out there there's actually a draw to that area.

Hey Nat,
Thanks! Yeah I hear the woes of home ownership from many. This place comes with a great personal story, which I'll tell you sometime. Its on 92nd and Eugene, right down below Rocky Butte. Bumbed I never took advantage of our current close local and met up with you at Breakside.

Yeah for some reason I heard it from numerous people when I first moved here about not living past 50th. Some said 40th. Maybe if your going to try and bike everywhere I understand.

Ive still never noticed the bad stuff on 82nd, guess I dont know how to spot prostitutes. There are definitely some decent areas on/off 82nd. 82nd and Stark will be my new hangout

They certainly don't look like how you'd expect them to look based off TV/movies!
Congrats again - Rocky Butte is a beautiful area!

saw my first portland prostitute outside of marys club last night!

i think it all comes down to how tight you like to wear your jeans

We always call it the butt.
A great place to watch the sunset and run over joggers. something for everyone~~
Do you ever go to LANVIN....that place has the bomb veitnamese sandwiches! and crazy coffee drinks!!!

Go rocky butt! Go gateway! Go away!

Hey Miles - congrats!

I've been thinking of you lately because my g/f and I will be driving the PCH week after next. We'll be going through your old neck of the woods - near Carmel, right? - and thinking it would have been cool to see your old shop in action. Hope you're well.

i think portland won out for us... now to start some researching

For sure! when are you moving?
Coming from a Monterey, Ca native, just two hours south of San Fran(visited a ton, lived for a few months) I have to say I enjoy Portland way more then San Francisco. Oakland I would personally never have considered. Only visited a few times but it seemed real ghetto.




Yeah Im starting to miss the coastal life. Portland is treating me very very well though. Hope you are doing good as well! When are you heading to Portland?
Almost had a FL trip set up but it got scratched.

just putting in my 2 cents for oakland...even if it's a tad late.

it can be really brutal if you're in the wrong spot, i was in my first apartment about 12 hours when a kid got his face blown off in front of my door.

by contrast, i just got the most amazing finished studio space (1,300 sq. ft. @ $1 a foot!) in chinatown. quiet, friendly, and maintained. shopping is unbeatable. we've been getting fat on fresh salmon for $4 a pound from the market next door. wouldn't trade it for the world.

i find SF a great place to visit, but insanely overpriced. i know people who pay about the same as i do for just a bedroom in a shared apartment...