A Meca in my Mind (Seatle or Portland)

In My Humble Opinion
1

This is almost a GQ, but I would rather have opinions than facts this time.
I am tired of this heat, 96 Deg, 105 heat index the other day, 98 deg, 110 heat index yesterday, ad nauseum. I guess I am a wimp, but living here in the Midwest has me on the end of my rope. Hot as the proverbial Hell in the summer, and Cold as a whores tit in the winter. But you can always put on more clothes, you can only get naked, and still be hot.
I am thinking that once I get done with school I will move to the West Coast. Not California, too hot. Oregon or Washington seem like good bets, but Oregon seems to be lacking decent sized cities along the coast, so I opted for Portland. Several sites I went too gave average high and low temps, and some just said Cool summers and mild winters “with temperatures dropping below freezing only rarely”. Sounds like the promised land to me. And it has mountains.
Seatle seems just the same, temperature and precipitation wise. (I LOVE the rain…mmm rain) and has mountains, if not so prominent in the background as it seemed in Portland. It also claims that it has cool summers and rare temperatures below freezing. It also is larger population-wise than Portland, which could mean more job opportunities.

Which is the best city to live in. Or perhaps I should ask which metropolitain area is best to live in, as I am not a downtown city dweller type.
Oregon has the allure, visions of Pioneers heading west and the like, But Seatle seems more open, with visions of alot of night life, Modern and high tech, an alternative to Las Vegas or Atlanta, full of swing and alive with fire.
So, Opinions on any widely traveled dopers would be well taken, especially those who have lived at both cities. (unlikely of course)

2

We (wife and I) have lived in the Portland area for 14 years now, and visit Seattle frequently. We love both cities. Seattle is larger and arguably more cosmopolitan than Portland, but if you’re not really a big city person, you might like Portland better. There are a lot of job opportunities in both cities, but the Seattle area has the edge there, and then there’s the water. Just about everywhere in the Seattle area is close to water. What Seattle also has is traffic. commuting anywhere in Seattle is a total bitch. Portland is a lot better in that respect. Property values are high both places, but higher in Seattle, I think. But so are salaries. Not much help, huh?

What you could do is subscribe to the big dailies hereabouts, or maybe just get the Sunday editions. The biggest Portland paper is the Oregonian. The big Seattle papers are the Seattle Times and the Post Intelligencer. I’d get them delivered as well as read them on line, just so that I could refer back to stuff. They’ll give you a much better idea of the flavor of the areas than I can.

Sorry that this post is so disjointed. I’ll try to get my errant brain back under control and post more later.

3

Washington has no state income tax (and recently did away with its $200 yearly car tab fee), Oregon no sales tax. You might consider living just across the bridge from Portland.
As for Seattle being “full of swing and alive with fire” - it isn’t always like that - just when the WTO is in town.

4

Do not underestimate the role of traffic in making a decision. I’m 60 miles from Seattle, and 105 miles from Portland, but it usually takes me less time to get to Portland than to Seattle. The only wat to avoid traffic in Seattle is to live right in the city (and even going cross town can be an adventure). This has the disadvantage of being veryexpensive, plus you said you weren’t the downtown type. Living on the outskirts of Seattle is still expensive, plus the traffic (I told you not to underestimate it). My experience is that you can find nice, reasonably priced places to live a few miles (10-30 miles) from downtown Portland, that still allow you to drive or take public transit into the city without much hassle. Yes, Portland does have its traffic problems, but, unless there’s an accident in mid-day, it’s pretty much contained to the morning and evening rush, it only goes on for 5 or 10 miles (not 50 miles like in Seattle), and it pretty easy to find routes around the worst areas.

Culturally, Seattle has a lot going for it–but heading up to Seattle for a weekend is not a big deal–heck, I used to drive from Portland to Seattle to see a ballgame or an art exhibit, and drive back the same day. And Portland knows how to have fun as well. I’m not familar with the current club scene, but I never had a lack of choices of places to go to here great live jazz, blues, dance music, and good old fashion rock and roll. Lots of ethnic resturants, great bookstores, various festivals at Riverside park, and there was a bar on 4th, I think, that made killer martinis–real martinis, vodka or gin and vermouth, not the foo-foo stuff they label martinis these day (but that’s a rant for another day). Anyway, I’m hoping to be able to move back to Portland soon. What’s the use of having a great symphony, Broadway productions and fine resturants just up the road if you have to fight the traffic to get to them? In Portland, that stuff is still there, and you can get to it.

Oh, and weather-wise, Seattle gets a tad colder than Portland, both will get maybe one or two snow storms a year, although ice is a different story. When it’s in the mid 30’s, the wind is blowing and it’s raining, you want a good warm coat. Both can get over 100 degrees in the summer, but usually only for a day or two, and it generally cools off at night, and there’s often a good breeze in Seattle, from the water.

5

IMO, not being allowed to fill your own gas tank is just weird. Strike one against Oregon. On the other hand, you can own a machine gun if you want. Strike one against Washington. :wink:

I’ve only driven through Portland. I’ve spent a little (very little) time in Seattle though. I like the city, but driving is a bitch. The problem is that you have Pugeot Sound on one side and mountains or Lake Washington on the other side. It’s pretty packed. I might go as fas as to say that the traffic is worse than L.A.'s. Of course you don’t sit in your car sweltering in Seattle.

I’ve tried looking for work in Seattle online, but the answer is always the same: “If you were here we’d love to talk to you; but since you are so far away we’d rather interview people who are available immediately.” Fortunately I am in a position that allows me to quit my job and just move. I’ve never liked not working though, so it’s a big step. I’ve decided to move about 80 miles north of Seattle, to Bellingham. The rent is cheap and I can room with a friend. Jobs in Bellingham seem to be few, and the best ones I’ve seen in the Bellingham Herald pay half of my current salary. On the other hand my rent would go down by a half or two thirds, I wouldn’t be commuting 90 miles a day, and gas is abour 40 cents per gallon cheaper than in California. Once I’m there I can be in easy striking distance of Seattle or Everett and can move closer later.

I too like rain and cold weather. I’m a So. Cal. native, but even as a kid I hated the heat. (When I lived in the desert it wasn’t so bad. Must be the dryness. But there was no rain!)

I’m going up to Bellingham next month. I’ll try to find likely places to work, and I’ll plan on quitting my present situation at the end of December.

6

I am a seattle-ite. You say you like rain. That is a plus for you, but what you might not realize is that we don’t get THAT much rain. What we get is drizzle, or what I call “Sky Spit” pretty much from October through April. A couple years ago we had 100+ days of consecutive rain. But again, it wasn’t much in terms of actual water – mostly drizzle. Seattle in winter can be extremely depressing.

Now for the pluses. Seattle is more cosmopolitan than Portland, in my opinion. You can find any type of cuisine here, generally at good prices, and people are reasonably friendly. The traffic is terrible, but if you are willing to do without a car (even partially) and carpool or take the bus you’ll do well.

Suggest you try a visit to both cities for a week each. Go during October or early November, try to see the cities at their worst. If you can stand it then, you know you’ll do well.