My family and I are re-locating from Orange County California at the end of summer. We are not beach people and all love the rain. So weather is not a consideration at all. We’ve always loved the Pacific Northwest and just want some input from folks about what the pros and cons of living in both the Seattle area and the Portland area. Our kids are in Junior High and High School, so good schools for them is a priority.
Thank you!
I’ve lived in both - still in Portland, Seattle was several years ago. The biggest difference is that Seattle is much more of a big city, with all the advantages and disadvantages of that (depending on your perspective). Portland certainly doesn’t feel small, but it has a slower pace than Seattle.
I can’t comment on the schools in Seattle. In general, Washington public schools are more highly regarded than Oregon schools. But there are large variances among individual schools. There are some really crappy schools in Portland, and some very good ones. And there are excellent schools in some of the suburbs surrounding Portland.
This is pretty much useless for you because it’s simply my view based on my priorities, but I liked Seattle when I was single/kid-less, and I really like Portland now that I have a family.
Be sure to tell everyone you just moved up from Orange County, they’ll all be really happy to hear it and definitely won’t throw stuff at your car. [here’s where a smiley would go but they all suck now so I didn’t put one in]
I agree with TroutMan, Seattle feels more like a city with both the pluses and minuses that entails, while Portland feels quieter and more accessible. I think Portland is more affordable right now, mostly because I believe Seattle real estate has been booming lately. Both cities have their share of douchy hipsters with those big stupid ear hole rings and both places will judge you harshly if you don’t recycle with sufficient enthusiasm, but both are otherwise pretty great places to be if you don’t mind rain.
Something I like about the Seattle area is close/easy access to lakes, puget sound and islands. Not sure if that is important to you or not.
Overall, the school support issue is different. Oregonians feel incredibly overtaxed (when in fact they are not) and vote down school bond measures and such way too much. This hurts many school districts. But not all.
So, picking a random school district in Seattle or Portland will favor choosing Seattle. But you shouldn’t be picking school districts at random in any case. You have to do the footwork and dig up the info on specific locations. Keep in mind that there’s a pretty good correlation between quality schools and high housing prices that might preclude the best areas based on your budget.
Recent thread with lots of info included.
My family and I recently moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Seattle / Bellevue area for quality of life reasons. We’re currently renting a house in Bellevue and will consider buying in a year or so once we know the neighborhoods.
We’re probably a little more urbanite than our area right now and value being able to walk everywhere. We don’t currently have that and I miss it about Berkeley. There are pockets around here that are like that and we may decide we’re better off on the Seattle side even though it isn’t as convenient for our commutes.
That said, for family quality of life the move has been a rousing success. Bellevue has a great school system and more stunningly beautiful family friendly parks than you can imagine. My commute means I’m home at 5:30pm instead of 7:30pm so I actually get to spend lots of time with my son.