Relocating to Oregon / Washington State - opinions and arguments

[LeX]

My girlfriend, son, and I are looking to relocate from Georgia to either Oregon or Washington State over this summer if I can get into grad school over there.

 

The job market in GA sucks (i know it does many places) and we are bored of being over here. Both of us are basically unemployed but are both college grads from good accredited colleges/universities if that might help our chances of finding work at all... lol

 

I'm looking to attend grad school and work, and she would just be working.

 

Wanted to know from you guys that live over there what areas you might recommend and any information that I might find useful.

 

I don't really know where to start...

 

quality of the public schools, rental prices, what areas have jobs haha.

 

I know nothing about Washington State, but my gf spent some time in Oregon and loved it, and when I was in Utah i met some folks from Washington State and Oregon that loved living there. Folks I met from Seattle said move to Portland though... lol.

 

My friend went to Willamette in Salem and liked that though.

 

Just you Oregon and Washington guys let me know what you think of living there and any thoughts if you have the time, would appreciate it!

 

thanks,

Alex

[hang_510]

My friend went to Willamette in Salem and liked that though.

my aunt teaches there, if thats any help for school.

 

other than that...

[datsunaholic]

Public schools are... Public schools. All I can say, not having kids, is that both Oregon and Washington tend to be somewhat higher than the national average overall in school quality. Georgia is consistently below the national average, and I hear places like Cobb County, GA are REALLY bad (I have a friend there who constantly rants about how poorly managed the Cobb County schools are).

 

But Politics prevails in Public schools. You will find that Western WA/OR schools tend to be more liberal, whereas Eastern WA is extremely conservative. Dunno about E Oregon. In any case it's not funded properly, with overkill in administration. Bureaucracy breeds itself.

 

As far as cost of living- it's not California, but be prepared for sticker shock. Cities will be of course higher- Seattle is about 50% higher rentwise than say Atlanta, it tapers down to about the same price as Atlanta for outlying areas or other metro areas. Washington has no income tax but has one of the highest Sales taxes in the nation, Oregon has no State sales tax (though there are some local ones on certain items) but has an income tax.

[79D50]

If you are trying to enter the job market you need to ask yourself a few questions before packing up the family, uprooting your son, and incurring the expense of travel.

 

1. What is your job field? I assume white collar with a four year college degree? Seattle is an IT centric city with emphasis in the financial world. There are also quite a few engineering firms i.e. electrical, aeronatics, mechanical etc.

 

2. What will your GF do? What is her target market?

 

3. Will you rent or purchase a home? This is a big decision as the east side as opposed to the west (split by Lake Washington) is hundreds of dollars in difference (rent and mortgage). South of Seattle is also relatively inexpensive but then you incur commuting costs of which there are alternatives. We have Metro Buses, Light Rail, and Metro Carpooling options. Nine times out of ten these costs are picked up by the company you are employed with (my experience).

 

Seattle and the surrounding area is a rather expensive place to live as opposed to Georgia and other cities across the US. Jobs will likely pay more to compensate but don't come to Seattle with $100 in your pocket. Jobs are competitive in the corporate zoo here in Seattle and you should plan on having 6-9 months of reserve (whatever it takes to live every month) built up. The school districts in Seattle are average to above average with the three best districts being in Bellevue, Mercer Island, and Issaquah. Google Map the region. There are also a few highly rated private schools in the area.

 

On a lighter note, the NW is a huge rainforest. It is very lush and green and it's this way becuase of the rainfall. We have beautiful summers and crisp falltimes. There are mountains, endless amounts of Lakes and of course the Puget Sound which is the largest inland waterway in the world. We also have the second largest ferry system in the world. There are a lot of outdoor activities and places to visit. I've lived here 20 years and haven't done 1/2 of it. If you want to be on the dryer side of the state you can cross the mountains into eastern Washington where the summers are scorchers and the landscape is more desert like.

 

I would consider your move a financial one and make an educated decision on that basis. Seattle is beautiful and a wonderful place to have a family and career.

 

Oregon is similar but since I have not lived there I cannot say either way. Good luck!!

[The Dat-side]

If you have a Datsun in Oregon people will pump your gas! You just sit there! Not sure if this works in other cars.

[LeX]

yeah, for lack of better words lots of the inner city public schools suck ass... Then cobb and clayton county are pretty bad overall. There are quite a few good public schools that perform above the national average and are well thought of, but unfortunately most don't.

 

I think we are leaning towards Oregon but I hear employment sucks there ... but probably not as bad as here. GA/FL are about the worst for unemployment. I would love to be able to pay $800 or less for rent for a 2 bedroom place in a reasonable part of town (with off street parking! haha) I am hearing all these great things about Washington from you guys, I wish I knew more or had been there before. I'll need to investigate it further. I think we are planning to be more to the west but i'm not positive! Our son is only 3 months old so a good ways away from school and wouldn't be affected by the move at least.

 

 

 

Public schools are... Public schools. All I can say, not having kids, is that both Oregon and Washington tend to be somewhat higher than the national average overall in school quality. Georgia is consistently below the national average, and I hear places like Cobb County, GA are REALLY bad (I have a friend there who constantly rants about how poorly managed the Cobb County schools are).

 

But Politics prevails in Public schools. You will find that Western WA/OR schools tend to be more liberal, whereas Eastern WA is extremely conservative. Dunno about E Oregon. In any case it's not funded properly, with overkill in administration. Bureaucracy breeds itself.

 

As far as cost of living- it's not California, but be prepared for sticker shock. Cities will be of course higher- Seattle is about 50% higher rentwise than say Atlanta, it tapers down to about the same price as Atlanta for outlying areas or other metro areas. Washington has no income tax but has one of the highest Sales taxes in the nation, Oregon has no State sales tax (though there are some local ones on certain items) but has an income tax.

[79D50]

Forgot to add this in:

 

As far as graduate school, we have some very good universities. For Business and Financial you will want to check out the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific Univeristy. UW is also good for engineering disciplines. PLU and UPS are south of Seattle with good programs as well.

 

I went to SPU and the education there is real world and extremely demanding. You can get all the info you need on this topic form the WEB. Just google Washington Universities. BTW - If you do move here, welcome to the PAC 10.

[Guest kamakazi620]

All i can say is CANBY public school is AWESOME!!!!! no joke,As far as me I'd LOVE to have some mo' good folk in oregon!!

[sssr20det510]

If you move to vancouver wa, portland is right accross the bridge. Ive lived in portland and like vancouver better.

[LeX]

All i can say is CANBY public school is AWESOME!!!!! no joke,As far as me I'd LOVE to have some mo' good folk in oregon!!

 

 

ok so you live in Oregon city, so that counts as a portland suburb? Is there any public transportation to portland from oregon city?

[LeX]

If you move to vancouver wa, portland is right accross the bridge. Ive lived in portland and like vancouver better.

 

 

do you have any insight into rental prices around your area, and the job situation?

[Skib]

All i can say is CANBY public school is AWESOME!!!!!

 

thats true actually..... lol

 

 

ok so you live in Oregon city, so that counts as a portland suburb? Is there any public transportation to portland from oregon city?

 

 

the portland metro area actually has one of the best public transportation systems.

Im not sure how far it goes into the OR city area but other subs like beaverton or gresham have the max (train thing) and the buses that run all over

[Skib]

and the job situation?

 

what are you and the GF's degrees?

[Guest kamakazi620]

thats true actually..... lol

 

 

 

 

 

the portland metro area actually has one of the best public transportation systems.

Im not sure how far it goes into the OR city area but other subs like beaverton or gresham have the max (train thing) and the buses that run all over

The transpo from OC is OK and ya still got the CAT (canby area transit) to go back and forth and shi#

[sssr20det510]

do you have any insight into rental prices around your area, and the job situation?

 

 

depends on what you do, some people live in vancouver and work in portland. housing depends on if you want an apartment or house just check CL you can see what rentals are going for in portland or vancouver. portland has one of the best bus systems. there are buses over here that go to portland as well. Vancouver is not as busy as portland.

[Guest kamakazi620]

Rent in OC is CHEEP!!!!!!!

[LeX]

what are you and the GF's degrees?

 

 

nothing too useful in this economy... Mine is Sociology, kinda useless without grad school right now that's why I'd planned on going anyway (Masters in integrated property management or health management)

 

She has an Animal Science degree

[Bleach]

Canby high school has some nice tennis courts

 

Stay out of downtown Seattle and Tacoma. Other areas around there are better to look into.

 

Find the grad school first, then look into what the surrounding towns and cities have to offer for living.

[Creepy Cruiser]

Are you trying to stay close to the coast? If not, I live on the east side of WA state, in Spokane and it's super nice over here.

 

It has it's ups and downs like everywhere else.

 

Eastern WA vs Western WA: We get way less rain, but we get more snow. It's much cheaper to live here, but the income is less also. There is tons of stuff to do, if you are into the outdoors. It's a great place to raise a family. Lakes, rivers, parks, autocross once a month during the summer and ice racing (rallycross) during the winter. There are a few of us Ratsuner's Here in Spokane.

[HRH]

Not that Spokane sucks, but I'd say the job market here is a lot harder than elsewhere. Then again, I couldn't find a job 7 years ago in Seattle even fresh out of school with a degree. Try spokanehelpwanted.com for starters, check the local paper's jobs online www.spokesmanreview.com That's about all the info I have.

[Creepy Cruiser]

That's funny, the only people I personally know here that are out of work, are my total loser friends that can't put down the bong and PS3 long enough to go look for one, lol.

[Bleach]

We have Yelm, Tenino, and the Cascade mountains. Plenty to do outdoors in Western WA! :D

[LeX]

We have Yelm, Tenino, and the Cascade mountains. Plenty to do outdoors in Western WA! :D

 

sounds great. Somewhere to take the datsuns out to play :D

[chicopuppy1976]

nothing too useful in this economy... Mine is Sociology, kinda useless without grad school right now that's why I'd planned on going anyway (Masters in integrated property management or health management)

 

She has an Animal Science degree

 

 

 

Seattle has a large and growing biotech community animal science degree could be pretty useful here. alot of govt stimulus money was spread around so the biotechs have been hiring. A couple of years ago my wife was looking at a job in portland so I started looking at biotechs there and I couldn't find anything. Seattle has below avg. unemployment. If your libral youll fit right in if your conserv. youll be quite angry alot. and the first winter is always the hardest, but to me the summers more than make up for it. Good luck to you.

[chicopuppy1976]

Seattle has a large and growing biotech community animal science degree could be pretty useful here. alot of govt stimulus money was spread around so the biotechs have been hiring. A couple of years ago my wife was looking at a job in portland so I started looking at biotechs there and I couldn't find anything. Seattle has below avg. unemployment. If your libral youll fit right in if your conserv. youll be quite angry alot. and the first winter is always the hardest, but to me the summers more than make up for it. Good luck to you.

 

For got your GF can check out wabio.com for job listings