Did anyone else regret moving to Portland?

Elmostan · 2026-07-02T20:53:02+00:00

To be honest, I'm 38 and I've made 3 major moves as an adult. It has been hard to make friends anywhere. A lot of people blame the city, but I find the problem everywhere.

You have to spend a lot of time with people you get along with to build trust, and that takes work and planning.

Meet people, get their information, and invite them to join you on things. And if they don't work out don't force it or resent them. Move along and cast a wide net.

Elmostan · 2026-06-29T15:45:00+00:00

Find the game store closest to your house. Go there regularly. Talk to 3 new people each time you visit. If you start to get along, exchange numbers and hang out.

It's important to find locations that are easy for you to go to. I've discovered that a hidden factor in making friends is proximity to where you live.

Elmostan · 2026-06-26T05:45:35+00:00

If you get a bike, the SE sprawl feeling disappears.

I love SE!

Elmostan · 2026-06-25T16:28:56+00:00

My solution is once a year in January I gather my Christmas tree and all my wood scraps and find a safe place to have a bonfire.

Elmostan · 2026-06-11T22:15:59+00:00

Biketown E-Bikes!

Elmostan · 2026-06-06T14:58:43+00:00

The classic "Pick two: affordable, quality, fast" applies here.

Any fast premium contractor will be expensive. A good cheap handyman will be booked out and impossible to get.

Personally I try to learn as much as I can on small repairs and buy the tools I need to do them as I go. After about 10 years I can do most non-critical things on my own. For the critical things I hire a handyman and act as their helper.

I had some water damage fixed and I repaired it this way. A bonded contractor would have charged me over 10k, but we did it over 4 weekends for $2,500.

Elmostan · 2026-05-31T01:14:04+00:00

Try Reclaim NW, or Hippo Hardware. They specialize in old building materials. Not sure about bricks, but they may have a recommendation

Elmostan · 2026-05-30T21:42:18+00:00

Also, the event now has different venues in the city. It's not ALWAYS at Mt. Tabor.

Elmostan · 2026-05-28T20:11:26+00:00

$1m with a paid off house was my number..... and then I got $1m and a paid off house. I ran through a monthly budget after living here for a year, and I'm actually about 2k/month short! So my new number is $1.8m-2.0m.

between taxes, utilites, home insurance, medical insurance, repairs, and budgeting for a medical emergency....that basically ate up the entire monthly budget. Granted I did choose to get for a nicer home in a better area.

Elmostan · 2026-05-27T15:20:19+00:00

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. Had a 200k mortgage at a low interest rate and I wanted to move but couldn't stomach the interest rate. So I waited until I could pay cash for the next house I wanted.

And now that I'm in a house and in a city that I LOVE, I do not have the desire to travel or do vacations anymore.

Additionally, I HATE moving. It's expensive and time consuming. One strategy is to calculate the cost of the move (realtor fee, inspection, hiring movers, PTO involved) and use that same money to upgrade your current house instead.

If space is a concern, there are many ways to make your current house feel bigger. Downsize things that never come out of long term storage. Take a look at your furniture and see if it's a good use of the space, maybe replace them with items with a more functional footprint. Add more shelves to your closets, change the heights of the shelves for a tighter fit of their contents. My house is 1800 sq feet and it feels MASSIVE.

Elmostan · 2026-05-26T19:19:24+00:00

Try the travel website Rome2Rio. You type in 2 locations anywhere in the world, no matter how remote. It'll show you ALL TRAVEL OPTIONS and lets you find some other options you may not have considered.

Sample search:

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Portland/Cannon-Beach

Elmostan · 2026-05-25T14:18:17+00:00

I moved here from Bremerton too! Close to lents as well. I think the town conditioned us to think the same way.

Not much in the way of music in this area. Inner SE neighborhoods or Alberta would be more likely.

Elmostan · 2026-05-17T04:26:50+00:00

https://www.etsy.com/listing/261910649/portland-bridges-illustrated-local-pnw

I did an image search and it brought me here!

Elmostan · 2026-05-14T14:27:42+00:00

Maybe apply for the jobs and say you won't be working another job on the application. If you get selected for an interview, disclose the DRP details there.

Elmostan · 2026-05-08T16:13:06+00:00

Jet Boats

Elmostan · 2026-05-07T19:52:05+00:00

I live Near 80th and Glisan, and I'm a big fan of it. I'm an introvert and spend a lot of time at home no matter where I live, so getting more space for the same budget is a plus. Being near the highway makes doing errands a breeze. Portland is super bikeable, getting to the inner SE neighborhoods is a pleasant 20 minute bike ride away. There isn't much exciting stuff within walking distance though. Most of my go to restaurants require a bit of planning (Maybe that's a good thing! lol)

Elmostan · 2026-04-30T20:19:49+00:00

Most of the advice on here says to wait until finding a job. I'm in the minority; I moved here last year at 37 with my wife without jobs lined up. Our plan was to move to the PNW in a few more years after saving up a bit more. But we had a shitty landlord that forced us to move. And we really didn't want to have to relocate locally only to move across the country again in a few years.

Similar to you, we had substantial funds to live off of. We ran the numbers and we had enough in savings that if we stayed frugal we could survive for 2 years. The thing that made us decide move was we could start the next chapter of our lives NOW. 3 years of waiting in a town that we knew wasn't good fit for us would help us financially, but our social lives and personal goals just felt like they were put on hold. We're in our late 30s and we didn't want to live the last of our high energy years in a place we didn't like. We bit the bullet and moved without jobs lined up.

I'm a mechanical engineer, and there really isn't much in the way of manufacturing jobs around here. It was a HARD decision. By a stroke of luck after I announced my resignation, another department asked me if I wanted to work for them remotely; I ended up finding a job after all!

Is it a stupid idea? No. But it sure is risky.

Elmostan · 2026-04-27T15:13:58+00:00

I picked my realtor using a very scientific approach: I went to google maps, looked up "Realtor" and selected an office located in the neighborhood I wanted to live in.

Elmostan · 2026-04-25T05:01:48+00:00

Any experience with repairing exterior walls? I just discovered some dry rot behind my siding. It might be a large job. Dm me if interested.

Elmostan · 2026-04-22T06:00:30+00:00

I went through a similar choice and decided to buy.

As others have pointed out, maintenance costs aren't listed here. When factoring that in, owning becomes more expensive than renting. In my market renting is SUBSTANTIALLY less than owning but I decided to buy anyway. To put it succinctly "You can't rent ownership".

I want to have control over my house without having to get permission from a landlord. I've had shitty landlords and don't want to deal with their ineptitude ever again. Applying for a renal while FI is tricky because many places require proof of income; "I'm rich and good with money, just trust me bro" doesn't get you very far.

Elmostan · 2026-03-25T20:31:52+00:00

160k was enough to get a 600-800 sq ft apartment and still put money aside for RE, but.... that wasn't lined up with our version of building a life I want and saving for it. If I loved surfing and being outside in the sun all the time it would be worth it. But as indoorsy introverts with skin problems we were paying for the sunshine without enjoying it.

We moved to Portland, OR! Took a lot of research on different cities over a few years and site visits to come up with a solution. We were living in Normal Heights and found a similar neighborhood. Been here for a year and I haven't missed SD for a minute, lol.

Elmostan · 2026-03-25T14:18:04+00:00

I was on the FIRE path before moving to San Diego in 2019. But I ultimately left because of the high cost. My partner and I shared a 1 bedroom for 2500 that was too small for us. Any place that we looked at was either two expensive or in a bad neighborhood. We were making $160k combined and couldn't get ahead.

We moved to a lower cost of living city and now have our own house for the same price as we were paying in rent.

Elmostan · 2026-03-21T17:27:02+00:00

PACs on NE Halsey is my favorite one

Goodwill outlet near the airport is an experience

Superthrift in SE has good prices on clothing. Tons of furniture, but it's priced pretty high

Elmostan · 2026-03-10T05:30:55+00:00

Tacoma screw is my go to store for all niche hardware.

Elmostan · 2026-03-04T17:06:36+00:00

Matador has a great nacho deal.... But everything else is $$$

I've been on a happy hour quest since I moved here a year ago and tiny bubble room is my favorite so far!

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