Help convince me to move to Oregon/ Washington! (flatlander here)

[r00st]

Alright so I have always wanted to move away from this corn-laden state also known as Illinois (land of lame...I mean..Lincoln). Sure everyone thinks their state sucks...but seriously...mine does! lol.

I am a huge outdoorsman (love hiking, atving'  hunting, fishing and just plain old being outside). This state does not offer much as far as terrain change (the entire state is between about 500 ft elevation and 1200!). I Love terrain change. I like the idea of the west coast for its:
Temeperate climate (wont be sick of snow that much, and wont be sick of 100+ degree days with 99% humidity!)
Terrain change (sand dunes/beaches a couple of hours from mountains? Perfect!)
Umm....DUNES!!! 2.5-3.5 hours is a LOT closer than the 5.5 hours crappy Silver Lake is, or the 23 hours it takes to get to Little Sahara, UT!
Its far away from...HERE!

I am 2.5 years into a relationship which will be turning into an engagement/marriage soon enough. Money is stopping a lot of my plans. My GF and I are both in our last semester (internships...work your ass off only to have to PAY the school for it!). We graduate in May. Since neither of us have jobs, nor have any good leads the thought of moving makes sense NOW rather than once we are tied down. I think getting married, having kids, getting a decent "career" type job or any combination of the above will prevent us from moving.

The kicker is that i have never even been to Oregon/washington! I have been up and down the coast of california once and absolutely loved it. I am planning a trip to Portland at the end of May. One of my really good buddies is moving out there permanently and his GF is following suit a few months later. I will probably stay with him just for the cost thing. Our yearly Sand dunes trip (Little Sahara, UT) is beginning of june so it gives me a good excuse to not have to drive both legs of the journey (fly from OR to UT   ).

I am absolutely positive I will fall in love with OR once I see it. My GF is a little more tied down to this area than I am. Mostly due to family reasons. I have always been more of the "do things by myself, my way" type so leaving this area will not bother me much at all.

So...for those of you who moved out west, or have been there your whole life. What are the Ups and downs? The biggest killer for me (and my GF) is the rain... rain is kind of depressing. My cousin and his wife/daughters are living in Portland and have for the past few years. They tell me you just get "used" to the rain after awhile. I hope that is the case!

Anybody know cost of living for a reasonable place to live (probably apartment to start out) in or around the Portland area? I am not dead set on Portland, but that is where my cousin lives, and my friend will be moving just slightly north into Washington.

For instance...around here a single bedroom apartment on the lower end is about 500...a pretty nice two bedroom (new construction) is about 800. The kicker will be spending what money we have on moving. I will be in desperation to find a job, and quickly at that. I am not picky in my first "career" type job and will even work WHATEVER it takes to keep a roof over our head. 10/hour is better than no dollars/hour!

Both my girlfriend and myself major'd in criminal justice. I would love to be law enforcement and I know Portland PD is hiring a HUGE amount of officers in 2009 and 2010.

Any information and insight you west coasters can give me is a great help! I have told my girlfriend that even if we choose to move back to the flatland to start a family, at least we can say we have no regrets and did what we (or at least I lol) truly wanted to do; which is move the F*&) away for a little while! In the end all it costs is some money and time.

Thanks in advance

Mike

[robkd]

If your into everything outdoors, central oregon has it, it is hot in the summer and you get snow in the winter.  Elevation is about 3300 i think.  It is 3 hrs from the coast, and there are probably about 60 lakes, rivers, streams within about 30 miles of eachother.  Not unlike anywhere else in the pacific northwest.  If you like to hike, there are thousands of trails to hike and see the mountains and all.  Pretty much anywhere in town here you can see at least 6 snow covered peaks, including Mt. Bachelor which is awesome for everything from snowboarding and skiing, as well as snowmobiling.  Tons of trails to ride the rappy on including a couple of tracks.  I have also lived on the coast here in Oregon and it is great but jobs are scarce, and the weather isn't as nice as it is here.  Look up Bend, Oregon and check it out.  Just my two cents.  Also unless you like the cities i wouldn't move to portland.  But honestly anywhere in Oregon, Washington, Nor. Cal. or even Idaho you will find the kind of terrain you like for the things you like to do.

[Colorado700R]

Colorado has most of what your looking for too.  Although major ridable dunes are not right outside your door, you'd be centrally located amongst most of them.

[socalrappy700]

Well you know I moved out west and moved back, but I moved back due to the family reason.  My only advice is if you are close to your family and they are in IL I wouldn't recommend moving.  Once we had Owen being around family for him to grow up with became very important.  If it wasn't for him I would still be in Socal.  Also, I know its beautiful in the northwest but I'm just not a fan of rain, I would never get used to it.

That being said if I was living where you are at I would want to move too, central IL blows.

[Krandall]

Minnesota has no dunes.. But we have some nice terrain riding. Ups/downs.. No dunes though

[socalrappy700]

Minnesota has no dunes.. But we have some nice terrain riding. Ups/downs.. No dunes though

And only two seasons, shoveling and swatting.....the first is 10 months long.   

[Colorado700R]

Also, for your criminal justice carrer, this place is right down by where RP lives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADX_Florence

They cage the worst of the worst  


There's like 5 prisons down there, and they seem to be always hiring folks  

[Flynbyu]

I would choose Arizona, Florida, or Texas.

Mild winters and palm trees.

~Brian

[Peelz]

Little Sahara Ok is probably about 12 hours away from you now, not that bad. Have you thought about moving west to Iowa? Seriously interesting geography here

I agree with Socal ....f**k the rain!

I am from the west coast..while I do miss it, I would find it hard to leave the laid back lifestyle here, and open spaces.

[Segkast]

r00st..... I love it here in the NW.... I honestly don't think I could live anywhere else really (though colorado sounds badass too). We've got everything you're looking for as far as the outdoors, it is an outdoorsman's paradise for sure ! If you're into bigger cities, Portland isn't bad, but there's a million other places you would love. There are many smaller cities outside Portland with better home prices and whatnot. Cost of living seems like it's higher out here though. Houses seem to be more expensive here than a lot of places.

Winters aren't bad here, pretty mild depending on where you're at. The rain...... does it rain here ? I hadn't noticed.... ? Summers in the NW are THE SHIT - Not too hot, but plenty warm to be swimming in lakes fed by glacier water. Our summers are avg about 75-80 degrees for the most part. And there's PLENTY of times during the year where we're HOPING for and WAITING for rain ...it's not anywhere near constant like people make it out to be...

Personally, where I'm at- I'm about 3-5 hours from Sand (depending on where you wanna go) on the coast, 2 hours away from 'ocean shores'. 2 hours or so to either Portland or Seattle. About 5-10 minutes to the bay. I could be skiing/snowboarding or hiking in the Cascades within an hour or two. I could be riding my quad through one of the worlds biggest Temperate Rain Forests within about a half hour...

Washington's a pretty diverse place for the most part. At least on the West side of the Cascades. Once you get to the east side of the state (worth going to as well...sometimes ) it turns into more of an arid/dry climate. Pine Trees rather than Fir trees if you feel me... ?

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions... I'm no expert on OR,but like I said- I'll probably never leave the NW... I LOVE IT HERE ! I have been tryin to talk the woman into moving closer to the OR coast....that's for sure where I'm retiring !

[Colorado700R]

I would choose Arizona, Florida, or Texas.

Mild winters and palm trees.

~Brian

Are you 36 or 66

[r00st]

^ He's got to drive that corvette SOMEWHERE! lol

Thanks for the info guys. Thanks Seg for the little write up...your making my mental mouth drool with excitement! My only fear is moving out there and not being able to find a job. After blowing the wad to move sure I could afford quite a few months on what I have saved but thats not a comfortable situation.

I guess I could go out myself and job hunt...hmm tough decision. I guess the first step is to fly out and check out a few different regions of oregon/washington. My buddy is moving to washington (just over the state line I guess, not too far from portland/seattle) and was telling me you can rent a HOUSE for 600/month. That is INSANE! I almost didnt beleive him but now that you said about the same thing, seems it must be true.

What is housing out there? Granted portland would be higher (bigger city) just like living in chicago or even a close 'burb is more expensive the closer you are to the main city. I am not really a city slicker...prefer my space. I like having a city with a nice balance of people, things to do and freedom. The town I live in is about 40,000 but also has a college campus on it (so a lot higher in school season). Its almost getting too big for me lol. I am sure there are quite a few cities/towns out there that have a population of 10-30k that have reasonable housing prices but are still close enough to some other big cities you dont feel too far away (the GF wouldnt be too keen on living in a cabin 30 miles up a dirt road on a mountain by ourselves lol).

[dabigbratj]

how about living like where i live lol i hate it

[r00st]

Ya I will admit I hate central IL even more than I hate northern IL lol. At least the terrain changes up here a BIT...and if you go a few hours north into wisconsin you get some pretty nice hills.

Want to move out west with us? lol

[dabigbratj]

Ya I will admit I hate central IL even more than I hate northern IL lol. At least the terrain changes up here a BIT...and if you go a few hours north into wisconsin you get some pretty nice hills.

Want to move out west with us? lol

i wish but right now is not best time to be job hunting :'(