Moving to Portland - woohoo!

[GLC1968]

Yep, I accepted the offer at the company I interviewed with in January (Hillsboro) and my husband just accepted an offer with another company with an office in Beaverton.

OMG - we are moving to the PNW!!!

We are both super crazy excited. I'm still a bit wary of the weather (and now the cost of housing! ), but I think we'll be happy there. So far, the things I've learned about the place appear to be positive enough to out-weigh any rain blues I might have! Plus, if we hate it, we can always move, right?

We gave start dates of March 10th. So in the next 5 weeks (from today!), we have to sell our house, pack all our stuff, find a place to live in Portland, quit our jobs, and drive 2 cars, 4 bikes, 2 dogs and a cat across the country in the dead of winter (oh joy!). I'm alternating between freaking out, being sad, and being ready to jump out of my skin on a daily basis!

(we need a 'pulling out my hair' smilie!)

So...any recommendations on the best places to live? We want a small house (1200-1600 sf) on a little bit of land (3-5 acres). We will obviously likely be west of the city based on our job locations. Will we find anything that won't make us totally 'house poor'? We are coming from Greensboro, NC where housing is VERY affordable, so I'm afraid we'll die of sticker shock. (I've been scanning realtor.com occasionally).

[SadieKate]

Congratulations! You picked a great year to move! I'll tell my hubby while he's out shoveling snow again.

[kat_h]

You've probably already found it but just in case you haven't -- http://bikeportland.org/

[Susan Otcenas]

Congrats on your new position.

Highly highly unlikely you'll find 3-5 acres anywhere inside the urban growth boundary (at least nothing anywhere near affordable for mere mortals). Outside the boundary,maybe, but likely west or north of Hillsboro. Think Vernonia, Banks, Forest Grove, North Plains. Possibly South of Hillsboro, like Scholls, Farmington, etc.

Our land use laws are such that land inside the boundary is very expensive and is zoned in such a way to encourage density. Outside the boundary its mostly zoned agricultural land, and is zoned in such a way as to prevent it from being broken up into small lots. Please take no offense here, but the idea is to prevent precisely the type of lot you are looking for. 3-5 acre lots are useless from an ag perspective, and ag land needs to be preserved for that purpose. Small lots just causes endless sprawl and too much traffic on the country roads we cyclists want to use.

Don't fret about the weather. You too shall eventually grow webs between your toes, just like the rest of us. I've been here more than 10 years. My webs are still in development, but mostly full grown. And remember, we have the most spectacular summers ever. Most new homes come with A/C, but really you don't need it. My home is not air-conditioned and I only wish for it maybe one week per year. The beauty of living in Hillsboro is that you can be at the ocean in an hour, or up on Mt. Hood skiing in about the same amount of time. Life is good here (just don't tell anyone else, so we can keep it to ourselves....).

Susan

[Xrayted]

Welcome!! The more the merrier.

My best advice to you since you are driving across at that time of year (We did it last year at the end of March) is to go to AAA for a safe route. Many of the interstates are actually closed on and off due to major snow. When I say closed, I mean they put down a railroad barrier thingy and no one moves until the police say so. We were stuck in WY during a total whiteout. That is even following what we thought would be a decent route. Stay on the southern side and you should be fine.

[GLC1968]

Please take no offense here, but the idea is to prevent precisely the type of lot you are looking for. 3-5 acre lots are useless from an ag perspective, and ag land needs to be preserved for that purpose.

Ah, see this is what we hope to show isn't true...that small lots DO (or can) take full advantage of the agricultural properties of the land. This country needs more small scale farms (think permaculture) again if it's going to survive the future! But I totally agree that urban sprawl is NOT useful and absolutely appreciate laws that discourage it. We are not the "get a big plot and put a big honkin' house on it just to impress the neighbors" type people, at all. Thanks for the heads up about the zoning though, that's really helpful to know.

Any idea if the larger lots closer-in discourage farming? We found a few that are borderline in our price range in Hillsboro (2.5 acres), but we don't know if city laws would prevent us from farming and keeping chickens (big maybe on the chickens...that's DH's desire, not mine!).

Oh, and also thanks for the advice on the weather. I was noticing that a lot of the newer homes had AC and coming from the south, I couldn't help but wonder 'why?'! I'm pretty sure we wouldn't even use it...even on the hottest days!

Welcome!! The more the merrier.

My best advice to you since you are driving across at that time of year (We did it last year at the end of March) is to go to AAA for a safe route. Many of the interstates are actually closed on and off due to major snow. When I say closed, I mean they put down a railroad barrier thingy and no one moves until the police say so. We were stuck in WY during a total whiteout. That is even following what we thought would be a decent route. Stay on the southern side and you should be fine.

That is excellent advice, thanks! I never even thought about closed roads, or to check AAA, but it makes perfect sense. Cool!

[bikerHen]

Welcome to the PNW! It really is a great place to be. Don't forget, Spokane is just a days drive away, and offers some great riding.

Have to add . . . chickens are the best! They will eat anything, provide great garden mulch, and give you fresh eggs. Roosters are the main beef neighbors have with chickens, so if you stick with just hens, you usually don't get complaints, except maybe from the hens. Also if you've never kept chickens before, one hen will lay at least 5 eggs a week so don't get to many or you will be buried in egg real quick. bikerHen

[GLC1968]

Thanks Dianyla & BikerHen! That's good to know.

I'm not sure I want chickens, but I'm pretty certain that I don't want a rooster around...so that won't be a problem.

And I do believe that we will do LOTS of exploring in the area, so I'll add Spokane to our list!

SK - thanks for that link! I've saved it and I'm sure it'll come in handy.

Starfish - I'm putting Shasta on my calendar!

Kat_h - I actually just stumbled upon that website yesterday morning. Lots of good info! Thanks!