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[kiphalfton]

Haven't lived in the Portland, OR area since 2022, but would like to move back within the next year or two.

For those who have lived there at least 5 years, any major changes over the past couple years?

I think the biggest issue I ran into, when I lived there, is the job market for engineers (at least for non-CS/electrical) isn't great and pay wasn't particularly competitive. Both of which were surprising, given how big the area is and cost of living increases.

 

[Shifty1897]

I moved out of Portland in 2023, and your description is accurate. I was a cloud engineer for an ERP software company there and the pay was rough compared to other major cities in the West coast. I ended up taking a remote job and moving to North Alabama for the cost of living and to be close to family.

The biggest thing is that the city still hasn't recovered from COVID. The closed businesses downtown, the rows of tents along the sidewalk, the homelessness and drug problems, all of that started getting out of control in 2020 and it's still a problem now.

 

[Lunarorbit]

I moved out of Portland in 2023, and your description is accurate. I was a cloud engineer for an ERP software company there and the pay was rough compared to other major cities in the West coast. I ended up taking a remote job and moving to North Alabama for the cost of living and to be close to family.

As someone who lived in Alabama for a bit during americorps and has visited portland... wow. Those are VERY different places.

I've moved a ton so that's kinda neat to see

 

[Shifty1897]

As someone who lived in Alabama for a bit during americorps and has visited portland... wow. Those are VERY different places.

I've moved a ton so that's kinda neat to see

I get that a lot lol. I'm from Alabama originally so I'm used to the culture shock. When I first moved to Portland in 2018 it was an adjustment but it wasn't too bad. I loved the food scene, people were generally very nice upfront and I felt comfortable walking around most parts of the city at night (reminder that I'm talking about 2018 here lol). The biggest shock was the rent. I went from paying a $800 mortgage on my 1700 sq ft house to paying $1695 for a 500 sq ft apartment. I know we could have gotten more if we had just moved out to the suburbs but my wife worked at OHSU and needed to be within 15 minutes of the hospital when she was on call.

 

[simpatico]

I traveled there for work last year, make sure you spend a week downtown on vacation before deciding to move. Local government seemingly abandoned all civic duties and is just cashing checks until they're physically removed.

 

[Boss Mog]

Is OP trolling? I can't imagine any sane person wanting to move to Portland these days.