We'll be Portlanders SOON!

Hurrah! We had a wonderful time on our week in Oregon last month, fell in love with hiking the Gorge and gorged on Umpqua ';Espresso Madness'; ice cream, joined both OMSI and the zoo, and felt absolutely at home in Portland. (Side note: being up close and personal with the rescued exotic animals at the Skamania County Fair is an experience not to be missed.)

I may be aging but I want to be on a dragon-boat team!

Back to reality: I%26#39;ll have final job interviews in Portland in 2 weeks, go up again over Columbus Day weekend to find us a house to rent, and then move up there by Halloween so that our 9yo won%26#39;t have missed too much of the school year. (FIngers crossed.)

It%26#39;s a bit scary, especially leaving Napa%26#39;s ideal weather for Portland%26#39;s gray skies, but we feel it%26#39;s the right place for us to put down our roots.

THANKS for everything so far, and I%26#39;ll be writing with questions...

-Celle

We'll be Portlanders SOON!

All the Best of Luck to you and your family, Celle!

The first year anywhere is a rollercoaster, I loved it when we arrived, that lasted for months, then after some months of rain I wanted to move again, lol, then I was charmed by something and loved it again.

Where you live ( home location)has a lot to do with it, so Good Good Luck with the househunt!

Try to keep in touch, we are here with more advice than you need LOL. Scarlett

We'll be Portlanders SOON!

Scarlett,

Thank you for the encouraging words!

I know I%26#39;ll have questions for you, so I apologize in advance for my future fretting.

We%26#39;ll definitely want to live in the SW area because my daughter will be attending PJA (which is at the Multnomah JCC).

Any suggestions on how to find a rental home for us (and our 4 cats)?

Thanks again,

Celle

Good luck to you and your family. We lived in Portland, both near the JCC and the Humphrey Park area. I%26#39;ve also lived in CA, travelled the valleys and wish to share this with you. Napa has nice weather. It can also be very hot and can be humid. You know that better than me, but Portland will provide hot and sunny weather, albeit muggy at times. And cold weather. And cloudy weather. But, nice seasonal changes. And you are so near the ocean and mountains, lakes and streams, NW history, you won%26#39;t lack for things to do and places to go in any season. So, especially with your 9 yo, think Seaside, coastal tidepools, the Columbia River dams, old Ft. Vancouver restoration, and so much more in all directions. OMSI and the Zoo are great resources, smart move! Enjoy a wonderful area.

House renting can be a tiny bit difficult because realtors here don%26#39;t deal in rentals. That said, our realtor said she could/would look into rentals for us.

Prices on rentals can be easier on the pocket than the buyers market right now ( still) and renting is a great way to get settled in and relax while looking for what you want to buy and allowing time for the market to adjust itself ...

Multnomah Village has so many charming bungalowes and homes, and a few for sale..I think you should contact a realtor right away and see if they will work with you.

I can give you 2 names..

Joanne Forman ( her office is in Lake Oswego but she helped me a lot )

http://joanneforman.com/oaragency.html

And in the city, the Windemere Office on NW 21st, a lady name Jean Wilson..

Then there is Coldwell Banker on NW 23rd and Burnside where they employ a lot of people and they all seem very helpful, every time I looked at an Open House, it seemed to be manned by a realtor from that office :)

http://www.cbseal.com/

Look at Craigs List and look at the Oregonian online, oregonlive.com

Good luck!!

I moved up to Portland from Chico, of all places, about 18 years ago and just loved it until the weather got really harsh. There was one week in 1989, I believe, when the ever-flowing water fountains in Portland froze over and then a week later, it snowed and turned the highways into skating rinks. After 18 years, we have had only a few memorable winters. For six months of the year, Portland and most of Oregon is just wonderful with very comfortable temps. Be prepared for a lot of grey days in the winter and be active outdoors any chance you get. Hopefully you can become acclimatated to the 45 degree days of winter. It%26#39;s hard to imagine when it%26#39;s 82 and blue skies right now.

Celle - we Californians are everywhere up here. DH and I moved to Portland in 2003 from the Bay Area (most recently Suisun City). It is by far the *best* thing we%26#39;ve ever done. We love it here and have felt at home the very minute we moved into our house. You%26#39;re going to love it.

Hello!

I%26#39;ve been following some of the forum topics as we are trying to decide which city we should relocate to-- Seattle, Portland or SFO area. DH%26#39;s business HQ will be Seattle but it is not imperative that we live there. We currently live in DC and I can%26#39;t live without sunshine (the deal breaker, so far, for our proposed move to Seattle/Portland area). All my online research indicates that Portland and Seattle have fewer sunshine days than SFO area. But I have also read some posts which indicate that the bay area%26#39;s micro climates can also create equal number of grey days, depending on the location.

So, here are my questions:

1. Which city has the most ';clear blue sky'; days?

2. We need to be in a good school district...any city suggestions, especially in the bay area?

Thanks in advance.

S

The East Bay gets quite a bit of sun. No idea what you are looking for as far as home prices, but some of the nicer areas with good schools include Walnut Creek, Layfayette, Moraga, and Danville. There is easy access into SF via BART from all of these towns.

The middle and southern part of San Mateo county also get the blue skies. The closer to SF, the greyer the days. Mtngirl is correct about the east bay. It%26#39;s usually about 10-15 degrees warmer than the peninsula and sunny. The bay area is ideal if you don%26#39;t mind paying a million plus on an average home and don%26#39;t mind the traffic gridlock and crowds in general. We happen to prefer Oregon for the green, the mountains, the waterfalls, the short commutes and the home prices and especially love the mid-Willamette Valley for the small-town feeling.

Hi!

Thanks for the east bay area suggestions. I will look into it.

I%26#39;ve promised DH that I%26#39;ll give Portland area a fair chance so...Are there any cities within close proximity of Portland that have more sunshine days, good schools and 4 BR, 3 BA homes in the $600 - $800 K range? Both DH and I are self-employed and will be working from home office. So, commute and gridlocks don%26#39;t come into play. But it is critical that we are in an area where you can walk for a few blocks and to get coffee, etc. Since we work from home, it gets isolating and we prefer to be able to step out a few times a day and see other people walking/going about their business. So, definitely not interested in a suburban area where one has to drive everywhere and won%26#39;t see neighbors in the daytime.

Thanks.