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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]All-- My spouse and I considered moving from the DC area for Portland, Oregon, which we had recently visited for the first time. If you can stomach the rain for a few months in the winter, I literally can't think of a better city as an alternative to DC in terms of COL, job opportunities, outdoor activities, public schools, and of course, most folks there are staunchly anti-Trump :)

I can't sing Portland's tune loud enough and it's really attractive in terms of COL - for $700k in DC, you're getting a 2 bedroom condo in a bad school district. For the same price in NW or SW Portland, you're getting a 3.500 square foot northwest modern home in a public school that's rated a 9 or 10. A large fancy daycare center for infants is literally a thousand dollars less than it is in DC. Unlike Seattle, Portland is still affordable. A lot of the retail giants headquarters are based in Portland (i.e., Nike), a lot of tech companies and startups (Portland isn't called Silicon Forest for nothing), and some consulting firms.

OP--you mentioned that both of your careers are tied to government so it may be difficult for you to find work outside of the DC area. I'd encourage you to think more broadly about your skill sets in your current roles, as opposed to the industry you're in, when thinking about what you have to offer a new employer. Research, accounting, consulting, advocacy, policy analysis, etc. are all useful skills in multiple industries. Just be prepared to talk about your contributions in terms of your competencies as opposed to what agency/non-profit/elected official you currently work for. People successfully make this kind of career move all the time.

Good luck to all of you - I hope that your journeys to find a balanced lifestyle take you to new and cool places!
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Good luck with all the druggies, ANTIFA running the city, and if you want any diversity, you certainly won't find it there unless you like drugged out white folks everywhere. [/quote]
Also, Good luck in Portland with the ugly overpriced crapshacks, the traffic, the mediocre restaurants, and the uptight people. [/quote]

Fixed[/quote]
No.  :roll: [/quote]

We don't begrudge people for not having the means to house themselves, and would never rule out a city because it has a population that is struggling to make it in this world. Like every major city in the U.S., Portland does have a lot of homelessness and drug abuse. I see it walking to work in McPhereson Square as well and never feel like I'd need to leave DC because of this. Many homeless across the U.S. are veterans, many suffer from mental illness. These people deserve our empathy and protection, not our spite.

As far as lack of diversity in Portland -- I'd much my family be exposed to more inclusive ideals and principles, which you're more likely to find in PDX, egardless of whether the city is racially homogeneous or not. All the money we'd save by living in a place like this could be used to travel the world to show our kids that the world is a rich tapestry of cultures that should celebrated.

There, I fixed it for YOU.
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NP. Inclusive ideals and principles in a largely racially homogeneous place is the quintessential oxymoron. I certainly won't begrudge your desire to move to Portland, we have friends who did it and are very happy there, but to suggest that your family will somehow be exposed to a greater moral/cultural high-ground than in DC is naive.

We too have thought about leaving DC for a lower COL area, but ultimately there is not another city that provides us and our children the opportunities and access to amenities, cultural and otherwise, that we get in DC. 
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