Hello everyone! I've been surfing the internet like crazy to learn more about Oregon, acutally Portland and Eugene in particular. I'm a little concerned about adjusting to the climate. I am from the southwest where there is a lot of sunshine, but it's very dry. As my username indicates, I do love the rain and moisture, but I'm a bit worried about the lack of sun. Is it really as bad as people say? I would like to live in or around Portland, but my boyfriend is thinking Eugene for various reasons. Does anyone know if there is much of a difference climate-wise between the two? Any other advice or information is much appreciated. Thanks!

Very common question. I moved to Portland from the southwest over ten years ago and I had to make the same kind of adjustment.

You can't make a blanket statement about "is it as bad as people say?" because everyone has a different temperament and attitude toward the weather. Some people get depressed when it's cloudy for a week, some people can go for weeks that way and it doesn't bother them. I know what I had an adjustment when I moved here, but I got used to the weather. A friend who moved here from the southwest about the same time I did stayed here for about eighteen months before moving back. He and I handled the weather differently. No two people will handle it the same way.

It's not overcast from November through April here. The weather is hard to predict. Last winter while So. Cal was getting hammered with rain, Portland had one of the sunniest, most dry winters in a while. We had weeks of sun in January and February. Got to the point that there was serious worry about drought. That ended in the spring, when we got hammered by rain for weeks and weeks.

It does get overcast for a week or two at a time here - and that is something to get used to if you come from a sunny climate. You most definitely come to appreciate the sunny days here more than you would in the southwest, when you kind of take them for granted.

But it is possible to get used to it - I have! In fact, this week we had some sunny days and when it turned rainy Friday, I kind of cheered. I have actually come to enjoy rainy days here.

Don't think there's much climate difference between Portland and Eugene, but the cities are very different. Eugene is really a medium-sized college town, whereas Portland is much larger, a small city. People from NYC would laugh at Portland being so tiny, with its miniature downtown, so you can imagine what they would say about Eugene.

Andrew

The main difference we found between the climates in Portland and Eugene (having lived in both) was that Eugene was foggier in winter (at the low elevations) and also got a little more snow accumulation (but even then, it wasn't much).
Both cities can get surprisingly hot in the summer and not much is air conditioned in Eugene (which turned out to be good training for our move to Europe). When we moved to Eugene from Philly, we listened to endless warnings about the terrible weather--rain, clouds, etc. We got there and had weeks of nonstop sunshine.

There is a bit of difference in climate between Portland and Eugene. We generally get the same weather, but because of proximity to the Columbia River gorge, temperatures in Portland are usually a little more extreme. Portland is a little warmer in summer, and a little colder in winter.

Also, if you are subject to seasonal allergies Eugene tends to be much worse. It is subject to temperature inversions where the air just sits there and there is no breeze to move it out. I had many friends in college who really suffered in Eugene, but have much less of a problem in Portland.

I agree with Andrew's and everyone else's comments. I will add this: Is it as bad as everyone says? Sometimes, yes. But not always.
Is it better than most people know? Absolutely! Summer in the PNW is unbeatable (with the occasional crappy June such as we've had this year). Very little humidity, but not dry like the Southwest. We don't get the summer rain and thunderstorms they do in the midwest and though it can get hot it almost always cools off at night.

I agree with the other posters. Growing up in Salem and going to college in Corvallis, I can definitely vouch for the allergy bit! About a month ago we were in Eugene and everyone in the track club that had allergies were suffering.

That said, I truly love the weather here. I do love the rain and love to get out in it. When we moved from Seattle back to here (drier here) I was really upset to not have as much rain. The summers are glorious here though!

I was born and raised here, but spent years moving around the country due to the military. When we moved back, our military friends asked us about the lack of sun. Honestly, even after being away for a while, it does not bother me. I think Andrew summed it up pretty well in that each person is different in that respect.

Wow! It looks like I came to the right place for advice on this matter. Thank you all for all of the wonderful information. I realize that everyone is different, I am just hoping that my boyfriend and I both love Oregon. I have a feeling that we will. He dislikes hot summers and I dread bone-chilling winters, so this may be a happy medium. Also, I love it when we get rainy, cloudy days here in Albuquerque, NM. It makes me feel better about being inside studying all day. However, our rainy and overcast weather seldom lasts more than a few hours here, unfortunately.

I like everything I have read and heard about Portland. It seems like the perfect place to live. I need green in my life as I'm so tired of brown landscapes and xerascaped yards.

Thanks again everyone!

>>However, our rainy and overcast weather seldom lasts more than a few hours here, unfortunately. <<

Or a few minutes... ;-)

The potential move sounds great, but where will you get good green chile in Oregon?

Lee Ann, fellow New Mexican

Hi lovetherain, so do I!! Personally I would move to Portland in a hearbeat but not the time in my life to do that.

Just one comment as allergies in Eugene were brought up. In Portland a lot of people get allergies due to the mold count. So just wanted you to be aware in case that would be a problem for you, which it probably isn't.

Another thing about Portland, they have a great airport and if you get the need for some sun you can get on a Southwest plane and come down here to California from time to time.

Best wishes with your decision.

Portland is a great place to live, but like most other places we have our share of problems. Oregon in general has been having a tough time maintaining stable funding for our schools, for one. Multnomah County (which includes most of Portland) even introduced a temporary local tax measure a few years ago to prevent more cuts to our schools. But the temporary tax is due to expire, and many schools are in danger of losing their sports and arts programs. Even with the tax, Portland Public Schools cut more teachers this year. Class sizes are going to get even larger, I fear.

Portland housing is perhaps the cheapest on the west coast compared to Seattle, SF, LA, and San Diego, but compared to Albuquerque, you may be in for a shock. The real estate market has been going crazy for the last 6-12 months. It's getting harder and harder to afford a place in a good area.

Portland also suffers in a sense from being more of a big town than a small city. We lack some of the big city stuff you might find in SF or Seattle. Sometimes big concert acts skip Portland. If you like pro sports, Portland is very lacking, not even a good college team, really. In fact, the lack of a top-notch university is another real drawback of Portland.

Not trying to knock Portland, just pointing out that its far from perfect.

Andrew

Thanks again for more great information everyone. Lee Ann, you make a good point about the green chile (I had to chuckle), but I do hear that Hatch ships green chile all over the country. And thanks LovesItaly for the mold allergy alert. I hadn't considered that. And Andrew, you seem to have a wealth of information on Portland. I have read about the public school funding issues. That is something I should certainly consider as I am finishing graduate school in speech-language pathology and about half of the nations SLPs work in schools. They say SLPs are in need everywhere right now, so hopefully that holds true for Oregon despite their school situation. I am also concerned about real estate prices there. They are quite a bit higher than here, though my boyfriend assures me Oregon is still less expensive than Chicago, which is the other place we were considering moving. I'm actually from a small town of about 50,000 so I think the big town feel will be fine. I actually feel a little intimidated when I think about living in Chicago. It is a magnificant city however.

College and professional sports was a great subject to bring up as well. My boyfriend is a huge college hoops fan, but we can always travel to the championships. We went to Sweet 16 this year in Albuquerque. It was just awesome!

You guys are great!

<Is it really as bad as people say?>

Well yes it really does rain quite often and is 'gray' even more than that. That is why everything is so green and gorgeous up this way!! I moved to Seattle 20 years ago and love it here (grew up in southern California).

That said, the weather and its effect on people is a very personal thing. I couldn't believe it when I first came to Seattle and people would complain when it was sunny too many days in a row, they actually looked forward to rain!

Another trick is a sunny destination winter vacation if you can afford it. I go every winter to Mexico or Hawaii sometime between Dec to Mar to get out of the gloom.

My choice would be Portland, only because Eugene is a little too small college town-y for my own tastes.

p.s.

<xerascaped yards> thankfully I don't even know what that means!

And if you're worried about the weather, I can't believe Chicago is the other choice you are considering ;-)

Hi lovetherain, just one other thought. As I understand it, because Portland does not have a sales tax on purchased goods the property taxes in Portland are very high. Just something you might want to check into.

Regarding the schools, I have several family members in Portland that are teachers, some in private schools which is another story, and some in public schools, and as Andrew stated the funding for public schools in Portland has become a problem. But I do love Portland so I am not trying to be negative. Again, best wishes to you.

Well, I was gonna say something about the lead article in this morning's Oregonian, which placed much of the blame for the school funding problem on PERS, which allows public employees to retire at age 54 on 107% of their pre-retirement salary, indexed annually for inflation for the rest of their lives..... But I didn't want to turn this thread political.

You ought to consider Southern Oregon around Medford. The weather is sunnier and less rainy than either Portland or Eugene, and there is a tremendous amount of culture for a relatively small population area. The only drawback is there aren't many jobs here. Although rising, property values are still lower than Portland?Eugene except for Ashland.

Beachbum--I finally sat down and read the paper today and saw the same article.

Although the school funding is a big issue here, I will say that we are in a suburb and have been very pleased with our schools so far.

I have mold allergies as well as the pollen, but since we moved back here from Seattle I do not suffer from the mold at all. It has been wonderful! I had a really hard time with it in Seattle, so expected it here to, but that is not the case.

I get the impression you are not interested in such practical aspects of life as taxes, energy, other costs of living, and prices for real estate. If you make the move to Oregon, you will suddenly be confronted with these problems. That state has some of the highest prices for the common items of life that you will find anywhere. California and Hawaii are much worse, as you no doubt have heard. But, then, you don't want to know the facts.

Don't have a clue what you are talking about, USNR. Basic cost of living isn't any more expensive here than other places I've lived or visited, on average. Real Estate is going up but is still cheaper than many other places around. High income tax but no sales tax. Cheap electricity subsidized by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA - hydro dams on the Columbia River). Gas prices are a tad spendy sometimes but are cheaper than California.

Andrew

I have to agree with many on here....Oregon is a great place to live and I cant imagine living anywhere else. Having said that I am from Southern Oregon (have lived all over the state) House prices here have skyrocketed the last few years but are nowhere near California levels yet. The weahter in Southern Oregon is IMO the best in the state...less rain...more sun!The jobs are harder to find in Medford than say Portland or Eugene. The area is growing very fast though.
Living in Portland was great too! The fact that it is a city with a small town feel is what makes it nice though as mentioned before it does lack some of the things you might find in SF or SEA.
On the PERS issue...and I hesitate to even say this. The problem wasnt with PERS but with the way Oregon negotiated their deals. It is really funny that everything I have read on the issue is so onesided. But I will leave it at that and get back on topic!
As far as Eugene goes. I wouldnt move there it is pretty unique though and if you can get past all the incense it might not be bad.(j/k for those that live there!! =)