Portland
 

We are considering Portland as a retirement location. We have been to Portland in the summer, which is generally beautiful. But, we would like to hear from folks about Portland's winter, which has been described as unrelentingly gray and overcast. Is it as bad as it sounds?

Maine or Oregon?

Has to be Oregon since "unrelentingly grey & overcast" is all too Portland Oregon :)

We moved to Portland last year from NY by way of a year in Florida.
I will take the grey days and rain over snow and hurricanes.
You can still get out and do everything in the rain or if it is just grey, you adjust ..
My husband has more complaints about the grey than I do.. it is something to think about.
The summers here are worth just about anything though .
We rarely have the a/c on, never at night and last night I needed a light sweater .. :)

I will assume you mean Oregon:) Winters...I love them. However, I was born and raised in the Willamette Valley, lol! We did live all over the country due to the military though, and during those years I very much missed Oregons winters and the rain. The weather does grate on some people, but others it doesn't bother. I think it is one of those personal things.

I agree with the above. It varies from person to person and winter to winter. A lot of people from Portland and Seattle retire to sunnier climes, like Arizona or east of the Cascades (Bend). Many go to Hawaii, Mexico, or anywhere sunny, in December.

Think of the possibility of grey skies from the end of October to the beginning of February. Then, think of days where it sprinkles a bit and then is sunny, from February to..oh, say, mid July. Then think of total sunshine with almost no clouds from the end of July to mid October and you have Portland and Seattle (and the Vancouvers). Of course the weather varies, but that's it in a nutshell.
Also, we are far north, so think of short days in the winter and very long summer days.
Come visit in December and see.

Hi ljbjeh, may I suggest if you are considering changing locations and IF you own a house where you now live that you rent out the house you now own and rent for a year whereever you are thinking of retiring too, be it Portland, OR or whereever.

Someone elses opinions does not mean that that will be your opinions as we are all so different. And visiting a place during a beautiful season does mean that one would be happy there say for the other six months of the year.

In otherwords, don't burn your bridges behind you.

I personally love Portland, OR and would be quite happy living there. But I know all about Portland including each season. Is it as bad as it sounds? That depends on what year you are talking about. Like everyone the weather patterns are changing. And one persons "bad" is not another persons "bad".

Anyway, again I would rent for a year and than make the big decision whether or not that is where I wanted to permanetly retire to, keeping in mind that real estate in Portland is now very expensive. Best wishes to you regarding your retirement and decisions.

Sorry -- I did mean Oregon. Thanks for the comments.

Orcas - we have c onsidered the idea of renting first, before making an all out commitment. The current slowdonw in the real estate market makes that approach more viable than it might have been a year or two ago.

Bend/Sun River/Redmond and Ashland/Medford/Grants Pass are the fastest growing areas in Oregon. Better weather and retirement possibilites in both locales + Regional Medical Centers and stuff oriented towards seniors.
Lots of Golf/outdooor activities. too.
The Brookings to Gold Beach stretch of the Ocean is called the Banana Belt because it's frequently Warm & Sunny in Winter.
Just something to consider.


http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mfr/climo/AvgAnnPcpnOR.gif
http://www.southernoregon.org/

It's a good idea to check it out, as you plan.

Is the market slowing down in Portland? It is not in Seattle. We're "hot."

Hi Orcas, the market might be slowing down but not really enough to make any difference yet. The overpriced homes might be just sitting longer, some prices have come down but not in any realm of reality yet lol..
We rented for the first year here in Portland , for just this reason, what if we hated it after the first 6 months! And the market was crazy and we didn't know our way around...Boy, are we glad we did. We just extended our lease and we can continue to househunt and not worry..and we can discover new neighborhoods ( if there are any yet undiscovered by us :) )

Beautiful year-round!

Portland's winter is not bad at all, just invest in a really good rain jacket- and the coast's winter storms are terrific. And when the gray gets to you- think "summer is coming. summer IS COMING." Summer by far makes up for winter in Portland.

Portland property is very expensive- especially for retirees. Maybe look at smaller Oregon locales? Hood River is very popular....So is Central Oregon.


In a nutshell- I love Portland, at any time of the year. But then, I'd live in Portland simply to be able to go to Powell's every day and I'm out and about in any weather- so I'm probably not a good person to listen to:)

Good luck!

Alot of people live in Vancouver Washington ( no state income when you sell your property you will pay a big proprety state and county combined tax--my Dad paid 18%) and shop and play in Portland where there is no sales tax..

Sorry..pushed the buttonetoo soon..meant to say I grew up near Seattle and spent first 26 years of my life there..
I struggles with the grey days...more grey days than rain and never new why..ther is sucha medcial condition from lack of sunlight Seasonal Affective Disorder Syndrome (SADS) but with all teh research you can minimize that syndrome but using certain lights.
Of course the other "treatment option" is to plan annual trip in January to either HAwaii or Mexico... :-)

We loved Portland's climate, including the winters. We didn't find the winter skies just plain grey, but rather subtle tones of pewter and silver with peach and salmon and delicate blue.
We spent one long Christmas holiday with family down in Agoura Hills, CA. I thought we had really enjoyed the endless sunshine and the runs along Zuma Beach. But on our drive back, we stopped overnight at a hotel in southern Oregon along I-5. When we got up that morning, greeted by the soft mist and the pewter colored sky, the evergreens and the snow covered mountains, a tightness in our chests we didn't even know we were feeling suddenly melted away.
If you NEED winter sun on a daily basis, then no, it's not for you. Otherwise, you might be pleasantly surprised.

on a really hot day in Portland ( today) we were downtown shopping in an over airconditioned Nordstroms, walked to the streetcar, ended up in Powells...not too chilly...then wandered over to Peets where we met friends for a visit, then lunch outdoors at Everett Street Bistro- if you are walking in the sun, it is 89 degrees, if you sit in the shade, it might be in the 70s.
I ((L))Portland in the summer and I agree with the advice of going South if the rain gets to you..a break in Feb or March is good.
But nuthin beats the summers here :D

BTilke, it makes me sick that my late husband and I didn't buy property in Portland years ago when prices were so low. His grandparents settled in Portland way back when and he lived in Coquille and than Portland until he was about nine or ten.

Now everything is so expensive. But as my family members and friends in Portland know I too love Portland and understand completely what you are saying about the sky and the colors. I would take a Portland winter anyday over a Sacramento Valley summer.

Scarlett--Enjoy it...out here in the suburbs it is 95 today!

LoveItaly--One of my close friends grew up in Coquille, lol! Even she makes fun of what a small town it is.

These warm days are nice...but I AM looking forward to the rain again. I know...not normal at all:D

Oh, I know what you mean, we missed the real estate boat several times...we discussed moving to Seattle in the 1980s when you could buy a house in Queen Anne (!!) for under $100k. And then we did move to Eugene in the early 1990s a few years before real estate in that town took off. And then to Portland, although we lived over the river in Vancouver and it's still not TOO bad there, although it's gotten very overbuilt.
However, after a couple of years living in the burbs of London, the house prices in Portland look reasonable by comparison...down the street from us is a small, three story 1200 sq foot cottage with just one bathroom and three bedrooms--one modestly sized (10' by 11'), two tiny (9' by 7'). No garage, small garden, needs some work. It sold for just under $600,000 (£305,000).

Last nights phone call from Baby Boy made me wish we could save some of these sunny days for December..he is coming to spend a MONTH with us :D
I really would like it to be dry one or two days :)