We are thinking of moving to the Pacific Northwest. How would you compare Seattle and Portland in terms of livability/quality of life/ambience/atmosphere, etc? Thanks.

Oh boy! You could fan some flames with this one! I lived in Portland for 13 years before moving to the Seattle area one year ago.

A short answer, I'd say, Seattle is Portland on steroids. Seattle has big city advantages and Portland has small city advantages.

Personally, I preferred Portland. Portland has a peaceful beauty, and I didn't have to spend half my life in frustrating traffic.

Here are some things I think anyone would want to consider in a comparison:

Portland is less expensive than Seattle. The cost of housing in Seattle is far higher than in Portland.

Seattle just tied with Atlanta as having the 2nd worst traffic in the US, behind LA. Portland has much better public transit and far fewer people.

There is more to do in Seattle, but it is less accessible (more driving time, higher cost, harder to park).

Seattle has a more diverse employment opportunities, has better ed. institutions, and is in the cutting edge in computers (with Microsoft) and biotech.

A lot of people move to Portland and Seattle because of the natural beauty of both cities and the surrounding area. The cities are joined at the hip, in many ways, but are also different. It would pay you to come visit before deciding so you make the choice that is right for you.

I've lived in and around Seattle for the last 22 years and love it, but everything gocats says is true. I now live 20 miles outside of Seattle (Snohomish), and work in Everett, so the traffic is not a big problem for me. But when we do drive into Seattle (and there aren't too many other viable transportation sources), we can count on being in a big traffic snarl. This will probably change over the next decade, with the addition of new highway lanes and (finally!) some light rail/monorail options. The surrounding views of the Cascades or Olympics, the lakes, the Sound, the big-city amenities together make Seattle a worthwhile place for me.

If you want a smaller scale and slower pace, Portland is a great choice. Better transportation, less-constricted layout, the Willamette River, and Cascades off to the east, make it a great place.

The running joke in Seattle is that in Portland, they say that they want to avoid growing into another Seattle, while in Seattle, they want to avoid growing into another San Francisco, which doesn't want to become another L.A.

There are a couple of major differences. Seattle is a maritime city. Portland is a river city. Consequently, Seattle is more hooked into international commerce, fishing, boating, and other watery things. Even though Boeing is now headquartered in Chicago, Seattle is still an aerospace/engineering center, while Portland, although no slouch itself in the high-tech business, doesn't have the breadth of industrial base that Seattle possesses. Seattle has a much higher proximity to military installations: the Bremerton shipyard, Bangor sub base, Everett Naval station, McChord AFB, Ft Lewis...

The population in the greater Seattle area has grown significantly, and the effects can be seen daily on the freeways. One important note, though - Seattle is a metropolitan region with more than one major city. Tacoma, Bellevue, and Everett all have independent industrial and employment bases, while Portland's suburbs are more residential, except for Vancouver WA, which is somewhat more commercial, but still definitely a suburb. The upshot is that there's more choice in housing and employment (and thus traffic, schools, etc.) in the Seattle region than in the Portland region.

Both cities are very close to wonderful outdoor recreation, both are in states with very high unemployment and struggling state governments, both states suffer from an "east vs. west" political culture. One city has a big league baseball team, the other is trying to lure the Expos, as if. Because the city is bigger and more of a center, Seattle's art and performance scene is several times the size of Portland's. Housing prices are higher in Seattle city than in Portland city, but there is plenty of affordable inventory outside the most desirable neighborhoods in both regions.

Portland is indeed more laid back in general, although generalities don't serve either place well. Portland has no sales tax. Washington has no income tax. Seattle is 3 hours from Vancouver BC and 3 hours from Portland. Portland is three hours from Roseburg.

Now note, I love Oregon, having lived there umpteen years. There's nothing like a game at Mac Court or a winter's day at Heceta Head. I still root for my alma mater Dux when they go up against my spouse's unbeloved Dawgs.

But you'll need to travel and spend a couple of weeks in each place to decide. Do it in February as well as July.

Everything noted by the previous posters is accurate and well-put, so there is little to add. But...
The economy in Portland and Oregon in general is currently terrible. The unemployment rate here is the highest it's been in 17 years, the school system is lopping off days of instruction because they can't pay the teachers and the jails are letting people go because they can't afford to incarcerate them. There are still MANY people moving to the area despite all the issues, making for even worse congestion, more people competing for the same few jobs, and adding more kids into the school system.
Portland is more managable than Seattle, but at this point, I wouldn't consider moving here unless you've got the patience to wait for the economy to perk up. The constant bad news is draining.

All true, and so sad.

Thanks for the FANTASTIC REPLIES, EVERYONE!!!

I should've mentioned this in my original post, but...

I have had my own video production company (home-based) for the past year (after 20-years in TV news). Right now to pay the bills I've been doing mostly legal video work (videotaped depositions, settlement docs, etc.) Our ultimate goal is to do independent documentaries.

So I guess my follow-up question is this: Does anyone out there (lawyers??)know what the legal video industry is like? Also, what are some ballpark figures in terms of housing prices in either city (I know this is a very broad question.)

Right now we're living in San Diego. I love it here, but my wife has always had this dream of living in the Pacific Northwest. She's always had this "romantic" version of everyone being very laid-back, into nature, and progressive-thinking. She also prefers fog/cooler weather than the SoCal sun!!

Thanks again for the excellent insights.

FOrgive me for loggin-in under another name. I have this thing for characters in "The Godfather" movies!

Just to correct Gardyloo:
Its Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton and Sub Base Bangor. Both employ non-military workers (my husband is an engineer at PSNS) in a varity of positions. The shipyard, while next to Naval Sation Bremerton, is not part of it.

I can't say for Portland, but housing in Seattle is rather expensive. It's nothing to pay 250,000 or more for a small house. I lived in Federal Way, 20 min from Seattle for 2 years and paid 945 for a 1100sf apt. We looked at moving to Seattle and it was going to cost us about the same ammount for a 600-700sf apt.

Here's a map from the Seattle Times on how much money it costs to buy a house in the different areas of King County (Seattle), including the median cost of a home.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/hom...come_king.html

I don't have the same data for Portland. Just trust me, it is way less expensive to live close in to town in Portland in a nice neighborhood that is convenient to the city.

Why not call a few of the colleges in Portland and Seattle that have video faculty and ask about your specific job area? Both Portland and Seattle have colleges that specialize in video and the arts, and most community colleges have staff that is involved with video production.

My husband, a Portland native, and I live on the east coast and are considering a move to the Pac NW. We love Portland but the job markets turns us away, and have become serious about Seattle. I've been looking at real estate ads in Seattle and would appreciate some advice.

What Seattle neighborhoods should we consider or stay away from. We would like to stick with having one car, so one of us would use public transit or walk, living downtown (or close to it) would be desirable. We are not stuck on having a single-family house, condos or townhouse set up?s are ok. We would like access to the Port Townsend area on the weekends, should we take anything into consideration when picking a Seattle location for an easier Friday night exit? Schools are not an issue, but a nice park to walk and exercise the dog would be great.

Thanks.

The Bainbridge ferry from downtown Seattle or the Kingston ferry from Edmonds (north) will both permit easy access to the Olympic Peninsula on the weekends; both will be crowded but them's the breaks. Or, you can live south of the city and use the Tacoma Narrows bridge, avoid $40 in ferry costs for the weekend, and get there in just about the same time.

If you're working in downtown Seattle, your choice of locations is pretty wide; the traffic may be crummy but the tranist system is pretty good IF downtown Seattle is your destination. If you live outside of the city and need to commute to some other area outside the city (increasingly the case) the commute situation is much tougher. This is especially the case if there's a lake in the way.

In the city, if you're DONKS (dog owners, no kids) have a look at the Green Lake/Phinney Ridge neighborhood - there's an okay off-leash area in Woodland Park near the zoo. Otherwise, there's a lot of condo inventory in downtown areas like the Denny Regrade. Not the cheapest, but especially with "second growth" condos (i.e., previously lived-in) it's a competitive market and deals can be had.

If you're not desparate for a downtown Seattle zipcode, look at south Snohomish County or West Seattle. You might be able to swing something near Alki Beach that would be a 20 min. commute (car or bus) from downtown, have sea breezes, and plenty of sand and green for Fido.

Narrows Bridge traffic is horrible and getting worse with the construction of the second bridge. I live on the Kitsap Pen and travel to Tacoma at least twice a week. On the Fourth of July it took my in-laws 30 min to go from I-5 to the bridge. Usually it should only take about 7-10min.
Light rail, at least in the South Sound area (Tacoma and suburbs) isn't going to do much to help ease traffic. In Tacoma the light rail only runs down town, and therefore, doesn't connect any of the outlying areas such as Parkland, Spanaway, Puyallup, or Lakewood. It's a big waste of tax payer money.