Oregon/Washington?

[brymble]

According to the map my Dad emailed me, OR and NY have similar unemployment rates. According to a Forbes article, it's still in the top 10 for jobs. It's #10, but it's in the top 10.

There's more jobs available in Seattle, but it's pricier.

[MidnightKisses]

I live in Bellingham (north of Seattle, about an hour, hour and half?). It's a very laid back college town (the nickname of the city is the City of Subdued Excitement). Jobs are finally starting to come back here, we are about 40 minutes from the Canadian border, 30 minutes from the ocean, 45 minutes from the mountains and only an hour or so from Seattle. It's an absolutely beautiful place! I love it!

This is the view of the city of Bellingham from Lummi Island! Mind you, this is winter, so some of the trees look a little bare, but the evergreens are beautiful!






In fact, let me get some more and put them in their own separate thread.

Western Washington Pictures

[Galen]

Wow, it looks awesome out there, Midnight!

[Ephiny]

I live in Portland. Well, I haven't been there in a year because I studied abroad in Germany and just got back and am at my dad's house in California, but i'm going back to Portland soon, and I have done my 2nd and 3rd year of college there.
It's a great place with really good public transportation. And it's not that expensive to live there, either. But it's so hard to find a job. My friend who i'm moving in with when I get there has just finished graduate school and still hasn't been able to get a job, not even a retail or restaurant one. And she has talked to a lot of people who say they have been unemployed for over a year. So just to give you a heads-up, it is really hard to find employment in Portland.

[abrecan]

<3 <3 <3 oregon.

[Twig]

Ok, jobs.

Oregon is in the midst of a very tight job market right now. In fact, we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country right now! Double digit unemployment at this time. It took me 8 months to get a new job as an apartment maintenance tech and I've been in the business for over 20 years!!

I'd help in any way possible but the jobs are NOT out there right now.

Sorry

Twig
Lake Oswego. Just South of PDX

[fungus]

Originally Posted by blithespirit

The Pacific NW is the most beautiful place in the world. (at least that I have seen!) I left a piece of my soul on the Oregon coast. I hope to go back and get it someday.

+1

I love the coast of OR as well. I want to move either there or into the Willamete valley at some point in my life, maybe outside Corvallis.

Some friends moved to Portland two years ago and it took 1.5 years for them to find employment. They are skilled educated workers with years of experience as well.

[blithespirit]

My aunt lives in Langlois, which is down in Curry County (south of Coos Bay). Her husband was an airline pilot for many, many years, until he was forced into early retirement due to a combination of failing health and his company going under. (He rode puddle jumpers to Portland where the big airport is.) Thankfully, they had a lot saved up, and his mother was pretty well off when she passed, so they're doing ok, but my cousin has been working as a gas station attendant for years with little hope for advancement. Well, unless he wants to join the Coast Guard or something, which he's just not cut out for. I haven't been out to visit in a decade, and a lot of the tourist traffic, which the area depends on, has dried up.

So, unless you have a nest egg or something similar, it might be a little rough getting by. Still, it's a magical place, and good for the soul, if just for a little while.

[Willow Rosette]

I graduated high school in Bend and would love to move back some day. I was actually considering it for the near future but because of the jobs...as everyone has pointed out Ive chosen not to. BUT you couldnt find a more beautiful place to live thats for sure!

Good luck on the move if you go through with it. I just moved an almost 8 year old and 2 cats in a uhaul from California to Oklahoma. It was NOT fun!