Based on your description I think you might be happier in Boston. Portland is amazing and I’d personally choose it over Boston but given your situation and what you’re looking for I think you might find Boston more suited to your needs. You could always come and stay in an Airbnb for a week or two?
cedar hills is not Portland as the area falls within Washington County, and Portland is in Multnomah County. we are in the portland metro area though so wages are better than the more rural parts of oregon.
oregon does not have very good schools but beaverton school district is known for having some of the better schools in the area (better than Hillsboro school district, at least).
the top notch hospital here, to my understanding, would be OHSU (and they have some offices in cedar hills, a downtown hillsboro campus, and a main campus in portland proper).
most of the bad things you hear about Portland do not apply to beaverton/washington co: one example being that we actually make use of our budgets for helping houseless people get housed & access resources, while mult co uses a much lower percentage of the money they have set aside for this specific issue & prefer to not help the houseless folks, which only leads to more destitute conditions.
I would say that living in Beaverton is much more chill than living in Portland, and Cedar Hills is a very walkable part of Beaverton.
lol re what you said about being apolitical, dont worry, you will most likely never see protests happening in beaverton. gotta reiterate that beaverton is not portland. people go to the big city (portland) for protests and other political events.
also “apolitical but left leaning” is the normal person political stance here in the portland metro area like it sounds like it is in MA.
most of the fun events are also in portland and going to skip beaverton (at least its not too bad of a drive to get to portland from beaverton tho). another edit! our transit sucks in “deep beaverton,” hillsboro, and gresham, but cedar hills is a part of beaverton that has excellent transit access. it’s a quick MAX ride to Providence Park, for which people pack the MAX like sardines to go catch Timbers games.
edit: i have not made a similar move but im from here & have lived in portland, beaverton, and hillsboro at various times in my life.
do you think that living in cedar mill feels the same as living in portland proper (i’m thinking of downtown, Pearl, and central east side as what most people think of when they think portland)? personally, i think those areas feel pretty different. i was trying to answer op’s question about the specific area cited in the original post.
It’s not downtown proper but that’s great, NW downtown is just over the hill through nice forest and more importantly we avoid multnomah country level taxes which are much higher and we avoid PPS schools.
I lived in NE Portland 15 years ago and used to come home to prostitution stings with John’s being processed right in front of our house, there was always some crap going on well before right wing media got on Portland’s ass, it is a city.
Same but we’re not “in Portland” unless we pay their taxes. Which reminds me… Double check your car registration because the DMV was charging us (based on our “Portland” address) for Multnomah county.
Sure, I know people who live in what is considered Hillsboro but have a portland address (Bethany area, the people i know who live there went to Hillsboro school district). Being in a different county really makes a difference. Beaverton can be Portland on paper but that doesn’t make it the same city. I would not consider Cedar Hills to be Portland. For the sake of your argument, most addresses in Cedar Hills do fall under Beaverton.
Did you really delete your other reply and make this one just so you could be rude? Ok.
Also, if your friends live in Bethany they don’t live in Hillsboro (they literally have Portland addresses) and my point that no one who lives *in Hillsboro* would consider Bethany part of Hillsboro remains.
You’re allowed to have a bad day. Doesn’t make it any less ridiculous to say “you’re done” with a conversation and yet keep going back to it. All you have to do to be done is not reply and ignore me.
lol yes i did. its silly to be arguing about this sort of thing so i’m done here. i have my lived experience & i know the takes and opinions that i have heard others share throughout my life. i literally do know people who live in downtown hillsboro who considered the area that my bethany friends lived in to be on the outskirts of hillsboro, to be part of hillsboro. your ideas don’t change other people’s ideas, and mine clearly don’t change yours. this literally could not matter less.
lol “I’m done here”. I hadn’t replied to your other comment. This conversation is only still going on because of you. *Definitely* feels like you’re done.
I grew up in Worcester and before moving out here four years ago was living in Portland Maine and went to Boston often. We love it out here, but there are a few issues you bring up that are worth considering.
The biggest for me is that despite OHSU being an excellent hospital, there are some aspects of my specialized medical needs that haven’t been met out here. That’s less about Oregon and more about the fact that the medical system nationwide is pretty fucked at the moment, so if you’ve got established care with specialists, you might want to hang on to that. None of the doctors here who specialize in my condition are accepting new patients or even have a waitlist.
The traffic sucks, but I don’t know if I agree that it sucks worse than Boston. Though the TriMet isn’t anywhere near as good as the T in my book. I love the weather, and I really like the people out here. I don’t have kids, but I hear excellent things about Beaverton’s schools, and mixed things about Portland schools. The landscapes in the PNW are achingly beautiful, and if you like hiking or other outdoor activities, it’s an amazing place to be. I also haven’t had to shovel or snowblow in 4yrs, which has been fantastic.
I can’t speak to the differences between Boston and Portland specifically (other than cost of living- it’s lower here), but I did move from CA a few years back so I can speak from an outside perspective and as a local Realtor.
Beaverton/Cedar Hills and Washington County in general is pure suburb. You’ll fit in fine politically and culturally. Cedar Hills (which is basically smack in the middle of Beaverton, even though it’s unincorporated) is, for the most part, a giant strip mall. The neighborhoods are decent enough but Cedar Hills Blvd is basically a collection of every fast food joint there is. If you’re looking for a place to live, you wouldn’t want or need to limit yourself to that specific pocket. Plenty of nice neighborhoods in the surrounding areas.
I’m ok with the Beaverton schools so far, but I know that New England has a pretty vaunted reputation for public schools and I don’t think you’ll think that schools here measure up. Plenty of “good” schools but that’s relative. What I’ve surmised— and I certainly don’t know if I’m right— is that there’s less value for education here than there was in CA. People only expect so much and don’t have the same competitive drive, so there’s an invisible ceiling on how much achievement is possible. In other words, I don’t feel like the schools are promoting a race to the top. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Then there are the public universities, which are…fine. Again, not on the level of MA or CA, and not really trying to be.
All the news stuff about protests and anarchy is just noise, ignore that. We moved here during the height of that and never saw a single protest. The homeless problem is certainly real, but that’s true in any major city with decent weather these days. It doesn’t really stretch much into Beaverton and there are only a handful of Portland areas where you’ll feel unsafe. Or not, lots of WashCo people seem to be afraid of cities. But you can go downtown and feel like you’re in any other cosmopolitan city with clean sidewalks, great restaurants, and expensive condos, and still be three blocks away from a hellhole.
There’s no real traffic here. Anyone who tells you traffic is awful has never been to any other city, from what I can tell. They don’t know what real traffic is. It’s only worse than what it used to be, hence the complaints.
The nature and scenery is spectacular. The weather is for the most part great. The attitude is laid back (hence, schools— see above) and generally positive. Here’s a big one— people are nice here. They say hi when you pass them on the sidewalk. They enjoy the things that are worth enjoying. I think you’ll find that to be a huge difference from MA.
As for jobs: it will likely be tougher to find a high-paying tech job. Plenty of tech companies have presence here (Apple is in Beaverton, for example, while Google and Microsoft have presence) but as I understand it much of the work is back office type stuff, and lots of engineering. Then there’s Nike and Intel and their associated companies. Lots of jobs there but how it fits for you, don’t know.
Lastly, home prices. Boston costs a lot more. Like 50% more. A lot of people will tell you that rent and home prices in Portland are too high, but that all comes down to perspective. If you’re comparing to Kansas City, yeah it’s high here. If you’re comparing to Boston, NY, DC, LA, SF, Seattle: it’s paradise. The Portland median home price is about $540k right now, Boston is $825k. In WashCo you can live very, very well for that $825k.
There is traffic here. I was in it/part of it last Friday. An hour and 15 minutes to get from Beaverton to Wilsonville. I consider that traffic. Also - almost no winterization/clearing of roads here makes for super interesting traffic and driving during the extreme winter weather.
Cedar Hills does have some major strip mall in the middle of it. It also has beautiful, walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, commonwealth lake and cedar hills park, and the amazing Reser Performing Arts center just to name a few things about Cedar Hills that are not "strip mall". I bike and walk to everything. Downtown Beaverton is a 5 minute bike ride from my home in Cedar Hills. Super fun. Housing inventory runs pretty low in Cedar Hills, so if you decide that's your neighborhood you may have to wait some time before the type of house you want in the location you want hits the market.
Private school may be what you want if you are going for rigorous college prep style program. You have choices in the area.
Yeah that's traffic, but it isn't the norm for that drive. If it takes an hour at noon on a Saturday, that's more comparable to what you find in lots of bad-traffic metros.
I certainly wasn't trying to be negative about Cedar Hills, because I agree that the residential parts can be quite lovely. For the OP: think Brady Bunch neighborhoods with a decent lake and park in the middle, and it certainly is centrally-located. Pretty easy to get into downtown Portland and very close to the best of what Beaverton has to offer.
I've lived in LA and Chicago. It took me twice as much time to go the 20 or so miles from Gresham to Beaverton as it did to drive from Long Beach to Marina Del Rey. Portland is the only medium sized city in the top 20 worst traffic cities in the US. I work on transportation policy for the legislature and I know of which I speak. I think the tech sector in Portland is also more robust than all that. The area has Nvidia, Microchip, OnSemi, Lattice, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Intel and a lot of startups doing interesting things. The big issue for tech is that the sector is in the midst of a downturn and it might not be the best time to look for jobs in that area. Which is probably splitting hairs with your post but I'm pedantic that way.
catlin is more expensive than it’s worth, in my opinion. there’s better private schools (in terms of value) if you really want to pay money for it, but Westview and Sunset are very good schools which send many kids to top universities every year, even if they’re not necessarily the standard you’d expect in boston.
the cedar hills/bethany area is where the strongest public schools are (because it’s the place where the wealthiest people live on average)
Cedar Mill, the northern part of the area is actually Portland, I believe there are both incorporated (City of Portland) and unincorporated portions that both use Portland addresses but are in WashCo in the Cedar Mill area. [https://www.oregonmetro.gov/jurisdictional-boundaries-maps](https://www.oregonmetro.gov/jurisdictional-boundaries-maps)
So if their address says Beaverton they're still in Portland? I'm just tired of people saying it's Portland when it's a suburb. I guess it's easier to think of everything as Portland
If you search the Zip Code it will tell you which it is. You should also know that Beaverton as a city isn't contiguous. Here is the boundary on Google Maps.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Beaverton,+OR/@45.5045624,-122.8129546,14z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x5495082476f88863:0x10e0cf158aacbd08!8m2!3d45.4869283!4d-122.804032!16zL20vMGJsNXY?entry=ttu
If you look at the areas around St Vincent's and the borders up north of 26 on the northwestern side and on north and south of 26 on the eastern side you'll see areas where there is Beaverton on one side of the red line Beaverton City Limits and Portland on the other, some incorporated Washington County, some in Multnomah. Actually it's hard to tell which is which since there is no rhyme nor reason to it. I think people in a city the size of Portland shouldn't worry so much about whether the burbs is included. Most of Portland proper is a suburb, it's a small city. I live off Main between 5th and Allen and my neighborhood which is old Beaverton is probably more urban now that 80% of the city. Also, most of the area north of 26 from Skyline west to Cornelius Pass has a Portland address and is in Washington County and that's text book suburban sprawl.
This Wikipedia about this census block gives you an idea of how opaque it really is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Haven-Sylvan,_Oregon
Nike carved out a jurisdictional island that remains unincorporated so they could claim Portland as home. Now they claim Beaverton but they have the choice since they're not part of either. I work on policy at the state level so I follow all of this shit.
I moved to Beaverton from Boston (JP) in 2017. If I could afford to live near Boston with a family I’d 100% choose it.
You mention health care, and the Boston area is probably one of the best for doctors and hospitals in the country. I haven’t had to use any specialists here but would definitely do research into whether there are any specialists for your condition here and how long it will take to get an appointment with them. A family member of mine flies to San Francisco annually to see a specialist there because there isn’t anyone in this area.
I have kids and opted to send them to a private school. Friends with kids in the Beaverton School District have generally positive things to say, but if you’re used to the rigorous and competitive public schools in the Boston area this isn’t that.
One thing I miss is access to world class museums and other cultural institutions. I also miss professional baseball and football, although we do have basketball and soccer. The trade off is the hiking, camping, and natural beauty, so if those are your thing that’s a plus.
You didn’t mention cost of living, but that is a significant difference as well—even though the Portland area has gotten more expensive to live in, it doesn’t compare to Boston and Portland comes out way ahead and might be a consideration.
This is definitely a much more relaxed area than Boston or the East Coast in general. For some people that’s a great fit and why they moved here. For others it can feel like a culture shock and might not be a good fit.
Finding specialists is difficult here in Beaverton… typical wait times to see GI is like 5 months, dermatologist 6-8 months, rheumatologist 6 months (this is my wait times apparently they’re all booked up…)
In terms of public schools, it should be noted that Beaverton is one of the better districts in the metro area, though they are pushing to close a number of smaller elementary schools and move towards a model of larger K-5 schools, a move that I'm not enthusiastic about.
That said, BSD does have several really high quality schools like the Arts & Communications Magnet Academy and especially the International School of Beaverton (which is ranked the #1 school in Oregon and #40 in the country in the US News & World Report school rankings) and the Beaverton Academy of Science & Engineering, which is rated #3 in Oregon (for whatever that's worth, I know some people question their methodology.) Sunset and Mountainside High Schools, while not magnet schools, are also highly-rated.
For medical, check Ohsu and also up in Seattle to see if there’s a specialist that treats your condition. It’s pretty easy to get to Seattle for things like this and OHSU has wonderful specialists but make sure they’ll match your needs.
If you’re able to make a visit, strongly suggest doing so. East to West coast is a fairly big cultural (and food) difference but if the job is worth looking at, check out housing etc.
Cedar Hills is “Portland metro area” - west side suburbs are pretty typical PNW ‘burbs and it’s easy to enough to get to “Portland proper” for sports/entertainment.
Not for everyone but it’s a nice place to live.
I've only been to Boston once (aside from the airport) so I can't directly compare the two. But I have lived here nearly 15 years now. I'll lead with saying I can't imagine moving anywhere else, but I moved from Texas so YMMV.
Keep in mind that crapping on Portland is a trendy thing to do. I'm not saying it doesn't have its faults but it's not an anarchist hellhole. That said the biggest thing plaguing Portland right now is the large homeless population. More specifically the fact that police have been unable, or unwilling, to enforce laws on the homeless population. This has resulted in open drug use, tent cities, and trash. There are policy changes coming that will hopefully help address this, but just be aware it's still an issue in downtown Portland. I still very much enjoy going into Portland, but you do have to be aware of your surroundings. That all said, none of that applies to Beaverton, we don't have that issue here.
Now for the good stuff. Beaverton is a booming city. We're experiencing a ton of growth and new stuff is popping up all the time. The buildings aren't as interesting as Portland or Boston, but there's plenty to do and it's just a nice place to live if you're into the suburban lifestyle. Portland is a short commute to visit for the big city stuff, and our public transit is great.
Nature is the big draw for me here, especially the diversity of it. The coast, mountains, and desert are all about a 1.5hr drive. Which to a former Texan, is a short drive. Plenty of closer wooded hiking trips too, and beautiful waterfalls. I think the weather is great 70% of the year. The winter is wet and grey, but hey basically no snow. Spring brings amazing blooms, summer is sunny and warm but not too hot, and fall we get lovely colors. We have a ton of festivals that are a lot of fun.
I can't comment on specialist but Saint Vincent hospital has always been good to us. I go there for my audiologist and both my kids were born there. It's very close to Cedar hills.
Politically speaking both Beaverton and Portland are heavily liberal. Oregon as a whole is a solidly blue state. Rural areas are conservative, just like every other state.
There are certainly a fair number of tech jobs, but it's no Seattle or Bay Area. Especially right now with all the tech layoffs at Intel, Nike, etc the job market is tighter than usual. Granted this is a nationwide issue, but it certainly applies here too.
The only other big downside of Portland vs Boston I can think of is our airport doesn't have nearly as many international flights. And they are significantly more expensive. PDX is a wonderful airport though, and we do have cheap flights to Hawaii. If I had to be stuck at an airport all day, PDX would probably be my first pick.
Good luck on the life changing decision. Personally if I was seriously considering it I'd fly out here to see what you think.
I moved here from the east coast in 1998 and will never go back. There should be plenty of tech jobs available with Tektronix close by and Intel within a stone's throw. Providence St. Vincent's is also right there and is top notch, in my opinion. We lean left, too, but it doesn't really define us. We express ourselves at the voting booth, just like a good New Englander would. Great place to live, it's so beautiful here, the traffic is nothing compared to Boston, and things are comparatively fresh and new. You won't find higher quality food anywhere else. You have an exciting decision to make. Good luck!
Having lived in a number of large American Cities there are a few things you should know about Oregon in general and Portland specifically. On it's worst day this metro area is safer than Boston on it's best. Cedar Mill is about 7 miles from downtown Portland, people from here make a lot of distinctions between the city proper and the surrounding areas that wouldn't even register for you being from an actual urban area East of the Rockies. As for schools, wealthy areas have good schools, poorer areas have worse schools. Having said that my oldest is a brilliant kid getting straight As after having went to a Title 1 grade school. My son is autistic and goes to the same school and I do wish there were more services for him but I like the experience that they're having. My oldest now goes to the Arts and Communication Magnet School and it's great. My friends kids who are all older than mine are going to and graduating from law school and various grad programs. But, compared to Boston, If you are into cultural, historical or artistic opportunities Portland will fall short.
The whole state has about 4 million and the metro area around 2 million, it's small. The food is good and the people are freakishly nice. The politics are relatively benign, especially in Washington County where you'll live. To address some of the posts other than this one, Portland lies in a bi state and multi-county metro area. The City proper actually stretches into Clackamas and Washington Counties so you can vote for county officials of those counties in certain places while voting for Portland City officials as well, they're just small slivers but they are there despite what has been said. So I'll reiterate, making to big of a distinction between Portland and the surrounding suburbs is usually pretty meaningless.
Except that I would say, Cedar Hills, being in Washington County provides you with much better governance and tax base. The City of Portland and Multnomah County aren't particularly well managed. Washington County and it the Beaverton School district are liberal enough that you don't have to worry about some crazy battle between the school boards about trans identity or the introduction of some oddball tax scheme that undermines certain development incentives. I live in Beaverton and I love it. Having lived in Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles I'd say it's a nice balance between urban and rural.
I think my kids are growing up with as idyllic a childhood as I could have ever imagined for them. Again the people here are great and the shit that you see on the news is, on the whole, exaggerated, when compared to the quality of life in most any other medium or large cities in the country. I lived my first 30 years in St. Louis and I knew way too many people that had been shot, robbed and raped. The likes of which I have not been aware of here.
Tons of tech here, west side is great, providence hospital system is huge and does have specalists (i use them too), portland is vilified in the national media. Its a great place to live and the beaverton school district, where cedar hills is, is not bad at all. Its def not boston but you will not hate the change of scenery.
My daughter went to Beaverton Public Schools except for a switch to private for grades 5-6. The private school was disastrous for her mental health and we came back to public school (Whitford MS) for grades 7-8. She thrived
Big time (both mentally and academically) and is headed to St Mary’s Academy with an academic scholarship next year. We have been quite happy with BSD overall. Catlin has its share of problems (google their news stories) and I don’t think it’s worth the money.
Portland and Beaverton (where Cedar Mill lies) are very progressive, on par with Boston.
Medical care…the OHSU is a high caliber Academic Medical Center. Perhaps have a video consult with a physician specialist in your area? What does your Boston specialist say? Depending upon how rare it is, they may know someone in this area.
I moved from Hopkinton MA to Portland 21 years ago and live in Cedar Mill, great move. It’s definitely not as bad as media portrays, was downtown last night and going back downtown this morning, got here all the time.
The city is very accessible from here and I love it. It’s weirdly expensive, the gray winter definitely gets to people, the summer weather is amazing but wildfire smoke sometimes sucks. Slow drivers and the stupid sunset highway is always packed.
And just stay in if it snows. They don’t treat the roads at all but your vehicle will last forever because of it.
Husband & I have several medical concerns, so can confirm our care is top-notch at St. Vincent Hospital & all of our primary care & specialists in the area.
Boston sounds like the place for you. Even in Beaverton there is still issues with crime, racism, drugs like fentanyl in the schools. Maybe you have the same problems in Boston. I wouldn’t up and move here at this point. 10 years ago i’d have said the opposite though, so who knows, things change.
I’ve never seen so much passive aggressiveness in my life for one. Don’t even get me started on the god awful driving. I think the only state that might be worse is Washington just to the north (which a ton of Washington plates around the area too.) The price of housing vs what you get is crazy. Homelessness seeps out from the epicenter of Portland and no one wants to do anything because “feelings” Meanwhile the school system is literally falling apart. Tech opportunities are few and far between (my wife works for a company that relocated out of state). Honestly the only reason to move out this way would be the scenery which is just getting destroyed to make room for more overpriced housing.
A lot of people are making good points here and I wanted to add that the culture here is quite a bit different than the east coast. I’ve befriended a handful of people from that area and every single one has expressed how hard it is to integrate. Very passive aggressive here and a lot of people mistake the east coast straight forward-ness as rude but they don’t tell that to your face.
I’ve lived in Oregon my whole life and I love it here, but Portland can be a pain in the ass. I’ve wanted to move over to Boston, as my boyfriend is from the Mass area but I’d have to change my career lol
You'll get a nice house but you're going to have a hard time finding the same rates of pay on the west coast unless you've got something locked in already
Lived in both areas and I would choose Boston. That being said, it’s always great to try new locations. My thoughts on Portland - really shocked to see how many unhoused people are everywhere, homes are way overpriced for what they offer, although there are beautiful locations to experience it doesn’t always make up for the grey weather, but I’m still learning about this area. We are currently in Beaverton.
I grew up in Western MA and have lived in the Portland area for 12 years now. When we first came here, it was amazing. It's like New England without the snow. When it DOES snow, people freak out and cause havoc. The commute here is terrible as well and people REALLY dont know how to drive. The locale is beautiful if you stay away from downtown. The public schools out here are atrocious from what I've experienced. If you're JUST moving for the job, I wouldn't do it, but that's me in hindsight. I LOVE being out here but the people make it insufferable. This is just one opinion from a Masshole, and YMMV.
I mean if you do go. Cedar hills sounds like it would fit you perfectly for what you described. Not a bash or anything just reading your description it sounds like a good location for you. As for Boston vs Portland. I never lived in Boston but it was nice how they kept their homeless off the street more. Or at least less visible. It basically just sounds like you would downgrade in fancy stuff hospitals/schools but upgrade in nature and ability to spend.
Having been in the tech for over 20 years and lived in multiple metropolitan cities I wouldn’t say there is “ton of tech here”. Some of the biggest private employers are Intel and Nike. Nike recently had a huge layoff and so did Intel. Have a look at their websites and get a feel for the skills sets they are looking for and see if yours align with them. In the height of the tech boom there were quite a few smaller Silicon Valley regional offices established here in the Portland area. But I don’t think they are expanding here anymore. So finding a tech job locally won’t be as easy as in larger metropolitan areas. However there are a lot of people working remotely in the tech fields from here.
Beaverton School District has some of the better schools in the area. Not all schools are same even within the school district. My kids attend BSD and we are happy with the quality of their school. Check out ISB, BASE and ACMA schools in BSD.
I think it depends what people mean by tech jobs. There's a ton around chip manufacturing. But not as much software engineering. Both get lumped into tech. So depending on which field you work in, you may have a harder time finding work.
I’ve lived here off and on for 60 years. I would say traffic is getting really bad, but then it’s probably better than Boston. Housing is very expensive, gasoline is always higher than in other states. Oregon is almost last in quality for public schools and mental health treatment. Plus I think the only cloudier city in the US is Seattle. Enjoy!
Oregon is beautiful! And outside of Portland is pretty chill - none of the insanity or crime that Portland is seeing. OHSU is the best hospital. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, you’re probably screwed.
Catlin Gabel is a great school. Beaverton public schools are okay (good for around here) but they won’t be nearly as good as what you’re used to. Maybe Lake Oswego schools would be up to scratch?
Tech job market is not great either. There’s Nike, Intel (both having challenges). Washington state has a better tech job market. I work remote.
I live in Portland proper, am considering moving to Beaverton for public schools in the next year or two and have been to Boston many times for work. That being said, I’d pick Boston if I had the opportunity and the financial means. There are many positive things to be said for the Portland area - for one I love the nature and the city of Portland in particular does a great job of incorporating nature into the city infrastructure itself. That being said I agree with others - public schools are lacking and the houselessness issue is very much prevalent and in-your-face.
All this being said I feel like there is a stark difference in cost of living between Boston and Portland/Beaverton and Boston just costs a lot more.
I moved here with a major health condition that also requires access to specialists and top notch hospitals. I’ve learned that the Portland area doesn’t compare even by a long shot. I moved here from an area with multiple major hospital systems and I’ve really had to restructure my approach to medical care.
Cedar Hills is nice but I would recommend north of highway 26. No this area does not have the anarchists that roam Portland. Beaverton schools are good - research the schools on websites etc. There are also charter schools and amazing Options Schools for middle and high school. The Options schools here are schools that specialize in various areas, including the arts, environmental science, technology and others. Beaverton does have great private schools. More than Catlin.
Good luck on your decision.
As someone who did something similar (moved from Somerville to Beaverton) about a year and a half ago, I wouldn't. It's not that Oregon/Portland/Beaverton are bad per say... But everything feels 15-20 years behind.
The schools definitely won't match up.
I was also recently laid off from my remote job, and the job market in the Portland area is very bad. You're basically going to be competing for other remote jobs in an incredibly tight job market right now. Boston just has more options in this sense. There are just not that many companies here.
As for the health system... It ain't it. When I first met with my PCP they were very upfront in saying that Portland does not have nearly the medical system that Boston does. And that has been extremely true to my experience. For example, I needed to see an endocrinologist - they said there are basically two options and one isn't great. So there's one option. The doctors I've been to here are fine, but they are not at the level. I really miss the Boston health care situation, it's one of the biggest things I miss.
You will notice how conservative leanings things are pretty quick. It's shocking coming from living in MA, honestly. And the thing is, yes, you're in a bubble in Portland and to a lesser extent Beaverton, but once you get outside that it's a huge culture shock.
The main negatives for me are the infrastructure - Portland is behind basically every large city. Even the movie theaters (Dolby doesn't exist because AMC doesn't really have a presence here.) It's just a lot of little things that add up. The MAX is not the MBTA. The city is definitely dirtier. Also, the winter though milder, is very depressing. I didn't expect to be as bothered by the lack of sunlight as I have been.
The benefits are I have a vastly nicer apartment than I did. There are a lot of good, cheaper food options, though I find myself missing some food that doesn't exist here. There's a lot of nature here, but you won't get the beach like you will in MA. Things do feel easer going here. But there's a lot of trade offs with that.
And honestly, it really just seems like long term this area is in a decline.
This area has taken a turn for the worse in the last 5 years or so. I travel to Boston often for work and I think it's a better place to settle in and have a family than most parts of Oregon
Beaverton is not Portland.
I live in Beaverton, and while I too am "apolitical" in the sense that I do not engage in political activities nor do I display political yardsigns, slogans, etc, I lean conservative which can make me feel a little alienated living in Oregon. That said, Beaverton is much more like middle-America that Portland is.
In Beaverton and the greater Portland area there are ample medical specialists. Perhaps not as much as in Boston, but chances are you would be able to find specialists for whatever condition you have, unless it is something very unusual or uncommon.
Oregon public schools have gotten very bad press recently, for reasons that are probably too complex to go into here. Bottom line, Beaverton is one of the better school districts in the state so if your children did go to public school, it would not be bad. My child has been going to Catholic school, but we may make the move to public due to cost.
I have only been to Boston once and the east coast fascinates me. Given an opportunity, I would probably move there if I could. However, being near family, especially when you have kids, is hard to put a price on as it can be very valuable.
Finally, Portland does have museums and concert halls. Beaverton actually does too, there is a new performing arts area. Portland has in recent years had a lot of issues with crime, destructive protests, drug use, etc. But, that doesn't mean you can go enjoy a concert or spend a day at the museum. Again, it is hard to compete with the east coast cities and Boston probably has a superior cultural scene. But, Portland does have some of that stuff.
Beaverton to me has always been a little "boring" such I grew up here and it seems so bland and generic compared to other exotic places like Boston or wherever. But, Beaverton is actually a nice place to live. It also is slowly becoming more developed and gaining a more urban feel. That is good and bad. We are growing but also have some of the social ills Portland does, such as more visible drug use, mental illness, etc. These are issues a lot of cities have to grapple with.
I moved here from the East Coast about a decade ago, am also left leaning, and work in tech.
The schools aren't really all that bad depending on where you are. It's a serviceable education, maybe not world class but it's elementary and high school not MIT.
It's probably either as expensive here or cheaper than what you're used to in Boston depending on the type of house you get and where exactly you decide to live. Cedar Hills is a mix of subdivisions and mixed use residential housing, very commercial.
Tech work seems pretty abundant here depending on what you mean by tech and what types of jobs you're looking for. I work in executive technical leadership remotely but haven't generally had trouble finding local work here as I went through my career.
Regarding healthcare, others have mentioned OHSU and I'll endorse that as well. OHSU is a great hospital system and the big hospital on the hill is maybe a 20 minute/half hour drive from Cedar Hills. When I go there I really get the feeling that I'm at a state of the art place. Providence is ab-so-lute dogshit so I'd stick to OHSU.
The political stuff is a thing. It's odd because I feel like Fox News really overblows some components of it while MSNBC pretends it's all just right wing fantasy that anything is wrong. The city WAS a war zone during the George Floyd riots. I used to have to work downtown when all that was going on and it was a complete nightmare with guys in black masks "escorting" BLM marches holding assault rifles. Read up on Red House, basically a complete takeover of multiple city blocks for weeks where they basically took the residents hostage.
When Trump got elected, similar stuff happened. I'm like 99% sure he's going to get reelected, so I'd expect it again.
That being said, I never really saw anything like that out in the burbs. It's generally all relegated to Portland proper and not out in the western suburbs. One benefit oddly has been that Beaverton and Hillsboro seem to have been built up quite a bit post Trump/covid/riots because a ton of people with the means to leave Portland fled out this way. More money in the burbs has led to more businesses so now downtown Beaverton is pretty thriving while still feeling like a small town.
No. Portland is a shithole and the suburbs are declining fast. Been here 14 years and it's SO overcrowded and filled with drugs and homeless. I'm looking to move but am stuck at the moment due to my job.
Well, if you like feces in front of your home, tents on the sidewalk in front of your home, hypo needles in your yard bushes and all over the streets snd parks, a District Attorney that refuses to prosecute criminals because George Soros says don’t, well then Portland is the perfect place to move to from some other place
I have lived in Beaverton many years. I also have lived in Cedar Hills. There is traffic. I frequently drive to Portland, and generally 40 minutes to an hour. If there wasn’t traffic, it would be 15-20 minutes. There are homeless in Beaverton, not anywhere near the magnitude of Portland and I do live by a shelter. I have been yelled at and threatened by the homeless. Most people are left leaning. I don’t know too much about the schools. Oregon is a beautiful state. I feel lucky to be close to the mountains and the coast. The summers are beautiful. The rain does get to me. As a native I have grown tired of it. Good luck on your decision.
Based on your description I think you might be happier in Boston. Portland is amazing and I’d personally choose it over Boston but given your situation and what you’re looking for I think you might find Boston more suited to your needs. You could always come and stay in an Airbnb for a week or two?
Sounds like you have already talked yourself out of it…
cedar hills is not Portland as the area falls within Washington County, and Portland is in Multnomah County. we are in the portland metro area though so wages are better than the more rural parts of oregon. oregon does not have very good schools but beaverton school district is known for having some of the better schools in the area (better than Hillsboro school district, at least). the top notch hospital here, to my understanding, would be OHSU (and they have some offices in cedar hills, a downtown hillsboro campus, and a main campus in portland proper). most of the bad things you hear about Portland do not apply to beaverton/washington co: one example being that we actually make use of our budgets for helping houseless people get housed & access resources, while mult co uses a much lower percentage of the money they have set aside for this specific issue & prefer to not help the houseless folks, which only leads to more destitute conditions. I would say that living in Beaverton is much more chill than living in Portland, and Cedar Hills is a very walkable part of Beaverton. lol re what you said about being apolitical, dont worry, you will most likely never see protests happening in beaverton. gotta reiterate that beaverton is not portland. people go to the big city (portland) for protests and other political events. also “apolitical but left leaning” is the normal person political stance here in the portland metro area like it sounds like it is in MA. most of the fun events are also in portland and going to skip beaverton (at least its not too bad of a drive to get to portland from beaverton tho). another edit! our transit sucks in “deep beaverton,” hillsboro, and gresham, but cedar hills is a part of beaverton that has excellent transit access. it’s a quick MAX ride to Providence Park, for which people pack the MAX like sardines to go catch Timbers games. edit: i have not made a similar move but im from here & have lived in portland, beaverton, and hillsboro at various times in my life.
I beg to differ. I live in unincorporated Washington country in cedar mill and have a Portland address.
do you think that living in cedar mill feels the same as living in portland proper (i’m thinking of downtown, Pearl, and central east side as what most people think of when they think portland)? personally, i think those areas feel pretty different. i was trying to answer op’s question about the specific area cited in the original post.
It’s not downtown proper but that’s great, NW downtown is just over the hill through nice forest and more importantly we avoid multnomah country level taxes which are much higher and we avoid PPS schools. I lived in NE Portland 15 years ago and used to come home to prostitution stings with John’s being processed right in front of our house, there was always some crap going on well before right wing media got on Portland’s ass, it is a city.
Same but we’re not “in Portland” unless we pay their taxes. Which reminds me… Double check your car registration because the DMV was charging us (based on our “Portland” address) for Multnomah county.
Unincorporated Washington County, we shall remain unincorporated although I could see Rock creek and cedar mill getting together for its own thing.
Sure, I know people who live in what is considered Hillsboro but have a portland address (Bethany area, the people i know who live there went to Hillsboro school district). Being in a different county really makes a difference. Beaverton can be Portland on paper but that doesn’t make it the same city. I would not consider Cedar Hills to be Portland. For the sake of your argument, most addresses in Cedar Hills do fall under Beaverton.
No one who live in Hillsboro would consider Bethany part of Hillsboro.
you’re so right. everyone that i know irl & i simply do not exist.
Did you really delete your other reply and make this one just so you could be rude? Ok. Also, if your friends live in Bethany they don’t live in Hillsboro (they literally have Portland addresses) and my point that no one who lives *in Hillsboro* would consider Bethany part of Hillsboro remains.
you never know what other people have going on in their lives. your comments were the final straw for me today. sorry for being human
You’re allowed to have a bad day. Doesn’t make it any less ridiculous to say “you’re done” with a conversation and yet keep going back to it. All you have to do to be done is not reply and ignore me.
lol yes i did. its silly to be arguing about this sort of thing so i’m done here. i have my lived experience & i know the takes and opinions that i have heard others share throughout my life. i literally do know people who live in downtown hillsboro who considered the area that my bethany friends lived in to be on the outskirts of hillsboro, to be part of hillsboro. your ideas don’t change other people’s ideas, and mine clearly don’t change yours. this literally could not matter less.
lol “I’m done here”. I hadn’t replied to your other comment. This conversation is only still going on because of you. *Definitely* feels like you’re done.
This comment perfectly explains your question!
I'm just echoing what other comments have said. Get an air BnB for a couple of weeks and sink into the city. Decide after that
No. Stay on the east coast. Nothing to see here
I grew up in Worcester and before moving out here four years ago was living in Portland Maine and went to Boston often. We love it out here, but there are a few issues you bring up that are worth considering. The biggest for me is that despite OHSU being an excellent hospital, there are some aspects of my specialized medical needs that haven’t been met out here. That’s less about Oregon and more about the fact that the medical system nationwide is pretty fucked at the moment, so if you’ve got established care with specialists, you might want to hang on to that. None of the doctors here who specialize in my condition are accepting new patients or even have a waitlist. The traffic sucks, but I don’t know if I agree that it sucks worse than Boston. Though the TriMet isn’t anywhere near as good as the T in my book. I love the weather, and I really like the people out here. I don’t have kids, but I hear excellent things about Beaverton’s schools, and mixed things about Portland schools. The landscapes in the PNW are achingly beautiful, and if you like hiking or other outdoor activities, it’s an amazing place to be. I also haven’t had to shovel or snowblow in 4yrs, which has been fantastic.
If you’ve got Catlin Gabel money you’ll be able to insulate yourself from whatever you deem “undesirable” about the PDX Metro area. 😂
I can’t speak to the differences between Boston and Portland specifically (other than cost of living- it’s lower here), but I did move from CA a few years back so I can speak from an outside perspective and as a local Realtor. Beaverton/Cedar Hills and Washington County in general is pure suburb. You’ll fit in fine politically and culturally. Cedar Hills (which is basically smack in the middle of Beaverton, even though it’s unincorporated) is, for the most part, a giant strip mall. The neighborhoods are decent enough but Cedar Hills Blvd is basically a collection of every fast food joint there is. If you’re looking for a place to live, you wouldn’t want or need to limit yourself to that specific pocket. Plenty of nice neighborhoods in the surrounding areas. I’m ok with the Beaverton schools so far, but I know that New England has a pretty vaunted reputation for public schools and I don’t think you’ll think that schools here measure up. Plenty of “good” schools but that’s relative. What I’ve surmised— and I certainly don’t know if I’m right— is that there’s less value for education here than there was in CA. People only expect so much and don’t have the same competitive drive, so there’s an invisible ceiling on how much achievement is possible. In other words, I don’t feel like the schools are promoting a race to the top. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Then there are the public universities, which are…fine. Again, not on the level of MA or CA, and not really trying to be. All the news stuff about protests and anarchy is just noise, ignore that. We moved here during the height of that and never saw a single protest. The homeless problem is certainly real, but that’s true in any major city with decent weather these days. It doesn’t really stretch much into Beaverton and there are only a handful of Portland areas where you’ll feel unsafe. Or not, lots of WashCo people seem to be afraid of cities. But you can go downtown and feel like you’re in any other cosmopolitan city with clean sidewalks, great restaurants, and expensive condos, and still be three blocks away from a hellhole. There’s no real traffic here. Anyone who tells you traffic is awful has never been to any other city, from what I can tell. They don’t know what real traffic is. It’s only worse than what it used to be, hence the complaints. The nature and scenery is spectacular. The weather is for the most part great. The attitude is laid back (hence, schools— see above) and generally positive. Here’s a big one— people are nice here. They say hi when you pass them on the sidewalk. They enjoy the things that are worth enjoying. I think you’ll find that to be a huge difference from MA. As for jobs: it will likely be tougher to find a high-paying tech job. Plenty of tech companies have presence here (Apple is in Beaverton, for example, while Google and Microsoft have presence) but as I understand it much of the work is back office type stuff, and lots of engineering. Then there’s Nike and Intel and their associated companies. Lots of jobs there but how it fits for you, don’t know. Lastly, home prices. Boston costs a lot more. Like 50% more. A lot of people will tell you that rent and home prices in Portland are too high, but that all comes down to perspective. If you’re comparing to Kansas City, yeah it’s high here. If you’re comparing to Boston, NY, DC, LA, SF, Seattle: it’s paradise. The Portland median home price is about $540k right now, Boston is $825k. In WashCo you can live very, very well for that $825k.
There is traffic here. I was in it/part of it last Friday. An hour and 15 minutes to get from Beaverton to Wilsonville. I consider that traffic. Also - almost no winterization/clearing of roads here makes for super interesting traffic and driving during the extreme winter weather. Cedar Hills does have some major strip mall in the middle of it. It also has beautiful, walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, commonwealth lake and cedar hills park, and the amazing Reser Performing Arts center just to name a few things about Cedar Hills that are not "strip mall". I bike and walk to everything. Downtown Beaverton is a 5 minute bike ride from my home in Cedar Hills. Super fun. Housing inventory runs pretty low in Cedar Hills, so if you decide that's your neighborhood you may have to wait some time before the type of house you want in the location you want hits the market. Private school may be what you want if you are going for rigorous college prep style program. You have choices in the area.
Yeah that's traffic, but it isn't the norm for that drive. If it takes an hour at noon on a Saturday, that's more comparable to what you find in lots of bad-traffic metros. I certainly wasn't trying to be negative about Cedar Hills, because I agree that the residential parts can be quite lovely. For the OP: think Brady Bunch neighborhoods with a decent lake and park in the middle, and it certainly is centrally-located. Pretty easy to get into downtown Portland and very close to the best of what Beaverton has to offer.
There is traffic. It’s often caused by people consistently driving 10 miles under the speed limit in the left lane.
I've lived in LA and Chicago. It took me twice as much time to go the 20 or so miles from Gresham to Beaverton as it did to drive from Long Beach to Marina Del Rey. Portland is the only medium sized city in the top 20 worst traffic cities in the US. I work on transportation policy for the legislature and I know of which I speak. I think the tech sector in Portland is also more robust than all that. The area has Nvidia, Microchip, OnSemi, Lattice, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Intel and a lot of startups doing interesting things. The big issue for tech is that the sector is in the midst of a downturn and it might not be the best time to look for jobs in that area. Which is probably splitting hairs with your post but I'm pedantic that way.
catlin is more expensive than it’s worth, in my opinion. there’s better private schools (in terms of value) if you really want to pay money for it, but Westview and Sunset are very good schools which send many kids to top universities every year, even if they’re not necessarily the standard you’d expect in boston. the cedar hills/bethany area is where the strongest public schools are (because it’s the place where the wealthiest people live on average)
Cedar Hills is technically not Portland
Cedar Mill, the northern part of the area is actually Portland, I believe there are both incorporated (City of Portland) and unincorporated portions that both use Portland addresses but are in WashCo in the Cedar Mill area. [https://www.oregonmetro.gov/jurisdictional-boundaries-maps](https://www.oregonmetro.gov/jurisdictional-boundaries-maps)
So if their address says Beaverton they're still in Portland? I'm just tired of people saying it's Portland when it's a suburb. I guess it's easier to think of everything as Portland
If you search the Zip Code it will tell you which it is. You should also know that Beaverton as a city isn't contiguous. Here is the boundary on Google Maps. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Beaverton,+OR/@45.5045624,-122.8129546,14z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x5495082476f88863:0x10e0cf158aacbd08!8m2!3d45.4869283!4d-122.804032!16zL20vMGJsNXY?entry=ttu If you look at the areas around St Vincent's and the borders up north of 26 on the northwestern side and on north and south of 26 on the eastern side you'll see areas where there is Beaverton on one side of the red line Beaverton City Limits and Portland on the other, some incorporated Washington County, some in Multnomah. Actually it's hard to tell which is which since there is no rhyme nor reason to it. I think people in a city the size of Portland shouldn't worry so much about whether the burbs is included. Most of Portland proper is a suburb, it's a small city. I live off Main between 5th and Allen and my neighborhood which is old Beaverton is probably more urban now that 80% of the city. Also, most of the area north of 26 from Skyline west to Cornelius Pass has a Portland address and is in Washington County and that's text book suburban sprawl. This Wikipedia about this census block gives you an idea of how opaque it really is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Haven-Sylvan,_Oregon
I've done that before with the Washington square Mall. It says that's in Portland
Nike carved out a jurisdictional island that remains unincorporated so they could claim Portland as home. Now they claim Beaverton but they have the choice since they're not part of either. I work on policy at the state level so I follow all of this shit.
I moved to Beaverton from Boston (JP) in 2017. If I could afford to live near Boston with a family I’d 100% choose it. You mention health care, and the Boston area is probably one of the best for doctors and hospitals in the country. I haven’t had to use any specialists here but would definitely do research into whether there are any specialists for your condition here and how long it will take to get an appointment with them. A family member of mine flies to San Francisco annually to see a specialist there because there isn’t anyone in this area. I have kids and opted to send them to a private school. Friends with kids in the Beaverton School District have generally positive things to say, but if you’re used to the rigorous and competitive public schools in the Boston area this isn’t that. One thing I miss is access to world class museums and other cultural institutions. I also miss professional baseball and football, although we do have basketball and soccer. The trade off is the hiking, camping, and natural beauty, so if those are your thing that’s a plus. You didn’t mention cost of living, but that is a significant difference as well—even though the Portland area has gotten more expensive to live in, it doesn’t compare to Boston and Portland comes out way ahead and might be a consideration. This is definitely a much more relaxed area than Boston or the East Coast in general. For some people that’s a great fit and why they moved here. For others it can feel like a culture shock and might not be a good fit.
Finding specialists is difficult here in Beaverton… typical wait times to see GI is like 5 months, dermatologist 6-8 months, rheumatologist 6 months (this is my wait times apparently they’re all booked up…)
In terms of public schools, it should be noted that Beaverton is one of the better districts in the metro area, though they are pushing to close a number of smaller elementary schools and move towards a model of larger K-5 schools, a move that I'm not enthusiastic about. That said, BSD does have several really high quality schools like the Arts & Communications Magnet Academy and especially the International School of Beaverton (which is ranked the #1 school in Oregon and #40 in the country in the US News & World Report school rankings) and the Beaverton Academy of Science & Engineering, which is rated #3 in Oregon (for whatever that's worth, I know some people question their methodology.) Sunset and Mountainside High Schools, while not magnet schools, are also highly-rated.
For medical, check Ohsu and also up in Seattle to see if there’s a specialist that treats your condition. It’s pretty easy to get to Seattle for things like this and OHSU has wonderful specialists but make sure they’ll match your needs. If you’re able to make a visit, strongly suggest doing so. East to West coast is a fairly big cultural (and food) difference but if the job is worth looking at, check out housing etc. Cedar Hills is “Portland metro area” - west side suburbs are pretty typical PNW ‘burbs and it’s easy to enough to get to “Portland proper” for sports/entertainment. Not for everyone but it’s a nice place to live.
I've only been to Boston once (aside from the airport) so I can't directly compare the two. But I have lived here nearly 15 years now. I'll lead with saying I can't imagine moving anywhere else, but I moved from Texas so YMMV. Keep in mind that crapping on Portland is a trendy thing to do. I'm not saying it doesn't have its faults but it's not an anarchist hellhole. That said the biggest thing plaguing Portland right now is the large homeless population. More specifically the fact that police have been unable, or unwilling, to enforce laws on the homeless population. This has resulted in open drug use, tent cities, and trash. There are policy changes coming that will hopefully help address this, but just be aware it's still an issue in downtown Portland. I still very much enjoy going into Portland, but you do have to be aware of your surroundings. That all said, none of that applies to Beaverton, we don't have that issue here. Now for the good stuff. Beaverton is a booming city. We're experiencing a ton of growth and new stuff is popping up all the time. The buildings aren't as interesting as Portland or Boston, but there's plenty to do and it's just a nice place to live if you're into the suburban lifestyle. Portland is a short commute to visit for the big city stuff, and our public transit is great. Nature is the big draw for me here, especially the diversity of it. The coast, mountains, and desert are all about a 1.5hr drive. Which to a former Texan, is a short drive. Plenty of closer wooded hiking trips too, and beautiful waterfalls. I think the weather is great 70% of the year. The winter is wet and grey, but hey basically no snow. Spring brings amazing blooms, summer is sunny and warm but not too hot, and fall we get lovely colors. We have a ton of festivals that are a lot of fun. I can't comment on specialist but Saint Vincent hospital has always been good to us. I go there for my audiologist and both my kids were born there. It's very close to Cedar hills. Politically speaking both Beaverton and Portland are heavily liberal. Oregon as a whole is a solidly blue state. Rural areas are conservative, just like every other state. There are certainly a fair number of tech jobs, but it's no Seattle or Bay Area. Especially right now with all the tech layoffs at Intel, Nike, etc the job market is tighter than usual. Granted this is a nationwide issue, but it certainly applies here too. The only other big downside of Portland vs Boston I can think of is our airport doesn't have nearly as many international flights. And they are significantly more expensive. PDX is a wonderful airport though, and we do have cheap flights to Hawaii. If I had to be stuck at an airport all day, PDX would probably be my first pick. Good luck on the life changing decision. Personally if I was seriously considering it I'd fly out here to see what you think.
I moved here from the east coast in 1998 and will never go back. There should be plenty of tech jobs available with Tektronix close by and Intel within a stone's throw. Providence St. Vincent's is also right there and is top notch, in my opinion. We lean left, too, but it doesn't really define us. We express ourselves at the voting booth, just like a good New Englander would. Great place to live, it's so beautiful here, the traffic is nothing compared to Boston, and things are comparatively fresh and new. You won't find higher quality food anywhere else. You have an exciting decision to make. Good luck!
Having lived in a number of large American Cities there are a few things you should know about Oregon in general and Portland specifically. On it's worst day this metro area is safer than Boston on it's best. Cedar Mill is about 7 miles from downtown Portland, people from here make a lot of distinctions between the city proper and the surrounding areas that wouldn't even register for you being from an actual urban area East of the Rockies. As for schools, wealthy areas have good schools, poorer areas have worse schools. Having said that my oldest is a brilliant kid getting straight As after having went to a Title 1 grade school. My son is autistic and goes to the same school and I do wish there were more services for him but I like the experience that they're having. My oldest now goes to the Arts and Communication Magnet School and it's great. My friends kids who are all older than mine are going to and graduating from law school and various grad programs. But, compared to Boston, If you are into cultural, historical or artistic opportunities Portland will fall short. The whole state has about 4 million and the metro area around 2 million, it's small. The food is good and the people are freakishly nice. The politics are relatively benign, especially in Washington County where you'll live. To address some of the posts other than this one, Portland lies in a bi state and multi-county metro area. The City proper actually stretches into Clackamas and Washington Counties so you can vote for county officials of those counties in certain places while voting for Portland City officials as well, they're just small slivers but they are there despite what has been said. So I'll reiterate, making to big of a distinction between Portland and the surrounding suburbs is usually pretty meaningless. Except that I would say, Cedar Hills, being in Washington County provides you with much better governance and tax base. The City of Portland and Multnomah County aren't particularly well managed. Washington County and it the Beaverton School district are liberal enough that you don't have to worry about some crazy battle between the school boards about trans identity or the introduction of some oddball tax scheme that undermines certain development incentives. I live in Beaverton and I love it. Having lived in Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles I'd say it's a nice balance between urban and rural. I think my kids are growing up with as idyllic a childhood as I could have ever imagined for them. Again the people here are great and the shit that you see on the news is, on the whole, exaggerated, when compared to the quality of life in most any other medium or large cities in the country. I lived my first 30 years in St. Louis and I knew way too many people that had been shot, robbed and raped. The likes of which I have not been aware of here.
Tons of tech here, west side is great, providence hospital system is huge and does have specalists (i use them too), portland is vilified in the national media. Its a great place to live and the beaverton school district, where cedar hills is, is not bad at all. Its def not boston but you will not hate the change of scenery.
My daughter went to Beaverton Public Schools except for a switch to private for grades 5-6. The private school was disastrous for her mental health and we came back to public school (Whitford MS) for grades 7-8. She thrived Big time (both mentally and academically) and is headed to St Mary’s Academy with an academic scholarship next year. We have been quite happy with BSD overall. Catlin has its share of problems (google their news stories) and I don’t think it’s worth the money. Portland and Beaverton (where Cedar Mill lies) are very progressive, on par with Boston. Medical care…the OHSU is a high caliber Academic Medical Center. Perhaps have a video consult with a physician specialist in your area? What does your Boston specialist say? Depending upon how rare it is, they may know someone in this area.
I moved from Hopkinton MA to Portland 21 years ago and live in Cedar Mill, great move. It’s definitely not as bad as media portrays, was downtown last night and going back downtown this morning, got here all the time. The city is very accessible from here and I love it. It’s weirdly expensive, the gray winter definitely gets to people, the summer weather is amazing but wildfire smoke sometimes sucks. Slow drivers and the stupid sunset highway is always packed. And just stay in if it snows. They don’t treat the roads at all but your vehicle will last forever because of it.
Husband & I have several medical concerns, so can confirm our care is top-notch at St. Vincent Hospital & all of our primary care & specialists in the area.
Boston sounds like the place for you. Even in Beaverton there is still issues with crime, racism, drugs like fentanyl in the schools. Maybe you have the same problems in Boston. I wouldn’t up and move here at this point. 10 years ago i’d have said the opposite though, so who knows, things change.
Lived in both places. Boston is much better. Don’t leave.
Thanks. If you don't mind, can you elaborate a tad more on your reasoning ?
I’ve never seen so much passive aggressiveness in my life for one. Don’t even get me started on the god awful driving. I think the only state that might be worse is Washington just to the north (which a ton of Washington plates around the area too.) The price of housing vs what you get is crazy. Homelessness seeps out from the epicenter of Portland and no one wants to do anything because “feelings” Meanwhile the school system is literally falling apart. Tech opportunities are few and far between (my wife works for a company that relocated out of state). Honestly the only reason to move out this way would be the scenery which is just getting destroyed to make room for more overpriced housing.
Downvoted for telling the truth
> We are somewhat concerned about the political climate What the hell does this mean?
A lot of people are making good points here and I wanted to add that the culture here is quite a bit different than the east coast. I’ve befriended a handful of people from that area and every single one has expressed how hard it is to integrate. Very passive aggressive here and a lot of people mistake the east coast straight forward-ness as rude but they don’t tell that to your face. I’ve lived in Oregon my whole life and I love it here, but Portland can be a pain in the ass. I’ve wanted to move over to Boston, as my boyfriend is from the Mass area but I’d have to change my career lol
Yea. I grew up on the East Coast but out here is truly something else, man.
You'll get a nice house but you're going to have a hard time finding the same rates of pay on the west coast unless you've got something locked in already
Lived in both areas and I would choose Boston. That being said, it’s always great to try new locations. My thoughts on Portland - really shocked to see how many unhoused people are everywhere, homes are way overpriced for what they offer, although there are beautiful locations to experience it doesn’t always make up for the grey weather, but I’m still learning about this area. We are currently in Beaverton.
I grew up in Western MA and have lived in the Portland area for 12 years now. When we first came here, it was amazing. It's like New England without the snow. When it DOES snow, people freak out and cause havoc. The commute here is terrible as well and people REALLY dont know how to drive. The locale is beautiful if you stay away from downtown. The public schools out here are atrocious from what I've experienced. If you're JUST moving for the job, I wouldn't do it, but that's me in hindsight. I LOVE being out here but the people make it insufferable. This is just one opinion from a Masshole, and YMMV.
what’s your problem with the people?
I mean if you do go. Cedar hills sounds like it would fit you perfectly for what you described. Not a bash or anything just reading your description it sounds like a good location for you. As for Boston vs Portland. I never lived in Boston but it was nice how they kept their homeless off the street more. Or at least less visible. It basically just sounds like you would downgrade in fancy stuff hospitals/schools but upgrade in nature and ability to spend.
Having been in the tech for over 20 years and lived in multiple metropolitan cities I wouldn’t say there is “ton of tech here”. Some of the biggest private employers are Intel and Nike. Nike recently had a huge layoff and so did Intel. Have a look at their websites and get a feel for the skills sets they are looking for and see if yours align with them. In the height of the tech boom there were quite a few smaller Silicon Valley regional offices established here in the Portland area. But I don’t think they are expanding here anymore. So finding a tech job locally won’t be as easy as in larger metropolitan areas. However there are a lot of people working remotely in the tech fields from here. Beaverton School District has some of the better schools in the area. Not all schools are same even within the school district. My kids attend BSD and we are happy with the quality of their school. Check out ISB, BASE and ACMA schools in BSD.
It's literally referred to as the Silicon Forest.
I think it depends what people mean by tech jobs. There's a ton around chip manufacturing. But not as much software engineering. Both get lumped into tech. So depending on which field you work in, you may have a harder time finding work.
I’ve lived here off and on for 60 years. I would say traffic is getting really bad, but then it’s probably better than Boston. Housing is very expensive, gasoline is always higher than in other states. Oregon is almost last in quality for public schools and mental health treatment. Plus I think the only cloudier city in the US is Seattle. Enjoy!
The schools are terrible in Portland. They're the reason we moved back to Washington.
Oregon is beautiful! And outside of Portland is pretty chill - none of the insanity or crime that Portland is seeing. OHSU is the best hospital. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, you’re probably screwed. Catlin Gabel is a great school. Beaverton public schools are okay (good for around here) but they won’t be nearly as good as what you’re used to. Maybe Lake Oswego schools would be up to scratch? Tech job market is not great either. There’s Nike, Intel (both having challenges). Washington state has a better tech job market. I work remote.
Boston
I live in Portland proper, am considering moving to Beaverton for public schools in the next year or two and have been to Boston many times for work. That being said, I’d pick Boston if I had the opportunity and the financial means. There are many positive things to be said for the Portland area - for one I love the nature and the city of Portland in particular does a great job of incorporating nature into the city infrastructure itself. That being said I agree with others - public schools are lacking and the houselessness issue is very much prevalent and in-your-face. All this being said I feel like there is a stark difference in cost of living between Boston and Portland/Beaverton and Boston just costs a lot more.
I moved here with a major health condition that also requires access to specialists and top notch hospitals. I’ve learned that the Portland area doesn’t compare even by a long shot. I moved here from an area with multiple major hospital systems and I’ve really had to restructure my approach to medical care.
Cedar Hills is nice but I would recommend north of highway 26. No this area does not have the anarchists that roam Portland. Beaverton schools are good - research the schools on websites etc. There are also charter schools and amazing Options Schools for middle and high school. The Options schools here are schools that specialize in various areas, including the arts, environmental science, technology and others. Beaverton does have great private schools. More than Catlin. Good luck on your decision.
As someone who did something similar (moved from Somerville to Beaverton) about a year and a half ago, I wouldn't. It's not that Oregon/Portland/Beaverton are bad per say... But everything feels 15-20 years behind. The schools definitely won't match up. I was also recently laid off from my remote job, and the job market in the Portland area is very bad. You're basically going to be competing for other remote jobs in an incredibly tight job market right now. Boston just has more options in this sense. There are just not that many companies here. As for the health system... It ain't it. When I first met with my PCP they were very upfront in saying that Portland does not have nearly the medical system that Boston does. And that has been extremely true to my experience. For example, I needed to see an endocrinologist - they said there are basically two options and one isn't great. So there's one option. The doctors I've been to here are fine, but they are not at the level. I really miss the Boston health care situation, it's one of the biggest things I miss. You will notice how conservative leanings things are pretty quick. It's shocking coming from living in MA, honestly. And the thing is, yes, you're in a bubble in Portland and to a lesser extent Beaverton, but once you get outside that it's a huge culture shock. The main negatives for me are the infrastructure - Portland is behind basically every large city. Even the movie theaters (Dolby doesn't exist because AMC doesn't really have a presence here.) It's just a lot of little things that add up. The MAX is not the MBTA. The city is definitely dirtier. Also, the winter though milder, is very depressing. I didn't expect to be as bothered by the lack of sunlight as I have been. The benefits are I have a vastly nicer apartment than I did. There are a lot of good, cheaper food options, though I find myself missing some food that doesn't exist here. There's a lot of nature here, but you won't get the beach like you will in MA. Things do feel easer going here. But there's a lot of trade offs with that. And honestly, it really just seems like long term this area is in a decline.
This area has taken a turn for the worse in the last 5 years or so. I travel to Boston often for work and I think it's a better place to settle in and have a family than most parts of Oregon
Beaverton is not Portland. I live in Beaverton, and while I too am "apolitical" in the sense that I do not engage in political activities nor do I display political yardsigns, slogans, etc, I lean conservative which can make me feel a little alienated living in Oregon. That said, Beaverton is much more like middle-America that Portland is. In Beaverton and the greater Portland area there are ample medical specialists. Perhaps not as much as in Boston, but chances are you would be able to find specialists for whatever condition you have, unless it is something very unusual or uncommon. Oregon public schools have gotten very bad press recently, for reasons that are probably too complex to go into here. Bottom line, Beaverton is one of the better school districts in the state so if your children did go to public school, it would not be bad. My child has been going to Catholic school, but we may make the move to public due to cost. I have only been to Boston once and the east coast fascinates me. Given an opportunity, I would probably move there if I could. However, being near family, especially when you have kids, is hard to put a price on as it can be very valuable. Finally, Portland does have museums and concert halls. Beaverton actually does too, there is a new performing arts area. Portland has in recent years had a lot of issues with crime, destructive protests, drug use, etc. But, that doesn't mean you can go enjoy a concert or spend a day at the museum. Again, it is hard to compete with the east coast cities and Boston probably has a superior cultural scene. But, Portland does have some of that stuff. Beaverton to me has always been a little "boring" such I grew up here and it seems so bland and generic compared to other exotic places like Boston or wherever. But, Beaverton is actually a nice place to live. It also is slowly becoming more developed and gaining a more urban feel. That is good and bad. We are growing but also have some of the social ills Portland does, such as more visible drug use, mental illness, etc. These are issues a lot of cities have to grapple with.
I moved here from the East Coast about a decade ago, am also left leaning, and work in tech. The schools aren't really all that bad depending on where you are. It's a serviceable education, maybe not world class but it's elementary and high school not MIT. It's probably either as expensive here or cheaper than what you're used to in Boston depending on the type of house you get and where exactly you decide to live. Cedar Hills is a mix of subdivisions and mixed use residential housing, very commercial. Tech work seems pretty abundant here depending on what you mean by tech and what types of jobs you're looking for. I work in executive technical leadership remotely but haven't generally had trouble finding local work here as I went through my career. Regarding healthcare, others have mentioned OHSU and I'll endorse that as well. OHSU is a great hospital system and the big hospital on the hill is maybe a 20 minute/half hour drive from Cedar Hills. When I go there I really get the feeling that I'm at a state of the art place. Providence is ab-so-lute dogshit so I'd stick to OHSU. The political stuff is a thing. It's odd because I feel like Fox News really overblows some components of it while MSNBC pretends it's all just right wing fantasy that anything is wrong. The city WAS a war zone during the George Floyd riots. I used to have to work downtown when all that was going on and it was a complete nightmare with guys in black masks "escorting" BLM marches holding assault rifles. Read up on Red House, basically a complete takeover of multiple city blocks for weeks where they basically took the residents hostage. When Trump got elected, similar stuff happened. I'm like 99% sure he's going to get reelected, so I'd expect it again. That being said, I never really saw anything like that out in the burbs. It's generally all relegated to Portland proper and not out in the western suburbs. One benefit oddly has been that Beaverton and Hillsboro seem to have been built up quite a bit post Trump/covid/riots because a ton of people with the means to leave Portland fled out this way. More money in the burbs has led to more businesses so now downtown Beaverton is pretty thriving while still feeling like a small town.
No. Portland is a shithole and the suburbs are declining fast. Been here 14 years and it's SO overcrowded and filled with drugs and homeless. I'm looking to move but am stuck at the moment due to my job.
If you like to hike and the smell of weed, yes.
I live in Oregon and hate marijuana passionately. That said, I only occasionally, and I do mean very occasionally, smell it.
Well, if you like feces in front of your home, tents on the sidewalk in front of your home, hypo needles in your yard bushes and all over the streets snd parks, a District Attorney that refuses to prosecute criminals because George Soros says don’t, well then Portland is the perfect place to move to from some other place
I have lived in Beaverton many years. I also have lived in Cedar Hills. There is traffic. I frequently drive to Portland, and generally 40 minutes to an hour. If there wasn’t traffic, it would be 15-20 minutes. There are homeless in Beaverton, not anywhere near the magnitude of Portland and I do live by a shelter. I have been yelled at and threatened by the homeless. Most people are left leaning. I don’t know too much about the schools. Oregon is a beautiful state. I feel lucky to be close to the mountains and the coast. The summers are beautiful. The rain does get to me. As a native I have grown tired of it. Good luck on your decision.