And time. My time is a lot more valuable than being able to buy a slightly bigger home.
Time is definitely more valuable, and if it’s 2 hour, yeah way worse than it was years ago.
Oh jeez, yeah a single bridge?
I’d bike rather than drive with traffic that bad. It’d be faster!
So there are two bridges. Which is better, but…
I dunno, that might be viable. I did an hour commute before. And this would very likely mean moving from dual income, to single income at least for a bit. All depends. Also depending on where exactly I live I could bike to the red like Max, take that to Beaverton.
Now that I like.
I’d take the word of those who live there or close who say it’s not really worth it. The family and friends I know that do that, they don’t live there anymore. Maybe that just didn’t work for them either, but they never really admitted to that to us.
The 20 something me would say cheaper, maybe a bigger place, awesome. The not 20 me says 2 or more hours is a lot of time to just burn everyday.
The commute from Vancouver to Beaverton would be pretty bad, in my opinion. When I lived in NE Portland it would take me 13 minutes to drive to the hospital at 5AM, door-to-door. At 6:30 PM, getting home would take 40 minutes. And if I were coming in to work at night, driving the same route that took me 13 minutes in the morning, at 4 PM could take an hour. And that’s just off the first exit as you cross the bridge and get on I-5. I have no idea how long it would have taken to get all the way up to Vancouver but I’m glad I didn’t have to find out. The exit for 26 West (which you would have to take each day) is awful because everyone slows down for the tunnel and it just backs everything up. Every time I pass it, I think, I’m glad I don’t live in Beaverton and have to drive this way. But if you lived in Beaverton, you wouldn’t need to commute through that exit. I think you could find affordable housing around Beaverton, or further west/south.
I have moved to the top of the hill which, besides putting me 8 minutes from work each way no matter what time it is, also puts me a short drive down the hill to Beaverton and the west suburbs. @CraigM, I don’t know what arrangements your company is making for you (if any) but you would be welcome to stay at our house if you were coming out yourself to get they lay of the land and scout out housing. My schedule can be pretty variable (and we have company visiting this weekend) but if it would help I would be glad help when/if you have to look for a place.
Hey, I think I did some work for that hospital about ten years ago! Small world.
Hiway 26 into/out of downtown is backing up pretty much all the time nowdays, it’s not limited to commute times.
There are creative alternatives (hint: waze is your friend) that can keep you moving and perhaps shave a few minutes off but I would absolutely recommend not to live in Vancouver if you are working in Beaverton.
I would recommend living on the west side and would not go further south than TV highway (Hiway 8), as a new 20,000 subdivision called “South Hillsboro” is ramping up and is going to completely fuck with TV highway. North and West from Murray Blvd (where Nike campus is at) will be your best bets.
There is no better place to have kids and do fun things with them than Portland. So many things to do. As mentioned, OMSI & the zoo are great. Also Saturday Market, the gorge waterfalls (11 of them) that are all great and short hikes (1/4 - 1/2 mile most of them), silver falls for when they get older, wooden shoe tulip company for spring days out, the beach is 1.5 hour one way and the mountains / snow are 1.5 hrs the other way. Hillsboro has a great Tuesday night market that’s fun to go visit, Hillsboro has an awesome library situated in a wonderful park where you can walk / bike.
Hiking / Camping is where it’s at. Locally, you have Forest Park to sate your hiking needs. An hour in almost any direction will yield wonderful hikes. Go 2 hours & you get awesome (St Helens, Dog Mountain, Larch Mountain) and for the really great weekend, head south 5 hours to Crater Lake & Diamond Lake (Diamond Lake is my favorite camping) and stop by the Wildlife Safari on your way there / or back for a great ride through park.
I could go on & on. Amazing state and if you ever get board, just head up to Seattle. It’s only 3 hours away.
Yes, hiking is exciting. My wife and I were there on our honeymoon. Camped out at crater lake and Mt Hood.
It is hard to gauge, I have checked traffic at several times and it seems to have peaked in the 50 minute range. Which, honestly, is what I’ve dealt with for years. But certainly it’s a consideration.
Thank you @Brooski and all for the info and offers. Still waiting on the call for more info on travel, but I got the ‘welcome to the team’ one, so it seems that it is coming .
And if you do head to Seattle, there’s a bunch of us Qt3’rs up here who can hang out with you. I mean if my wife lets me.
Happened to you too, huh?
So copying this here so I remember
So my initial travel is Wednesday next week, and staying for two weeks (until the 11th). As for permanent move? Not sure when, but it seems almost certain at this point. Probably sometime in August? I’ll find out more next week I’m sure.
I should also have accommodations for this trip, but will have to get together with some of you while I’m there. Bruce, you in particular as I’d love to put some cardboard on the table with you.
Also if any of you Portland people play X-wing let me know. Because I’ll probably bring a small portion of my stuff out there, since it’s store championship season, and yes I’ve already called local board game stores.
All about priorities ;)
@CraigM You may want to make time for the boardgame night at Lucky Lab on Hawthorne on Thursday nights - great place to drink beer and indulge in cardboard. I am out of town the weekend of June 30th but am available both before and after that. Drop me a PM with contact info and I’ll be sure to reserve time for some face-to-face Twilight Struggle. We can even try out my Collector’s Edition!
Is that Lucky Lab the Lucky Labrador? I’m guessing it is. Might swing by there Thursday then. Seems easy enough to get to by bike or train. Was already planning a trip to Guardian Games this Saturday, and that seems to be nearby.
So food update.
Having Killer Burger tonight. The Teemah with a Vertigo Madagascar Vanilla Porter. It is, as @baren suggested, a very tasty burger.
Also the beer is very good. Not quite as good as the Boulder Beer Shake Chocolate Porter from last night, but very good.
Overall the food has been quite good. The only quibble is that the Old Chicago Pizza is_not_ Chicago Pizza. Tasty? Yes. I had the Tuscan Chicken that was delicious. But even a more conventional pizza would not have been ‘Chicago style’.
Oh. This will probably come up.
Voodoo Donuts is tourist crap. Barely better than average. Locals go to Blue Star Donuts.
Definitely hit up Salt and Straw for ice cream. Tourists go there by the busload, but it is not overrated.
If you’re into salami, there’s a tiny local butcher called Chop that makes terrific, inexpensive sausages. You can find them in upscale grocery stores. Notably: City Market.
Tasty n Sons has the best brunch. There will be a wait. It will be worth it. Order anything that is made with a biscuit. Or do what I do, bring a bunch of folks and order everything. Literally everything.
Yeah, a coworker said as much about Voodoo. But Blue Star is new. Might give them a ring tomorrow when I explore downtown some.
Thank you, I’ve got a menu and a plan for tomorrow now :)
I don’t live in Portland; I visit periodically, and am food obsessive. The first time I went to Blue Star, I couldn’t reign in my impulses. I got 2 of every type of doughnut, and they have a bunch. It was like $120 worth, and weighed over 15 lbs. I felt very silly as I raced to cram them all into my body before they went stale.
Have to disagree on this one. Blue Star is more refined and classy, Voodoo is more gonzo and silly, but the quality/ingredients on both is top-notch, so it’s worth the effort to do both. Sadly, the donut robot truck that I went to where mini donuts were made fresh to order has gone out of business.
The best meal I had there though was at Pine State Biscuits – the Reggie Deluxe has to be the platonic ideal of breakfast sandwiches.
Hey missed this update the first time around. I’m In SW Portland (on the west side of the hills from Downtown) and work in Beaverton (at quite possibly the place you are alluding to).
I’ve been here about 3 years now. I still feel like a noob in the city but totally willing to meet up for beer or whatever.