WA and OR people...
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 633
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From: Phoenix, AZ
WA and OR people... Me and a buddy are so damn tired of this state. He will be out of school by the end of the year, and I will be done by May. We hate the heat and sun, so we figure those two states would be great for us.
Car clubs? Emissions? Where to go? Rent for a 2 bed/bath apt or house? I have only been to Seattle and loved it, but I heard it can be quite pricey there.
Please give me all the info about both states that you can.
Thanks
Sean
Car clubs? Emissions? Where to go? Rent for a 2 bed/bath apt or house? I have only been to Seattle and loved it, but I heard it can be quite pricey there.
Please give me all the info about both states that you can.
Thanks
Sean
Oregon has no sales tax 
WA politics is nothing but a bunch of liberals tree-lovers that want to control you life.
Besides that.... prices for everything are going up. You can find decent 2 bedroom apts between $800 - $1,250 in Bothell, 20 minutes north of Seattle (1 hour with traffic).
Seattle prices.... forget it - not worth it.
I'm sure more people here can give you more valuable info. What I really don't like in WA is the huge amount of plain BAD BAD drivers everywhere. If you can tolerate retards behind the wheel you'll like it up here.
WA politics is nothing but a bunch of liberals tree-lovers that want to control you life.
Besides that.... prices for everything are going up. You can find decent 2 bedroom apts between $800 - $1,250 in Bothell, 20 minutes north of Seattle (1 hour with traffic).
Seattle prices.... forget it - not worth it.
I'm sure more people here can give you more valuable info. What I really don't like in WA is the huge amount of plain BAD BAD drivers everywhere. If you can tolerate retards behind the wheel you'll like it up here.
Yeah WA drivers suck Oregon quite a bit cheaper rent 800 would get you a nice apartment in a nice area of town. 1200 you could rent a decent house in a decent part of town. Problem with Oregon is the income tax so it kind of offsets the sales tax, and the car registration tax. I really like it here in Beaverton I've traveled quite a bit for work and there really isn't a place I'd rather be unless I won the lottery and even then I'd probably keep a place here...
Oregon quite a bit cheaper rent 800 would get you a nice apartment in a nice area of town. 1200 you could rent a decent house in a decent part of town. Problem with Oregon is the income tax so it kind of offsets the sales tax, and the car registration tax. I really like it here in Beaverton I've traveled quite a bit for work and there really isn't a place I'd rather be unless I won the lottery and even then I'd probably keep a place here...
Originally Posted by WS6freak
Oregon has no sales tax
WA politics is nothing but a bunch of liberals tree-lovers that want to control you life.
WA politics is nothing but a bunch of liberals tree-lovers that want to control you life.
Federal government lets you deduct WA sales tax.
Oregon is pot smoking liberal treehuggers...
Originally Posted by CHarris
Federal government lets you deduct WA sales tax.
Oregon is pot smoking liberal treehuggers...
Oregon is pot smoking liberal treehuggers...
Don't hold anything back! I'm putting my joint out and going to go kiss my Maple.
Originally Posted by 93TAWicked1
Don't hold anything back! I'm putting my joint out and going to go kiss my Maple.
FormerVendor
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 247
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From: Portland Oregon
Washington don't have an income tax, but they got a sales tax. Oregon don't have a sales tax but has a 9.5%+ income tax, not to mention that if you live in Multnomah county where Portland is, there is a screwed up county tax that dings you for another 1.5%. Also Portland has some of the highest real estate prices and taxes as well. Vancouver is relatively cheap for real estate as compared to Portland, and if you live there you can always go to Portland across the river to buy your big ticket items (other than a car) for tax free
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2005
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From: Phoenix, AZ
Well our biggest problems will be emmisions. We both drive completely non-emmisioned cars. Cost of living is expensive there, but it seems the pay is way better too. Any car clubs there? Also, Seattle seemed to me to be cake for rush hour compared to Phoenix. 
We also have both sales tax and income tax here.
Thanks
Sean
Cost of living is expensive there, but it seems the pay is way better too. Any car clubs there? Also, Seattle seemed to me to be cake for rush hour compared to Phoenix. We also have both sales tax and income tax here. Thanks
Sean
TECH Veteran
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,954
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From: Kent WA
Cake for traffic, huh? Go drive the 520 floating bridge or 405 sometime...
Emissions aren't that bad for us guys that just have to beat the scanner... but with an older car, they lay the sniffer on you, and that's no fun.
Emissions aren't that bad for us guys that just have to beat the scanner... but with an older car, they lay the sniffer on you, and that's no fun.
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 10,023
Likes: 6
From: LT1 land...the "409" of the 90s!
I have passed the sniffer many times.
My Mother has lived in both in the last 10 year and damn near went broke in Oregon so she came back to Washington. Taxes were killing her. There are a alot of little taxes(like the bottle tax) that all add up to a huge chunk of what you make.
This corner of the country is nice but the taxes kill you! It has only gotten REAL expensive in the last 20 years or so. 30 years ago this place was damn near dead!
On the up side Rent is cheap right now because every one who could bought a house like me and the Wife I hawked every thing I had to do it at the time but I did it
TO be honest I would look at what you REALLY want and decide. Texas seems nice compared to here.
My Mother has lived in both in the last 10 year and damn near went broke in Oregon so she came back to Washington. Taxes were killing her. There are a alot of little taxes(like the bottle tax) that all add up to a huge chunk of what you make.
This corner of the country is nice but the taxes kill you! It has only gotten REAL expensive in the last 20 years or so. 30 years ago this place was damn near dead!
On the up side Rent is cheap right now because every one who could bought a house like me and the Wife
I hawked every thing I had to do it at the time but I did it TO be honest I would look at what you REALLY want and decide. Texas seems nice compared to here.
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Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Seattle, WA
Rush hour is more like 2 pm until 7 pm. 520 is always a parking lot. 405 is a mess from Kirkland to Renton in the morning and in the evening. Where were you to make you think Seattle traffic was "cake"? I know people from LA who come up here and would rather sit in traffic on their freeways in California.
Originally Posted by howierd42
Rush hour is more like 2 pm until 7 pm. 520 is always a parking lot. 405 is a mess from Kirkland to Renton in the morning and in the evening. Where were you to make you think Seattle traffic was "cake"? I know people from LA who come up here and would rather sit in traffic on their freeways in California.
Amen I've done alot of consulting in LA and would take LA traffic to Seattle traffic any day. The roads in LA make sense and the drivers go at least the speed limit and know how to Merge....Of course they know how to shoot too which adds a little flava to it
Originally Posted by longdaddy
I used to do 60 miles a day commute around NY. Trust me, Seattle traffic is not that bad. Unless you have to cross the bridges during rush hour, you can find the way around traffic.
LOL you couldn't PAY me to drive around NYC that is what taxis and towncars are for. I LOVE NY but man the taxis in the City are pretty scary...
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If you go up North enough (Marysville and Mt Vernon) there is no emissions testing, which is really nice. Normally the farther you go from Seattle the cheaper rent gets and the better traffic gets. Seattle traffic also has ranked #1 worst traffic in the nation at times.
NYC sucks for driving because the roads suck and are confusing as hell. I would never go back and I felt sorry for my car when I was there for a day.
NYC sucks for driving because the roads suck and are confusing as hell. I would never go back and I felt sorry for my car when I was there for a day.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Feb 2005
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From: Phoenix, AZ
Well traffic is the least of my worries. If there is no emmisions in other parts of the state, I will just register out of county like I do here. What about the Seattle area? I was in New Castle and Bellvue when I was there 3 years ago. Stayed there for two weeks and loved it.
Car clubs? lol
What about the Seattle area? I was in New Castle and Bellvue when I was there 3 years ago. Stayed there for two weeks and loved it. Car clubs? lol
Launching!
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 267
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From: Auburn, WA
I just moved up from cali, certain parts of LA trafic arent bad but where i worked and lived were about 20 miles apart and it would take me a good 45 min to an hour at 4 in the morning. as for up here I live in bellevue, it costs more than most areas but its probably comperable to where you are in AZ i pay 1150 a month for a 1200 square foot 2 bedroom. If you want to avoid emissions move to olympia they dont have it there (thats where my car is registered) its about half way between here and oregon (probably closer to here) as for car clubs, it seems to be mostly people from here getting together unless your a flake like me and i just show up here on occasion here... 
FormerVendor
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 247
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From: Portland Oregon
If you want CHEAP living......go to New Mexico. Live just outside Albuquerque and its cheap. While NM has a sales tax and an income tax, property taxes and property is very very reasonable. I lived in Grants NM after building New Mexicos first paper mill for over 9 years. Grants is about 75 miles west of ABQ right on Route 66. While Grants is not what you call a great metropolitan city, it is rather small. But if you love the outdoors like I do its a great place.
I could go hunting for elk and deer literally minutes away from my house. I had all of the Cibola National forest to myself. I race and pleasure ride dirt bikes. Just 10 minutes from my house was Mt. Taylor, one summer I spent weeks up there clearing and cutting out a 60 mile trail loop around that mountain. No, I didn't cut down trees or anything like that, but I did clear out dead falls and connected old skidder trails, animal trails and several cross country ski trails together to form a trail network. The best thing is that no one cared that I did, not even the forest service that even gave me advice on what to do. And the local seed eaters that used my trail for cross country skiing loved me for it.
The only bad thing was that there wasn't any "real" jobs there. That's why I am where I am now. At the time it didn't matter to me as I was travelling all over for work anyway and no matter where I lived I would have to travel. If when and ever I would retire I would seriously consider going back. But by then I maybe too damn old to use my old trails on my bikes
Now I am back home, made a job out of a hobby I loved and wondering what the hell I am doing......
I could go hunting for elk and deer literally minutes away from my house. I had all of the Cibola National forest to myself. I race and pleasure ride dirt bikes. Just 10 minutes from my house was Mt. Taylor, one summer I spent weeks up there clearing and cutting out a 60 mile trail loop around that mountain. No, I didn't cut down trees or anything like that, but I did clear out dead falls and connected old skidder trails, animal trails and several cross country ski trails together to form a trail network. The best thing is that no one cared that I did, not even the forest service that even gave me advice on what to do. And the local seed eaters that used my trail for cross country skiing loved me for it.
The only bad thing was that there wasn't any "real" jobs there. That's why I am where I am now. At the time it didn't matter to me as I was travelling all over for work anyway and no matter where I lived I would have to travel. If when and ever I would retire I would seriously consider going back. But by then I maybe too damn old to use my old trails on my bikes
Now I am back home, made a job out of a hobby I loved and wondering what the hell I am doing...... 
Ya, Washington drivers suck, but I've seen more a than a few Oregon drivers that suck too. Everywhere you go you'll run into bad drivers though.
Portland is just about bankrupt and can't even keep their schools open. Nice way to represent our future Oregon.
I'm sure before long the politicians in Oregon will find yet more ways to line their own pockets and waste money on useless bureaucratic BS. Anyone who's ever tried to develop property in Portland can vouch for the complete lack of communication between agencies. It's pretty bad when the mayor needs to get involved in order to get a permit for a half-street improvment along 150' of downtown property!! Watching Portland bureau's is much like a monkey ******* a football. They're both an excercise in frustration. I saw a bumper sticker once that read: "friends don't let friends develop in Portland"... true story.
Mike
Everywhere you go you'll run into bad drivers though.Portland is just about bankrupt and can't even keep their schools open. Nice way to represent our future Oregon.
I'm sure before long the politicians in Oregon will find yet more ways to line their own pockets and waste money on useless bureaucratic BS. Anyone who's ever tried to develop property in Portland can vouch for the complete lack of communication between agencies. It's pretty bad when the mayor needs to get involved in order to get a permit for a half-street improvment along 150' of downtown property!! Watching Portland bureau's is much like a monkey ******* a football. They're both an excercise in frustration. I saw a bumper sticker once that read: "friends don't let friends develop in Portland"... true story.Mike