I'm planning to relocate to Oregon as well...

[patrick t. cakes]

This spring planning on packing up and driving out. Have a few friends out there
and love the energy of the coast.

I also think Portland (and Eugene) might be the place to be in the coming years if things start getting bad (better yet, worse)
economically, ecologically and politically. From my experience, the people in the Northwest seem decidedly more astute than other parts of the country, and more prepared for what may be headed down the pike.

I'm currently living in the Midwest, and although in many respects progressive, it lacks a certain feeling of urgency or concern. It's too comfortable here, too tucked away and quiet. I feel that if a "movement" or "revolution" does develop in the future, if it doesn't come from the NW, the NW will certainly be plugged into to it, in real time, not two steps removed like I feel the Midwest would be.

I truly believe its going to get much worse before it (if it can) get remotely close to better for this country - I often wonder if ecologically we've already gone to far. I guess I'm looking for two things: community and action, two things currently lacking here in my current situation.

Any ideas on where to plug in in the Oregon area would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks DU, :toast:

Patrick

[grasswire]

1. Seattle is doing much better than Portland economically.

There was an article in The Oregonian last week about the disparity in incomes between Portland and Seattle. Oregon has one of the highest unemployment rates in the U.S. I don't know how you plan to make a living, but your chances of finding a job are less in Oregon than elsewhere.

[laconicsax]

2. Yeah, what she said.

Jobs in Portland are hard to come by. There was an article in one of the free weekly papers here last year that pegged the unemployed+underemployed rate at around 25%.

[patrick t. cakes]

6. 25% is up there. Is that because of a high influx of youth?

I remember Portland being packed with young people.
Just wondering if that has anything to do with it.

Seems like a crossroads for a lot of different subcultures.

[laconicsax]

7. It's a number of things.

One factor is previously unemployed spouses rejoining the workforce.
Another is the migration of job seekers to urban areas.
Seasonal jobs and low-wage part time work were others.

The article didn't specifically name young people as a disproportionately unemployed group.

The 25% figure was total unemployed and underemployed.

[patrick t. cakes]

5. I've heard the job market is for shit in Oregon

Luckily I have a few good friends doing alright in Portland, with a spare room to help buy some time.
Also thinking grad-school in the future. Thanks for the info.

[WheelWalker]

11. FYI, there is this...

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/12/oregon_gains_6300_jobs_in_nove.html

[cascadiance]

9. Oregon as a state had high unemployment in construction areas earlier...

Not sure about the current statistics, but actually some of the rural unemployment statistics in areas where there was a lot of home building, etc. was where these were particularly high.

You think about it, that makes sense, since for a while Portland was a place on the west coast where many wanted to move to before the bigger crash hit, which affected people's ability to buy housing. The construction work would also be affected by less business activity if less people were moving up here too.

I suspect that though the federal job contracts might help this segment more than others over time.

I think you also had a lot of hardware manufacturing here in places like Intel, HP, Tektronix, IBM and others where those engineers in places like that probably have a particular hard time getting new work, though there are some efforts like SolarWorld which has moved here to produce solar energy products. They are German owned I believe though, and since they offer more vacation as part of their package (more consistent with what they offer in Europe), they pay less than the average high tech jobs here though.

If you want a more rural area on the Columbia river, perhaps up in the Dalles or further up stream. Google has a big operation there as they are leveraging dam power for some big server farms, etc. that they have there. I think other bigger companies are trying to do the same thing. Not as progressive as being close to Portland though.

[WheelWalker]

3. Don't overlook the semi-rural NW...

check out Brookings, on the S. Oregon coast. After the Portland and Eugene metro centers, most of Oregon has a pretty low population density with lots of landscape and very small cities.. mostly towns & villages. My home is 3 miles off I-5, 50 miles S. of Eugene, and with a village population of 870 anarchists.

[patrick t. cakes]

4. Love the coast

Thanks for the info. Brookings sounds like a tight nit place.

I've been checking out John Zerzan and Derrick Jensen and anarcho-primitivism for some time now, a lot of stuff makes sense, some doesn't.
I'll be driving up the coast from Cali. in the spring, I'll have to stop in. Cheers

[here_is_to_hope]

8. Coos Bay here...

The Coast is alright but be prepared for the elderly...and you know they want nothing more than for you to get off of their lawns.
Give a shout when you are on teh Coast coming up, you can find us on couchsurfing.com, user name, surfnut.

[patrick t. cakes]

10. I definitely will

Look forward to it. Cheers!

[LWolf]

12. I would echo everyone else about the likelihood of finding work.

If you are looking for a "progressive" (as in left, not PPI,) place, stay west of the Cascades, for sure. I'd love to see more left-leaning people move east of the mountains; it would give us a chance to oust Walden, for one thing. If you can't live with and get along with Republicans and more conservative people, though, this isn't the place to look.

[missgoose0314]

13. I would seriously re-think that move

I just left Portland to move back East. 20 years in the legal field and nearly two years looking for a job in Portland and facing tons of discrimination because of my East Coast origins and ethnic name. It got so bad I legally changed my name to something more "pure" to find a job, even that didn't work. There are lots of things I miss about it because I too love the more progressive atmosphere out there as opposed to the arrogant East Coast, but be warned, my friends out there who have also been hunting for jobs are on the verge of welfare now. I'm sorry to say it, but the article is 100% true - Oregon is dead in the water financially.