I am from Iowa and finishing my degree in Computer Networking and Security. The wife and I are checking out different states to possibly move to here in a couple years. We are both in our mid 40's and like outdoor activities such as hunting, hiking and sightseeing. She is an accountant by trade.

So tell me about life in Oregon in general. What is the economy, taxes, culture, weather and CCW and gun laws like.  Any areas to specifically avoid and how are the crime rates.

Here in Iowa at least where we live the property and state taxes are high, people are unfriendly and we are infested with meth heads. We are both ready for a change and just somewhere new together. We also get quite a bit of snow here but not a lot. It usually gets bitter cold in Jan. though, usually well below zero.

Thanks for any and all help.

Steve

Weather: 90% of the population lives in a place where it rains a lot but barely snows.  2/3 of the state is a desert.  The line between those two places gets a lot of snow.
Also the Northeast corner usually has real winters.

Guns:
CCW is pretty easy to get.  The rules on where and how you can carry are stricter in Portland than the rest of the state.
No restrictions on weapons any stricter than the Federal laws.
Some restrictions on what you can hunt big game with.  5 round only in semi-autos.
Universal Background Check was recently passed and signed, we'll all find out how that goes together.

No sales tax.

Like beer?  Lotta beer here.

Area codes to consider 97229, 97007, 97008, 97006, 97225, 97124. All on Northwest side of river. Good food / beer / wine culture. Lots of hunting, hiking, fishing and other outdoor activities. East side of the state is to brown. Looked at moving a few years ago just for something different. Couldn't find anywhere I liked better than here. As a general rule west side of pdx more conservative I think. East side a bit older looking, cheaper to live, liberal, more taxes.

Someone told me that the hippies have taken over and ruined a lot of things and it has become like California?

I was also warned that some counties and cities have their hands out and will tax you for anything they can?

Are houses affordable compared to wages

It depends on where you choose to live. My house has gone up 40% since buying it in 2012 so most of these questions and info could be stale by the time you decide to move. I like it here but there are some of the drawbacks others have mentioned.

I wouldn't really believe that at all. Unless you spend a huge amount of time in actual downtown portland you won't even see any hippies. Portland is filled with people who enjoy the outdoors, some conservatives, some liberals, some libertarians and a mix of in between. Multnomah county has some taxes that other counties don't, i wouldn't live in multnomah county. Look at Washington County (NW Portland, NW Beaverton, NW Hillsboro. 3 or 4 intel campuses in Hillsboro.

 

Affordable is a relative term. Housing around good schools, good areas are going to more like anywhere else. I would say a median home in Washington county runs 350-400k. For 400k you will find older homes in established neighborhoods with excellent schools. They would probably need updating, but increase in value at a good rate. Example my house has increased about 80k in two years. I am self employed so I am sorta outta the loop as far as what good wages would pay. There are plenty of newer homes with all the newer materials from the $350's I would say, but they are built cheap. Feel free to IM me if you need more details.

Oregon is a FLAMING liberal blue state. We have an openly bi-sexual democrat governor and there have been 2 gun bills passed in just the last few weeks.

To your second question. You have to understand something: basically the ONLY industry in oregon was logging / timber. In 1992 Bill Clinton banned logging on all federal lands. The deal had always been that the BLM or Forest Service would log some land and sell the timber and give a percentage to the county the land was in. OK, so the cash faucet was turned off in 1992. But there was a thing called "Timber Net" wich is basically federal welfare given to the counties to support them now that there is no source of income. The timber net was orignally only for, I think, 10 years, now it is a year by year thing to see if it gets renewed every year. The timber net money (MILLIONS of dollars to each county) is the major source of income that pays for Sheriffs Deputies, jails, roads, ect. The county I live in has been raising property tax like a mother F-er! We came here from California and WE think it is expensive! All the public utilities are REDICULIOS! Water, sewer, ect.

3rd question: Where I live a normal house in town probably costs $200k or $250K. Wages? About $10 / hour is going rate. I get $10 an hour. A lot of us are veterans and have college degrees. I would say $20 an hour is the absolute highest pay out here and that would be basically an unobtanium government job. I've gone to classes on getting jobs and I was told that in my county less than 50% of adults work. Seems like most people are on welfare or disability.

Uh, Oregon's minimum wage is $9.25.  I'm pretty sure there are jobs in this state that pay well over $0.75/hour above minimum wage.  Like people who have been at Subway for nine months.  


ETA: $20/hour is at or below where many public jobs start.  Hell, a lot of public employees wouldn't walk across the street for a job that paid $38,400 annually, unfortunately.  Maybe that's why the taxes are so high, huh?

I'm double flaming in my avatar.  

If you are in an area that has houses starting at $200k,  you can easily get $13+ an hour without much effort.  I'm in the $20's without a college degree and I moved to this state with no job prospects... Just a plain looking resume with my work history.  My first job in OR back in 2008,  I got it after a few weeks of living here and made $13/hour.  

With that said,  if you want to buy a house,  this isn't the place to do it.  Portland metro is super expensive to buy into.  The time to do that was 3-5 years ago.

Liberals and unions have controlled Oregon for years and pretty much pushed the state off the rails.

1. Oregon has one of lowest high school graduation rates in the U.S. Second from the bottom.
2. Ranks as one of the top states for illegal drug abuse
3. One of the top states for citizens on food stamps.
4. Ranked in the bottom eight states for being anti-business. With the legislation passed during the last super majority Democratic session its anti-business ranking will going even lower.
5. WSJ ranks it as the second worst state in the U.S. to make a living.
6. Ranks in the top ten one of the worst states to live during retirement.
7. Passed one of the most restrictive private background check laws in the U.S. Even more restrictive then MA. or CA. There will be more to come as flaming liberals now have a firm grip on the legislature.

I would recommend finding a red state.

Your #1 is not entirely correct.  Oregon ranked #49.  This is because Idaho did not get its records submitted in time to be ranked.  While Oregon was ranked as #49 out of 50 states, it was #49 out of 49 states which were ranked.  No doubt we'll climb for sure now that we've legalized pot which we all know is a real motivator when it comes to school performance.  

I think Nevada holds the title for worst..

They include Washington DC in the rankings which is at the bottom of high school graduation rates. If not for DC Oregon would be dead last.  Idaho has a much higher HS graduation rate then DC at 59%.

I have lived in the state most of my life. I have seen it go from a productive state to a liberal THIRD WORLD HELL HOLE.

OP, you're getting some good advice here, and some advice that comes from limited perspectives.

Economy and jobs: Oregon is either great or a disaster...depending almost entirely on what you do for a living.  The median salary in Oregon for those in computer network security is around $55-$60K.  Since it sounds like you'd be entry-level, you should expect a salary below that; perhaps in the $40-$45K range.  But there is work to be had for someone with your degree (and assuming you have or will have current, in-demand certifications), most likely in the Portland metro area.  I wouldn't think you'd have too difficult a time finding gainful employment.  You also said your wife is an accountant.  In Oregon, the median salary for accountants is $65K/year.  Obviously, that can go up or down depending on exactly what type of accounting we're talking about.  Bookkeeping type work will pay less, while being an accountant at a large company will generally pay more.  Overall, I think you'd be fine in Oregon.

As for the overall economy in Oregon, whether it's good or bad depends on who you ask, and what that person's agenda is.  I've seen studies claiming Oregon has one of the worst business environments, and I've seen studies claiming Oregon has one of the best.  Funny how that works.  Just today I read a State Economy Ranking article claiming Oregon has the 10th best state economy in the U.S., according to seven key economic measurements.  Surprisingly, per-capita GDP growth in Oregon has been strong the last two years.

Taxes: Overall taxes in Oregon are fairly high.  According to Forbes, Oregon is ranked 35th in overall personal taxation (with 50 being the worst, and 1 being the best).  While we have no sales tax, income tax is high and property taxes can be high (depending on where you live).

Gun laws: Not perfect, and there has been an increased focus in the last year or so on further restricting our rights.  That said, owning a gun in Oregon isn't made too terribly difficult.  Some people seem to have a lot of problems with background checks (Oregon uses its own state police rather than the FBI background check system), and those problems seem to mostly effect people who haven't lived here a long time.  Other than that, you can own Class III items and you can open-carry most places if that's your thing.  Oregon's gun laws are still better than California and Washington, but yeah...we need to remain vigilant.

Weather: Oregonians would love for everyone to believe it does nothing but rain here.  But truth be told, cities like Chicago and Tampa get more rain annually than Portland.  It just seems like we get more rain because, between late October and May, it is often cloudy and drizzling.  But winters are generally pretty mild here, with only a week or two of below freezing temperatures (and I'm talking about Western Oregon here, where most people live.  Eastern Oregon gets colder.  Often much colder.)  Oregon summers are the best kept secret about Oregon.  Although short, from June all the way through September it tends to be bone dry, warm and sometimes full-on hot, with little humidity.  It's perfect summer weather IMO.  Fall and Spring are also mild, although sometimes quite wet.  Overall, as long as you don't mind all the clouds most of the year, the weather here ain't bad.      

Culture: Harder to discuss this one, because a lot of what defines good or bad "culture" is subjective.  It's true that overall, Oregon is a liberal state.  That said, I sometimes do think people overplay the whole "Oregon is super liberal!" card. (I lived in Massachusetts for four years, and THAT place was super liberal!)  I hang around a pretty diverse group of people, and if anything, most of the people I work with and associate with are what you'd probably call "moderates".  They may lean more right or left of center, but most certainly aren't super liberal or super conservative.  Then again, I think most Americans could be described that way.  You just wouldn't know it since the media tends to concentrate mostly on the shrill voices of the loony left and the wacky right.  

As for other aspects of culture (food, music, activities, overall quality of life, etc.), I personally think Oregon scores really well.  And I say that as someone who has lived all over the U.S., except for the Southwest.  Oregon has become a popular destination in the last few years, and I think it's because people have learned that overall quality of life here is pretty good.  When I lived in Massachusetts and D.C., getting stuck in traffic for an hour just to go to the grocery store was common.  People sometimes complain about traffic here, but I'm not sure they know what bad traffic really looks like.  In Boston I once sat in traffic for three hours in order to travel 12 miles.  And there wasn't an accident or anything like that!  Just Boston traffic.  As for housing and whatnot, I think Oregon is relatively inexpensive.  Coming from Iowa, you'll probably think it's expensive.  As someone said earlier, it's all relative.  There is a TON of good food here, and lots of good music.  You just have to know where to go.  And if you're an outdoorsman, well...there aren't many better places to live.  Ocean, mountains, high desert...Oregon has it all.  I sometimes feel like there's too much to do here, and not enough free time to do it all.

12 years ago I could have settled almost anywhere, but I chose to come back to Oregon.  Aside from the fact I grew up here, I just think it's one of the nicer areas of the country in which to live.  And I've sampled several other areas, sometimes by choice, sometimes not.  You should probably visit if you haven't already done so and spend a couple weeks here.  That will give you a better read on whether it's for you or not.

Cheers.            

Limited perspectives??

Each item from one to six is hard fact. Ignore it or be little the reality is still there. There are two Oregon's: The Metro Tri-County area and the real Oregon. Your remarks put a clear locator on you.

Yes, limited perspectives.

You focused 100% on what doesn't work in this state.  Not a very balanced view of things, is it?  I could also cherry pick what criteria I want to measure, and then make a list of "hard facts" that paint Oregon as either some kind of hell-hole or some kind of nirvana.  If that was my agenda.  But my only agenda was answering to those items the OP asked about.  Novel concept, huh?

And I'm pretty sure I mentioned there are two Oregons.  Oh, I did:

"Economy and jobs: Oregon is either great or a disaster...depending almost entirely on what you do for a living."  And, "As for the overall economy in Oregon, whether it's good or bad depends on who you ask, and what that person's agenda is. I've seen studies claiming Oregon has one of the worst business environments, and I've seen studies claiming Oregon has one of the best. Funny how that works."  So I'm not sure why you think I missed pointing that out.  Like every other state, Oregon has "haves" and "have nots".

Moreover, to dismiss the 2.4 million people who live in the Tri-County area as not living in the "real Oregon" seems pretty provincial and arrogant of you.  Do you hold the mistaken belief that a person has to live east of the mountains or possess all the exact same political opinions as you to be a "real Oregonian"?  Sure seems like you do.  And in that regard, you're sorta like some very liberal people I know who think that if you don't go to yoga classes weekly and drink $5 lattes everyday you're not a "real Oregonian".  

Opposite side of the same bent coin.  And that puts a clear mark on you, too.

As someone who is actually moving to Oregon from what has been called the reddest state in the nation, I can attest that this is spot on.  I think that it really depends on what industry you are in, and what career level you are at in your professional life.  I am highly trained and certified in my field, and hold two degrees.  I was injured in 2012 when an asshole rear ended me, I lost my job due to running out of PTO and sick leave. I do not blame my former employer they did not rear end me after all, but it has been a  night mare getting new employment. Even with my resume I was getting low balled to the point that I was unable to pay my bills on what I was being offered here in Oklahoma.

While I will not dispute that the cost of living in Oklahoma is a little lower, the wages are also. It is a hard balance.  Many people spend a long time getting to a comfortable salary and both members of the household often have two jobs to make ends meet.  Don't get me wrong I love Oklahoma, but I also know the realities of employment in Okla. There are  actually employers in OKC that think they can hire a CCNA for 40k a year when the national average is around $82k.

My impression of Oregon is  that the practical day to day cost of living (groceries, etc etc NO SALES TAX)  was close to Oklahoma for practical purposes (except for fuel).  The one thing I will say is that while rental prices are pretty close between the two states, the available supply of rental homes is super tight in Salem. I have been spending hours a day talking to brokers and property owners trying to secure a place to rent while I wait for my home here in Oklahoma to sell.

I am still looking forward to getting relocated to Salem before I start to work, and having the chance to run around and explore some more. Its a beautiful place.

Moreover, to dismiss the 2.4 million people who live in the Tri-County area as not living in the "real Oregon" seems pretty provincial and arrogant of you.  Do you hold the mistaken belief that a person has to live east of the mountains or possess all the exact same political opinions as you to be a "real Oregonian"?  Sure seems like you do.  And in that regard, you're sorta like some very liberal people I know who think that if you don't go to yoga classes weekly and drink $5 lattes everyday you're not a "real Oregonian".  




Spoken as an individual who has limited knowledge of what is beyond their urban boundary and their only exposure is probably when they venture from the city/suburbia for play times. News flash: the Portland area controls the rest of the state and as their leaders have so eloquently stated "no one cares what happens in the sticks". As a result legislative laws, state administrative rules, mandates etc. are passed based only from the perceptive of the urban dweller and their value system. Out side of the metro area Oregon is still pretty much a natural resources economy which puts it in conflict with metro urbanite values. Your false sense of urban superiority rings through loud and clear with your comments of "provincial, arrogant".  

Your reply was a non sequitur (it didn't logically follow anything I wrote), and incorrect to boot.

I grew up in Redland (in Clackamas County), back when it was considered "Hickville".  When I went to high school in a more urban area, those of us from Redland were often teased about it.  And today I own five acres off Hwy 126, just outside Powell Butte, and was just out there not even two weeks ago to tend to some business.  In total I probably spend about six weeks out there every year, and I can only wish it was to "play".   So in saying I have limited knowledge outside the Tri-County area and exist in some realm of "urban superiority", it would seem you're relying on stereotypes and your own biases to arrive at false conclusions.  In other words, you're doing exactly the same thing you accuse "urban dwellers" of doing.  

And I didn't call you provincial and arrogant because of any sense of urban superiority.  I called you provincial and arrogant because you summarily dismissed 2.4 million people - including several good people who post right here on Arfcom - as not living in the "real Oregon".  And I'm afraid with this latest post, you've only further proven my claim.  You have some weird sense of "rural superiority" that is so profound, you won't even accept that 2.4 million people in this state have the right to be deemed "real" residents of the state.

Given all this, it would appear my "opposite side of the same bent coin" comment was spot-on.  In terms of attitude, you're no different than most hard-core liberals.  Opposite side of the argument, but exact same attitude.

Congrats?

The point you are missing or do not wish to address is the metro area is running the state via urban values and their actions have produced a huge urban rural divide that has split the state into two Oregons.  No one is dismissing the metro area. It is impossible to do because of its negative effects on the rest of the state especially the rural natural resource economy or just driving up the cost of living in the rest of the state.

Here is an example of your metro area being the tail that wags the dog: The Portland metro legislators who control the state legislature had the Oregon Public Utility Commission underwrite the cost of electric car charging stations by putting these station expenses into the overall electric rate base for users through out the state. Citizen/business in rural parts of Oregon where electric cars are impractical are picking up the tab so metro area types can use and charge their electric cars. Rural operations that use electricity to run pumps to irrigate have experienced increases in electric bills not just from this but also other metro actions that have caused rate increases for the entire state. Our electric bill to run our pumps for irrigation is tens of thousands of dollars each year so any increase ever so slight has an impact on overhead.

Get real here:

1. Your urban, but you think your rural because you grew up in Redlands a thirty minute drive to downtown Portland.
2. Your urban, but again think your rural because you spend a short time east of the mountains each year on five acres of bare land in the Powell Butte subdivision. Maybe rural to you, but Powell Butte is not rural. It is basically a series of subdivisions that in many ways resemble subdivisions in the metro area.

I could almost picture you stopping to put a new dip in your mouth when you said that,  pausing every few lines to play with your cowboy hat.  

Reality is,  you are partially correct that the majority of this state lives in an urban area and tend to vote in a way that doesn't jive well with gun rights.  What you are missing though is that in contrast to many other liberal cities,  Portland really isn't that bad.  I grew up near what was supposed to be the "model city" by extreme liberal standards,  only to turn into the Detroit that we know of today.  Some people focus way too much on the R or the D next to the mayor's name.

Not everybody who lives in Metro Portland votes democrat and not all of them are gun haters.  We're not all driving fancy electric cars.  

But from the perspective of somebody that has lived in extremely liberal cities before,  I live in the second most rural place I've ever resided in my life here in metro Portland and the politics are not nearly as awful as they are in real liberal cities.

Modly wrote: I could almost picture you stopping to put a new dip in your mouth when you said that, pausing every few lines to play with your cowboy hat.

But from the perspective of somebody that has lived in extremely liberal cities before, I live in the second most rural place I've ever resided in my life here in metro Portland and the politics are not nearly as awful as they are in real liberal cities......End Quote.



Let me get this straight Modly you believe your living rural by living in metro Portland and that Portland is not an extreme liberal city??  

Your metro superiority complex is showing when you mock those who make a living from the natural resource economy and wear a cowboy hat etc. You may well find us more educated than you think and I would guess that the yearly electric bill for our pumps alone is more than what you make in a year or maybe several years.

I LOL'ed when I read that also.

Oregon does seem to have a pretty big disconnect from it's rural population to it's Urban population.  I can understand how people in rural economies feel alienated and underrepresented by the government in Oregon.  The forestry industry as well as the export industry that was responsible for exporting much of Oregon's agriculture has been ruined by government leaders largely elected in urban areas.  I get the feeling there is a "we know better than you" demeanor from listening to urban politicians/leaders when I hear them discuss and set rural economic development, a very smug self righteous undertone.  No doubt that much of OR's leadership is not in touch with the unique challenges or obstacles of OR's rural economy and not really willing learn or embrace advice from those who do know.

That being said, those problems are almost all universal when it comes to the disconnect between rural and urban.  It's not a problem unique to OR by any stretch.  As far as "big" cities go, Portland has nothing on the crime or Liberal derp of cities like Denver, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, etc...

No need for that highlighted part.... and if youdve followed his other posts around the HTF youd know that he isn't a fan of many parts of urban Portlands populace.

I get the separation between the two areas. I grew up on a farm and now work in downtown Portland. I don't like a big part of the politics in urban Portland either. But Modly's right in that Portland is much better than most any metro area in a blue state youre likely to find. Id much rather live in a small town but my job doesn't allow for that so I do my best to lead people to the light and vote the correct way.



Sorry OP, this thread provided little to no help.

Well,  honestly it is.  I can see cows from my driveway and there are horses on my jogging route.  You should have seen some of the places I lived in Michigan...  

You think iowans are unfriendly?

Well then you will think oregonians are pure evil.
Oregonians are the rudest bunch of pricks this side
Of the Mississippi.  Massachusetts esp boston
On the east coast.

Been to iowa some on the nicest people i know.
Crazy friendly. But most mid west and west people are.

Dang. What part of the state are you in.

Interesting thread, folks....looks like the same problems are extant all over.



I wonder how your state is going to look in ten years? Twenty years?

This thread reminds me of this one time when I had a friend spend the night in 6th grade and my parents got in a big fucking fight.

No shit. Mommy is fine tuco. Daddy just hit mommy. But eat your dinner everything's fine.

Oregon is completely different depending on where you live within the state. Most of the coast is liberal with crap weather. I live on the east side of the cascades (In Bend located in central Oregon) which keeps out the bad weather. The CCW laws here are better then Texas. Want to carry a gun into a school, bar, restaurant that makes more then 51% of their profits from booze, no problem. State taxes aren't great. No sales tax. If you like outdoor stuff, not to many hippies, snow, and awesome breweries I would recommend Bend. It only has 90,000 people but has everything you need. Housing is a bit pricey there. The time to buy was in 2012. I've been around most of Oregon and I prefer Bend, others may hate it and love Portland. Like I said in the beginning, it all depends on what you want are where in the stage you live.

We have terrible knife laws though. Other than have a CHL that allows you to carry a HANDGUN the law is written so that carrying ANYTHING capable of hurting someone concealed is illegal. Even a swiss army knife. This law was changed just in the last few years.

You can have a folder in your pocket as long as the clip is visible. Plus being able to carry a gun almost anywhere is a huge bonus for me, with a CHL. There are many states that have more restrictive CCW laws even though they are thought to be "free" states.

Oregon is a cool place for the most part.  Most folks are pretty nice.  There is a lot to see and explore.  A lot of cool, out of the way places that you can get into.  Hunting around Portland is meh.  You have to get out a ways if you want to get anything or you really have to work for it most of the time.  If you go South or East of the metro area, the outlook is much better in that regards.  Lots of other outdoor activities.  Tons of hiking, some good mountain biking here and there, and some good off roading.  I grew up in the burbs on the westside of Portland so that is how I am biased to the state and where my perspective comes from.

For jobs, that is a crap shoot.  Out side of the Portland area, stuff can be kind of iffy.  Especially for tech stuff.  The economy is kind of weird.  There is some growth but people are still being really tight with their money.  The housing market can be just as weird.  There are some deals to be had, and if you want to buy a place I would do so more into the winter.  The housing market just took off again this summer.  Houses in my neighborhood and in the town next to us averaged being on the market less than a week at one point.  Probably because housing is typically a little less expensive out here (the far west side of the portland burbs).  Lots of rentals around here though.  If you are looking for affordable property, you are going to have to be a bit of a drive from Portland proper.  Like rural Clackamas County, yamhill county, columbia county or far west Washington County.  I would avoid Multnomah County like the plague.  It is run and elected by complete idiots.  Seriously.  Them people be dum.

Culture here (talking about the P-land metro area), while annoying at times, isn't too bad.  For the most part it's live and let live.  But there is an extremely heavy limousine liberal population that let the TV tell them how to vote.  So it can be mentally exhausting when you have to deal with them.  And there are all of the mindless trend following hipsters running around Portland on their bikes trying to pretend they are more important than they are because they are part of the "scene".  But the actual people that are here aren't bad.  People elsewhere in the state are usually pretty nice too.  For the most part Oregon drivers are inbetween meh and bad, but the Appleknockers to the North are freaking terrible.  I don't know what it is but the freaking appleknockers can't F-ing drive.  Oh, and when it rains the idiot switch  gets flipped and every does 20 under.  When ever there is even a MENTION of the word snow, everyone goes full retard.  They will even close the schools if they think there will be snow.  Bunch of pansies.  There is all kinds of music, tons of good food.  Lots of beer if you are into that, and lots of homeless people (mainly in Portland proper).  We now have legal weed so you can smoke that devil's lettuce if you want.  The Portland Timbers have some rowdy soccer games if that is your thing.  There is also minor league baseball, the Hillsboro Hops, out in hillsboro if you like that sort of stuff.  We are only a couple hours from Seattle so you can see the Mariners or the Sea Chickens.  U of O and OSU have some pretty rowdy football games if you like da foosball.  There are tons of vineyards and wine stuff if you like hanging out with pretentious whinos and drinking rotten grape juice.  Lots to do and most folks are decent.

Oh and Cape Hunter totally is into dudes.  Just so you know.

When I researched this, I only found one state law regarding knives:

That seems to prohibit the concealed carry of switchblades, gravity knives, and daggers, and nothing else. Is there a different law I should be reading?

No you're correct. A Swiss Army knife or other smaller blade in a pocket is fine AFAIK.

Don't mean to derail your thread IowaJack , but I'm kicking around the idea of applying for a job in Hillsboro.  

Could you guys suggest an area around a half hour drive from there?  Would like a few acres of land and a house in a quiet area.  Is this possible?

Thanks

The other Jack thinking about OR.

I know of a case personally here in oregon where a guy got charged for haveing a very small knife in a pocket. I have been told by LE that the part in red is the "catch all".

a few acres is going to be $400K+ in the area.  if you like woods, the Vernonia/manning/buxton/banks area isn't bad price or commute wise.  Further west you go, the cheaper the property is.  If you prefer flatter, farm type land, Yamhill/Carlton is still not terrible.  Steer clear of Sherwood and Newberg.  Those places are pretty spendy and traffic is terrible due to roads that don't have the capacity for the amount of traffic.  You might be able to find some land around Forest Grove/Gales Creek/Gaston on the cheap, but houses out here (I live right by forest grove) go fast and prices are up due to demand.

Thanks man, I'll check it out.

You are missing the concealed part that is the basis for the statute . There has been court precedent that the clip is part of the knife and as long as that is visible outside the pocket the statute does not apply.
Carry you Benchmade auto to your heart's content clipped onto the pocket. Don't know why you'd want to have to fish around in a pocket to find your knife in the first place.

I lived in the Metro area most of my life. Been living in Eastern and now Central Oregon for the last 3 years. I have to say, I'd move east before I'd ever consider going back. Portland is a cesspool of liberalism of the highest degree, not a good thing about it other than plenty of good food choices. If you've never visited Portland I would encourage you to watch Portlandia. To those that have never been here it just seems like good comedy, to those of us who have had to live it Portlandia is a docudrama

On the flip side folks in Portland are pretty nice if you factor out the militant left that earned the city the title of Little Beirut. Get outside of the valley and the north coast and the only Obama bots you'll find work for the state or the school system.