Reviews & Comments
Portland, OR
Beautiful recreation, hypocritical people -
8/2/2022Portland is a super unique place. It is both one of the greatest and one of the crappiest cities in the world. I'll try to explain...
The best reason to live in Portland is the proximity to the Cascades. You're close to Mt Hood, Mt St Helen's, Mt Adam's, relatively close to Bend, etc etc. If you like outdoor sports it's a paradise and there are advantages to living in the city and recreating elsewhere. The Columbia River Gorge is close too. The beach is beautiful to go to several times, but I wouldn't rate it close to Florida or Hawaii in that it's cold and not tropical. It is close though from Portland which is an advantage. Portland isn't near as expensive as San Francisco or Seattle. Culturally it's very similar to San Francisco.
I lived there for two years. I never had an issue with a homeless person living in SW Portland other than the fact my car and storage unit were broken in to. Don't ever leave even an empty backpack in your car. The homeless are generally taken care of so I don't feel like they are aggressive like in other cities. The police absolutely don't care about drugs, theft, homelessness etc. They only police for safety issues and I hear their response times are pretty slow. You're kinda on your own, but I just avoided shady people and was validating to them if I had to talk to them.
The taxes and cost of living are extremely high compared to other places not on the West Coast. It really pays to be broke and on charity here or be a high earning tech person or trust fund kid. Middle class people will absolutely not fair well in Portland. That leads me to my last major point. Despite the fact that I love the outdoors and agree with the voters here and many social justice issues where they are the first in the nation to take the Ivy League intellectual, progressive approach, you may also find the people to be extremely narrow minded and hypocritical. Portland is the least diverse city in the US and they talk about diversity CONSTANTLY. Its in a very fake and shallow way IMO but don't tell them that because it's very serious. My wife is a foreign professional and they let her volunteer at the hospital and then had her clean things for them for free in a very demeaning way. So I wouldn't say it's actually diversity friendly, but they will constantly use that as a reason to keep you from receiving opportunuty if you are a white, Cia gendered, straight male. I job searched there for two years with a professional degree and found absolutely Nada. Luckily I had family money and a remote job to NYC for a while. I just found the people there to be weird and kind of toxically judgmental as a pretty moderate white person. It's really a city made for liberal nerds who worship identity politics in a fake and hollow way.
With that said, I didn't think it was as bad as Portland is portrayed on the news on Fox etc. There were riots every day for months and it never bothered me. Don't go past about 80th street on the east side and avoid downtown. Downtown used to be beautiful and it's been destroyed during the George Floyd covid stuff. I'd still go there occasionally, but it's not the same. I'd still live there again, probably in the suburbs and just recreate and travel to other states to visit old friends. You can avoid the people if you want and just pay the arts taxes and crap to keep them from sending you to collections. The river is cool to have there and there are some arts festivals and all that I missed if it hadn't been covid time.
Murrieta, CA
Reasonable for California -
7/29/2022I moved here for my wife's job. It's a cookie cutter middle class community that costs 2-3 times as much as Texas. Homes aren't custom. They are tract homes on small lots. It seems family friendly. People litter on the roads some but otherwise it's clean and well kept. It's hot here during the summer. The mountains and hills are pretty. There aren't really any affordable housing options, although I hear it's cheaper than other places in California. You may pay $800,000 for a $250,000 house in Texas. The upside is you can visit the beach in a days congested drive if you don't mind crowded public beaches and cold water. Surfers paradise. I don't like it compared to Florida beaches where you can swim comfortably and there is white sand. It's a pretty diverse community for the US, especially where I'm from, although maybe not so diverse for California. Huge military and evangelical vibe here. People will talk about God and prayer. They don't see as pushy as people in the South. The air quality is poor. Crime is low. If you work on the computer and want to live in California it's probably a good place relatively. I would not want to commute to San Diego, however a lot of people do who probably don't have much choice to get decent schools for their kids. The local shopping options are mediocre to above average in my opinion. The traffic is terrible compared to where I am from. It's better than LA. People drive super aggressively who are commuters to the large cities. Joshua Tree National Park is pretty close and cool if you don't mind paying a small fortune gas bill here. The Sierra is 4 hours away is my favorite part that makes the increased cost of living worth it for me for a few years. You can go to Yosemite and Tahoe camping for $500 in gas and food. You're living in a vacation here except the driving. The people seem like a conservative version of normal west coast people with the tattoos and alternative culture clothes and stuff. Definitely not east coast prep. Lots of Boomer veterans. I don't see the people as racist here although if you're a true liberal you may not fit in here. Moderate Dem will be fine.
Birmingham, AL
Meh, below mediocre decent food -
7/29/2022Birmingham is better than ever, meaning it is beginning to gain half of the stuff a normal city of its size has. The food scene is definitely an exception and is above average for a city its size if you prefer southern food and some French/Italian the quality is high for the price. I wouldn't say it's as creative and the choices of foreign foods doesn't come close to a Los Angeles etc. I grew up here, lived here for thirty years and moved to the West Coast.
You MUST be religious of some type here, otherwise people won't trust you. Most people are evangelicals. You could be catholic, Greek, etc, as long as you're a church attender somewhere. There is a new money Birmingham crowd of mostly doctors and business executives of several mid sized businesses and a lot of small business owners. It's a very business friendly climate on permits and taxes and such if you don't mind it being a small market and consumers with limited curiosity. The same type things tend to work here over and over. Don't try something new here. The city government is less corrupt than it used to be. Birmingham schools are terrible. There are some mediocre religious private schools and one or two really good private schools much cheaper than in other parts of the US. Housing prices are phenomenal comparatively. Rent is low comparatively. Beware of the large landlords. They'll try and scam you out of your deposit. Take tons of pictures. Beware of parking scams in popular bar areas with towing companies and no signs.
If you are very Christian and want a cheap place to live, I'd recommend it. If you're Avant garde, a liberal, or want tons of things to do I'd recommend a larger city. People are less racist than you may expect but also it's a real thing in a subtle way. The old money people run everything in Alabama as a whole. New money runs Birmingham but they have limited power due to the State Constitution. Many people who live here grew up here and it might be really hard to make new friends. Established friend groups. You may need to join a prosperity gospel church like Church of the Highlands to make friends or network for a job. There are tons of people with degrees who won't find a job here. Things are handed out on a personal basis to people the managers know. Talk to a local who knows the city well. There are some places you never ever ever want to go, especially at night, it is an extremely dangerous city. The suburbs are cheap and boring and solid middle class places. Mountain Brook and Vestavia kinda are luxurious but overly pretensious for what they are. Don't even bother with Mountain Brook if you're not from there. Homewood is trendy and overly expensive for the small old houses kind of like California with no beach. People are more polite here than on the West Coast, however beware, Birmingham is extremely gossipy and judgmental. Don't mistake polite for trustworthy, although I will say there are people in Birmingham who would give the shirt off their back for others.
Temecula, CA
Reasonable for California -
7/29/2022The mountains/hills are pretty, and it is less expensive than Los Angeles. There is next to nothing to do here if you aren't a Baby Boomer or a kid. However, it is a safe community. As someone who grew up in another state and has lived elsewhere, I'd say it is not worth the cost, unless you work in San Diego/Orange County and can't afford there. Then it probably makes 110% sense. That seems to be the crowd they build houses for--it's a commuter town. I wouldn't recommend the commute as someone from elsewhere. I'd live in San Diego if I worked there even if I had to rent and if I had a kid, I just wouldn't move to California period unless I had a fat trust fund and/or worked for Google and could afford private school. I wouldn't want to be stressed from the drive all the time when I got home too.
If this is your normal it may not be a big deal, but for me as someone from regular America, a commute beyond about 20 minutes with a bunch of people driving like super aggressive A-holes isn't for me. Grandma's cut people off in traffic here and the police are called proactive but don't seem to be many places and police anything over 10 over the limit. Yesterday I saw a drag race with three motorcycles and a Dodge Challenger in the suburbs.
There are many other places to live in America with way more luxury/house for your money. There is not enough inventory of affordable housing, so you need to be solid middle/upper middle class and bought a long time ago or upper middle/upper class now to afford it. It is nice to be able to take a day trip to the beach if you don't mind congested and stressful traffic. It's very corporate and not small business friendly and there are few professional jobs.
Don't move here unless you already have millions or a job. My wife had a job when we moved and despite the fact I'm in the less than 2% of the population that has a professional degree, I can't find anything. There are a lot of government employees with fat pensions and people who bought in a long time ago. Not a Millenials friendly place at all. If you are religious there are many evangelical people here and they're pretty zealous about it. It is a very diverse community for me. If you are from California it may not be comparatively.
There are many Trump signs and all and besides complaints about gas prices at the gas station, I don't hear much about politics. It seems like a bunch of older people trying to quietly live out their golden years and middle class families with kids. People are more pretensious than many places in America but probably not compared to elsewhere in California. There is a big military, veteran vibe here. The air quality is poor and once you reach California you'll notice it. I didn't see it in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas etc. It's like a haze that reminds me of China.
The sunsets are pretty. The air balloons are pretty. The houses are all plane vanilla tract homes not custom designed with unique architectural plans and still cost like $800,000. The water tastes bad if coming from out of state. Tastes kinda salty/mineralized. Ultimately, I'd like to move personally and get a custom house three times the size in Texas, have cheap gas, and I can access the mountains and beaches on vacations. The water is cold and rocky here and the sand isn't pretty like in Florida. If you have tattoos and look like a hipster, punk rocker, or like you work on motorcycle repair on the West Coast Customs show you will fit in. For me, I feel like people judge me for being "too conventional."
I try to just stick to myself and travel and enjoy my friends elsewhere. I'd like to meet some cool local people but have no idea how to. Old Town and wine country is pretty cool, but I don't drink. Wine country seems to focus on the Boomers which is smart business. Don't move here if you're single I hear. People are nice for California. I find Californians to be some of the rudest people I've ever encountered in the US, like they expect you to try to rob/rip them off instead of are just trying to say hello and meet people. It might be smart though I may be from a small and sheltered kind of place. My wife likes the people at work. People have been very nice to her for the most part. People aren't racist I don't think. It seems to have that stereotype, and I don't find it to be true largely at least.