Veritaserum Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 We are seriously considering a relocation. We're currently in Utah. We've discussed the idea of the Pacific Northwest off and on for a decade. Maybe it's time to act. What are homeschooling laws and communities like? Do you know anything about the public schools? I'm getting my teaching license in secondary math and I have kids in all age groups. Currently two are homeschooled, but the rest are attending school. Once I'm licensed, I'd love to work at a neighborhood school. We've done charter schools here because our local schools are very unsafe for queer students (relevant to our family). Is that a problem at Portland schools (in your district anyway)? What do commutes tend to be like (dh is a software developer)? Currently we live 15 minutes from his office. Is traffic bad in Portland or do people tend to have commutes under 30 minutes? What neighborhoods should we check out? What do you like/dislike about your city? We plan to visit within the next couple of months so that we can make a decision. TIA! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Christian or no? Because Newberg will have my <3 forever. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 Christian or no? Because Newberg will have my <3 forever. ;) I'm an ultra liberal Christian. Dh leans atheist. A Unitarian church would be the best fit for us (but there isn't one where we currently live). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 We're a couple of hours south of Portland, so I can't answer some of your specific questions, but in general I think our liberal, ultra-blue, not-very-religious, do your own thing and respect everybody else's thing state would suit your family. Our schools are LGBT friendly. Homeschool laws are pretty easy--declare your intent to homeschool by sending a letter to your local ESD (Educational Service District) office once. Test your kids (several acceptable versions) in grades 3,5,8, and 10 and send in scores to ESD office. As long as they're not failing the tests, that's it. If they bomb the test you may have to set up some kind of plan or something, but it's not like you have to immediately put them in school. I'm hoping to get my expired teaching credential renewed (I taught high school math in CA many moons ago). There was an article in our paper about a shortage of subs, fewer new teachers, and the "silver tsunami" as older teachers retire that is supposed to mean good job opportunities. I have to say that in our 20 years here, very few of those years have had good job opportunities for teachers and in any economic downturn there are layoffs/no-hiring. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 You might miss the sunshine. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkmint Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I moved to Portland in my early twenties and lived in the area for 10 years, most of those years in Portland proper. Just watch a season of Portlandia and you will get the gist. LOL. Only partially joking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 You might miss the sunshine. ;) I like overcast days. I burn in five seconds here because it's so sunny. I don't know how I'd feel with no sunny days long term, but I'm thinking I'll be fine. I moved to Portland in my early twenties and lived in the area for 10 years, most of those years in Portland proper. Just watch a season of Portlandia and you will get the gist. LOL. Only partially joking. We love that show. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homebody2 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Lived there for ten years. Loved it! Was a teacher in the suburbs, Beaverton. Had to acquire a master's degree after a certain period of time teaching. Don't know if that's still the requirement. Paid well as a first year teacher, but I did already have the master's degree. No school choice when I was there. Kids went to the neighborhood school. Traffic can be odd, depending on where you live. Lots of two lane only roads that are major streets, and lots of bridges to cross if you live on one side and work on the other. Public transportation was great, though. I could take the max train to work and downtown. It was great! What kind of neighborhood do you like? Urban, wooded, more suburban? Many more urban neighborhoods on the east side than the West. West is more hills and woods. I did miss the sun, and that's why we left after ten years. I miss all the wonderful restaurants and urban neighborhoods where you could walk places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homebody2 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 BTW, don't know where in Utah you live, but we had to stay in salt lake recently for two months. SLC reminded me a lot of Portland, but with fewer trees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 You no longer need to get a Masters to teach--I think that was changed in the last couple of years. In our town, you can register your kids in a school that is not your neighborhood school as long as there is room. You can even go to a neighboring town. I think that is up to the local district, however, and I don't know the Portland scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 Lived there for ten years. Loved it! Was a teacher in the suburbs, Beaverton. Had to acquire a master's degree after a certain period of time teaching. Don't know if that's still the requirement. Paid well as a first year teacher, but I did already have the master's degree. No school choice when I was there. Kids went to the neighborhood school. I'm getting a master's that also grants me a teaching license. Traffic can be odd, depending on where you live. Lots of two lane only roads that are major streets, and lots of bridges to cross if you live on one side and work on the other. Public transportation was great, though. I could take the max train to work and downtown. It was great! I'd love a functional public transportation system. Where we currently live it's not really usable because the routes are extremely limited. What kind of neighborhood do you like? Urban, wooded, more suburban? Many more urban neighborhoods on the east side than the West. West is more hills and woods. I did miss the sun, and that's why we left after ten years. I miss all the wonderful restaurants and urban neighborhoods where you could walk places. We've always lived in suburban neighborhoods, but we both like an urban feel as well. We have six kids, though, so we need more bedrooms than one might find in an urban dwelling. :) I love the idea of trees. There aren't many trees here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Vancouver, WA is a sister city to Portland that you might want to look in to as there is no state income tax in WA and because WA offers free community college classes to high school students. That said, most of the "big" IT employers are in the Beaverton area. I wouldn't want to crawl across Portland on a daily basis to get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 It looks like Hillsboro (Intel) and Beaverton have tech jobs and they are neighbors. Do they have a similar feel culture-wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Both are desirable places to live--lots of high income folks. Good youth soccer teams (we play them and they tend to always win!). BIL has lived in both places. Hillsboro is slightly farther out along HWY 26, but if you live and work there, that isn't really a problem. It's a problem if you live there but need to commute into the city. 26 can be pretty slow going. From somewhat of an outsider, Beaverton and Hillsboro feel pretty much the same. Intel can have a pretty crushing corporate culture. SIL is always tied to her pager, even during holidays and the middle of the night. Her work is related to the fab so perhaps that doesn't apply to everyone, but she pretty much has to always be available. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Nike has a more balanced culture, and they seem to be hiring often, fwiw. When we scouted, Hillsboro seemed a little more rural, Beaverton a little more traffic jammed, but both had nice neighborhoods within them. Aloha seemed a bit sketchy in many locations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 It looks like Hillsboro (Intel) and Beaverton have tech jobs and they are neighbors. Do they have a similar feel culture-wise? I lived in Hillsboro for 17 years and enjoyed it very much. I do not like Beaverton at all. Part of the reason I don't like Beaverton is that I don't like their police force, but that is a long story. I would not live in Beaverton myself. The police are too busy harassing innocent citizens and the gang members run free, IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homebody2 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 It looks like Hillsboro (Intel) and Beaverton have tech jobs and they are neighbors. Do they have a similar feel culture-wise? Somewhat similar feel. Beaverton is suburban, and Hillsboro always felt a little more small town.But living in Beaverton or in Washington county (still in Portland but different county) is very close to downtown Portland. And the max train is still easy to get from those areas, too. The southwest area was where we lived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 We are looking at a possible move as well (job related). Some online have mentioned lake Oswego as a nice neighborhood with great schools, albeit more expensive. Anyone here know about that area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 Live close to where you work. Traffic is terrible. If you fly a lot, take that into account. There's good public transit to the airport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 I think you should wait until the Anarchy in Portland has ended, before going there to check things out. Good luck with your move! Remember the 3 important things when you look for a house: Location and Location and Location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 We are looking at a possible move as well (job related). Some online have mentioned lake Oswego as a nice neighborhood with great schools, albeit more expensive. Anyone here know about that area? Yes, Lake Oswego is another high income, good soccer (sorry--that's what we travel to Portland area for!), good schools, ritzy. I noted that they were successful in keeping marijuana sales out of their city (many of those initiatives were not successful at the ballot box by various other cities). It would be a very nice place to live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMom Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 I'm a little further west than Hillsboro and spend a lot of time there as that's where all of my closest shoppping is. :) Hillsboro has typical suburbany type of neighborhoods and more rural neighborhoods. We go to church in Beaverton. It's a suburb. I don't spend a ton of time there other than church. Beaverton and Hillsboro both have fantastic libraries. :) I wouldn't want to drive across Portland for a commute. The traffic can be super heavy. I say live on whatever side of the river you work on. Portland, itself, is very culturally diverse. All of you would fit in. If you live on the west side (Beaverton, Hillsboro, etc.) the Max (the light rail) can get you anywhere you want to go in the city. It's clean and easy to ride. We moved here 3 1/2 years ago from Southern California and love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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