You're welcome. My family relocated to Portland immediately following the completion of the merger. We had no ties to the area and didn't know much about the Pacific Northwest beyond what I'd experienced on overnights. Over the year that it took to finalize the meger, we made five day visits to both Portland and Seattle. Those visits helped us make up our minds. Seattle is a beautiful place but on pilot pay we'd have to live out in the suburbs and be trapped in traffic like in California. In Portland, a middle class person can still (barely) afford a house in the city. And, despite it's current (temporary, hopefully) issues, Portland's neighborhoods are the best places to live in the United States. You need to spend a week or so in east Portland to understand its unique magic. To me, it's worth the taxes and the current mess, but I'm not everyone. Your milage may vary. However, I see the current troubles in Portland as a last chance to buy in before the place goes over the top rich.


I stand by what I wrote earlier about the PDX base, it's a slow, painfull climb, but there's a reason that these FOs eat nails in order to be based here. It's easily the best base of any major airline in the country. Pdx is a small airport. The employee shuttle takes only 10 minutes or you can ride max to work and it drops you right at the terminal. There are never arrival delays at pdx. They have CAT3 approaches so you always make it home. Nothing tops finishing an early transcon at noon - - you brush by Mount Hood on arrival and 20 minutes later, you're home. The PDX-Hawaii trips are also amazing, you fly from one quiet little airport to another and only talk to ATC for 30 minutes on either side of the ocean. It's a dream.

 

Im with you man. Yes there definitely are issues but some of the suburbs we have been looking at in Clackamas and Washington County are absolutely beautiful. I love the outdoors and nothing beats the mountains. Honestly being PDX based is something I have to think about because honestly it seems like it is worth the sacrifice if we can also get good schools.

 

Portland really does have a charm to it. I crashed at a place on Division Street near Mt Tabor and really enjoyed it. You are so right about PDX as a base too, it's night and day compared to the pain of SEA.

 

Charm? Have you ever actually set foot in the city?

 

I think he is describing the Portland of 25 years ago. Could not agree more. Working class town run by working class people with a few super wealthy elitist nut job prog libs. Now it is a super wealthy elitist city run by even nuttier whack job prog libs who surround themselves with homeless people to feel powerful. Working class are either economic slaves or have moved north. Lots of cool architecture in the old neighborhoods though. And beautiful in the fall. You have to be part of the tribe in power there to really love the place. Hopefully the current tribe gets burned at the stake for what they have done to one of what used to be the best places to live in the country. I am hopeful because I would like to move back

 

No state income tax in Washington but other taxes like property and sales taxes are very high. The overall difference might not be as much as you think.

 

And I’m sure a state income tax is coming…

 

…

Have you?

 

They've been trying for a couple of decades to get one instituted, big money behind it as well, just too hard to convince 51% of Washingtonians to amend the constitution to allow for an income tax.

 

They’re getting perilously close with all these LTC and disability funds with a laundry list of ways one can fail to qualify for benefits.