. This greatly depends you! Your social skills, and your expectations.

If you're from the friendly "fly-over" part of USA, you might find PNW to not be friendly/ outgoing to meet others. (I.e. Seattle Freeze)

If you're from the socially 'stuffy' NE USA (not Nebraska!) PNW will seem welcoming.

Basically, PNW is congenial, but not always outgoing.

Portland metro certainly is a desired retirement destination for many thousands, and you can tailor your specific interests to a very acceptable region in Portland metro, because it's quite convenient to access the entire region. In the past week we've been to retiree activities from Hood River,OR to Forest Grove and Ridgefield, WA to Salem. We often get around a lot. Plus we've done (3) flights from PNW in the last week to other retiree adventures. Just dropped off our 84 YO neighbors this morning at PDX > Frankfurt direct flight.

Different flairs for different Portland areas.

What's your top 5 frequent engagement/ activities you hope to participate and find friends?

We volunteer in Portland area gardens, theatre, classical music, museums, libraries, education, (colleges and K-12).

Then there is the abundant outdoor options, from hiking the largest uban park in the USA, or a nearby (20 minutes) National Scenic Area - with a really big river, or coast, mtns, (including ST Helens) are within an hour.

Portland has lots of access to physical exercise and medical options.
Plenty of financial services.
More than plenty food options, and superb gardening climate.

Quite countless options for retirees. But ... Not a lot of sun / dry from Nov - April. So .. if you're bothered by that ... Plan accordingly.

My sun loving, outdoorsy, gardening spouse has zero winter blahs while in PNW, and was raised on So CA beach. But, for me, every dark, wet, dreary day, I am better served AWAY from Portland area. So ... I'm gone a lot! ($19.90 flights to San Diego help, today is $44, but one of us flies for free) Often to Colorado, Texas homes, but also frequent AZ, CA, NV, and several overseas locations / yr. Sometimes spouse joins or meets me, but I'm usually back in PNW ~ 1 week / month during winter. If you have plenty of indoor activities, or don't mind wet strips up your body from bicycling in the rain.... You can find PNW tolerable for winter. I would be home a lot more, if our area had lap swimming pools. Portland and much of Oregon has lots of pools, but SWWA (5 min north of Portland) has very limited, restrictive, crowded (quite unfriendly) and very few indoor public pools.

Let us know your desires and objectives, we'll suggest and optimize your relocation search.
Finding lots of friends, of various economic, age , talents, and interests should be no problem within, or near Portland metro region. If you prefer 'country quiet", it's often within 20 minutes. (My map current shows 24 min to downtown (moderate traffic). I can see 50+ miles out my window, and zero houses / towns / cities within my view from front of house). For others, they enjoy being 5 walking minutes from downtown, or 5 walking minutes from Forest Park. (Portland NW area, near Timbers Stadium).

Plenty of choices, but not perfect, and not even acceptable for many retirees (some like Phoenix, some like Florida, many are now retiring overseas)

I like daily variety.
Of:
Friends
Activities
Weather
Scenery
Learnings
Volunteering
Exploring
Experiencing

Oh, I know that. I expect to make several more visits before I make a decision.
This visit I only went to downtown Portland. I took the train from the airport because I did not want to rent a car and pretty much walked all over. One day I took a LYFT to go to the Japanese and Rose gardens.
And I know that winters in Portland tend to be gray, rainy and cold so I would like to experience that. I have been living in CA for the last 4 years and I do miss the colder temps of the East Coast.

Thank you for your post. I am very active and like to hike, run and be fit. I also like all the cultural activities that a city has to offer plus dining and shopping. I am looking for a place that offers all these activities without having to drive for hours.

If you like:

A high state income tax (although Social Security isn’t taxed)
“Art tax”
A high Multnomah County income tax
Dirty city
Homeless bums
Drug addicts
Smell of weed
Dying/dead downtown
Antifa
High housing costs
High restaurant costs
Unfriendly people (Portland freeze - similar to the Seattle freeze)
Gray/Rainy October through May
Low police presence
High crime

Then Portland is perfect for you!

I'm not sure why people who I doubt even live here love to tee off so hard on Portland. Sometimes it seems as though narratives have more bearing on the opinions of outsiders than reality. A few rebuttals...

Oregon's tax burden is right in the middle of states. Yes it has a high state income tax. But we have no sales tax, which makes a massive difference. Just paying sales tax on a new car in Washington will set you back more than most Oregonians pay in income tax in a year.

The homelessness is bad in the city. It is negligible outside the City of Portland. I would estimate that, visibly, it is half of what it was 3 years ago.

The drugs are bad, but that is a national issue. Oregon was different because they could use in public with no consequences, but as of 9/1, those days are finished. And yes, weed has an odor. So do many other things.

Downtown is improving, and there are areas of downtown that are fine (NW 23rd/21st, Pearl, South Waterfront, Goose Hollow), but there is still a ways to go there.

Antifa. Are you serious?

Housing is expensive. It is also much less expensive than any other large city on the West Coast. If you look at the value you get for housing here, it is still very good compared to most cities. Sure, you can go to Tulsa and get a cheaper house, but then you're in Tulsa (no offense to any Oklahomans reading this)

High restaurant costs. Again, are you serious?

Portlanders are cordial and outwardly friendly, but can be distant. It isn't South Carolina, so no one will smile and offer you a plate of food every time they see you. On the bright side, no one will judge you for your differences either, unless whatever you're doing somehow negatively affects others.

Gray/Rainy October through May - This is accurate. Although the poster left out that for some reason we are also now getting more debilitating ice storms than we used to. No one has ever moved here for the weather, except for farmers.

Low police presence and high crime - In the city, this is pretty accurate, although the crime is mostly of the petty variety. I personally have never been a victim by taking a few simple steps. Never leave anything in your car. Get an alarm on your house. Get cameras on your house. Avoid crowds of sketchballs downtown.

There is no Multnomah County income tax unless your income is in the multi-millions.

All of the dirt, drugs, weed smell, crime is the result of homeless camping in public. The city and county are starting to act on that.

High restaurant costs???
Housing costs are an issue.

Are we heaven on earth? No, but I haven't found a place that is.

Antifa was years ago, no current presence. Years ago there was a 'war' between Antifa and Proud Boys with the police caught in the middle.

EazyBreezy is spot on.

Last edited by Nell Plotts; 09-10-2024 at 11:52 AM.. Reason: more info

Oregon has a reputation as a high-tax state, but if you're retired that may not be your reality. As already mentioned, Social Security benefits are not taxed by the state, and there is no sales tax. U.S. Treasuries usually pay about the same interest as bank CDs, but you avoid the state income tax on interest from Treasuries. Also, Oregon has very modest vehicle registration fees; admittedly a smaller factor but it can add up if you have multiple vehicles.

I've been comparing Washington vs. Oregon as a retirement spot for myself and my wife. In short, I've concluded that any difference in taxes is not significant enough to be a deciding factor.

I expect some replies to this post, pointing out that one can drive across the river from Vancouver to shop. While true, this isn't practical except for bigger ticket items, and of course it doesn't work for vehicles.