Is Portland ebike friendly?

MarkJohnston

10 kW
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Mar 25, 2021
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I live in Los Angeles currently but am thinking about moving. I've been to Portland before and I like how the city is pretty clean and has so many trees and clean air. I know it rains a lot there, so I am wondering if any members live there or have any experience in the PCNW. I know ebikes don't do well in the rain or snow. Any ways around that?

I am into beer and bikes, repairing and riding, outdoor sports, rock climbing, etc. I was only here for a job that I no longer have :( . There is really no reason to be here. I have a bunch of savings lined up.

I also wondering what to do there, where to live as frugally as possible, perhaps on the outskirts. I am car free and pretty much do everything on my ebike currently. I am a believer in near 0 emissions. I think I am going to add these two paragraphs to endless profile :lol:

Any other similar ideas are appreciated. I would move to a tropical island but getting all my stuff there and back is going to be tough.

Also wondering what the law enforcement attitude towards e bikes is like up there. around here they DGAF. I saw a guy cut right in front of a cop car and the cop did nothing. i am guessing they have a no chase policy here for ebikes in DTLA.
 
If you present as a right winger, anti-vax pro-gun type the cops will cut you a lot of slack there
 
This is all you need to know about Portland, from 2019
https://summit.news/2019/09/06/portland-cops-says-its-legal-for-homeless-to-defecate-in-public/
It’s Legal For Homeless to Defecate in Public

So yeah should be some very cheap homes for sale in Portland.

https://katu.com/news/local/owner-pulls-decades-old-forging-business-out-of-portland-due-to-surrounding-homeless-camps
October 5th 2021
Owner pulls decades-old forging business out of Portland due to surrounding homeless camps


https://www.heritage.org/poverty-and-inequality/commentary/why-portlands-homeless-problem-the-worst-the-nation
Why Portland’s Homeless Problem Is the Worst in the Nation

Must not get cold in Portland.
I only drove through it, late 90's. Gas stations had bullet proof glass, with a swivel tray for exchanges.

Best to find out where the bad and good neighborhoods are, if you can afford the good neighborhoods.
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/71978
From the looks of things there, you could just roll up in a travel trailer, motorhome or van but you wont be able to park in nice or good neighborhoods, not even for a night, be a quick removal with a single call. You will have to deal with people around.
 
john61ct said:
If you present as a right winger, anti-vax pro-gun type the cops will cut you a lot of slack there

:lol: :lol: :lol: :wink:
Buy some shirts that expain these views and you'll be fine.
 
You might look at New Mexico, where it rains a whole lot less, and you can build whatever e bike you want. No particular law at all, and cops are too busy with other shit. Stop at the stop signs and its all good here.

Of course, you will have to work again sometime, so where you go may depend on what you do. Some killer rock climbing where I live, near the Organ Peaks National monument. The real winter climbing/bouldering mecca is close, at Hueco Tanks near El Paso. You could do worse than to winter here. But, out in the western deserts, car free is not real practical, not if you want to go climbing. Distances are huge. But the good climbs in the organs are only about 15 miles by road from downtown Las Cruces. It would be quite practical to live in a van here, till the weather gets hot in May. They are already moving in, with the bikes on the racks. Good MTB trails too btw. And a few decent brew pubs.

I know you dig car free, but if you think about it, you can drive a van around an awful lot, before you come even close to the carbon cost of heating and cooling real houses. Lots of RV'ers winter here. Tons of BLM land where you can boondock all winter, and state parks that are cheap on an annual camping pass. Two weeks here, two weeks there, makes cheap living.
 
markz said:
This is all you need to know about Portland, from 2019
https://summit.news/2019/09/06/portland-cops-says-its-legal-for-homeless-to-defecate-in-public/
It’s Legal For Homeless to Defecate in Public

So yeah should be some very cheap homes for sale in Portland.

https://katu.com/news/local/owner-pulls-decades-old-forging-business-out-of-portland-due-to-surrounding-homeless-camps
October 5th 2021
Owner pulls decades-old forging business out of Portland due to surrounding homeless camps

damn didn't realize it was getting so bad. I haven't been there is 10 years


https://www.heritage.org/poverty-and-inequality/commentary/why-portlands-homeless-problem-the-worst-the-nation
Why Portland’s Homeless Problem Is the Worst in the Nation

Must not get cold in Portland.
I only drove through it, late 90's. Gas stations had bullet proof glass, with a swivel tray for exchanges.

Best to find out where the bad and good neighborhoods are, if you can afford the good neighborhoods.
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/71978
From the looks of things there, you could just roll up in a travel trailer, motorhome or van but you wont be able to park in nice or good neighborhoods, not even for a night, be a quick removal with a single call. You will have to deal with people around.
 
dogman dan said:
You might look at New Mexico, where it rains a whole lot less, and you can build whatever e bike you want. No particular law at all, and cops are too busy with other shit. Stop at the stop signs and its all good here.

Of course, you will have to work again sometime, so where you go may depend on what you do. Some killer rock climbing where I live, near the Organ Peaks National monument. The real winter climbing/bouldering mecca is close, at Hueco Tanks near El Paso. You could do worse than to winter here. But, out in the western deserts, car free is not real practical, not if you want to go climbing. Distances are huge. But the good climbs in the organs are only about 15 miles by road from downtown Las Cruces. It would be quite practical to live in a van here, till the weather gets hot in May. They are already moving in, with the bikes on the racks. Good MTB trails too btw. And a few decent brew pubs.

I know you dig car free, but if you think about it, you can drive a van around an awful lot, before you come even close to the carbon cost of heating and cooling real houses. Lots of RV'ers winter here. Tons of BLM land where you can boondock all winter, and state parks that are cheap on an annual camping pass. Two weeks here, two weeks there, makes cheap living.

My Aunt lives there actually. yEah she has been telling me years ago to move there lol
 
Lived in Farmington, NM for a while. In 45min could be on the Ski Slopes. Really like it there, have always thought about moving back. Lots of open space. Not a bad choice. Do they still have horse shoe tournaments?
 
Yes, as you can see from the home price index, there's a rush to the exits.

fredgraph.png


It's the same here in Seattle - there's some disorder, due to a number of factors - huge growth surges that brought in all kinds of people and tripled the cost of housing, a new variety of meth that rots your brain, shortcomings in city government - and there's a vocal contingent that desperately tries to make it out to be worse than it is, for political reasons. I'm sure Los Angeles has any problem we have here. The hot market for housing suggests that people here aren't suffering all that bad.

I'm not a frequent visitor to the area, but for me, on brief acquaintance, I think I'd look at Oregon City, a few miles south of Portland. It has a small but real downtown, houses that have been around for a while, etc. The Amtrak Cascades route stops there. It's on the Willamette River so if you want, I guess you could kayak to Portland - google maps has a street view for that route, BTW.
 
Prices going up, but still pretty cheap.
The key would be to find out if its average increase in price compared to all other counties in the country. I wouldnt buy to rent out, key there is to cluster your portfolio close, and each state is diff laws for kicking tenants out as some can milk the system.

I couldnt deal with the rain and overcast.
Interesting data - https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/portland-or/climate



 
markz said:
Prices going up, but still pretty cheap.

A matter of perspective, I guess. 10 years ago I was saying, who's got the dough to pay a half million for a house? Now that's a "starter", here and even in Portland. I don't know what the Case-Shiller numbers mean, it's just to show that people aren't really running away from Portland at all. If you're in the market for a single family home, $700K appears to be about in the middle of the range. Where over in Pendleton scene of my birth, you can do pretty well for less than half that, you just have to deal with unpleasant weather and a rather rustic community, but maybe the hunting and fishing would make up for it.
 
FRED S&P/Case Median home prices, 2020'ish at $300k.

Weather wise

Good to get overcast days during summer months. Couldnt find a clean chart like the one below.
www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/portland-or/historic?month=7&year=2020

and


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It's funny to hear a Canadian worry about our weather here in the PNW. You're in what, Toronto? Personally I have kind of an ambition to relocate to a warmer, drier, sunnier place, but the weather here is really pretty mild, especially looking forward as North America moves towards being a more hostile environment in most places with climate change. People bicycle year around, at any rate - it snows once or twice most years, but not enough to be more than kind of a novelty.
 
Now that its warmer, skiing is not so great this far south in NM. But once he said climbing, we got this all winter.

Summer, you die up there though. R.jpg We sure don't have the rain Portland has here, you gotta love it dry and hot, or take the mobile dwelling up higher in the mountains. Spend the summer in Colorado for the climbing.
 
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