my boyfriend and i are going to have to move out of portland soon due to our outrageous water bill, high property taxes, etc. i know so many other cities are still so much more expensive, but even with us both being professionals, we're having a hard time making it. does anyone have suggestions for communities in the area or state that are great places to live?

It is about time for all your readers to go back and read this posting: bojack.org/2011/05/to_all_the_bummedout_portland.html

Jack, this was your best post of all time and this is the best part: They'll tell you it's impossible, that there are different colors of money, that light rail money can't be spent on schools, yada yada. Hey -- it's all taxes. The colors of money game was invented by the politicians, and it can be undone by the politicians.

Every phoney liberal thinks a tax is the answer to everything.

Add in the delusional sense of royalty both Adams and Leonard exhale with tainted breath, you have the worst of times and the worst of times.

Cute Girl:

Move to Tigard. I am amazed how well this town is run. The streets are clean and well maintained. The police response is fantastic (if you happen to need it). They pick up the leaves, plow the snow and even vacuum the storm drains routinely.

They spend their money on taking care of the city, instead of on social engineering and eco-topian pipe dreams. And once you move here, you quickly discover you no longer need to go into Portland at all.

Now if we can just stop Metro's schemes to let "Portland creep" ruin this community, we'll be okay.

Three bobbleheads? You're way too generous to Fritz. She's just a bobblehead with a (sort of) British accent.

49 days and counting....49 new taxes?
What has been done can be undone...but not by Char-LIE, Mr. Trolley, Hales.
I don't think it is productive to label this mess that is now Portland "Liberal". Many of us consider ourselves liberals, but Portlandia has been run into the ground by the stupids, and they come in every political color and persuasion.
What we all need is some one who is mentally stable, smart and sensible to fix the problems, and that will start when and if the current corrupt people and their current corrupt practices can be halted.

Remember those contests in the 60s and 70s where housewives would have 1 minute to run through the grocery store to fill their carts?

That's what Sam is doing: Dropping as much dung as he can in under 50 days.

The money quote, courtesy of Sam:

"I could have just equally proposed cuts to the city's budget to implement the DOJ's settlement. I don't want to do that."

Why cut the budget when you can simply raise taxes?

Cute Girl: I have the same struggles as you note. I can't afford to live here anymore. You are lucky to have work - mine has all but dried up.

My recommendation is to get out of Oregon all together. Everything I hear from the state is that the madness will continue and the shmucks who live here will being paying more and more. We will paying for the outrageous retirement systems that have been set up and many other debacles that are robbing us blind. Where I live, the community just voted YES on the illegal arts tax, the library district and schools bond and my property taxes went up in addition to that. People here just want to throw money at things - not fix or change anything. Criminal. If you're in Oregon you're gonna pay for it. Leave if you can.

The "Me Need Copy Editorz?" award for lack of copywriting clarity goes to the Oregonian for the following passage:

Customers who get their land-line phone service from CenturyLink or Frontier, for example, could see their monthly bills rise by $3.84 to $9.24 a year if the City Council approves the utility fee

"Your monthly bill will rise by 8.83 a year. Got that?"

If I understand this, the tax is only on land lines and, thus, will not be paid by the young cell users who increasingly do not have a land line. Nice.

For a city that lives and breaths by the theme of sustainability, it is mind boggling to see how un-sustainable their financial picture is and how their grand plans are imploding from within. Pretty soon over half of the population will qualify for workforce housing (less than 80% of Median Area Income), but who will be left to pay for it? Does the Portland Plan have anything in it about driving out young professionals?

Shouldn't the priority be to use any available funds to help the mentally ill on the streets?

Tigard as a city might be okay, but what about quality of life? I used to live in SW, and found I had to drive everywhere. I currently live in a Portland neighborhood where I can walk to everything except a pharmacy. I hardly drive at all. I either walk or ride my scooter. I do have three kids, so when I do drive, it's because we're commuting them around. I want to live in a progressive city like Portland, but also want to live where I can walk to services. It's so frustrating what's happening to Portland. I had a feeling all the out-of-staters would change things around here . . . and not for the better.

I did think that the "pay higher taxes or our police will continue to kill mentally ill people" argument did set some sort of new low in public discourse.

I bet that they had a good laugh at City Hall too when someone came up with the landline tax - none of Adams' hipster supporters have landlines, so it a special tax solely on Yucky Old People.

"I want to live in a progressive city like Portland, but also want to live where I can walk to services."

Unfortunately, the "progressiveness" is the problem - Portland is blessed with numerous "twenty minute neighborhoods" that Metro loves so much, but as "cute girl" notes, the city is making them unaffordable for all but the very affluent. You vote for "progressiveness" and "sustainability", and you get city workers comparing Portland water bills to the cost of iPhone data plans, and the city ignoring a completely unfunded three billion dollar pension debt.

You want different results, vote for different people.

A lot of people have landlines only for internet access, using cell phones for voice calls.
Portland's exploding class of underemployed hipsters on the other hand, usually can't afford the luxury and spend hours at the local free wifi 'hotspot'.

One will pay the new tax and the other won't have to.

cutegirl

I'm contemplating a move as well. Tigard/Tualaitn, Sherwood, Newberg, Oregon City, Clackamas, West Linn, Lake O, Beaverton and Vancouver are all places I'm considering. Key is (1) get out of Multnomah County and (2) get somewhere with enough political balance that the fringe of one party isn't in control of all aspects of policy making, as is the case in Portland. Housing prices in Portland (at least in my neighborhood) have been holding and even slowly creeping back up, so just looking for the best time to eject.

Please don't let the wealthy know about the option of moving out of Portland. This community would really have a revenue problem if they left.

Our household is contemplating a move as well; already talking to a realtor. A friend (also contemplating a move) is looking at giving up different memberships to organizations (arts, gardens..) around town to account for increased property taxes. She intends to inform them that she can no longer afford her membership due to an increasing tax burden in light of this November's votes. Until a move occurs for us, I have decided that I too will be giving up at least a couple of memberships/subscriptions and letting the organization know why.

He goes on to say "This will plug the hole I need to cover the police settlement."

Interesting choice of the word cover.
He must be busy with only 49 days left to cover for this and that.
I wonder if the shredding machines are working overtime?
Does anyone have any respect left for not only Sam, but the entire council?

A friend from Minneapolis called and asked "Wouldn't it be hard to leave?" and "try to ignore,....kind of thing." I proceeded to tell about the apartments being built without parking next to neighborhoods and the response was "That is insane!"

In my opinion, more coming from Charlie, he is the one who set much of this in motion in the first place! Those who allowed him to be throned will be expecting something in return.

The house of cards is falling, pickpocketing people, either making financial matters impossible hurtful to some or reducing discretionary funds for others which will hurt the businesses and jobs. How long can the scene in Portland, the city of Sustainability be sustained?

If the forces of reaction ever won, it would be fun to fund some city service via a tax on tattooing.

" A friend (also contemplating a move) is looking at giving up different memberships to organizations (arts, gardens..) around town to account for increased property taxes."

Well, particularly in the case of organizations like the symphony who are getting a piece of the arts tax, you can inform them that since they are getting your tax dollars, there is no need to make a contribution.

At symphony performances, the symphony was handing out a mailer along with their programs, supporting the arts tax, explaining that the arts tax was going to provide art teachers for schools. Nowhere did the mailer mention that the symphony would be a major beneficiary of the arts tax.

The corruption runs deep in this town.

"... led by knaves and con men..."

Cute Girl,

It all depends on where you end up in Tigard. If you stick within an easy walk to 99 W or Hall Blvd the bus transit is very good. If you get too far away from those corridors, you won't be happy without a car.

...Pretty soon over half of the population will qualify for workforce housing (less than 80% of Median Area Income),...

The Grand Experiment! and accompanied with behavioral maneuvers as well.
What about the Pearl? What will happen when those that have
10 year tax abatements end?

What about the Pearl? What will happen when those that have
10 year tax abatements end?

Ha ha. Never happen. It already expired some time ago and it was extended another 20 years. I remember reading the city wanted to extend it to 50 years but that idea drew too much criticism.

When the agreement was made with the Fed to reform the Portland Police Bureau, Sammyboy said he would find the money needed. The problem is that he is a habitual liar, and due to his ego driven mentality, he is incompetent when it comes to setting budget priorities. He would rather spend millions of dollars on bicycle infrastructure for the slacker freeloader bicyclists, operating snail rail streetcars and on an overpriced ostensible sustainability center along with other monuments to his dynasty. Likewise, he continues to spend taxpayer dollars to continue supporting his ego by dragging the Frashouer case to yet another legal level when due to communication and training failures, the commander at the scene, the chief and even the police commissioner – Sammyboy himself - are just as responsible as the person who pulled the trigger. If one is fired, they all should be fired!

As for the new tax, it is not money found so Sammyboy is lying again. What's more, it is not a tax the phone companies will pay. It will be passed through to customers thereby adding to the excessively high cost of living in Portland that now includes the PPS school bond measure, the new Multnomah County Library District tax and the unconstitutional and illegal arts head tax. Nonetheless, Sammyboy’s ego remains intact and bicyclists still ride and take up more reserved space in the right-of-ways that in the communication utilities ever will.

Tax the Portland Police and Fire Disability and Pension fund.

The same moving-out-of-Multnomah-County discussions are happening at my house. Since the Great Recession, my income has dropped by thousands, yet bills (especially water) and taxes continue to rise by way more than the background rate of inflation. Every year it is more and more of a struggle to make ends meet. What is particularly galling to me is that 3 nearby houses, all built within the last few years, are tax abated by urban renewal and are paying less than half the property tax I pay. They will never pay the new school bond tax. [And you can bet they voted for it, because why wouldn't they if they don't have to pay?] This is just so wrong.

As for my plans, even just moving to Clackamas County would make me feel better. But I'd like to leave the state entirely.

Hey Cute Girl, Dave is right. Tigard is a nice town that focuses on essential services first. Read this and it might give you some insight as to why their priorities are such. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolan_v._City_of_Tigard What Wiki failed to mention was the 1.4 million award the city had to pay. That’ll wake up the voters. Of course that pales in comparison to Sam’s plan; PPBUE – Portland Progressive Bicycle Utopia and Emporium

The beautiful plum of a city has been picked at for years and they are not done.

The corruption runs deep in this town.

That explains why a different set of laws and passes are given for some.
The “club” can rejoice that Kate Brown is still in command.

Alice
Old houses aren't green. Only the newest, high-density, high tax revenue structures built by favored developers meet the new 'smart city' criteria.

Dave
Tigard might be nice now, but at this very moment knives are being sharpened as Metro/Portland tentacles are preparing to begin devouring Milwaukie and it's only a matter of time before the publicly subsidized real estate development machine turns its voracious appetite towards Tigard.

My guess is the only safe place is across the big river until the machine is dismantled or perishes from its own excesses.

After this election, three of my neighbors have hired property tax appeal experts to file for tax appeals. Two of them are retired elderly people who are barely hanging on. They are looking at any avenue to be able to stay in their homes. They have preliminarily compared their homes and their lot values to recently sold properties near their homes and found that they are being over taxed. For one they they think they can save over $500 dollars a year. Cumulative over the years that becomes big. With the addition of Sammy type of fee/tax increases every year it might save them until saneness ever reappears, or they die.

I wish them well. It's sad that we must scrap to find any way to stay in Portland. For two of them they are third generation Portlanders who have generally supported most tax measures. Not any more.

Cute Girl may want to appeal like so many others will be doing.

This. If you're thinking about moving out, I heartily encourage you to do it.

I moved out of Portland a year ago, and I'm so glad that I did. Property taxes much lower. Service fees much lower, and for much better service. Yes it takes longer to get to town; but, I don't go there as much as years ago.

No stupid plastic bag bans, ethanol requirements, Water Houses, leaf pickup scams, Occupy camps, and no slop buckets.

I haven't completely stopped visiting Portland, but I can read the news now and shake my head a little. They won't stop until they out-California California.

In other news, California is irretrievably broke, and the state Government is going Thelma and Louise as we speak. Portland sees this, and they are jealous!

Call me a contrarian, but Tigard's a dump other than it being a safe city with some ok schools. People are nice, too. Nothing like seeing Bull Mountain denuded and clear-cut for McMansions.

In LO or West Linn, they at least protect the trees there.

"Portland Creep," also known as that billboard that shows a car-based landscape with big box stores and curb cuts, is 99W through Tigard. I'm not sure what Dave Lister speaks of.

Cute girl:

Look at it this way, the tradeoff is more property taxes in Portland or paying more behind the wheel in Tigard, as you mention you walk a lot.

You should probably trust your instincts on where you want to live on your own. Don't trust random people on the internet.

Cute Girl,

I moved to Tigard after living in Portland for 18 years and have heard the new Mayor is an improvement. Great library and police department, but lousy walkability in most neighborhoods.

We moved from Tigard to Vancouver because it had better schools, lower property taxes, and (if you work/live in WA) no income tax.

Personally, I'm convinced that Portland's leaders are hellbent on maintaining the current interstate bottleneck to discourage more people from moving to Clark County. Once you've moved to WA, it's only a matter of time before you're looking to relocate your employment too.

I wish them well. It's sad that we must scrap to find any way to stay in Portland. For two of them they are third generation Portlanders who have generally supported most tax measures. Not any more.

Is this the way the city treats those who built up the city, contributed to the infrastructure and gave to their community to make it a livable city? What is this when as Alice mentioned above, others get tax abatements? There really in my opinion is a sickness that the scene has come down to this.
Wonder what the Office of Equity might think about this? I rather doubt that subject will be on their agenda.

I was born and raised in Portland and lived there all my life until a year ago. When I entered the workforce in 1973 we had a thriving warehouse district full of living wage jobs. It's now the Pearl, where you can pour coffee or work in an art gallery. We had a thriving shipyard. It's now the south waterfront. We had a world class brewery. I'm not sure what it is now; more condos I suppose.

I saw a flood of east coast "progressives", like Charlie Hales and Vera Katz, emigrate here, seize political power and turn my working class town into a cheap imitation of San Francisco, with economic opportunity resesrved for the elite. Very sad.