How different are Portland and Salem, OR

[felonious thunk]

I'm thinking of moving out that way, and might be able to line up a job in Salem. I've never been there, but love Portland. Is it a bad drive from Portland to Salem? And is Salem as nice as Portland?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[blitzen]

1. salem

I grew up in Salem and still visit my parents there about once a year. It's probably fashionable to bash Salem as a boring and lackluster town, but I think it's pretty nice. Portland is 47 miles North; Eugene--with its residue of hippies old and young--60 miles south. The ocean's about an hour west and the mountains an hour east. There's really nice farmland all around. All-in-all an excellent place. Portland is the best, though. Woe is me, I'm stuck in Louisiana!

[felonious thunk]

2. I don't mind a boring city

I just want a nice, clean progressive city. With so much stuff an hour in each direction, it sounds like a great place.

[CAB]

3. Salem is ok

The downtown has great potential, but its kind of dead at times. Not really bashing Salem, but it doesn't really compare to Portland. There is something special about Portland.

[CAB]

4. one more thing

Salem is NOT anywhere near as progressive as its neigboring cities of Eugene and Portland. Salem could be considered conservative. It probably has pockets of progressives, but expect to be in the minority come voter time.

[Shrek]

5. I've spent a lot of time in both cities

And I love them both. Salem has more of a small-town feel but it has its charms and is close to lots of fun "outdoors" destinations.

The drive from Salem to Portland is easy; right up I-5 through some lovely scenery and it takes less than an hour. It's so easy that I've got a number of friends who live in Salem and make the commute every day.

[felonious thunk]

8. We'd likely be going the other way actually

I think we'd be more likely to settle in the southern burbs of Portland and I'd make a drive down to Salem. I would imagine that would generally be against the traffic?

[0rganism]

6. Like day and .... twilight?

The drive between Portland and Salem isn't terribly daunting, about 60 miles as the crow flies. However, if the crow drove on I-5, it would take him 90 minutes on weekdays.

Salem is more like a burb than a city. If you visited Beaverton, one of Portland's burbs, you'll know what to expect. Obviously, you'll want to be coming back for another look before you move in.

Keep in mind that Oregon is a bitterly-divided state. Portland and Eugene are large enough and progressive enough to pull the state leftward back to center, but everything east of the Cascades and south of Bend is GOP heaven. You will see this reflected in the overall mix in Salem, the state capital.

More liberals are always welcome, of course.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Salem comes across as

"a good place to raise kids."

However, if you're single, you'll be much happier in Portland.

The drive on I-5 gets really old after a while. One of my acquaintances who made the commute said that he'd pay extra taxes for a rope tow between the two cities so that he could just hook his car on and not have to stay awake.

[felonious thunk]

9. Well, that's not so bad

I would expect the capital to tend more conservative. I can handle a healthy mix, I just don't want to live or work in a strictly conservative, religious town.

[GregW]

10. Keep looking south to Eugene!

Eugene is a liberal heaven (one of the reasons I moved here).

It's a bit wetter than Portland (47 inches vs 40 inches per year) but at 138,000 people, still has a "small town" feel.

Check http://www.planeteugene.com

[felonious thunk]

14. I'd love to live in Eugene

But I don't know if I'd be able to find a job there. What's the job outlook in Eugene? My wife is deciding between UOregon, Willamette and Portland State for an MBA, but unfortunately I have to be able to get a job. I feel more comfortable in my ability to get something in Portland or Salem, but Eugene and UOregon top are list.

[ibegurpard]

11. OMG!

COMPLETELY different. Salem is much smaller, more conservative and quite boring. It does have a decent downtown for its size with a lot of stores and movie theaters

[sleipnir]

12. Careful, they burn witches in Salem....

Or just angry politicians ;)

[ploppy]

13. Portland

is more fun. Salem is okay but there is more to do in Portland, better restaurants, stores, museums, libraries, movies, plays, transportation. Catch my drift? ;)

[cliss]

15. Hi, Felonius!

I live in Portland, and go to Salem occasionally. Portland has a greater metropolitan population of about 1 million. The whole state has 3.2 million. This is a VERY people-poor state.

Portland ranks 29th in terms of size; it's considered a moderate-sized city.

Salem has about 200,000(?). It's also the capitol of Oregon, so the governor lives there. You have a lot of government employees there, and there is also a state prison.

As far as comparing the two: in my opinion there's no comparison. Portland by far outranks Salem. Salem is a small town with very little to offer, unless you like vegetable stands and dusty hay fields all around.

Portland - well, I could go on and on. It's awesome.

[pdx_prog]

16. I moved out here

from the Memphis area. It was a good transition. I live in Portland, and being single was heaven here....more single people than you can shake a stick at.

I like Salem because of it's proximity to Portland, and proximity to the coast (lincoln City, Newport).

I like living in Portland better, but I have spent a little time in Salem. I wouldn't have any problem living there.

[Cleita]

17. Both are nice.

I prefer Portland because it's on the Columbia river and within an hour's drive of mountains, beautiful waterfalls and other nice beauties of nature.