I would not move to Portland OR..but to each her own..it has some very nice housing stock..not much of a downtown but nice neighborhoods..but the driving is so scary..all these bridges and you are always on the wrong one going the wrong way..or at least I was. Plus there is income tax in Oregon and they seem to always have trouble with their mayors, senators etc. Washington is across the river..we have generally had some excellent government people..no income tax. SW Washington is very nice and not too crowded or expensive..lots of meth though. Astoria OR is very nice and I would retire there if it were in Washington..but maybe there is no tax on retirement income. I plan to hop from place to place when I retire..Mexico, Washington, Newfoundland, Alabama, Ireland..maybe Ukraine for a month or so each year. mg