Forbes: Best And Worst Cities To Rent A Home

[zoog]

forbes link

To compile our list of the best cities for renters, we considered three measurements in the country's 40 largest metropolitan areas: the annual change in monthly rent, the percent increase of new rental construction in 2008, and the percent difference between the area's average monthly rental payment and the average monthly mortgage payment (assuming that the down payment was 10% and the fixed interest rate is 6.25%).

Ex-homeowner, now happily renting one here in Portland, number 6 on the list.:cool: However my rent is not half of my previous mortgage, but that was a personal choice to move up to a nicer neighborhood, where home sale prices are well above what I sold for.

Rainy day lovers might appreciate Portland, but so will those who appreciate a bargain. Not only is rent far cheaper than buying--by more than half--there's a 143% increase in new construction for 2008, which means prices may go even lower.

[Guest]

Re: Forbes: Best And Worst Cities To Rent A Home

Zoog - I'm thinking seriously of relocating my German CEO's business up to the Portland area. After you posted that thread on the biking paths up there I got interested and viewed a number of newsclips and even looked up property prices around there and looked over pictures of what can be bought. I'm sorely tempted by one of those city lofts in one of the older industrial buildings in the city center. I got a sense of the "flavor" of the place and liked what I saw. Not ready to pull the trigger just yet, but it's on my short list.

[GRG55]

Re: Forbes: Best And Worst Cities To Rent A Home

Zoog - I'm thinking seriously of relocating my German CEO's business up to the Portland area. After you posted that thread on the biking paths up there I got interested and viewed a number of newsclips and even looked up property prices around there and looked over pictures of what can be bought. I'm sorely tempted by one of those city lofts in one of the older industrial buildings in the city center. I got a sense of the "flavor" of the place and liked what I saw. Not ready to pull the trigger just yet, but it's on my short list.

Vancouvergoinup will be disappointed he/she wasn't able to entice you further up the coast Lukester. But if your German CEO isn't too chauvinist about his brew, he'll find in Portland the highest concentration of bloody good craft breweries I've ever come across anywhere.

zoog; It's been a few years since my last visit through there, but I hope that hasn't changed?

[zoog]

Re: Forbes: Best And Worst Cities To Rent A Home

Vancouvergoinup will be disappointed he/she wasn't able to entice you further up the coast Lukester. But if your German CEO isn't too chauvinist about his brew, he'll find in Portland the highest concentration of bloody good craft breweries I've ever come across anywhere.

zoog; It's been a few years since my last visit through there, but I hope that hasn't changed?

Can't drink the stuff myself but, microbreweries are alive and well. Plus everybody knows somebody who brews their own at home. The annual Oregon Brewer's Festival is later on this month, if you were looking for an excuse to visit again.;)

http://oregonbeer.org/beer/

• There are currently 63 brewing companies, operating 88 brewing facilities in Oregon. Of the 63 brewing companies, 59 are members of the Oregon Brewers Guild.
• There are 30 breweries operating within the Portland city limits, more than any other city in the world.
• The Portland metro area is the largest craft brewing market in the United States, even though Portland ranks 23rd in population for Metro areas in the U.S.

My favorite bit of Portland beer history: when the Skidmore Fountain was commissioned in 1888, big-name brewer Henry Weinhard offered to pipe beer through the fountain via fire hoses. However, as the nearby Chinatown area was full of rough characters in those days, the city was worried they might puncture the expensive hoses for a free drink.

Maybe when we all lose our jobs in the next year or two, someone will be kind enough to run beer through the fountains to ease everyone's pain. Just don't get so drunk that you wind up in the Shanghai tunnels...:eek::p

Oh yeah and, since this is all off-topic and a bit silly anyway... we also have the 24-hour Church of Elvis.