Moved to Portland from Austin a little over a year ago.
Benefits:
- natural surroundings are gorgeous, not surrounded by the rest of Texas, have seen more breathtaking scenery than at any other point in my life
- better coffee, beer, restaurants, food carts
- no sales tax is great while making a transition to a new place if you aren't bringing in any income yet, cost of living isn't very high
- it seems to be a good place to live for an introvert like myself. people are friendly, the neighborhood bars on the East Side are low key/don't have the loud fratty types, and people seem to keep to themselves a bit more.
- no 4-5 months of 100+ temperatures, or extreme temperatures at all
- lots of small live music venues with shows that rarely sell out, such as Doug Fir Lounge and Mississippi Studios
- There are many affordable local conferences such as Open Source Bridge. And the Portland Digital Experience + MusicFestNW badge is a steal.
- Very walkable/bikable, I don't have a car and plenty of access to great coffee/beer/entertainment. Love the neighborhood/small town feel.
- Powell's, Board Game Night at Lucky Lab, Ground Kontrol, Backspace, music video night at Beulahland, love it.
Drawbacks:
- January - March the cloudiness/drizzle gets a bit old. I personally enjoy the transition to Spring/Fall when the flowers come out, and the leaves turn colors, so after being here a year I wouldn't say the weather sucks 9 months out of the year, but maybe 4 months.
- Haven't really formed much of a social circle, many of the people I have met have moved away already because of the weather or go back to keeping to themselves and don't see them again.
- I hear the developer pay is lower
- high state income tax (vs. no state income tax in Texas), losing 9% of your income is much worse than paying no sales tax, and the cost of living is a little higher than in Austin.