Portland OR vs Boulder CO

[.455_Hunter]

I grew-up in Boulder County, graduated from Boulder High School, and currently live 5 minutes from the city limits. Boulder's gun laws are NO DIFFERENT than most other towns in the state. Your CO CCW permit is valid everywhere expect prohibited by Federal law or areas with active, full metal detection screening. No stupid 51% or bar rules. Yes, the mag ban was a temporary set back, but enforcement is nonexisitent, with many shops selling mag "kits" with the parts in a baggie. Boulder is home to one of the finest gun shops in the state, Gunsport Colorado.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Can you just live across the river in WA state and work in Portland? That would be my preference. I lived in WA state for a while and of the three west coast states, they seemed the least offensive to me.

 

[strambo]

Plenty do, traffic is a bear because of that. I prefer OR to WA, but I don't work in PDX anyway so I can avoid it.

 

[MJD]

Can you just live across the river in WA state and work in Portland? That would be my preference. I lived in WA state for a while and of the three west coast states, they seemed the least offensive to me.

Sheepdog, you can live in WA and work in OR, but be advised of the following:

1) You will have OR state taxes taken out of your paycheck (no state income tax in WA)
2) Depending on where you live/work, I-5 and I-205 are terrible going from Vancouver to Portland. Going from PDX to Vancouver isn't a joy ride, but seemingly not as bad.
3) For the moment, Vancouver housing prices are a little more reasonable than most PDX areas
4) Portland has better restaurants, cultural activities, beer, wine, bourbon, etc.
5) That said, Vancouver is a 20 minute ride (at most) from those amenities
6) To get into the vast outdoor recreational opportunities in the area, it's a wash between the two areas. Easy access, though you'll have to drive a bit to go hunting.

 

[leadcounsel]

[Let's keep this on-topic please, folks.]

I often wonder why Mods insist that voting is unrelated to gun laws. In the real world, one political party is generally anti-gun and one is pro-gun. This is extremely relevant for deciding on something important like where to live.

Yes I understand the goal to not have political banter... but as far as the PARTY is concerned, the platforms are pretty well known.

 

[Sam1911]

FWIW, leadcounsel, that comment was directed at several posts which were pruned for getting into off topic bickering not related to the question. It wasn't about voting.



However, we do take a dim view toward too much knee-jerk snarkiness about "liberals" vs. "conservatives" so the warning isn't inapt in that spot.

 

[chicharrones]

I have a brother-in-law that live lives across the river in Vancouver. He has mentioned the traffic problem. I never thought about the tax side of it to ask him.

He's not a shooter I don't even ask him gun questions.

 

[EmGeeGeorge]

If you work in Portland but live in Washington, you still pay state taxes to OR. I work in Portland, but live in WA, but because I work on a ship that is normally underway I don't pay taxes to OR, which is good as it'd be about 7%-10% of take-home I think.
If you pick Portland, there are very close places that are cheaper, friendlier to firearms, and quiter that PDX, but aren't more than a 20-30 minute commute. St. Helens is one place west of PDX, and eastward in OR there are supposed to be some good spots. Vancouver you have to be careful where you live. Lotsa dopers, property crime, quality of life stuff but nothing too dangerous overall.
OR isn't bad, but the PDX area is pricey to even rent, much less buy. There are some grungier neighborhoods that would make great investment properties as the area is experiencing a housing shortage, and gentrification is starting to reach into the "worse" areas.
FWIW, the county in which St. Helens is located is an easy place to get a non-resident OR pistol permit. The sheriff there is very gun-friendly, so if you resided in WA, it'd be easy to get your permit for OR as well.

 

[dakota1911]

I would vote Boulder also. Boulder has always been a libdrool center. Wife has relatives there. Once you get away from what the locals call the "front range" or I25 from Fort Collins to Denver to Colorado Springs and maybe further South now, then you are in a very different Colorado that is pretty conservative.

 

[4v50 Gary]

A classmate of mine is from Portland. Traffic and very liberal.

However, I've never been to Boulder so I don't know about it. Others have told me that Boulder and Denver are liberal bastions that have messed up Colorado.

 

[leadcounsel]

Traffic

I've lived in 8 states. Newsflash. Every city has bad traffic.

Driving 30 miles from Boulder to Denver takes an hour on a good day, and 2 hours on a bad day. I did that commute for a year (of misery). If it snows or rains, plan for a long day...

I-5 (Portland) is misery too. I live near I-5 north of Portland, and during rush hour it's a standstill - every single day.

 

[chicharrones]

A classmate of mine is from Portland. Traffic and very liberal.

While working there a couple weeks ago, I saw a few NRA and 2nd ammendment stickers on trucks. Plus, while working with a few of the techs there I brought up "rifles" and low and behold a few spoke up. One with the wherewithal to have a very nice evil black rifle collection that he shared photos of.

There are some pro-gun people still there. I wish I could move there and add to their numbers.

And traffic? Well, I live and drive in the Greater Houston area. I found the drivers in the Portland area to be much less aggressive and more friendly than here. Maybe that's due to the hills and turns that keep speeds down?

 

[MachIVshooter]

The Boulder valley is beautiful, and there is actually quite a lot to do aside from shooting. You just have to ignore a large percentage of the locals. Stay away from the CU campus (I suspect that's true of any major university).

I grew up in Gunbarrel, which is just a few miles outside the Boulder city limits. Get outside of the actual city of Boulder, it's pretty rural and largely conservative/gun friendly.

The mag ban and UBC they rammed down our throats 2 years ago are an irritation, but as mentioned, are basically unenforceable and ignored anyway. Magazine "kits" are sold everywhere, and no LE cares who has what. We have shall issue, statewide OC and preemption, the sole exception being city & county of Denver (they have an OC ban that was upheld, CCW still valid).

Lots of gun clubs and public ranges across the front range. You can shoot in national forests, just have to abide by the rules, which vary a little bit, but basically just X number of feet from designated trails or camp sites.

As for the climate here, people tend to love or hate the high altitude and dry weather. For me, it's perfect. Though not the sunniest state, there are but a few days out of the year that are totally overcast; Mr. sunshine comes out for at least awhile almost every day. The low humidity is very car and gun friendly, and the air is clean & crisp. We just got back from Orlando, and I actually had a harder time breathing due to the humidity, despite being only a few feet above sea level. I was ecstatic to return to the clean, dry air at home here at 6,800 ft. near Elizabeth.

Weather is pretty mild overall. A blizzard now and again, and some really rainy days here and there, but usually the weather and temperature are conducive to outdoor activities if you simply dress appropriately. Very few days below 0° or above 100°F. Not uncommon to have 60°+ days in the middle of January, but it can snow in June as well..........

I've been to 39 of our 50 states, most of them had redeeming qualities (NJ has none). Though we have been infested by liberals the last couple decades, it's still a state that leans libertarian/conservative overall, and you just can't beat it if you're an outdoors type. No place I can think of that I'd rather be.

I've never been to Portland, but the amount of precipitation and cloud cover in the PNW does not appeal to me. I get grumpy without sunshine, and I do not like being wet.

 

[mpmax]

Oregon legislature just passed mandatory background checks on PRIVATE gun sales. New 100% Dem controlled house-Senate-governor. Thank you California transplants for bringing the progressive wagon north.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Sheepdog, you can live in WA and work in OR, but be advised of the following:

1) You will have OR state taxes taken out of your paycheck (no state income tax in WA)
2) Depending on where you live/work, I-5 and I-205 are terrible going from Vancouver to Portland. Going from PDX to Vancouver isn't a joy ride, but seemingly not as bad.
3) For the moment, Vancouver housing prices are a little more reasonable than most PDX areas
4) Portland has better restaurants, cultural activities, beer, wine, bourbon, etc.
5) That said, Vancouver is a 20 minute ride (at most) from those amenities
6) To get into the vast outdoor recreational opportunities in the area, it's a wash between the two areas. Easy access, though you'll have to drive a bit to go hunting.

Thanks for this info

 

[ColoradoMinuteMan]

I'm a transplant from CA living in Northern CO. I've been here for about 6 years now and absolutely love it with the exception of the magazine restrictions and background check for private transfer. As mentioned, you can get common AR or AK magazines in many stores because most local LEOs will not enforce the magazine laws. The issue however is online purchases. It makes it a little bit more difficult to purchase firearms that includes a >15 magazine as part of a kit. It's also difficult if you want to get a >15 magazine that is for something a bit more rare than an AR or AK. I find it to be kind of a pain to be honest.

As far as a place to live, despite dealing with the irritating magazine purchasing restrictions, it is a pretty wonderful place. If you get outside of Boulder or Denver metro you'll find a lot of regular folks with Midwestern values. Lots of families, a good economy, a lot of beautiful places to visit. More than the average amount of outdoor activities including many great gun stores, ranges, clubs, and enthusiasts. A lot of hunting in the mountain land and prairie. There is also a lot of interesting history from the American west. Northern CO is also known for craft brewing, and amazing local restaurants. If you want cool hip hangouts you can spend time in the time in metro areas but only a half hour outside you will find good ol country folks, small towns and cowboy churches. There is a lot of camping in every direction. You are a day or less away from beautiful destinations like the Black Hills of South Dakota, Salt Lake City, or Yellowstone National Park. The weather is beautiful most of the time, probably less than 30 days a year where you'd rather be inside.

 

[Red Wind]

As long as you don't have to live in Boulder then CO is the easy choice.

Agree with every single word .The "City of Roses" is the pits. Lived there and will never return. A hundred mile detour would suit me just fine. A more anti- gun city in America would be very hard to find. I think the word hoplophopia was coined here by Jeff Cooper as he hurriedly passed through on a bad night!

If not, might as well. Those folks despise guns! Go south, east or even to the coast, and sanity starts to slowly seep back in.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Ummm.... OK...

My family has lived in Boulder County for 60 years and your assessment is a bit overboard.

 

[Red Wind]

Who's assessment? Mine of Portland ,Oregon or Robert's of Boulder?

Just to clarify..

 

[blarby]

Despite the recent setbacks, Oregon is great.

Outside of Portland AND Salem, very gun friendly.

No sales tax, low vehicle registration and car insurance.

Great water, in Portland, FANTASTIC FOOD and drink, and the best bookstore in the country.

Fantastic forests. River, lake, AND ocean fishing- everywhere you look.

Many constitutional sheriff's, FANTASTIC LE overall. Very low crime, and fantastic voter turnout.

Ya, we got rain. What we don't get is yards of snow

"Mild" is probably the best definition of weather here. Never very hot, rarely very cold.

We have shooting spots up the yang, from informal pits, to organized formal ranges aplenty. In Portland you can even shoot trap and skeet right in the middle of suburbia- that's a really nice place, btw.

Coastal foodie and antique leisure, Eastern dry beer heaven and speed goat hunting. Elk, deer, rockchucks, grey squirrel, geese, ducks, rams and rabbits. Pheasant, quail, a rising dove population and nearly endless trout
, salmon, tuna and stripers.

We also have widely available open carry, and shall issue (encouraged) CC.

Oregon... Ya, it's pretty sweet

 

[Red Wind]

Coastal foodie and antique leisure, Eastern dry beer heaven and speed goat hunting. Elk, deer, rockchucks, grey squirrel, geese, ducks, rams and rabbits. Pheasant, quail, a rising dove population and nearly endless trout
, salmon, tuna and stripers.

I'm sold! Particularly on those stripers!

I was robbed during the night at the Best Western in Burns on May 25,2012. But the cops were great and the firearms were secure in the motel.room. Great small town LE.

Wonderful friendly guys. I will go back there, Just pick another motel!

 

[Ironicaintit]

You make a damn fine case for oregon Blarby.

Come to colorado, we need your vote!
The Boulder area is beautiful and all to visit, but the only way I could stand to live there, is if I lived way out of town.
And the Shelby American museum is nearby (worth a visit)

 

[RFMan]

I've visited Oregon, but I went to grad school in Boulder. I do miss it.

Concerning firearms, they seem generally, approximately equal. Regarding liberal content of the population...ditto

I think this mostly comes down to weather and scenery, and geographical distances to other parts of the country that you might need to frequent.

 

[AR-15Nutt]

Just remember that there is an underwater volcano about 250-300 miles off Oregon's coast currently erupting.

never heard of that got a link so i can get better informed ?

to the OP: if those are your only choices, you may as well stay in CA.

BUT !IF you have to, CO. would be my choice, but live in Berthoud or Longmont.

 

[MachIVshooter]

but live in Berthoud or Longmont.

Better than city of Boulder, but nobody chooses to live on the I25 corridor between Denver and Ft. Collins. They just kind of end up there.

Lots of great places here, but one should avoid the following counties if possible:

Denver
Arapahoe
Jefferson
Adams
Boulder

And steer clear of quaint little mountain towns; they're usually hippy havens.

A general idea of how the state breaks up politically (sorry about the size, couldn't find a smaller version):