Bon Ayre
Dover, Delaware
Portland, Oregon
What It Is Like to Retire in Portland
Choosing Portland, Oregon as your retirement community has many advantages. You get many interesting downtown areas with great public transportation. Many homes or apartments overlook rivers, parks, and mountains. Great skiing, hiking, and other outdoor activities are all at your doorstep, as are many cultural programs. The climate is ideal for growing things, especially roses. Opportunities of every description for paid work or volunteering are all around you. The city has a well-deserved reputation for land use controls, which attempt to moderate the effects of rampant growth. Known as “The City of Roses”, Portland (population 558,000, over 2 million people in the metro area) attracts adults over 50 who are looking for a bustling and diverse community. It is also a magnet for young people because it has a youthful flair. The city has 227 parks, including an urban wilderness in Forest Park (5,000-plus acres). It is exceedingly bike-friendly with almost 270 miles of street lanes and paths, set-off with nonskid paint (see our article about bike-friendly Portland at BPUSA). Golf is very popular here and can be played most of the year. Photo of Portland Streetcar courtesy of Wikipedia and Cacophony,photo of Pioneer Courthouse by M.O. Stevens; both photos licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0/. See our guide to retirement in Oregon.
Where to Retire in Portland and Home Prices
There are many neighborhoods in the city for retirees - old and new, stand alone houses or apartments. If you are thinking of moving to Portland you would probably want to visit or rent here first to get a feel for the many different neighborhoods. The Pearl District in the Northwest, for example, is a former warehouse and industrial district that has many loft and condo conversions to go along with its shops, restaurants, and art galleries. In the suburbs there are many active adult communities to choose from (see link at left). According to the National Association of Realtors, the median selling price of a home in the Portland/Vancouver/Hillsboro, OR-WA area was $556,800 in the 1st quarter of 2023.
What Is Special about Portland
Portland is a major but manageable city and offers views of lakes and mountains. The town is home to exceptional parks - Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Mt. Tabor Park, and Forest Park. It also offers charming neighborhoods and a downtown area. Portland is also home to microbreweries, the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park, Trail Blazers NBA basketball team, Leach Botanical Gardens, and there is the great skiing on Mt. Hood. Portland State University (26,000) is also located here. See our Dueling Retirement States blog article about the Pacific Northwest, which generated a ton of comments about Portland, pro and con.
What Is Not Special about Portland
It rains in Portland 155 days a year. Portland has a significant homeless problem and a reputation for political protests.
Who Will Like Retirement in Portland
Active adults 55+ will like living in this bustling but livable city. It has a beautiful natural setting with a strong economic base. If you want to have a job in retirement you can most likely easily find one – paid and volunteer. There is plenty of culture and outdoor activity.
Local Economy Is Driven by
High tech, tourism, services, education.
Climate and Physical Environment
Portland is a city at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. It lies on top of an extinct Plio-Pleistocene volcanic field known as the Boring Lava Field. This is the Marine West Coast climate region, marked by warm summers and rainy but temperate winters, ideal for roses. The average summer high temperature is 79 and the January average low is 37. December is the wettest month.
Restaurants & Cultural Scene
American Style magazine named Portland as the 10th best Big City Arts Destination in the U.S. More than 75 arts organizations operate here, including the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland Art Museum, the Oregon Historical Society Museum, the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Symphony, Portland Center Stage, the Portland Opera, and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Crime
The crime rate is above average and issues with a large homeless population can be difficult.
Medical facilities
There is an array of major hospitals, including the OHSU Hospital and clinics.
Transportation
Mass transit connects the city and suburbs with buses, the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light rail system, the Portland Aerial Tram, and the Portland Streetcars. AMTRAK offers service here. Portland International Airport is 20 minutes away. Portland has won numerous distinctions as a bicycling-friendly community, and is considered above average in walkability when compared to other cities.
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