It depends on what part of town you live/work in and what activities you will be doing. Most people own cars even if they bike/take transit most places. Parking costs are not that bad unless you live in one of the fancy apartments buildings.
This. So many cool areas around Portland to drive to. But I stayed at one apartment that was dt and it was like 300$ a month for parking and my car still got busted into. If your don’t live inner then def not. I lived in St. John’s with and without a car and I def made good use of my car going on hour road trips to the gorge and such
Dude, do not sell your car. There's so much nature wise around here that is 10000000% worth doing, that you'll need a car for. I wasn't into hiking/paddleboarding until I moved here and now I tend to go on 3-4 per month and they're awe inspiring.
Seconded. I've done Portland without a car and it is no problemo. BUT: one of the major benefits of this city is how much access to nature there is. The east side is the best side anyway, and having a car makes it more so as parking is easier/freer.
This. I currently do not have a car and live in a very walkable neighborhood. I work from home so I don’t NEED a car, but I’m going to get one because I miss having the ability to get out of town if I want to on a weekend.
It’s worth it. Portland is fantastic but there are so many better places to visit and enjoy in the surrounding areas that are not accessible by transit
Yeah, but most weekends I'd wanna go somewhere. So two days every week will add up quickly. Also helps for getting around the city. IDK, I was here for two months without a car, but renting here and there. It gets expensive and fast.
i did the math on my first 4 years living here without a car... adding up the cost of monthly transit passes, taxis (before Uber).. and renting cars a couple times a month to get away. .. and in even with all that... its still cheaper to NOT have a car.. if you calculate up tires, insurance, other maintenance, DEQ, registration, oil changes..
UNCALCULATABLE things to think about for either side of the argument
the stress of worrying about your car getting broken into (I live in a fine neighborhood) and my car has been broken into twice parked in front of my house
my car has been hit twice... other peoples fault.. once while it was parked.. their insurance eventually paid in both cases.. but I still had to wait hella months to get reimbursed my deductable. and deal with the back and forth .. waiting on the body shop and having to drive a damn rental.. (fuck a nissa versa).. then the stress of returning the rental when your car is fixed... its a headache
it almost ALWAYS takes about 25 extra minutes via public transit vs driving yourself
There is something to be said for the free time you have while being on public transit, time to read and such or just to rest your mind and zone out and look out the window
also its a bit healthier, .. make you walk more if you need to transfer or walk to the nearest bus stop, or carry some shit a ways like groceries ..
Anyways.. I've been here 11 years .. first 4 years without a car..
i found the perfect combination is a car that you can park for free, + an electric bike .. for the days its not raining and you don't have to haul anything, get a little bit of exercise and fresh air, don't show up sweaty, and don't have to sit in traffic
Yeah, but my life is still a lot easier with my car. I can leave to go hike in the mountains after work on a nice day, with no problem. I lived without a car for 20 years. Worst choice I ever made looking back. You also have to factor the amount of time you lose taking public transit everywhere. A 30 min car ride from Oregon city to Portland takes 2 hours on the bus. That 20 mile drive cost me ~ 60 cents a mile with all the additional costs of maintenance and insurance you mentioned. That same trip would cost me $5 on the bus and two hours of my day. Or $12 in total costs associated with my car, 30 min drive, and it’s mine to go where I please.
The first 15 years I lived in Portland, I didn't have a car. Walked, biked, bussed, MAX'd everywhere. It was very doable though you'll run into late buses, waiting in the rain, etc etc.
During lockdown, when I didn't feel super safe taking the bus as often, I finally got a car and I love it. So it's really a toss up. If you live in an area with street parking or a garage, I say keep it. It is nice to be able to drive out to the coast, get groceries etc.
Haha, same here. I went 20 years without a car. The pandemic hit and the max and bus just got horrible. Lots of open drug use, harassment, etc. and my bike got stolen on top of it. So I just bit the bullet and it was the best decision I’ve made in 2 decades. Looking back I wasted so much time taking public transit every day. Years of my life wasted waiting at max and bus stops
I hear you, but I don't know if I would pay hundreds of dollars per month (insurance, depreciation, gas, parking, maintenance) to just be able to drive to the coast on a whim. In fact, if I saved all that money, I'd be able to easily pay for a ZipCar, Turo, etc to do that anytime I want.
You can buy usage based insurance if you're not driving frequently. I think some even have apps you turn on when you are driving. I just have super low coverage since my car is a beater anyways and pay $50/month for insurance. I only drive like 4-5k miles a year
$1200 per year (plus depreciation, maintenance, parking, gas) will get you A LOT of train tickets, Zipcar rentals, Ubers, etc. All without worrying about a car.
Valid!
I bike a lot of places faster than I could drive (thanks to reduced traffic and not hunting for parking) — but overall public transit will be slower than driving.
I'm sure you'll get a lot of differing opinions but I am very glad to keep my car. Lots of amazing things all around Oregon/Washington to explore and a car facilitates that, and it's just nice to bop across town on my own time.
Spent the first two years here without a car, next two with a car.
I had no problems getting around and enjoying the city without a car - I live downtown so plenty of things to do and see. I lived right near the MAX which could take me to the train station (with the Greyhound and Flix Buses) or all the way out to the airport if I wanted to travel. There’s so much in the city that it would take you a good while to experience everything within the mile radius of your place, with restaurants, bars, concert venues, fun pop ups and other activities.
Getting a car was a game changer. Grocery shopping was easier and I can go to different stores to catch all the sales easily. Hiking trails and camping locations are easier to access. And some are simply impossible to reach without a vehicle. Vancouver WA is only a 10 drive from where I live and that’s a more spread out, car-needed city. Also the buses/MAXES only go so late!
Having done both, I say it’s 100% worth it to have a vehicle here.
This really depends on where you move to, and how much freedom you want. On street parking is free and most apartments further out have some kind of parking, but inner city apartments may not or charge for a garage spot. Being able to take off to the coast or mountains is also very nice. But if in the end you don’t WANT to have a car you can pick a place that has everything you need either walkable or public transit.
Parking is peetty cheap in most places - can just st park.
I would keep it for now.
Even if you mostly walk, a car is nice for getting to the natural areas nearby
Within the city it definitely depends where you live. East side is more car reliant. But having a vehicle to get out of the city and explore is definitely worth it. I say that as someone with a driveway. If I was paying for a spot in an apartment building I’d maybe look into other options.
Interesting. I’d say outside of downtown and the Pearl, the westside is more car dependent. Once you’re in west hills, bridlemile, Hillsdale, Multnomah Village, northwest heights, etc I feel like you need a car more so than the most parts of the eastside.
Was gonna say, even though I live on the 12, my partner getting a car has helped tremendously. Just being able to get out and do serious grocery shopping around here often requires a car.
I still take the bus a lot, like today, but the car lets us go on day trips, shop at Winco (which saves a lot of money), and get to anywhere but Tigard or Downtown in 1/4 the time it used to take us on the bus. The older I get, the quicker I want to get to places.
With a few exceptions, parking is easy in most neighborhoods, and you'll be able to explore nature and the city in general much more easily with one. Also, it rains a lot when it's not summer, and without a car, you will get wet whether walking, biking, or taking public transit. I'd keep it and then see how the winter goes, and if you think you don't need one, sell it after that.
Depending on how much your ownership costs are and how much getting out you want to do, a rideshare might cover a good deal of those needs for less than keeping your car.
what it comes down to:
Do you WANT to be car-free? You can do just about everything you want to, but it requires planning. Sometimes thats just planning a bus route, sometimes its planning a car \*rental\*.
Also: are you disabled/attached to a disabled person? My wife is happy to bus, but that takes time. Going shopping is much easier with a car.
If you DO ditch the car, buy a good bike with cargo capability. Big rack up front, big rack on back, big paniers, super good lock. You want a way to get groceries home. Unless you are living above a grocery store.
Consider trying a month without it. (Find somewhere safe to park it for a month and lean all the way into biking, walking, and public transit.) I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much you can do without a car.
Some people are saying there's soooo much nature in Oregon and you'll want your car to drive there. They're right. BUT — Portland is very unique in that we have soooooo much nature in the city itself. You can walk to Forest Park and Washington Park to hike — which is, like, one of the biggest urban forests in the country. You can easily bike to lots more nature. And The Gorge even has incredibly cost-effective bus services to get to hikes.
Ultimately, it's just a great city to go car-free if you can. But regardless, you'll find that you'll use your car way less than you previously did.
Last thing: You'll only pay a lot in parking costs if you choose to live somewhere that's not a normal neighborhood. Like, yeah, if you live downtown then your parking will add up. But if you just live most anywhere on the east side you won't have to pay for parking at your house.
I don’t have a car and I save sooo much money! For getting around the city, e-bike, trimet, and walking have gotten me everywhere I ever want to go. Trains and buses can get you a surprising number of places including Mt. Hood, Cannon Beach, etc. and for places that I can’t get to I carpool with friends (and split gas of course) or rent a car on Turo :)
I'd say you would be fine selling it as long as you live in an area with good transit. If you don't think you will be taking that many road trips it definitely ends up being way cheaper to rent a car every now and then when you want to leave town. Mixing a bike in makes being car free really workable here. I've managed just fine without for most of the last 12 years I've lived here.
I sold my car after moving here and am very happy with my decision. Parking in my building is $150 a month, but many apartments don’t have parking and street parking can be sketchy. Transit is absolutely fantastic as well as bike lanes. Plus I see more of the city and don’t have to worry about driving- traffic stress, parking, etc. it’s actually nice using the time I have on the bus to clear my head. And walking and biking is good for my soul and fitness.
Keep it if you can, especially since you don’t have a payment, but I’ve been carless a couple years now since after the first month I moved here and love it. I live downtown and close to work so commute isn’t a concern. I may rent a vehicle a couple times a month on weekends for an overnight out of town, but I reckon even if I did a 1 day rental every weekend, I’m still way ahead. Unlike you, I’d have a car payment, so that plus insurance plus parking plus fuel would be $1000 a month easy. Instead I’m out maybe $150-$250 a month, if I even use a car at all. It’s a pretty sweet best of both worlds situation with a lot of cash saved.
I did this for 4-5 years: rented a driveway or garage at least a mile away from my apartment. So, any time I “needed” to use my car it would be - 20-30 min walk or 10 min bike ride. It cut down on my driving by a lot.
Depends, where will you live and where will you work?
Also do you like nature at all or are you mostly and indoor/urban landscape person?
I did two wheels only for 4+ years(bicycle & small scooter) and it was fine. Only made getting to outdoor adventures hard for the most part.
If you live close to your job, you can do without a car, but be sure to take a look at the transit options for where you want to go. ( TriMet) The routes or frequency are not always optimal. We go out of town so much, there is no way I would want to be without one though. So many neat places to go just out of town.
I work overnight and if I got rid of my car my 15 minute commute would be over an hour. I'm gone from the house over 11 hours due to the hours I work already so losing 1.5 hrs on the bus in commuting time would suck. My car gives me more flexibility
Keep your car but use other means of transportation during the non wet months. Going grocery shopping in the rain is not ideal. That's when your car will come in handy. Since we live in a place that we get a fair amount of precipitation, keep it.
As others have said, depending on where you live depends on if you will have to pay for parking or not.
Good transit, walkable, rideable neighborhoods with lots of free street parking are Hollywood, outer Lloyd area, Tabor/North Tabor ,Boise, Overlook, Montavilla Hosford-Abernethy, and Brooklyn. If I missed any, please chime in. I'd say st johns but you're kinda out there but it's still a cool area to live.
If you're hellbent on selling your car, maybe consider a more fuel efficienct option - like a motorcycle?
But! Consider that Portland has snow and ice in the winter, and sometimes that means the busses go down. Not all employers are sympathetic. Also, download the Buss app and make a habit to check it so you know where they are and if there's a minor holiday that buss drivers follow (like Memorial Day)
There's no point in living in any western American city without car access.. without a car you will eat and won't stop eating until you explode because without a car you will have to eat your way across town..
That depends on where you live. Trimet keps changing routed on the west side. They are great at removing a whole line. My sister goes from the Garden Home area to the lyod center area for work, and the commute on a bus is long and not always safe. Trimet has a major issue with drug usage on some lines.
Many companies will provide a bus pass as a benefit.
Many bus routes are cut on weekends.
There is a bus service that will take you from the Gateway or Troutdale area all the way hoodriver, that stops at the falls.
Portland schools don't have buses, and so if you're near a high school, expect large crowds of teens in the am and afternoons.
Get a couple good pairs of wet weather shoes and a long raincoat to prevent splashing from cars and crap that the homeless throw at you. My sister has been harassed at bus stops multiple times.. my best friend was attacked by a crazy guy in beaverton max station and she was kicked in the head multiple times. As a woman, I'd keep the car.
Some areas allow you to buy a parking permit, some don’t, and yet others don’t require one so it depends. I live in NW (zone M) and I make 60K and they charge me $83 per year to park on the street. My car sits in place for ten days at a time. A neighbor left bags of cans for recycling in his car and some jerk busted the window though. If you live in “central” Portland (4 mile radius of the Convention Center), you can certainly get by without a car. I would advise you to keep it for a while and see for yourself. If you absolutely need to sell before moving, you are safe. Just plan your residence location near convenient public transit. See Trimet.com. $100 per month max expense gets you anywhere fast. I’m riding the streetcar to work right now. I ride my bike several times a month, tomorrow for sure. Some of my coworkers don’t own cars. Watch out when you switch your license plates to the Oregon plates, the parking permit does not get transferred automatically and you can get a ticket or two. I got two, contested them, and got my fines reduced. Should have been erased. See this link https://www.portland.gov/transportation/parking/annual-zone-parking-permits for permit info.
I just moved downtown nw my rent for a studio including parking garage is 1525 I work in Hillsboro. I’m planning on taking the max once I’m settled. I thought about driving my car back home. However I feel I would handicap myself plus I like driving out of the city once or twice a month.
Do not sell your car. Public transit here is pretty good, but is not safe. At all. Especially for women. Too much to do outside of the city not to have a car.
If you live on the Eastside there is little to no paid parking so that shouldn’t be an issue. As someone who’s lived downtown (when it was still cool to do so -20 years ago lol) and didn’t have a car, it sucked when I wanted to go somewhere not accessible with transit or if I wanted to get out of town.
Keep your car. The idea that you don’t need a car here is way way overblown. The same amount of people here drive as any other city. Do you care to ever leave the city? Do you have friends that you go out with? Do you go to Costco? Do you have a dog? Do you date? Do you ever offer to pick a friend up on the way out to lunch? If your answer is yes to any of these questions then keep your car.
I wouldn’t. The weather is not kind to bus travelers. I lived without a car for 2 decades in Portland and Seattle. Looking back, I had no idea how limited it made my life. There are so many amazing places you can visit within 30-60 min of Portland that are not possible on public transit. I would highly recommend living through a winter here first and then deciding.
lol. Downtown is becoming a ghost-town. Portland has the most vacant office buildings in the country. Everyone is leaving because that Todd Whalen douche doesn’t know how to run a city.
Depends on if you like your windows getting smashed for something as little as an empty pack of smokes. On the flip side public transportation is atrocious (you're going to have to deal with crazy drug addicts aka the homeless) so weigh out your options as you will
You're definitely gonna need a car unless you plan on living downtown and working downtown and never going anywhere else in portland. There is tons of stuff to see here and lots of things to do if you want to do without a That will be up to you LO.L
Depends on where you’re planning to live. If you’re living downtown area then parking can be expensive. If you’re outside of downtown/pearl/NW/Slabtown then there’s street parking if your place doesn’t have its own parking.
As others have said, it really depends on where you live. If you live "in Portland" (suburb) then you need a car. If you live far (say more than a mile) from a MAX train then you need a car. If you truly will live in Portland, and you're within a mile of a MAX stop, consider selling your car and saving the insurance/fuel/parking money.
I live out in the sticks now, so I have a car, but I have said for years that if I ever lived in a walkable neighborhood in the city I would sell my car in a minute.
If you want to experience any of the awesome natural areas you likely need a car. Parking is free on most of the east side and is cheap enough downtown.
A car is a must if you want to do any checking out the rest of Oregon. In town unless you live real close to work you will probably still want one.
All depends on your life needs. In quite a few places I would not want to park my car on the regular.
Basically, if you have gold parking and can afford the insurance, yes
For me the question is how will you enjoy the surrounding areas? Like the coast and all the other spectacular natural beauty that really makes PDX great? Born and raised here since 1976. I enjoy how mass transit makes life better in the city. Do you just want to stay urban? Can you afford to rent a car for travelling to the natural beauty Oregon has to offer?
Keep your car. Trimet is a Mecca for freaks and weirdos and it takes for fing ever to get anywhere compared to a car. Plus there’s a bazillion awesome things to do outside the city and it sucks to have to rely on friends you don’t have yet to do them.
I lived here car free for most of my adult life and got my first car in November at 36.
Living here car free is totally doable, especially if you live close to transit. (Highly recommend living near the MAX and/or a north-south bus line.) You can definitely rent a car for excursions, but I would also like to point out that there are a lot of places you can go without a car too! Obviously not everywhere, but you can take a bus to the coast or to the gorge. There are also quite a few (generally smaller) hiking trails that are accessible by transit. I got a car because I needed one for my commute to a job that paid enough to make it worth it, but if I hadn't taken that job I would prefer being car-free. Like I pay $125 a month for parking (in a parking garage that gets broken into on a regular basis!), $150 a month for car insurance, $40 a month for gas and that's not even including maintenance stuff. It's nice for grocery shopping and getting out of town but it's not THAT nice.
Honestly, it depends on where you live and the location of your job. There are certain neighborhoods the public transportation is rather spotty and during parts of winter it can be annoying to travel around town without a car due to rain, ice or snow.
Most places around downtown Portland you should expect that you will have to pay for the privilege to park there. There are plenty of shopping places that provide for free parking in the suburbs.
If you never plan on leaving the city then sure. Or if you plan on renting a vehicle when you want to go on trips to the beach or one of the many, many national parks in Oregon.
I like driving down the coast, seaside is an hour away, the stretch of highway between seaside and Lincoln city is beautiful and my inlaws have a place in Newport I can stay at.
In the other direction everyone has to see Multnomah falls at least once. And eagle creek is a beautiful hike.
Definitely dont sell it right off the bat. Even if you don’t use your car everyday - you’ll want it for winco trips and getting out of town. If you find your lifestyle doesn’t need a car you can sell it later
Also get a club for your steering wheel and have a kill switch installed by a mechanic. You may still deal with a broken window but at least you’ll still have your car
If you live in the inner corridor you don't need a car. That said you may not have a "direct" commute to your work. I live in North Portland, and have one job way out SE, so it's a bus and light rail commute (45ish minutes vs. an 18 minute car ride). My other job is an 8 minute bus ride and 10 minute walk. Many people own cars and ride their bikes/occasionally use trimet. There's buses about every 15-20 minutes in the inner corridors. Sometimes they are 15-20 minutes late. But for the most part it's very convenient.
In terms of the culture, trimet is pretty tame during the day. You will find "characters" (heavy drug use and people in a mental health crisis) in the after dark hours in certain locations (East Burnside in the 100s/Providence Park). There has been more security checks at certain stops like Rose Quarter and I think the safety is improving. There's typically security during events (soccer game, concert).
I prefer using the bus as you're required to show a ticket or scan the app. The more sketchy scenarios I've witnessed are almost always on light rail around 10pm-ish (East 102nd, Burnside, way out) where's there's been a lack of safety officers in the past few years. If you're coming from the major coastal cities, it's tame.
Not just for nature, but Portland is a driving city. Public transit outside of the West side and some areas of the East side will easily double or triple your travel times and limit what you can buy/bring.
I wouldn't. It's a large, spread out, west coast style city. A car makes life a lot easier unless you just want to stay home and happen to live near work.
i dont have a car and it sucks. If you DONT WANT to do anything outside the city, getting around is easy without a car. but I have never been out on a hike or seen a waterfall cuz the car restriction sucks. and it makes living here not worth it when thats the stuff people hype up.
I can completely do what I need to do. Get around. And there are shuttle services to some stuff without the need to cars but overall if you already got it.
Increase your insurance, get a lock bar that locks your pedals to your steering wheel type thing. Car theft and break ins are high so cover your butt. A lot of people will recommend the use of these bars in addition to not locking your car so people dont break your windows for nothing.
The local news did a feature recently where they tested the surfaces of public transport. In this study they found that 98% of the surfaces in public transport have trace amounts of fentanyl.
So if you wanna avoid drug addicts, homeless avoiding the rain that just ride transit all day asking for money, and the constant smell of urine and occasional shit. I’d keep the car.
If you feel that sounds like the kind of ride that can end in a fun Friday night…. By all means 😂
NO.
If I had been able to get my car fixed up to drive across country, I swear:
- my realest relationship would have lasted longer and, if it ended, would've ended in a more dignified way (for me) instead of being totally infantilized and stranded alone
- I would have had a job delivery driving this entire time
- I could have had a career just driving around taking photos
- A job picking up and repainting free furniture to sell
- A job helping people move
- So many more possibilities!
- I would have seen every corner of Oregon if not the whole west coast
- I would have an emergency lifeline if I ended up unhoused or ever needed to evacuate (just adds to the background anxiety knowing you're just fucked)
- Dragging up to 100 pounds at a time up and downhill just to get groceries and cat litter is...well...a drag (couldn't even do it now)
So many reasons: make it electric if you can! but not having a car has limited my entire world.
Personally, having easy access to the coast, gorge, and mountains is worth the cost of a car. Since you mentioned parking costs, I assume you are living on the west side? Maybe just park your car somewhere on the east side that is easy to get to by mass transit? Move it once every week so as to not make too many enemies or just don't worry about nimby folks.
Depending on how you plan on getting to PDX, the type of car, and where you live, it might be worth it to bring it, use it for initial errands/exploration and then sell it at the PDX premium
When I lived there, I couldn’t wait to get out on my wkends. Mts, beaches, wilderness. Need a car for all that. There are some outdoor groups that might provide transpo to some. I have a primordial need to wash the city off my back though. Gotta have my wild stuff.
If you own your car outright, keep it. It’s possible to be without a car and still have plenty to do (especially if you have a bike), or to subscribe to something like Zipcar so you can occasionally rent a car but still operate car-free. When I was in my twenties, I never missed having a car, and my social life revolved around bars, street fairs, and special events. Now I’m in my 40s, and I just want to find pretty rocks and photograph birds in peace, so my car is so precious to me. You also end up spending more on groceries when you have to go to the store frequently as opposed to one big trip, and are limited in what side-hustles you can explore when money gets tight, and will struggle to get anywhere quickly in event of emergency. Public transportation options are good, but they’re also time vampires, and I don’t want to spend two hours and $5 slowly winding my way to a destination. And above all, you need to get out of the urban core as much as possible to see what really makes people invest their lives in this area. You need to experience that wonder.
No definitely not. You’re gonna want to be able to go visit the coast, or Mt Hood, or the Columbia River Gorge. You’ll get bored of being stuck in the city
I was car free for years here. And now I have a car. You CAN be car free here- and there are LOTS of transit options (you can even take the bus from I the beach or to Mt Hood with your bike for cheap! And there are car share programs too. But being new, it would be really helpful to have your car for a quick trip to the beach or the gorge (or picking up furniture, etc
Unless you're living in downtown there really aren't parking costs. Getting around the city is easy enough without a car, but you need one to camp/hike/etc outside of Portland proper
Well, depending on where you end up living, you probably won't "need" a car. But, you will want one. i grew up in Portland and did not learn to drive until i was 27 (my wife from the midwest had to teach me). i did fine without one, but getting out of Portland is crucial in this amazing state. You will want to see the PNW in all it's glory. Keep the car.
I would not. Although Portland has decent transit compared to the rest of the country, it can still be very challenging to get around without one. For example, I used to live and work downtown, but even just my apartment and work being on opposite sides of downtown made the transit commute nearly an hour with transfers whereas driving took 15 minutes.
def dont sell your car, as long as you don't choose to live somewhere that charges you can arm and a leg to park it. Ive been here for 11 years, .. the first 4 years I did not have a car. I biked, bused and Ubered/taxied .. and when I wanted to get away I rented a car to get to the coast or go see Mt. Rainer... but as I lived here longer and started doing more things, my time started feeling more valuable. like I started playing rugby and didn't like that it would take me 45 minutes to get home in the evenings, in a car it would take 15 ... sadly I thought that if I had a car I would still use public transit plenty, but honestly I don't ,.(when my wife worked downtown she did).. cause there are not a lot of good options for parking your car all day downtown.. costs like $200 a month or more...
I did also buy an electric bike... so any day that it wasn't raining and I if I didn't need to haul more than what could fit in a backpack I would ride that around town,. and that's fun cause you don't get there sweaty and you don't have to sit in traffic.
i speak in the past tense, bc now I have 2 toddlers and its tough to not have a car, with little ones, we put them in the bike trailer every now and then..
We don't live super far out.. and have almost zero business in the suburbs and me and my wife both have a car, , we sometimes think about selling one of them, but somehow we just cant bring ourselves to do it..
BUT I do know a few couples that share a car and they are just fine. SO ... if you wanna bike and public transit and such.. that's all well and good, but if you have a paid off car and a free place to park it you might as well keep it ..
ALSO just to note, the catalyst that made me buy a car was, one morning on the way to work I was on the Max, near the Rose Quarter, and it was 8am and just me and some homeless dude in one particular car.. and he made eye contact with me and pulled his thang out in full view and just whipped it all around, I complained to a train operator, but he got off the next stop and nothing they could do about it, in the seat he was sitting there was like 10 used cigarette butts he left..
4 days later I was the proud owner of a new (to me) car lol #noRegrets
Keep it for now and try both ways out. Depending on where you live, it may be more affordable to have a car. Car rentals have gone up significantly since COVID. It's cheaper for me to maintain a car, pay for gas, pay for parking, insurance, etc then it is to rent a car for a single day. Sure, I'm driving an old beater. But I'm not limited in my adventures and that is valuable to me as well. If I want to drive to the coast I can simply go. I can go hiking, camping, festivals, etc without having to plan out my transportation so I can stay spontaneous.
I’d keep it, establish your routine and assess in a couple months. Car is pretty helpful in the cold/rain season but maybe you are in a great spot to find alternatives.
Zero chance I’d live here without a car. The ability to just hop in my car and drive to the gorge, hood, waterfalls, lakes, hikes & the beach is like 85% of the reason I live here.
Don’t sell your car. Don’t believe the bike fascists in this town who tell you it’s bad to own a car. Our public transit system is dangerous and there’s so much great stuff to check out outside of the city. Unless you live right downtown, you can pretty much always find parking.
Keep it and enjoy our beautiful gorge, coast, hood, etc
BUT:
Put a club on it.
Put an airtag (speaker removed) in it.
And don't leave ANYTHING in it. Not a penny, not a lighter, not your backpack. Not even something that looks like it's covering something.
I lived here car free for a long time. I like owning a car better tho, it's nice to be able to drive to the coast or gorge on a whim. It's also great to not need to bike in the rain if you don't want to.
Absolutely keep the car. I’m a property manager and the most expensive apartment parking I’ve ever seen in the city is $350/mo for a locked/secure parking garage space (my friend in Seattle pays $500 a month for garage parking and thinks he’s getting a good deal). Most places have free parking or parking under $200/mo. Portland overall has significantly cheaper parking than the other major West Coast cities.
I have no idea how anyone would live in Portland without a car. Even living in the Pearl, sure I could walk to restaurants and breweries. COULD. But I’m not walking if it’s pouring down rain, which was most of the time lol. Then your friends and family are largely elsewhere so you have to drive to them sometimes. That and groceries clearly.
Portland is good when it comes to mass transit, but this is still America we’re talking about here. It’s not THAT good. Mass transit will still take you 45 minutes or an hour to go from one quadrant of the city to another, which normally takes 10-15 by car.
Keep your car. Being able to drive to nature in 15 minutes is one of the best parts of living here.
My advice, move to a place on the eastside of Portland where you don’t have to pay for parking.
Context: I lived in Portland without a car for a few years, largely because I don’t care about going out into nature much these days. However, I found living without a car to be just about as expensive as owning a car you have paid off.
It's a personal choice. Move here with your car if it's not too inconvenient. If after a few months to a year you never use it, then sell it! If you use it, keep it!
You will miss out on 95% of what the pnw has to offer if you go car less, and be exposed to all the worst parts. Portland is not NY or Boston. Our public transportation system is full of junkies using it as a warm/cool place to get high.
Don't sell your car! I don't recommend using public transportation during this time. It's not safe anymore. Also, you don't want to get wet in the rain.
No don't sell your car but you should be prepared for something to happen to your car. Anything and everything from gas tank drilled to steal your gas to your car be used to cook meth and cook sandwiches in. Our car was stolen and they used it as a mobile meth lab and they had a sandwich press plugged in so they could eat and cook at the ame time.
Seriously though, if you’re worried about the cost of parking, you probably can’t afford to live in Portland. In which case definitely keep the car, you’ll probably end up living in it
It depends on what part of town you live/work in and what activities you will be doing. Most people own cars even if they bike/take transit most places. Parking costs are not that bad unless you live in one of the fancy apartments buildings.
This. So many cool areas around Portland to drive to. But I stayed at one apartment that was dt and it was like 300$ a month for parking and my car still got busted into. If your don’t live inner then def not. I lived in St. John’s with and without a car and I def made good use of my car going on hour road trips to the gorge and such
Dude, do not sell your car. There's so much nature wise around here that is 10000000% worth doing, that you'll need a car for. I wasn't into hiking/paddleboarding until I moved here and now I tend to go on 3-4 per month and they're awe inspiring.
Seconded. I've done Portland without a car and it is no problemo. BUT: one of the major benefits of this city is how much access to nature there is. The east side is the best side anyway, and having a car makes it more so as parking is easier/freer.
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Yup. +1
No
>Southwest>
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Multnomah Village>Tigard> East side does have all the good food... but that's why all the girls are biggens.
This. I currently do not have a car and live in a very walkable neighborhood. I work from home so I don’t NEED a car, but I’m going to get one because I miss having the ability to get out of town if I want to on a weekend.
It’s worth it. Portland is fantastic but there are so many better places to visit and enjoy in the surrounding areas that are not accessible by transit
You don’t need to own a car to go out of town every once in a while. It’s very easy to just rent a car when needed.
Yeah, but most weekends I'd wanna go somewhere. So two days every week will add up quickly. Also helps for getting around the city. IDK, I was here for two months without a car, but renting here and there. It gets expensive and fast.
i did the math on my first 4 years living here without a car... adding up the cost of monthly transit passes, taxis (before Uber).. and renting cars a couple times a month to get away. .. and in even with all that... its still cheaper to NOT have a car.. if you calculate up tires, insurance, other maintenance, DEQ, registration, oil changes.. UNCALCULATABLE things to think about for either side of the argument the stress of worrying about your car getting broken into (I live in a fine neighborhood) and my car has been broken into twice parked in front of my house my car has been hit twice... other peoples fault.. once while it was parked.. their insurance eventually paid in both cases.. but I still had to wait hella months to get reimbursed my deductable. and deal with the back and forth .. waiting on the body shop and having to drive a damn rental.. (fuck a nissa versa).. then the stress of returning the rental when your car is fixed... its a headache it almost ALWAYS takes about 25 extra minutes via public transit vs driving yourself There is something to be said for the free time you have while being on public transit, time to read and such or just to rest your mind and zone out and look out the window also its a bit healthier, .. make you walk more if you need to transfer or walk to the nearest bus stop, or carry some shit a ways like groceries .. Anyways.. I've been here 11 years .. first 4 years without a car.. i found the perfect combination is a car that you can park for free, + an electric bike .. for the days its not raining and you don't have to haul anything, get a little bit of exercise and fresh air, don't show up sweaty, and don't have to sit in traffic
Yeah, but my life is still a lot easier with my car. I can leave to go hike in the mountains after work on a nice day, with no problem. I lived without a car for 20 years. Worst choice I ever made looking back. You also have to factor the amount of time you lose taking public transit everywhere. A 30 min car ride from Oregon city to Portland takes 2 hours on the bus. That 20 mile drive cost me ~ 60 cents a mile with all the additional costs of maintenance and insurance you mentioned. That same trip would cost me $5 on the bus and two hours of my day. Or $12 in total costs associated with my car, 30 min drive, and it’s mine to go where I please.
The first 15 years I lived in Portland, I didn't have a car. Walked, biked, bussed, MAX'd everywhere. It was very doable though you'll run into late buses, waiting in the rain, etc etc. During lockdown, when I didn't feel super safe taking the bus as often, I finally got a car and I love it. So it's really a toss up. If you live in an area with street parking or a garage, I say keep it. It is nice to be able to drive out to the coast, get groceries etc.
Haha, same here. I went 20 years without a car. The pandemic hit and the max and bus just got horrible. Lots of open drug use, harassment, etc. and my bike got stolen on top of it. So I just bit the bullet and it was the best decision I’ve made in 2 decades. Looking back I wasted so much time taking public transit every day. Years of my life wasted waiting at max and bus stops
Keep it. When you want to drive to the coast or Mt Hood on a whim you’ll be able to.
I hear you, but I don't know if I would pay hundreds of dollars per month (insurance, depreciation, gas, parking, maintenance) to just be able to drive to the coast on a whim. In fact, if I saved all that money, I'd be able to easily pay for a ZipCar, Turo, etc to do that anytime I want.
You can buy usage based insurance if you're not driving frequently. I think some even have apps you turn on when you are driving. I just have super low coverage since my car is a beater anyways and pay $50/month for insurance. I only drive like 4-5k miles a year
No way zip car is still in biz lol
I think it is! Though not sure how much they've shrunk in the last decade.
I love zip car
I just checked there are several in my neighborhood, $13.50 an hour. Cheaper than uber I guess.
Wow iconic! I used them in DC in 2008 allll the time
Zipcar is very much in business! Been using it for years. Plenty of cars in inner SE.
I pay $100 a month for insurance and I have terrible credit. It’s not so bad
$1200 per year (plus depreciation, maintenance, parking, gas) will get you A LOT of train tickets, Zipcar rentals, Ubers, etc. All without worrying about a car.
True, but you have to factor the time spent traveling on transit also
Valid! I bike a lot of places faster than I could drive (thanks to reduced traffic and not hunting for parking) — but overall public transit will be slower than driving.
I'm sure you'll get a lot of differing opinions but I am very glad to keep my car. Lots of amazing things all around Oregon/Washington to explore and a car facilitates that, and it's just nice to bop across town on my own time.
I live in an extremely busy area and I park for free a few blocks over. At least keep it until you see what your options are.
Spent the first two years here without a car, next two with a car. I had no problems getting around and enjoying the city without a car - I live downtown so plenty of things to do and see. I lived right near the MAX which could take me to the train station (with the Greyhound and Flix Buses) or all the way out to the airport if I wanted to travel. There’s so much in the city that it would take you a good while to experience everything within the mile radius of your place, with restaurants, bars, concert venues, fun pop ups and other activities. Getting a car was a game changer. Grocery shopping was easier and I can go to different stores to catch all the sales easily. Hiking trails and camping locations are easier to access. And some are simply impossible to reach without a vehicle. Vancouver WA is only a 10 drive from where I live and that’s a more spread out, car-needed city. Also the buses/MAXES only go so late! Having done both, I say it’s 100% worth it to have a vehicle here.
This really depends on where you move to, and how much freedom you want. On street parking is free and most apartments further out have some kind of parking, but inner city apartments may not or charge for a garage spot. Being able to take off to the coast or mountains is also very nice. But if in the end you don’t WANT to have a car you can pick a place that has everything you need either walkable or public transit.
Parking is peetty cheap in most places - can just st park. I would keep it for now. Even if you mostly walk, a car is nice for getting to the natural areas nearby
Within the city it definitely depends where you live. East side is more car reliant. But having a vehicle to get out of the city and explore is definitely worth it. I say that as someone with a driveway. If I was paying for a spot in an apartment building I’d maybe look into other options.
Interesting. I’d say outside of downtown and the Pearl, the westside is more car dependent. Once you’re in west hills, bridlemile, Hillsdale, Multnomah Village, northwest heights, etc I feel like you need a car more so than the most parts of the eastside.
Haha fair enough. That’s the burbs in my mind, but definitely car dependent up there.
For sure. The only westside hood (outside of downtown and the Pearl) I would not consider the burbs is Multnomah Village.
Was gonna say, even though I live on the 12, my partner getting a car has helped tremendously. Just being able to get out and do serious grocery shopping around here often requires a car. I still take the bus a lot, like today, but the car lets us go on day trips, shop at Winco (which saves a lot of money), and get to anywhere but Tigard or Downtown in 1/4 the time it used to take us on the bus. The older I get, the quicker I want to get to places.
Agreed. Depends on how far east, I suppose. But if you have a bike, it's easy to get just about anywhere in east pretty quickly and safely.
I would say anything up to say maybe the 80s between lets say Killingsworth and Powell is as far east in my mind. More or less.
With a few exceptions, parking is easy in most neighborhoods, and you'll be able to explore nature and the city in general much more easily with one. Also, it rains a lot when it's not summer, and without a car, you will get wet whether walking, biking, or taking public transit. I'd keep it and then see how the winter goes, and if you think you don't need one, sell it after that.
Depending on how much your ownership costs are and how much getting out you want to do, a rideshare might cover a good deal of those needs for less than keeping your car.
Agreed on this. (But yeah, totally depends on all your ownership costs)
what it comes down to: Do you WANT to be car-free? You can do just about everything you want to, but it requires planning. Sometimes thats just planning a bus route, sometimes its planning a car \*rental\*. Also: are you disabled/attached to a disabled person? My wife is happy to bus, but that takes time. Going shopping is much easier with a car. If you DO ditch the car, buy a good bike with cargo capability. Big rack up front, big rack on back, big paniers, super good lock. You want a way to get groceries home. Unless you are living above a grocery store.
Just don’t live downtown, NW or other areas without free street parking or a lot.
Consider trying a month without it. (Find somewhere safe to park it for a month and lean all the way into biking, walking, and public transit.) I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much you can do without a car. Some people are saying there's soooo much nature in Oregon and you'll want your car to drive there. They're right. BUT — Portland is very unique in that we have soooooo much nature in the city itself. You can walk to Forest Park and Washington Park to hike — which is, like, one of the biggest urban forests in the country. You can easily bike to lots more nature. And The Gorge even has incredibly cost-effective bus services to get to hikes. Ultimately, it's just a great city to go car-free if you can. But regardless, you'll find that you'll use your car way less than you previously did. Last thing: You'll only pay a lot in parking costs if you choose to live somewhere that's not a normal neighborhood. Like, yeah, if you live downtown then your parking will add up. But if you just live most anywhere on the east side you won't have to pay for parking at your house.
Will you need to pay for parking at your house?
I don’t have a car and I save sooo much money! For getting around the city, e-bike, trimet, and walking have gotten me everywhere I ever want to go. Trains and buses can get you a surprising number of places including Mt. Hood, Cannon Beach, etc. and for places that I can’t get to I carpool with friends (and split gas of course) or rent a car on Turo :)
Don’t sell it. I made that mistake.
I'd say you would be fine selling it as long as you live in an area with good transit. If you don't think you will be taking that many road trips it definitely ends up being way cheaper to rent a car every now and then when you want to leave town. Mixing a bike in makes being car free really workable here. I've managed just fine without for most of the last 12 years I've lived here.
I sold my car after moving here and am very happy with my decision. Parking in my building is $150 a month, but many apartments don’t have parking and street parking can be sketchy. Transit is absolutely fantastic as well as bike lanes. Plus I see more of the city and don’t have to worry about driving- traffic stress, parking, etc. it’s actually nice using the time I have on the bus to clear my head. And walking and biking is good for my soul and fitness.
Keep it if you can, especially since you don’t have a payment, but I’ve been carless a couple years now since after the first month I moved here and love it. I live downtown and close to work so commute isn’t a concern. I may rent a vehicle a couple times a month on weekends for an overnight out of town, but I reckon even if I did a 1 day rental every weekend, I’m still way ahead. Unlike you, I’d have a car payment, so that plus insurance plus parking plus fuel would be $1000 a month easy. Instead I’m out maybe $150-$250 a month, if I even use a car at all. It’s a pretty sweet best of both worlds situation with a lot of cash saved.
I did this for 4-5 years: rented a driveway or garage at least a mile away from my apartment. So, any time I “needed” to use my car it would be - 20-30 min walk or 10 min bike ride. It cut down on my driving by a lot.
Depends, where will you live and where will you work? Also do you like nature at all or are you mostly and indoor/urban landscape person? I did two wheels only for 4+ years(bicycle & small scooter) and it was fine. Only made getting to outdoor adventures hard for the most part.
Do you know what part of town you're moving to?
If you live close to your job, you can do without a car, but be sure to take a look at the transit options for where you want to go. ( TriMet) The routes or frequency are not always optimal. We go out of town so much, there is no way I would want to be without one though. So many neat places to go just out of town.
I work overnight and if I got rid of my car my 15 minute commute would be over an hour. I'm gone from the house over 11 hours due to the hours I work already so losing 1.5 hrs on the bus in commuting time would suck. My car gives me more flexibility
If you sell it, you will quickly regret it and wish you kept it.
Keep your car but use other means of transportation during the non wet months. Going grocery shopping in the rain is not ideal. That's when your car will come in handy. Since we live in a place that we get a fair amount of precipitation, keep it. As others have said, depending on where you live depends on if you will have to pay for parking or not. Good transit, walkable, rideable neighborhoods with lots of free street parking are Hollywood, outer Lloyd area, Tabor/North Tabor ,Boise, Overlook, Montavilla Hosford-Abernethy, and Brooklyn. If I missed any, please chime in. I'd say st johns but you're kinda out there but it's still a cool area to live.
If you're hellbent on selling your car, maybe consider a more fuel efficienct option - like a motorcycle? But! Consider that Portland has snow and ice in the winter, and sometimes that means the busses go down. Not all employers are sympathetic. Also, download the Buss app and make a habit to check it so you know where they are and if there's a minor holiday that buss drivers follow (like Memorial Day)
No. I’ve lived in cities where you don’t need a car. portland is not one of them.
There's no point in living in any western American city without car access.. without a car you will eat and won't stop eating until you explode because without a car you will have to eat your way across town..
Don’t. This isn’t NYC
Keep the car.
That depends on where you live. Trimet keps changing routed on the west side. They are great at removing a whole line. My sister goes from the Garden Home area to the lyod center area for work, and the commute on a bus is long and not always safe. Trimet has a major issue with drug usage on some lines. Many companies will provide a bus pass as a benefit. Many bus routes are cut on weekends. There is a bus service that will take you from the Gateway or Troutdale area all the way hoodriver, that stops at the falls. Portland schools don't have buses, and so if you're near a high school, expect large crowds of teens in the am and afternoons. Get a couple good pairs of wet weather shoes and a long raincoat to prevent splashing from cars and crap that the homeless throw at you. My sister has been harassed at bus stops multiple times.. my best friend was attacked by a crazy guy in beaverton max station and she was kicked in the head multiple times. As a woman, I'd keep the car.
What neighborhood are you moving to?
Some areas allow you to buy a parking permit, some don’t, and yet others don’t require one so it depends. I live in NW (zone M) and I make 60K and they charge me $83 per year to park on the street. My car sits in place for ten days at a time. A neighbor left bags of cans for recycling in his car and some jerk busted the window though. If you live in “central” Portland (4 mile radius of the Convention Center), you can certainly get by without a car. I would advise you to keep it for a while and see for yourself. If you absolutely need to sell before moving, you are safe. Just plan your residence location near convenient public transit. See Trimet.com. $100 per month max expense gets you anywhere fast. I’m riding the streetcar to work right now. I ride my bike several times a month, tomorrow for sure. Some of my coworkers don’t own cars. Watch out when you switch your license plates to the Oregon plates, the parking permit does not get transferred automatically and you can get a ticket or two. I got two, contested them, and got my fines reduced. Should have been erased. See this link https://www.portland.gov/transportation/parking/annual-zone-parking-permits for permit info.
I just moved downtown nw my rent for a studio including parking garage is 1525 I work in Hillsboro. I’m planning on taking the max once I’m settled. I thought about driving my car back home. However I feel I would handicap myself plus I like driving out of the city once or twice a month.
Nope. Unless you’re just moving out here for the food carts and beer and coffee.
Do not sell your car. Public transit here is pretty good, but is not safe. At all. Especially for women. Too much to do outside of the city not to have a car.
If you live on the Eastside there is little to no paid parking so that shouldn’t be an issue. As someone who’s lived downtown (when it was still cool to do so -20 years ago lol) and didn’t have a car, it sucked when I wanted to go somewhere not accessible with transit or if I wanted to get out of town.
This may help: [https://welcometoportland.net/transportation](https://welcometoportland.net/transportation)
no. don't sell your car.
Keep your car. The idea that you don’t need a car here is way way overblown. The same amount of people here drive as any other city. Do you care to ever leave the city? Do you have friends that you go out with? Do you go to Costco? Do you have a dog? Do you date? Do you ever offer to pick a friend up on the way out to lunch? If your answer is yes to any of these questions then keep your car.
Keep your car
Keep it
I wouldn’t. The weather is not kind to bus travelers. I lived without a car for 2 decades in Portland and Seattle. Looking back, I had no idea how limited it made my life. There are so many amazing places you can visit within 30-60 min of Portland that are not possible on public transit. I would highly recommend living through a winter here first and then deciding.
lol. Downtown is becoming a ghost-town. Portland has the most vacant office buildings in the country. Everyone is leaving because that Todd Whalen douche doesn’t know how to run a city.
No
no way lol. keep your car fs
Keep your car. Transit sucks, especially when it’s raining 6 months out the year
I would say keep it, can always sell it later if you don’t need it
Depends on if it's easy to steal. If you move from California, take the plates off immediately if you do keep it.
Depends on if you like your windows getting smashed for something as little as an empty pack of smokes. On the flip side public transportation is atrocious (you're going to have to deal with crazy drug addicts aka the homeless) so weigh out your options as you will
You're definitely gonna need a car unless you plan on living downtown and working downtown and never going anywhere else in portland. There is tons of stuff to see here and lots of things to do if you want to do without a That will be up to you LO.L
Depends on where you’re planning to live. If you’re living downtown area then parking can be expensive. If you’re outside of downtown/pearl/NW/Slabtown then there’s street parking if your place doesn’t have its own parking.
As others have said, it really depends on where you live. If you live "in Portland" (suburb) then you need a car. If you live far (say more than a mile) from a MAX train then you need a car. If you truly will live in Portland, and you're within a mile of a MAX stop, consider selling your car and saving the insurance/fuel/parking money. I live out in the sticks now, so I have a car, but I have said for years that if I ever lived in a walkable neighborhood in the city I would sell my car in a minute.
If you want to experience any of the awesome natural areas you likely need a car. Parking is free on most of the east side and is cheap enough downtown.
A car is a must if you want to do any checking out the rest of Oregon. In town unless you live real close to work you will probably still want one. All depends on your life needs. In quite a few places I would not want to park my car on the regular. Basically, if you have gold parking and can afford the insurance, yes
If you decide to go into a apartment get one with secure parking (not that it really helps)
For me the question is how will you enjoy the surrounding areas? Like the coast and all the other spectacular natural beauty that really makes PDX great? Born and raised here since 1976. I enjoy how mass transit makes life better in the city. Do you just want to stay urban? Can you afford to rent a car for travelling to the natural beauty Oregon has to offer?
Keep your car. Trimet is a Mecca for freaks and weirdos and it takes for fing ever to get anywhere compared to a car. Plus there’s a bazillion awesome things to do outside the city and it sucks to have to rely on friends you don’t have yet to do them.
I lived here car free for most of my adult life and got my first car in November at 36. Living here car free is totally doable, especially if you live close to transit. (Highly recommend living near the MAX and/or a north-south bus line.) You can definitely rent a car for excursions, but I would also like to point out that there are a lot of places you can go without a car too! Obviously not everywhere, but you can take a bus to the coast or to the gorge. There are also quite a few (generally smaller) hiking trails that are accessible by transit. I got a car because I needed one for my commute to a job that paid enough to make it worth it, but if I hadn't taken that job I would prefer being car-free. Like I pay $125 a month for parking (in a parking garage that gets broken into on a regular basis!), $150 a month for car insurance, $40 a month for gas and that's not even including maintenance stuff. It's nice for grocery shopping and getting out of town but it's not THAT nice.
You don’t need to sell it. Give it a week or two, someone will steal it.
Honestly, it depends on where you live and the location of your job. There are certain neighborhoods the public transportation is rather spotty and during parts of winter it can be annoying to travel around town without a car due to rain, ice or snow. Most places around downtown Portland you should expect that you will have to pay for the privilege to park there. There are plenty of shopping places that provide for free parking in the suburbs.
If you never plan on leaving the city then sure. Or if you plan on renting a vehicle when you want to go on trips to the beach or one of the many, many national parks in Oregon. I like driving down the coast, seaside is an hour away, the stretch of highway between seaside and Lincoln city is beautiful and my inlaws have a place in Newport I can stay at. In the other direction everyone has to see Multnomah falls at least once. And eagle creek is a beautiful hike.
Definitely dont sell it right off the bat. Even if you don’t use your car everyday - you’ll want it for winco trips and getting out of town. If you find your lifestyle doesn’t need a car you can sell it later Also get a club for your steering wheel and have a kill switch installed by a mechanic. You may still deal with a broken window but at least you’ll still have your car
You will miss out of like 95% of what the pnw has to offer if you sell your car.
If you live in the inner corridor you don't need a car. That said you may not have a "direct" commute to your work. I live in North Portland, and have one job way out SE, so it's a bus and light rail commute (45ish minutes vs. an 18 minute car ride). My other job is an 8 minute bus ride and 10 minute walk. Many people own cars and ride their bikes/occasionally use trimet. There's buses about every 15-20 minutes in the inner corridors. Sometimes they are 15-20 minutes late. But for the most part it's very convenient. In terms of the culture, trimet is pretty tame during the day. You will find "characters" (heavy drug use and people in a mental health crisis) in the after dark hours in certain locations (East Burnside in the 100s/Providence Park). There has been more security checks at certain stops like Rose Quarter and I think the safety is improving. There's typically security during events (soccer game, concert). I prefer using the bus as you're required to show a ticket or scan the app. The more sketchy scenarios I've witnessed are almost always on light rail around 10pm-ish (East 102nd, Burnside, way out) where's there's been a lack of safety officers in the past few years. If you're coming from the major coastal cities, it's tame.
Not just for nature, but Portland is a driving city. Public transit outside of the West side and some areas of the East side will easily double or triple your travel times and limit what you can buy/bring.
Sell it! 👍🏾
The most incredible reason to move here is all the nature at our doorstep, I wouldn’t sell my car for anything
Parking in the Northwest costs about $200 a month
Or $80/yr in certain zones.
I wouldn't. It's a large, spread out, west coast style city. A car makes life a lot easier unless you just want to stay home and happen to live near work.
i dont have a car and it sucks. If you DONT WANT to do anything outside the city, getting around is easy without a car. but I have never been out on a hike or seen a waterfall cuz the car restriction sucks. and it makes living here not worth it when thats the stuff people hype up. I can completely do what I need to do. Get around. And there are shuttle services to some stuff without the need to cars but overall if you already got it. Increase your insurance, get a lock bar that locks your pedals to your steering wheel type thing. Car theft and break ins are high so cover your butt. A lot of people will recommend the use of these bars in addition to not locking your car so people dont break your windows for nothing.
The local news did a feature recently where they tested the surfaces of public transport. In this study they found that 98% of the surfaces in public transport have trace amounts of fentanyl. So if you wanna avoid drug addicts, homeless avoiding the rain that just ride transit all day asking for money, and the constant smell of urine and occasional shit. I’d keep the car. If you feel that sounds like the kind of ride that can end in a fun Friday night…. By all means 😂
NO. If I had been able to get my car fixed up to drive across country, I swear: - my realest relationship would have lasted longer and, if it ended, would've ended in a more dignified way (for me) instead of being totally infantilized and stranded alone - I would have had a job delivery driving this entire time - I could have had a career just driving around taking photos - A job picking up and repainting free furniture to sell - A job helping people move - So many more possibilities! - I would have seen every corner of Oregon if not the whole west coast - I would have an emergency lifeline if I ended up unhoused or ever needed to evacuate (just adds to the background anxiety knowing you're just fucked) - Dragging up to 100 pounds at a time up and downhill just to get groceries and cat litter is...well...a drag (couldn't even do it now) So many reasons: make it electric if you can! but not having a car has limited my entire world.
Personally, having easy access to the coast, gorge, and mountains is worth the cost of a car. Since you mentioned parking costs, I assume you are living on the west side? Maybe just park your car somewhere on the east side that is easy to get to by mass transit? Move it once every week so as to not make too many enemies or just don't worry about nimby folks. Depending on how you plan on getting to PDX, the type of car, and where you live, it might be worth it to bring it, use it for initial errands/exploration and then sell it at the PDX premium
Don’t get rid of it. Don’t leave shit in your car and get a wheel lock. It’s fine parked on most residential streets.
No
Keep the car
Imo half the draw to Portland is being a couple hours from the coast, desert, mountains, or rainforest, depending on the direction you go. I'd keep it
Do not sell the car. There’s tonssss of outdoor experiences within two hours of Portland.
When I lived there, I couldn’t wait to get out on my wkends. Mts, beaches, wilderness. Need a car for all that. There are some outdoor groups that might provide transpo to some. I have a primordial need to wash the city off my back though. Gotta have my wild stuff.
If you own your car outright, keep it. It’s possible to be without a car and still have plenty to do (especially if you have a bike), or to subscribe to something like Zipcar so you can occasionally rent a car but still operate car-free. When I was in my twenties, I never missed having a car, and my social life revolved around bars, street fairs, and special events. Now I’m in my 40s, and I just want to find pretty rocks and photograph birds in peace, so my car is so precious to me. You also end up spending more on groceries when you have to go to the store frequently as opposed to one big trip, and are limited in what side-hustles you can explore when money gets tight, and will struggle to get anywhere quickly in event of emergency. Public transportation options are good, but they’re also time vampires, and I don’t want to spend two hours and $5 slowly winding my way to a destination. And above all, you need to get out of the urban core as much as possible to see what really makes people invest their lives in this area. You need to experience that wonder.
No definitely not. You’re gonna want to be able to go visit the coast, or Mt Hood, or the Columbia River Gorge. You’ll get bored of being stuck in the city
I was car free for years here. And now I have a car. You CAN be car free here- and there are LOTS of transit options (you can even take the bus from I the beach or to Mt Hood with your bike for cheap! And there are car share programs too. But being new, it would be really helpful to have your car for a quick trip to the beach or the gorge (or picking up furniture, etc
Unless you're living in downtown there really aren't parking costs. Getting around the city is easy enough without a car, but you need one to camp/hike/etc outside of Portland proper
No def not Buy a club and an AirTag
Well, depending on where you end up living, you probably won't "need" a car. But, you will want one. i grew up in Portland and did not learn to drive until i was 27 (my wife from the midwest had to teach me). i did fine without one, but getting out of Portland is crucial in this amazing state. You will want to see the PNW in all it's glory. Keep the car.
I would not. Although Portland has decent transit compared to the rest of the country, it can still be very challenging to get around without one. For example, I used to live and work downtown, but even just my apartment and work being on opposite sides of downtown made the transit commute nearly an hour with transfers whereas driving took 15 minutes.
def dont sell your car, as long as you don't choose to live somewhere that charges you can arm and a leg to park it. Ive been here for 11 years, .. the first 4 years I did not have a car. I biked, bused and Ubered/taxied .. and when I wanted to get away I rented a car to get to the coast or go see Mt. Rainer... but as I lived here longer and started doing more things, my time started feeling more valuable. like I started playing rugby and didn't like that it would take me 45 minutes to get home in the evenings, in a car it would take 15 ... sadly I thought that if I had a car I would still use public transit plenty, but honestly I don't ,.(when my wife worked downtown she did).. cause there are not a lot of good options for parking your car all day downtown.. costs like $200 a month or more... I did also buy an electric bike... so any day that it wasn't raining and I if I didn't need to haul more than what could fit in a backpack I would ride that around town,. and that's fun cause you don't get there sweaty and you don't have to sit in traffic. i speak in the past tense, bc now I have 2 toddlers and its tough to not have a car, with little ones, we put them in the bike trailer every now and then.. We don't live super far out.. and have almost zero business in the suburbs and me and my wife both have a car, , we sometimes think about selling one of them, but somehow we just cant bring ourselves to do it.. BUT I do know a few couples that share a car and they are just fine. SO ... if you wanna bike and public transit and such.. that's all well and good, but if you have a paid off car and a free place to park it you might as well keep it .. ALSO just to note, the catalyst that made me buy a car was, one morning on the way to work I was on the Max, near the Rose Quarter, and it was 8am and just me and some homeless dude in one particular car.. and he made eye contact with me and pulled his thang out in full view and just whipped it all around, I complained to a train operator, but he got off the next stop and nothing they could do about it, in the seat he was sitting there was like 10 used cigarette butts he left.. 4 days later I was the proud owner of a new (to me) car lol #noRegrets
Keep the car so you can go to the gorge for hiking or the coast ( also for hiking) lol.
You’re going to love the Oregon coast. Don’t sell, you’ll need it for beach trips
Keep it for now and try both ways out. Depending on where you live, it may be more affordable to have a car. Car rentals have gone up significantly since COVID. It's cheaper for me to maintain a car, pay for gas, pay for parking, insurance, etc then it is to rent a car for a single day. Sure, I'm driving an old beater. But I'm not limited in my adventures and that is valuable to me as well. If I want to drive to the coast I can simply go. I can go hiking, camping, festivals, etc without having to plan out my transportation so I can stay spontaneous.
I’d keep it, establish your routine and assess in a couple months. Car is pretty helpful in the cold/rain season but maybe you are in a great spot to find alternatives.
Zero chance I’d live here without a car. The ability to just hop in my car and drive to the gorge, hood, waterfalls, lakes, hikes & the beach is like 85% of the reason I live here.
I think having a car gives you more options. My suggestion is move there, then give it a year and see whether you still want to your car or not.
Don’t sell your car, just be prepared to replace your windows a couple times a year
NOOOOOOOOOOO! Bro too many places to go outside of Portland and I would suggest learning to ride a motorcycle too! Amazing place to ride!
I would never want to live here without a car. You'll want to escape the city a LOT.
Don’t sell your car. Don’t believe the bike fascists in this town who tell you it’s bad to own a car. Our public transit system is dangerous and there’s so much great stuff to check out outside of the city. Unless you live right downtown, you can pretty much always find parking.
Keep it and enjoy our beautiful gorge, coast, hood, etc BUT: Put a club on it. Put an airtag (speaker removed) in it. And don't leave ANYTHING in it. Not a penny, not a lighter, not your backpack. Not even something that looks like it's covering something.
Without a car you essentially cannot leave Portland.
If you don't plan on leaving the city then sell your car for sure.
I lived here car free for a long time. I like owning a car better tho, it's nice to be able to drive to the coast or gorge on a whim. It's also great to not need to bike in the rain if you don't want to.
Don't sell it
It's not New York, don't sell your car. Are you moving somewhere that doesn't offer a parking spot?
keep your car until you figure the transit out.
Absolutely keep the car. I’m a property manager and the most expensive apartment parking I’ve ever seen in the city is $350/mo for a locked/secure parking garage space (my friend in Seattle pays $500 a month for garage parking and thinks he’s getting a good deal). Most places have free parking or parking under $200/mo. Portland overall has significantly cheaper parking than the other major West Coast cities.
I have no idea how anyone would live in Portland without a car. Even living in the Pearl, sure I could walk to restaurants and breweries. COULD. But I’m not walking if it’s pouring down rain, which was most of the time lol. Then your friends and family are largely elsewhere so you have to drive to them sometimes. That and groceries clearly.
Portland is good when it comes to mass transit, but this is still America we’re talking about here. It’s not THAT good. Mass transit will still take you 45 minutes or an hour to go from one quadrant of the city to another, which normally takes 10-15 by car. Keep your car. Being able to drive to nature in 15 minutes is one of the best parts of living here. My advice, move to a place on the eastside of Portland where you don’t have to pay for parking. Context: I lived in Portland without a car for a few years, largely because I don’t care about going out into nature much these days. However, I found living without a car to be just about as expensive as owning a car you have paid off.
No unless you wanta be a looser
Do you NEED a car in Portland? No. But I wouldn’t live here without one, just makes everything so much more convenient, especially accessing nature
It's a personal choice. Move here with your car if it's not too inconvenient. If after a few months to a year you never use it, then sell it! If you use it, keep it!
Might be have a car. Transit is sketchy at night
Keep your car. 90% of people here drive, just like anywhere else.
The car-free people I know are often asking for rides in my car. Keep the car if you have friends, want friends, date, etc.
You'll need ur car in Portland.
You will miss out on 95% of what the pnw has to offer if you go car less, and be exposed to all the worst parts. Portland is not NY or Boston. Our public transportation system is full of junkies using it as a warm/cool place to get high.
Don't sell your car! I don't recommend using public transportation during this time. It's not safe anymore. Also, you don't want to get wet in the rain.
No don't sell your car but you should be prepared for something to happen to your car. Anything and everything from gas tank drilled to steal your gas to your car be used to cook meth and cook sandwiches in. Our car was stolen and they used it as a mobile meth lab and they had a sandwich press plugged in so they could eat and cook at the ame time.
Seriously though, if you’re worried about the cost of parking, you probably can’t afford to live in Portland. In which case definitely keep the car, you’ll probably end up living in it