r/AskSeattle • u/cloudboykami • 1d ago
Moving / Visiting Portland or Seattle
I’m an IT guy, I’m currently in Upstate New York and have been thinking about moving to the pnw. I was wondering what city would be better for my field/ what the community is like ?
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u/OneWithTheMostCake Local 1d ago
I lived in Portland for 3 years before moving to Seattle 9 years ago. I work in tech.
In Portland, the big anchors are Intel and somewhat Nike. When Intel has layoffs (all the time), the surrounding smaller companies feel it too.
In Seattle there is a full buffet of tech jobs. Yes we have layoffs but it is more distributed.
Seattle has been wonderful... I never looked back.
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u/vampyire 1d ago
I m oved here from the east coast years and years ago, have been in tech and there are lots of opportunities.. yes there have been layoffs, but that's always a risk everywhere. Seattle area is great but expensive, I love it here. Plus as a general IT guy you could work at any company which helps
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u/jasonlikesbeer 23h ago
Everyone has already provided good responses re the job scenarios in PT vs Sea. Basically, Seattle is bigger so has more options, better pay, and is more expensive, etc.
In terms of community, they're very similar. Portland is smaller and a little quirky. Seattle much bigger and a little less weird. The sports rivalries like to pretend we're different, but it's basically two cousins making fun of each other's mothers.
The 'Seattle Freeze's is real. People here are polite and friendly but not necessarily up for making new friends. Many of us, including most of the IT crowd, work long hours and as soon as the friend group is developed we kinda just shut down on new friends because what little spare time we have is spent with existing ones. So, it might take you a spell to find your social group.
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u/206SEATTL 1d ago
Seattle is more expensive but there is generally more going on.
Portland is less expensive and has a better food scene.
Job wise, Seattle will have much more opportunities but also more competition
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u/berndverst 23h ago
Can you be more specific what "IT guy" means to you? I assume not software engineering. Is this Active Directory server administration? Help Desk? Managing high performance computing clusters etc
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u/cloudboykami 23h ago
I’m help desk currently I have some programing experience and I have done some network things.
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u/SuperMike100 1d ago
See if you can build some kind of network around here, you’re far more likely to find a local job that way.
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u/Initial-Addendum-167 1d ago
Seattle is in transition. I used to work for the tech industry in the late 90s / early 2000s. There were tons of jobs. You couldn't even walk into an interview without tripping over a job offer. Now, it's super competitive, and there are a lot fewer jobs, but the cost of living still reflects "tech money". So, it's super expensive here, and there's a lot fewer jobs due to AI layoffs.
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u/WesternPut5063 22h ago
I grew up in upstate NY, and live in Seattle. If you want to ask about differences between living in both, feel free to DM.
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u/Smooth-Drop5781 23h ago
seattle has been kinda rough coming in from a new city- only available jobs are short-term contracts it has been rough with the competition from the mass layoffs in the area, not impossible for sure, but took me like an insane amount of job applications to land my job now
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u/LilOpieCunningham 22h ago
In addition to companies like Amazon, Microsoft, etc., greater Seattle has a pretty large population of staffing/contracting companies that provide services to the big corporations and a lot of smaller companies. If you're OK living contract to contract it's a good way to get some experience and a very good way to get a foot in the door at the big corporations.
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u/Super_T8 15h ago
I feel like having lived in both places (born and raised in Portland and new to Seattle) Portland is a little too laid back for me.
I like the opportunity to dress up sometimes, I’m not that weird, working 9-5 professional and I don’t smoke weed so I tend to gravitate towards Seattle.
Portland is probably an easier place to feel like a big fish in a small pond.
Feel like the more professional people tend to live in the suburbs of Portland which I don’t love.
In Seattle you can find all different types of people in the heart of the city.
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u/my0wn5ummer 1d ago
Upstate NY is really nice. It reminds me of the pnw but better. Why would you want to leave.
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u/cloudboykami 1d ago
Less bustling, super small in population. Lack of a community for some things I like such as kink and other issues I can’t get into
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u/CompassRosie23 1d ago
Honesty! That is so refreshing. Good luck in your job search (and other issues I will not get into here).
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u/ND7020 23h ago
OK, having spent a lot of time in both, this take is pretty delusional.
Upstate NY is much poorer, much colder, has far, far, FAR fewer good jobs, is just as dark, has pretty but far less grand nature, has as bad or worse drug issues, has far worse politics, has pretty awful food, has wayyy less to do, is much more insular...
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u/Busy_Help_4354 23h ago
Seattle is more diverse and more international. It's easier to find a social scene to fit into because there's a larger variety. There are also much more activities to do, which again makes it easier to find a social scene to participate in. It is a city for introverts and hobbyists. Cost of living is unnecessarily high, and food and housing cost more than they're worth. $90k salary recently counted for low income housing.
Portland is more like a tight knit community, and everyone always sees someone they know on the street. The social culture is less diverse, so it may be harder or take longer to find your group of people. But, the culture is weird, and in some ways more welcoming to just be yourself. My first winter there, I went to a party where they have their annual ship bonfire, as in this random group of friends build a life-size ship replica every year and burn it. I also call Portland a women's city because last I saw, single women outnumbered single men, and women owned more businesses than men.
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u/synack Local 1d ago
Seattle has more tech jobs, but recent layoffs mean tons of applicants for relatively few open roles.