Oregon bound and I need help

[fatelk]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the OP wasn't asking whether or not he should move to Oregon, just looking for advice concerning a move because he IS moving here. I've found that it can be pretty discouraging to have definitively made a decision, only to be told repeatedly how it's the wrong one.

Other than politics and the cost of living, we really like it here. Until quite recently the politics haven't been as bad as some think. Sure it's a generally liberal state, but historically with a strong libertarian slant. Portland is probably the most wacky hard-left city in the country. They're quite proud of their crazy weirdness. Unfortunately that population center has grown to where they run the state completely.

I absolutely hate the thought of moving away, myself. We like the fairly small town we live in, in a conservative rural county. I'm raising a young family and putting down some roots. I have a good job that I actually like. Picking up and moving, selling my house and buying another; it's a big deal and very expensive. It bugs me when people say "Just move".

It also bugs me a little when people badmouth a state as a whole. "Californian" has always been a four-letter word where I grew up, and you couldn't pay me to live there, but nowadays I'm always careful to differentiate between the nut-jobs running the state and the crazies in the big cities, and the beautiful country and good people in the more rural areas.

[Duckiller]

Thank you fatelk! There are even some nice people in urban areas. Police barely know where my street is.

[trebor44]

Having lived and worked in Cali, Ore, MT, ID and CO in addition to having traveled extensively in WY, UT, NV, AZ, TX and many parts of the South there really is no Paradise out there. Some places are more tolerable than others but you have to make it work for you. I would like to move to a 'better place' but none fit my criteria. The West and Northwest is becoming more and more 'settled' by emigrants, immigrants, refugees, reallocates etc. etc. Make the move, make it work for you! The hundreds of deer that I use to see from my kitchen window have been replaced with trail bikes, dogs, houses, you name it. Gone are the 'good ole days' of open space, good hunting etc. Oregon is what you make of it!

[Bullfrog]

THanks all and FatElk I am resolved on moving and it is not a subject I have taken lightly. As a result I am being cut out of the family will and taken off as executor of the estate, so I am basically walking away from what little inheritance I was getting which involved mountain property. There are reasons for everything and it is a big decision that I have been contemplating/planning for 7 months now. Reality is that My wife left me a year ago Jan. 2016 and I have fought to bring our marriage back and won. SO on faith I contend that I must make a change and unless someone has lived in my boots they would not understand. My treasure is upstairs and this move will give me some semblance of peace that I lost 2 years ago when I sold my farm because I miss open spaces, which is where I will be looking in Oregon. To those whom do not truly know Colorado like I do, because of work, then you will not understand but the state is radically changing and morphing into something that I do not want to be a part of anymore. I am probably one of the last of the native holdouts and the family has been here for hundreds of years so again it is not a rash decision.

[Bullfrog]

There is work for electricians - my wife runs a electrical contractor company..union shop. They are always looking for electricians that stay put....

I am a commercial/industrial electrician but in Oregon I would have to start over. I have been a licensed journeyman (with ability to get a masters here) but again, Oregon does not reciprocate the license. What town is the business in? I would make an outstanding apprentice if the pay was there. Also, I am non-union as an electrician here so not certain that a union shop would have me regardless of my license, at least that is how it is in Colorado. Nothing against the union, just got hired by a non-union shop when I first started.

[rockrat]

Bullfrog, yeah, the Front Range is nothing like it was when my Sister moved to Ft. Collins 40 years ago. I moved, but to the other side of the Continental Divide and its still fairly sane around here. We are generally ignored by the Front Range (Denver and such), when it comes time to give out $$ (look at our obstacle courses they call roads), but when they WANT $$ (or water) or votes, then we are begrudgingly acknowledged.

Visited Oregon couple of years ago, some places were beautiful, but Portland reminded me of Denver.

[jonp]

I've had the luck to travel all over the country including the North West. Invariably the cities suck and are left wing/progressive with enough votes to steamroll the rest of the state. Out of state liberals get sick of the hellhole they created and move to a different state then destroy that one by pushing the same stuff that ruined their own state. Vermont, my home state, was ruined by NY, Mass, CT etc; Maine and NH are getting destroyed by the MA and NY/CT moving into the southern parts, WI is getting overrun by IL people, MT getting destroyed by Californians as is OR, WA, NV, ID etc.....It's the same all over, unfortunately. I found the people in Oregon that live in the mountains and west of the Cascades to be very nice. Those east of the mountains near the cities typical sneering progressives that are just plain smarter than the hicks in the sticks. Ask them and they will tell you.

"I am probably one of the last of the native holdouts and the family has been here for hundreds of years so again it is not a rash decision."

I feel your pain. My family was in VT before it was a state or Republic. Not as long as yours in your place but a few hundred years. The liberals from away forced us out to make a living elsewhere. Not an easy choice but you have to do what you have to do.

[GL49]

I am a commercial/industrial electrician but in Oregon I would have to start over. I have been a licensed journeyman (with ability to get a masters here) but again, Oregon does not reciprocate the license. What town is the business in? I would make an outstanding apprentice if the pay was there. Also, I am non-union as an electrician here so not certain that a union shop would have me regardless of my license, at least that is how it is in Colorado. Nothing against the union, just got hired by a non-union shop when I first started.

BullFrog,
Read post #22, IF you have a journeyman license from Colorado you can get a provisional license from Oregon, good for about two and a half years, or until you can pass your Oregon exam and receive your Oregon license. It's not that tough, I teach apprenticeship classes and a student who applies himself can pass the test. The plant I work for hired an electrician from California, and found suitable work for him outside of the electrical field until he studied the NEC, tested, and received his journeyman license. You just have to hurry and apply before the end-of-July deadline, and submit proof of your qualifications. The license will allow you to work in industrial facilities, schools, and as a general journeyman electrician anywhere in the state, but I don't know about the union shops. You'd have to contact one and find out what's required to work there.
No need to become an apprentice again, if you can fulfill the requirements for the provisional license. All you've got to do is apply.