10 reasons you shouldn't move to Oregon

Oregon is the country's top relocation destination, as Luke Hammill of The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Thursday. The stats come via two moving companies -- United Van Lines and Atlas Van Lines -- which both reported that Oregon has the highest percentage per capita of in-migration in the nation. Sure, Oregon has a lot to offer -- as its newly minted 4-millionth resident surely knows -- but the story got us wondering: Do all these people know what they're getting into? Read on for 10 reasons people should NOT move to Oregon.

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Footprint Northwest LLC of Seattle bought a single-family home on Northwest Thurman Street in Portland and built a five-story tower of 250-square-foot micro-units. They rent for up to $950 a month.

Rent is high ... if you can even find a place

Will you be able to find an apartment before the moving van delivers your stuff? Good question, because Oregon's rental vacancy rate was 3.6 percent in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That's the lowest rate of any U.S. state, Puerto Rico or Washington, D.C. If you are lucky enough to find a place, expect to pay mightily for it. How about 250 square feet for $995 per month? Or $1,200 for 400 square feet? If that doesn't appeal to you, you could always buy a place. Right? Well...

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Houses are unaffordable -- and scarce

From Portland to Bend to the coast, housing costs are rising at a rate that's making home-buying a stretch -- or impossible -- for many Oregonians. And that's IF you can find a place to buy. Portland, for one, made Redfin's list of the most competitive neighborhoods for homebuyers. "I anticipate that we will continue to see demand outstrip supply over the winter months," Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, told The Oregonian/OregonLive's Luke Hammill in December. (Then again, maybe a million-dollar barn will do the trick?) So, Oregonians-to-be, good luck finding a place.

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We don't want you anyway*

*Or, at least, some of us don't.

It's long been fashionable to blame Californians for rising housing prices, even before stickers started showing up on For Sale signs. After all, they sell their expensive houses in California and move to Oregon with cash in hand, driving up demand and prices -- or so the theory goes. But, as Quinn Irvine, of M Realty told Luke Hammill when the stickers started appearing: "There's the lowest inventory we've had in over 10 years, and people are frustrated," Irvine said. "They're basically blaming Californians for raising their real estate prices." In reality, buyers come from all over, of course. But it's kind of true what they say. Oregonians are a polite bunch and happy to welcome visitors, but we'd just as soon see you go home.

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Hawaii: the only place in the United States with a higher cost of living than Oregon.

Yes, our food, beer and wine are awesome, but how will you afford them?

MoneyRates.com ranked the best and worst states to make a living for 2015, and guess which state came in second. Yep, Oregon. Second worst. The ranking cited cost of living, high taxes and workplace safety rates as the reasons Oregon was only slightly more affordable than Hawaii -- y'know, paradise, where even the rain is warm.

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Traffic on Southwest Naito Parkway, as heavy rain drenches Portland on Dec. 7, 2015.

Mike Zacchino | The Oregonian/OregonLive

It rains ... a lot

From 2000 to 2014, Portland averaged 35.09 inches of rain per year. November is the rainiest month on average, followed by December and January. (The wettest year on record is 71.82 inches in 1882.) And with all that rain comes flooding, basement flooding. Even worse than rain? The unending gray skies. Portland averages 68 clear days per year. 68. Let that sink in. Then do some research on Seasonal Affective Disorder.

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Want in on this action? The drive from Portland to Seattle is about three hours without traffic.

The Associated Press

We don't have the NFL or MLB

We love our college football and NBA's Trail Blazers, and we have major junior hockey and some short season Class A baseball. Plus, the Portland Timbers just won the MLS Cup and boast a rabid fanbase. But we don't have an NFL or MLB team, and it's highly unlikely we'll ever get one. We couldn't even keep a Triple A minor league team in town. So expect to head north to Seattle or south to the Bay Area for your complete sports fix.

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Clogged freeways are a near-daily sight in Portland and surrounding areas.

We can't drive

Portland drivers are among the country's most collision-prone, according to numbers from Allstate. And it's no wonder, considering Portland is the nation's 10th most-congested city by at least one (disputed) account.

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During the snowy day of Jan. 3, 2016, Twitter user @firemanjeff videotaped a series of driving failures and near misses at Burnside and Southwest 18th Avenue.

And we really can't drive in the snow

Just watch the video. You'll see.

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Anna Marum | The Oregonian/OregonLive

It's a tough state for kids

Oregon is ranked No. 38 in public education, according to a new study. Nearly a quarter of the state's children live in poverty, and the "new, improved" graduation rate just vaulted us to fourth worst in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Oregon 103rd among national universities, and Oregon State is 135th.

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Oregon is unprepared to deal with major earthquake or tsunami, says audit

Mark Graves | The Oregonian/OregonLive

We're overdue for The Big One

Did you read the New Yorker article that had Oregonians freaking out in July? If you want to be in denial with the rest of us, don't look it up. But if you want the scary truth, it's this: Oregon is due for a huge earthquake, somewhere higher than 8.0, and surely disastrous. With it will come a tsunami that will inundate coastal cities. Experts say it will be the worst natural disaster in North American history. Also, the odds of this happening in the next 50 years are 1 in 3 for a big quake and 1 in 10 for a really big quake, and either would be devastating because the Northwest is unprepared to deal with such a calamity.

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Still want to move to Oregon?

Even with all those negatives, there are still plenty of reasons to live in Oregon. (Just look at that scenery, for one!) World class food and drink, clean air, plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities, and access to the beach, mountains and high desert are just a few. I mean, 4 million of us can't be wrong. But, if you plan to move here, take off the rose-colored glasses, put down the New York Times and turn off "Portlandia." And don't say we didn't warn you.

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On second thought, turn "Portlandia" back on

It's disturbingly true to life at times.