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I have been toying with the possibility of buying some electronics (a camera and a tablet) in some states other than Washington to avoid its 10%9%(?) sales tax (which, for the record, is less than the sales tax in most Canadian provinces). It occurred to me that the State of Oregon does not even have sales tax, which prompted me with the thoughts of going there for a visit.
However, after taken into account the cost of transportation, the saving is minimal. So the more important questions is whether or not it is worth the trouble to go to a city I have never been to before.
Is there any TLers who live there or been there before? Is there anything to do there other than shopping? Wikipedia didn't help too much, so any input is appreciated.
EDIT: for those who are suggesting ordering online, if you buy something online and ship to the State of Washington, it *does* charge you 10% tax. Washington is one of the few states that do this.
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uh sure of course there is stuff to do there
i did live there for a while
i do not, however, know what those things are. because i never went outside
you could go get some weird donuts at the weird famous donut store that i forget the name of
helpfulness rating: -1 out of 10
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Portland, OR is a beautiful place! I've lived here my whole life. If I were visiting Portland I would hit up all the landmark places like Voodoo Doughnuts (home of the bacon maple bar!), the Waterfront Park downtown (which is beautiful this time of year), Pioneer Courthouse Square which has lots of cool live events most of the summer, and all the great local restaurants. There are great bars and eateries around 21st Street all over town, and the local food carts are amazing! 
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Order online from retailers who aren't from your state. That way you can avoid the sales tax (I think some states have laws that counteract this, no idea if Washington is one).
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Are you a foodie? If so, if I'm not mistaken Portland has some of the best street food there is to offer.
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Have you seen the show Portlandia? Definitely interesting ^^
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I've been going to school here in Portland for just over a year, having no sales tax is pretty nice, I get annoyed buying things when I'm back at home in CA (9.75%+ tax) and I usually just wait to buy things.
The only difference is income and property taxes here suck, but if you're renting it doesn't matter.
If you're into Nike stuff, you can apply to go to the Nike employee store which sells all nike products at cost +5% (more or less), I usually stock up on my nerd baller shorts (gaming in basketball shorts ftw?). Like a pair of Nike 60's is like 30$ opposed to the ridiculous 60-100$ it costs, or if you're a basketball fan, any pair of the high tier Nike shoes (kobes, lebrons, etc) go around 50-60$.
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If you wanna avoid taxes just buy electronics on newegg.
On July 25 2011 10:48 xmShake wrote:
Order online from retailers who aren't from your state. That way you can avoid the sales tax (I think some states have laws that counteract this, no idea if Washington is one).
Only if you are located in the state in which the online store operates.
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Sure, if you like pot or getting drunk. Otherwise it's kinda boring. There's some markets with a lot of roadside food that are pretty interesting to check out. But most of the fun is in smoking and drinking.
However there is a Fry's electronics near I5 on the north end of Oregon that I stop at frequently on the way to visit my parents in Oregon. Bought a lot of things there to avoid the annoying sales tax.
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If im not mistaken, iNcontroL is from that area, so surely it is an interesting place just by that fact. You should ask him in fact.
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If you want to do some really unconventional stuff in Portland, go find the book "Fugitives and Refugees" by Chuck Palahniuk (the guy who wrote Fight Club). Palahniuk lived in Portland and gives you tips about visiting weird castles, underground tunnels full of mole people and weird guided tours of haunted areas; there is a map in the book which details places he visited while on drugs and exactly where he lost a tooth, odd places to eat, stuff like that.
Here it is on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Fugitives-Refugees-Portland-Oregon-Journeys/dp/1400047838
I am sure if you type "ebookee fugitives refugees" into google you will get a download link very easily as well (works with most books).
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On July 25 2011 11:13 trancey wrote:
I've been going to school here in Portland for just over a year, having no sales tax is pretty nice, I get annoyed buying things when I'm back at home in CA (9.75%+ tax) and I usually just wait to buy things.
The only difference is income and property taxes here suck, but if you're renting it doesn't matter.
If you're into Nike stuff, you can apply to go to the Nike employee store which sells all nike products at cost +5% (more or less), I usually stock up on my nerd baller shorts (gaming in basketball shorts ftw?). Like a pair of Nike 60's is like 30$ opposed to the ridiculous 60-100$ it costs, or if you're a basketball fan, any pair of the high tier Nike shoes (kobes, lebrons, etc) go around 50-60$.
Nike employee store sounds interesting. It's not exactly at Portland though... that might generate logistic troubles.
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United States10774 Posts
On July 25 2011 11:55 Sufficiency wrote:Show nested quote +On July 25 2011 11:13 trancey wrote:
I've been going to school here in Portland for just over a year, having no sales tax is pretty nice, I get annoyed buying things when I'm back at home in CA (9.75%+ tax) and I usually just wait to buy things.
The only difference is income and property taxes here suck, but if you're renting it doesn't matter.
If you're into Nike stuff, you can apply to go to the Nike employee store which sells all nike products at cost +5% (more or less), I usually stock up on my nerd baller shorts (gaming in basketball shorts ftw?). Like a pair of Nike 60's is like 30$ opposed to the ridiculous 60-100$ it costs, or if you're a basketball fan, any pair of the high tier Nike shoes (kobes, lebrons, etc) go around 50-60$. Nike employee store sounds interesting. It's not exactly at Portland though... that might generate logistic troubles.
I also think you need a employee pass or a guest pass to get into the Nike ES. At least that's how I have gotten in, not sure how you can "apply" to go in there. It's supposed to be exclusive benefits for employees and families/friends. I work in downtown Portland so if you wanna meet up, let me know.
http://365thingsportland.com/
Worth taking a look.
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Portland is a lovely city to live in and supercool, but I'm not sure how much you are going to be able to do if you are just visiting solo other than eating an assload of delicious and cheap cart-food. It all depends on how outgoing you are, there arent too many "canned attractions" but there is ALOT to do with a group.
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You know whats better then Portland and has 75% less rain?
Bend Oregon. There is 10x more stuff to do here.
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EPT
