Multnomah County is a nice area, and really, Portland isn't that bad of a place. It is much higher on my list of places to live than other cities, especially Boise or Salt Lake City. My family is from near Salem, and my mom's side lived in Oregon City before heading south, and my dad's side settled in the Willamette Valley. We stay out of the fugly eastern side for the most part. It has charm in places, but all the beautiful scenery on the Columbia is from Hood River to Astoria, and down the coast into California. Bend is tolerable though, and yes, I know I am a geography snob. I like greenery, trees, and not hitting tumbleweed with my car.
The weather can be gorgeous, and yes, it gets miserable rain, but the winters aren't too heinous, there can be snow and ice but if you head east it makes for amazing skiing just an hour away, and the coast is about an hour west, and is very beautiful any time of year. Day trips are really easy to do, and there's an interstate running north and south, as well as east and west which makes travel easy. The public transportation (Max) is great, and the light rail runs to the airport as well as the suburbs. The suburbs are pretty cool because they aren't all subdivisions and malls, but charming towns that have personality and are affordable and convenient.
As far as schools go, Lewis & Clark is a good liberal arts school with less crunchy granola action than Reed, and both my sister and father really enjoyed their undergraduate time there, and they are definitely not dirty hippies. A friend attended Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) and had a good time. My mom went to OSU in Corvallis, but did externship action through the Health Sciences University. To the south there's Willamette U and Western Oregon in Salem, and even further is OSU in Corvallis, and U of O in Eugene. However OSU has a Portland Metro Campus, and WSU Vancouver is just across the bridge. Be aware, if you move and want instate tuition, you cannot attend any public school for a year, even a community college. They do not allow you to become a resident while attending school.
There's no state sales tax, and they are big into recycling, so you pay a deposit on bottles and cans and get five cents upon return. However the machines are smart and you can't bring your recycling from Idaho and Washington ala Seinfeld and a mail truck, it will reject them (tried this last weekend). You cannot pump your own gas which can be a hassle if you're traveling at night, but is nice because Oregon has some caca wet weather and you can stay warm and dry. For entertainment you can go berry or apple picking, which no lie, is a lot of fun and is productive since you don't need to go buy produce since you got exercise and food.
There are lots of good restaurants, and lots of small breweries, so if you're into beer it is a great town. You can get regular good old "American" food, a lot of gourmet food and all kinds of varieties of ethnic foods. I saw a taco truck next to an Indian food truck, but didn't try either. There are also a million local coffee places, and the old standby Starbucks. However one of my favorite places of all time is Fred Meyer. You can get everything in that store, even gas. We got a rolling cart for our grill, veggie dogs, a marionberry coffee cake, sushi (fresh made), olives and fresh mozzarella from the olive bar, organic nectarines, Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls for my nephew, 700 thread count sheets, and all kinds of other random stuff, including gas. It is my favorite store of all time, even more than Target.
Plus you can live in Oregon City, the end of the Oregon Trail, providing your oxen don't die while fording the river
