Live in WA, work in PDX. I'm a native Portlander, and still LOVE my hometown, but will never actually live there again. Property taxes are ridiculous, county taxes (Multnomah especially) are ridiculous. Auto registration fees are ridiculous. Schools, as a whole, are a mess. Income tax is the worst, as you have no choice...boom! -your money's extracted, bye-bye. They have so many ways to suck tax dollars out of their residents, yet they are always crying for more.

I made the move across the river after doing my homework. Although I work in Oregon, the majority of income tax that is taken from my check is refunded at the end of the year. Property taxes in most areas just across the river in WA are reasonable. We have great social services, roads that are in good repair and always being improved. Excellent school districts, (hail Evergreen), reasonable auto licensing fees, less traffic around town.

As far as sales tax, food is not taxed (unless it's prepared foods), so unless you live off this type of fare, it makes no sense to drive across the river for groceries. And as another poster implied, if you don't have a ton of dough, sales tax is the way to go (if given the choice between that and income tax), it's basically "pay-as-you-can-afford", rather than just having the money ripped out of your paycheck.

So, do I drive across the river just to make non-food purchases with the sole idea of chintzing on taxes? Never. I intentionally choose to support the public services I've enjoyed in Washington over the years. Even more so, I choose to support the local businesses in my city as well. When I weigh out the time and gas needed to do so, adding the fact that it's illegal and that I'm sticking it to the small businesses in my very own community, well, it just doesn't make any sense.

Now, if I'm already over there, and a store is having a sale, or I need to grab something, of course I will make purchase in Oregon. But, I do that wherever I travel, and I don't bother with use tax.