Hi all, my husband has received an offer too good to refuse so we are moving to Portland! I am really excited but also a bit nervous since neither of us has ever been there. Right now I am in Englewood, CO (a suburb of Denver) and have a home based dance studio. I teach belly dance dance lessons and am also a wedding dance instructor for engaged couples who want YouTube style choreographies or ballroom dance lessons. My question is-can I keep this going in Portland?
I have rented studio space in the past and it turned out badly. The first building was foreclosed on with very little notice. Apparently the managers and all us tenants were paying rent, but the owner wasn't! So the bank rep came in one day and told everyone to get out in a week =( The second place I rented from was in a great area and was beautiful, but had a lot of issues. I couldn't control the heating/cooling, the timer on the inside building lights, and a marijuana place moved in under me. I have a lot of clients bringing kids and parents to dance, so this was not the impression I enjoyed making.

At the end of my lease I moved my studio in home and have loved it!! My setting is not ideal, but even so it is great. We will be moving to Portland, or a suburb of, and would really like to continue. Does anyone know if that is possible in that area? Here in Englewood we have lots of space for parking and houses that were built fairly recently, so it is pretty easy to create a studio space. I don't know much about Portland architecture or spacing yet but everything sounds more crowded and smaller, or astronomically expensive! 90% of my wedding clients need evening weekday appointments, so in home studio space or a live/work space really is the best option for me. I know it's a long shot, but does anybody here have studio experience in this geographic area?

Thanks!
Nikki