[Krahl]

I have moved two of my sites from phpBB2 to vBulletin in the past six months or so and cannot give you enough of a glowing recommendation that you do the same. It is indeed, as you say, the next level (a couple levels, in fact.)

The basic look of your site should be easily duplicatable, even the front page.

You will probably be able to find one of the local folks to migrate as well as install the portal (for the front page and other functionality) for less than $200 and perhaps half that (or so).

Good luck!