Your Town, WA or OR

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Pamela B.
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2003 11:05 am
Location: Tenmile OR

Your Town, WA or OR

Post by Pamela B. »

Wanderlust is biting hard again. I've been in MT for 13 years and my feet are getting itchy. I'm thinking about relocating to NW OR or SW WA; ideally, I'd like to find a small, rural town where I can grow things (i.e., more than the 12" of precip. I get here, but 65" would probably make me suicidal), where there's an educated horse community, good riding/driving trails, access to public land, an artistic community close by, good air, mountains (or at least big hills) and fewer than 6 months of winter. (Montana doesn't get much snow but it does get cold and I'd prefer not to have to wear 7 sweaters for half the year.) I'd like to be close to Portland, but not in the city (too many animals), and, as I also dive, being within a day of the coast would be wonderful.

Does anyone live in such a place? I'd love to hear your thoughts on where you are and why you love it, or hate it. I'm planning to do a road trip after Labor Day to check out potential spots, but any hints would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx!

Pam
Cynthia

Post by Cynthia »

My husband and I are moving to Portland in about a year, or so that 's the plan. We have decided to live in the city, but considered Eugene and Medford. Medford is a much drier climate than either Eugene or Portland, and should be animal friendly. I don't know exactly how close to the coast it is or how long it will take to get to the coast...but do know that Medford is near a college town, and is becoming a retirement community. I don't think I am crazy about living in a retirement community even if I am one of the aging baby boomers. But it sounded like Jackson or (blanking out on the name of the college town and surrounding communities) could be grand places to be.

I am fleeing cold snowy winters, dry, hot and too damn miserable summers as well as a highly conservative culture. We're Porland fits that description for us. A lot of rain will be a challenge, but it's a better trade than Salt Lake winters or summers. As you can tell, I'm ready to move on from Utah. :shock:

I am looking forward to following this thread since Oregon will be my home too.

Hope you find your idyll.
Amy on Salt Spring
Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 5:43 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Contact:

Post by Amy on Salt Spring »

When we were looking to move to the northwest we thought Grant's Pass, Oregon in the Rogue River Valley looked very good. Lots of outdoor stuff to do so there are a lot of young people who live there or visit for the hiking, whitewater rafting etc. (as opposed to Brookings which we also considered--Brookings is a retirement community and has a lot more rain than Grant's Pass but it is on the ocean). Check it out http://www.rogueweb.com/gpass
We almost chose Grant's Pass and then we found out about Salt Spring and there was nowhere else for us.
Happy hunting.
Amy
Paul Bush
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:59 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Post by Paul Bush »

Amy on Salt Spring wrote:When we were looking to move to the northwest we thought Grant's Pass, Oregon in the Rogue River Valley looked very good. Lots of outdoor stuff to do so there are a lot of young people who live there or visit for the hiking, whitewater rafting etc. (as opposed to Brookings which we also considered--Brookings is a retirement community and has a lot more rain than Grant's Pass but it is on the ocean). Check it out http://www.rogueweb.com/gpass
We almost chose Grant's Pass and then we found out about Salt Spring and there was nowhere else for us.
Happy hunting.
Amy
I live in Portland, but work for a Grants Pass company, and go down there once a month. My take is entirely different, but I'm a city boy. There is not one decent restaurant in GP, especially of the ethnic persuasion (unless you consider "Chinese and American Food" a worthwhile dining experience), and it is VERY CONSERVATIVE, as is virtually all of Oregon, once you leave the Portland metro area and Eugene.

The surrounding Rogue River Valley, however, is beautiful. Jacksonville is a great little historic town, between Medford and GP, but expensive real estate, as is Ashland, the site of Southern Oregon University, the Shakespeare Festival, many great restaurants, and close to the only skiing in Southern Oregon.

If you want to be closer to a bigger city, such as Eugene or Portland, you might want to look at the area around Corvallis, which is about an hour's drive from Portland, and is home to Oregon State University, so has plenty of college-oriented culture, restaurants, etc.

Eugene, home to the University of Oregon, is another neat smaller city to consider, and less than two hours from Portland.

Virtually all of the places I mentioned are about a 90 minute drive to the coast, but I don't know where the good dive spots are located, since I gave up the sport when I left Los Angeles 12 years ago. I hear there's really good diving in the Hood Canal in Washington state.

Good luck in your search, and let me know if I can help you in any way.

Paul
Paul Bush
Flying Fish Studio
Portland, Oregon
Amy on Salt Spring
Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 5:43 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Contact:

Post by Amy on Salt Spring »

Grant's Pass is conservative? Glad we didn't move there then! We looked at Eugene--great town but talk about your rain!
-A
Paul Bush
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:59 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Post by Paul Bush »

You know, I probably shouldn't spread this around, but Portland (and Western Oregon in general) has a bad rap about the amount of rain we get. Sure the average is around 37" a year, but most of it is concentrated in a few months. For sure, we have a lot of grey, cloudy days between November and March (OK April or May or June sometimes), but it sure is green!

Temperatures are another factor - it's quite a bit hotter in Southern Oregon during the summer months. Like today, for example, it's only 100 in Portland, but it's around 110 down south. And if you don't believe in global warming, come to Oregon. This is our third or fourth heat wave with temps at or near 100, and we're not even in the hot months yet! I haven't seen heat like this since '92, the first summer we lived here.

Paul
Paul Bush
Flying Fish Studio
Portland, Oregon
Kitty
Posts: 444
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 4:12 pm
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Post by Kitty »

perhaps OR and WA are not far enough west? follow the sun another 2500 miles. the big island is horse country, has a (scattered) arts community, is rural but has an international airport (funny ... but true), and gets more than 12 inches of rain. excellent diving, especially kona side. dynamic cultural mix of people and good food. the politics are crazy, but don't make you throw up. just stay away from the East side of the island, or you will think you are in Seattle, with palm trees.
Kaye
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2003 5:33 pm
Location: Camano Island, WA

Post by Kaye »

I'm a Seattle native, currently in exile in Chicago. We are planning to return (early retirement) to the NW in about five years and build a house on some property we own on Camano Island in Puget Sound.

I went to college in Bellingham, WA which is roughly halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. They had a neat "open studio" weekend last fall when we were out to visit--seemed to be lots of artists around. Not far from the Pilchuck School! Lots of nice rural areas in the vicinity and my brother used to do a lot of diving in Puget Sound (lotsa octopus).

My husband did his residency at OHSU in Portland and so we lived there for three years. There were (short) hot spells in the summer, but cooler temps were only little more than an hour away--the coast to the west and Mt. Baker to the east! After spending the last decade in the Midwest, anywhere in the NW sounds like heaven!

Kaye
Strega

Post by Strega »

Wow, lots of responses in the NW! we should have a party!
I was born here,in Portland, moved away for 20 years and came back. It is much more of a City than it used to be as far as traffic and crime, and has gotten expensive because of popularity--people keep moving here, gosh darn it!
SO DON"T MOVE HERE! :twisted:
I have a huge garden, a huge old house. The arts scene is hopping, theres theatre and tons of restaurants. Politics here are liberal. Very.
As far as animals, you didn't mention what kind, but there are cows (!) in Beaverton, a 'burb of Portland, 15 minutes from the city. And I have a friend 10 minutes away who breeds horses. In the city, there have been spotted cougers in the west hills (by OHSU) And last week I walked into my kitchen and three racoons were eating my cats food! And last year, an Elk wandered into the Zoo.(!) And more households have dogs than children. The City is openning more of the parks for off leash dogs. (And BTW we have more Parks than any city in the country.)More businesses are allowing, even catering to, pets, including restaurants and doggy daycare. My office at OHSU has doggie day every Friday. (We tried it with the cats but it didn't work out...) :lol:
On the other hand, some of my friends are moving away because it's getting too big, and not as polite as it used to be. For some that means moving to the outskirts and commuting. We are surrounded by little towns and farm communities, but one could still drive to Bullseye for the sales!
Paul Bush
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:59 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Post by Paul Bush »

We are having a party! The Portland chapter of the Oregon Glass Guild is having it's monthly meeting tonight at 7:00 at the Beaverton Community Center - come on down. No guest speaker this month, but we're bringing work for "show and tell", and plenty of networking and sharing of secrets, and goodies to munch on.

Paul
Paul Bush
Flying Fish Studio
Portland, Oregon
Candy Kahn
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 9:24 pm
Location: Southern Oregon

Post by Candy Kahn »

Southern Oregon is beautiful. We moved from the San Diego area 2 years ago to a ranch outside the town of Jacksonville and love it. I do endurance riding and there are wonderful trails all around this area. I live next to BLM so just saddle up and off I go.

The weather is not too cold in the winter (I am originally from New York and my husband from Chicago). We get very little snow. It doesn't rain all summer. The rain is off and on from November through March or April. And it is very rainy and lots of gray skys in NW Oregon.

We are 1 hour from the coast. We do have mountains and hills.

There are galleries in Ashland and Jacksonville and in Grant's Pass.

Come and visit us.

candy
Candy Kahn
Art in Glass
Joanne Owsley
Posts: 52
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2003 4:27 pm
Location: Arlington, WA
Contact:

Post by Joanne Owsley »

I guess the secret's out anyway, might as well spill...
I live in Arlington, WA. It's about 60 miles north of Seattle, 4 hours from Portland, and not far at all from the Camano Island metioned earlier in this thread.
The summers are beautiful, and the winters are mild, and the real estate is priced a bit more reasonably than what you'll find in the Seattle area. I am just finding out that there is a sizable horse community in our area, as my daughter has recently discovered the joy of horses. We are minutes from Puget Sound - there are even some diving parks within an hour or so. http://www.silent-world.com/divesites/keystone.html
Our little community is growing faster than some would like to see, however, but I'm sure you'd feel welcome and right at home in no time.
lyndasglass
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2003 6:41 pm
Location: Salem Oregon
Contact:

Post by lyndasglass »

Hi, I live in Salem Oregon. And have all my life. I like it here because all of our family is close by. I wouldn't recommend Salem though. Being the Capital City it is VERY Conservative. But Silverton is a small Community about 15 miles from Salem to the east. It has a growing Art community, the recently developed (and still developing) Oregon Gardens, and several horse camp close by. There are some very nice resturants, and beautiful older homes.

Actually, there are alot of smaller communities all up and down the Willamette Valley. The Valley is very centerally located. 1 hour west and you are at the coast, 1 hour east and you are at the Mountains. 3 hours east and you are in High Dessert country. Oregon and Washington both have very diverse scenery. As a kid my family traveled alot. It seemed that almost everywhere we went we saw areas that were just like places in Oregon.

I think that you probably can't go wrong moving to the Northwest. By the way Seattle gets alot more rain and snow than we do. Paul's right, the grey skies in February are a drag but the colors in the spring sure make it worth it. I had a lady tell me once that at least our grey skies had a variety of grey in them with the clouds and all. Where she came from (around the Great Lakes area) they just had plain old, no clouds in the sky grey days.
K Okahashi
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 7:29 pm
Location: Washington

Post by K Okahashi »

After migrating from Hawaii to California, I'm happy to say I'm now in southern washington. I'm in Vancouver, WA (I call it a suburb of Portland but don't know if I am offending anyone yet-so I apologize in advance). We love our new home and 900 sq ft shop. We are in a tiny development near much larger developments but our home is 2 houses away from pastures. We've been here oh, about 27 hours now and are still in our honey moon phase despite the heatwave. Still going through the hell of moving but will survive. We did a lot of research- Oregon or Washington and settled on Washington due to no State income taxes. If we wanted, we could hop over the Columbia river to shop at places where there are no sales taxes.

The people here are great- courteous, friendly- reminds me of Hawaii in some respects. Although even Honolulu is changing and we won't even talk about the wonderful neurosis of the bay area. So for now, I'm quite the happy camper- but I suppose it is all relative. We have heard about the rain but already have plans to be in Hawaii and Las Vegas during the rainy season. I think that should help a lot and of course, getting happy lights are suppose to be very helpful too.

Ok, I know I'm rambling now...at least I don't have to move any major muscles right now.
Carla

Post by Carla »

Wow! Where have all us Oregonians been hiding? I'd pick Portland. The further south you go in the NW the less rain..and less amenities. Portland has it all. Seattle is a dandy town the traffic is awful, 24-7.

I lived in Portland 30 years before moving east to Bend, Oregon, looking for the sun and a wilderness home.. It's high desert hot summers and snow winters.....but plenty of outdoors, horses, trails, mountains, rafting....art scene is building.

I hated the rain (having grown up on the desert) but I can't say enough about Portland (and the metro area) for quality of life. Look at Canby, Estacada, Mulina, Mollala, Forest Grove, Banks......many of the small communities offer lots. If you have kids in schools, this will limit your choices to communities with better schools. Schools are in deep trouble in Oregon. No kids, no problem.

Powells Bookstore is a MUST SEE while you are in town. Take your computer and email us once you start looking. You'll have more questions. Your problem will be narrowing down your choices.

Have fun!

Carla in Bend, but heart is still partially in Portland
Strega

Post by Strega »

"If you have kids in schools, this will limit your choices to communities with better schools. Schools are in deep trouble in Oregon. No kids, no problem."
Carla in Bend, but heart is still partially in Portland[/quote]
Rumors of the death of Oregon education have been greatly exagerated.
Our public school kids still get some of the highest SATS and lowest dropout rates in the country. And in the face of cutbacks, our teachers volunteered to work 2 weeks for free, and Multnomah county voted to raise our own taxes! Did that make Doonesbury comics! NO. I can't imagine California doing this.
My daughter just graduated from Lincoln, a public high school in Portland, which is on the Ivy League List of top ten public high schools in the country, and the only one on the west coast. Recruiters from top colleges actively pursue students here. My daughter got a full scholarship to Whittier, a small private college in LA. And she wasn't even in the top third of her class.
I'll get off the soapbox now...
Which bulletin Board is this again? Spab?
I'll get off the soapbox now.
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