Prescott vs Bend vs Spokane vs Colorado Springs :) (Portland, Eugene: transplants, 2013)

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

If you think Asheville North Carolina is too liberal, you won't be happy in Bend. I can promise you that.

Yep, the OP should cross Washington and Oregon off her list. But if she insists anyway, maybe Roseburg could work. It would be a long shot, but probably the only shot.

[StealthRabbit]

With OP political desires and medical and schooling needs for kid...

I recommended CoS (which has lots of decent options)

Bend, OR would not be in the top contenders, (for several reasons... Medical access (and state assistance if needed) for senior care and schooling near the top)
Spokane can be 'seedy' if 'in town' / close to medical needs.

If OP LOVES Asheville, It would be worth a lot of trouble and expense to make it work. (Much easier than uprooting kid, parent, jobs, support...) then,,, moving everyone BACK when it doesn't work out (quite frequently, moving does not SOLVE these issues)

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Yep, the OP should cross Washington and Oregon off her list. But if she insists anyway, maybe Roseburg could work. It would be a long shot, but probably the only shot.

Well slow down here. There Burns, Baker City, Madras, Prineville, La Pine, Klamath Falls, Pendleton, and John Day. You won't find the taint of lefty liberalism creeping into any of those communities any time soon.

[Metlakatla]

I was just going to say that Baker City might work, and you can get a pretty decent home there for less than $300K. Idk, though, if the OP "loves Ashville," I agree with trying to make it work there. No one moves to Oregon for the schools. If it's just one kid, it's not that hard to supplement a lackluster public school with supplementary activities.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Well slow down here. There Burns, Baker City, Madras, Prineville, La Pine, Klamath Falls, Pendleton, and John Day. You won't find the taint of lefty liberalism creeping into any of those communities any time soon.

Good point, except for Madras. There are plenty of liberals around Madras. It's right next to Warm Springs, which is about as liberal as you can get in Oregon.

Conservatism is interesting in Oregon. The Coos Bay Area votes conservative too, but it really doesn't feel that conservative. To me the entire state of Oregon feels a lot less conservative than say California.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Well slow down here. There Burns, Baker City, Madras, Prineville, La Pine, Klamath Falls, Pendleton, and John Day.........

OP wants excellent schools and excellent medical facilities. Less expensive real estate is not the only criteria.

[BendLocal]

Bend feels like it is 50/50 on the political spectrum.

My family and friends have found the schools and medical care to be very good. I have a friend that is on medicaid and his care has been great. My friends that are seniors also have good things to say about medical care in Bend. IMO, this is one of the reasons Bend is a draw for retirees.

[MGS4EVER]

What I don't like about Prescott AZ is it's hard to get to, it's always windy when we go, and it feels like a retirement community. I know there's young people there too, but it just has an old people vibe.

When I say it's hard to get to, I mean if you want to go down to Phoenix, it's a real PITA. First you have to get over to the I-17, then drive all the way down. No one likes driving on the I-17.

I considered Bend, but since I've never lived in the snow and have been watching the winter and the weather reports there, I changed my mind. I guess I'm just too used to warm weather to deal with the cold at my age. It does tick a lot of the boxes for us though. Housing prices are expensive for what you get too. After increasing my budget to $800,000 I decided it just wasn't worth it when I can stay in my state for 1/2 that and get more for the money. COL is cheaper in AZ too.

I do love Bend though...

[Monaisa]

I'm looking into Redmond. Seems very nice.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Monaisa

I'm looking into Redmond. Seems very nice.

Redmond is where people go when they can’t afford Bend. If you don’t like the school options in Asheville I doubt you will be happier in Redmond. It is a very average performing school district with no “bad” schools but no top rated ones either. About 20% of the students are Hispanic immigrants and over half the student population qualifies for free or reduced price lunches. In other words, it is an increasingly poor and Hispanic district. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that. But it means the district will be increasingly devoting its limited resources to meeting the needs of those populations, and not necessarily things like gifted and talented programs or special electives.