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Today I was looking at Brookings OR (sooo beautiful!) and Seaside OR. Both look like affordable places where it never gets too hot. It does rain a ton but I dont think that would bother me so much. I think that would be easier to drive in than snow. I tried looking up apartments in both cities on For Rent and Rent websites but there was no results. Are there no apartments there?! Or the apartments just dont list themselves on the apartment finding websites?? The average age was around 50 which makes me wonder if there will be anyone my age to socialize with. I dont need a ton of people but I would be nice to make a few friends as a single woman. Lastly the unemployment rate was crazy high. Is everyone retired or what do people do for work?
Today I was looking at Brookings OR (sooo beautiful!) and Seaside OR. Both look like affordable places where it never gets too hot. It does rain a ton but I dont think that would bother me so much. I think that would be easier to drive in than snow. I tried looking up apartments in both cities on For Rent and Rent websites but there was no results. Are there no apartments there?! Or the apartments just dont list themselves on the apartment finding websites?? The average age was around 50 which makes me wonder if there will be anyone my age to socialize with. I dont need a ton of people but I would be nice to make a few friends as a single woman. Lastly the unemployment rate was crazy high. Is everyone retired or what do people do for work?
You're pretty much correct in your assumptions but you would get the best idea of these places by posting in the Oregon forum where there would be residents of those towns who could give you in depth info.
I've lived in both Portland and Tigard. They are very different from one another. Tigard is very family oriented suburban and Portland is more urban.
Portland is 640k in population. The Portland MSA is 2.3 million. Portland would be better compared to Denver (700k and 2.5 mill) than to Colo Spgs, which is 465k in the city and 670k in its MSA. That is a huge difference in people that is going to impact what is going on in the general area, the vibe, and the demographic you are after.
I'd also say that the milder climate and lower elevation has a significantly longer growing season which is going to provide year round access to local produce. The abundance of water in the area means farms have easier access to the means to produce as well.
Only real downside to the Portland at all may be cost and bugs. Typically, humidity and moisture means bugs, and sometimes large ones. It can also mean mold and mildew. Given the size of the population, I can't imagine its cheap there either. However, no first hand experience there as I've only ever driven through Portland and not stayed there. Portland's highways system, IMO, sucks with its left hand exits and narrowed, shelved roadways that lead into town centers with stoplights. But hey, growth is a B!@#H to deal with sometimes.
For hiking, wildlife, parks, trails etc, yes Colo Spgs has an abundance of those. That is one thing the city has done well is plan for and protect open space and create an extensive trail and park system that weaves throughout the city. Camping outside the city has gotten crowded and is not bad, but it is an entirely different animal than western Oregon. The Colorado Rockies are more like eastern Oregon in that they are high, dry, and occasional hot. Whether that is better of worse, depends on what you like. I personally do not care for the humidity that comes with lush green forest hiking and prefer the arid views of the Rockies. Additionally, urban wildlife is not at all uncommon in Colo Spgs. Deer wander around neighborhoods regularly, but that also means sometimes they attract predators like coyote and mountain lions as well which have also been sighted within the city.
Since you mention affordable a downside to Portland might be the high COL. Rents especially are expensive. You won't find many apartments with back yards and if you do you will pay dearly.
Something to think about, depending on where you're moving from, is sunshine. You mentioned Temecula - if you're from CA you may not even realize how much you'll crave sunshine when you're somewhere that doesn't have it. CS has fairly moderate weather year round, a few hot days in summer, and lots and lots of sunshine all year. Portland is very, very grey. Some people love it, but even if you THINK you'll love it, if you haven't lived with that much grey, dreary weather you never really know how you'll respond to it. Aside from that, I'd give say Portland would be more fun to live in, as a city, but CS has a lot of great nature at its doorstep, too. Like someone else said, consider Denver as well as CS. Maybe look at Fort Collins, CO, too; milder weather than CS and a surprisingly lively and fun city for being as small as it is.
I didn't say Portland was know for bugs, simply that it will have more of them than Cos and certainly more than the OP's home area in CA. Humidity allows things to grow, including bugs. The cool Portland weather keeps them in check from becoming large and promoting a wide variety, but there are more crawly things in Portland than were the OP is coming from.
Someone suggested that I look into moving to Denver and that was actually the first place I researched but people kept telling me that the affordable parts of Denver were unsafe and I wouldn't be able to live in a safe part of Denver and get affordable housing. I saw a lot of homes within my price range but from what locals are telling me these are apparently unsafe. Safety is number one right up there at the top of my list with good weather ( when I say good weather I mean not too hot). So if all the areas I can afford are unsafe in Denver than Denver is off the list.
Someone mentioned that Fort Collins has better weather than Colorado Springs ... how so? Less hot days? Less snow?? I actually had ordered a relocation packet for Fort Collins previously and thought it seemed like a great place to live but was told that because it's a college town there are zero available jobs because any that are available go to college kids who are willing to work for minimum-wage so there is no decent work for adults . Not sure if this is accurate but it's what I've been told. Even if my disability is approved I would like to work part time as allowed, and don't want to have to fight with college kids over a minimum wage job when I'm highly qualified. That would be an issue for me. Don't know how accurate this information is but it's what I've been told by people who live there.
Someone said I really need to consider if I can live with no sun to live in Portland .... In answer to that question ... I love overcast days or any days that are not hot. 60° is preferable. San Francisco has my perfect weather but I can't afford to live there. June gloom here in California with the fog and cool air is perfect for me. However overcast days that I love are very different from days with no sun like I experience when I was living in Seattle for six months. I loved fall in Seattle. Was colder than what I'm used to but definitely not a big problem for me. Many overcast days but also not a huge issue. When winter rolled around definitely changed though... days would go by where I would see no sun. No sun is nothing like overcast for people who have not experienced both and don't know the difference. I did have to start going to the tanning salon several times a week to get my vitamin D because the wintertime was hard for me.
I would strongly suggest anyone thinking of Portland look into the Hansford Nuclear facility and the extremely high cancer rates around it. We just scratched that area off for relocation and we are heading back to CO Springs in the Fall. I wish the area had more rain but I live in Round Rock Texas where it is hotter then hell!! I think we can adjust to the lack of rain. The area does seem to have four seasons and I will love that!
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