Need help finding a town to live in.. (Portland, Eugene: school, college)

[a.blue.star]

I live in Colorado and would like to try somewhere else. I have always wanted to live by the ocean that has boardwalks & peirs in a large town (or small city). I love summer and being warm, not a huge fan of the snow (and Co has some nasty winters).

I am not looking to go to school, just work. I dont have anything in particular I want to do for work right now, I have done many different things so I would figure that out later.. Right now I am just hoping to get some ideas of the towns and cities in Oregon for something that might fit what Im looking for.

Thanks for any ideas/suggestions!

[Silverfall]

The Oregon coast is a string of small towns. Not sure how you define large town, but I wouldn't call anything on the coast large.

If you want to be warm the Oregon coast is not for you. It is often foggy and cold and in the summer you often wear fleece. There is a reason we call it the coast and not the beach, even though there are beaches. You might love the Oregon coast, but you sound like the California coast is more of what you are looking for. Maybe with the exception of Brookings down south.

[bluebird39]

I have a few friends who live on the coast, one in Tillamook, one in Florence. Both complain about the winter weather, but my friend in Florence seems to really like it there.

Up North, and down near Eugene there are places where you can be about 90 minutes from Portland or Eugene, but the roads are often 2 lanes.

When I lived in Southern Oregon, I loved going to Bandon, Gold Beach or Crescent City, Ca. But most of the towns seem heavily dependent on tourism. Seems tough to find a year-round job.

As Silverfall mentioned, CA might have some better places. I have several friends who went to college near Humboldt, CA and absolutely loved it there.
Good luck.

[daisy326]

Originally Posted by bluestar9

I live in Colorado and would like to try somewhere else. I have always wanted to live by the ocean that has boardwalks & peirs in a large town (or small city). I love summer and being warm, not a huge fan of the snow (and Co has some nasty winters).

I am not looking to go to school, just work. I dont have anything in particular I want to do for work right now, I have done many different things so I would figure that out later.. Right now I am just hoping to get some ideas of the towns and cities in Oregon for something that might fit what Im looking for.

Thanks for any ideas/suggestions!

Well to be honest there really arent any large towns or small cities on the Oregon Coast. There are small towns all along the coast that are nice but not really "big". As far as weather goes - the Oregon coast is in general cold. Summers are nice and some days can be hot. But for the most part summer lasts about 3 months and then its back to rain, rain and more RAIN. Its not warm by any means during the fall/winter months and is quite windy.
Here is the average temps for Lincoln City which is a pretty popular spot for tourists for July:

AccuWeather.com - Lincoln City Month Weather | Monthly Forecast for Lincoln City, OR (http://www.accuweather.com/us/or/lincoln-city/97367/forecast-month.asp - broken link)

and for January:

AccuWeather.com - Lincoln City Month Weather | Monthly Forecast for Lincoln City, OR (http://www.accuweather.com/us/or/lincoln-city/97367/forecast-month.asp?mnyr=1-01-2010 - broken link)

as you can see its not a climate for someone who likes to be somewhere warm. I like the warm weather and I would never move there. HTH

[rgvg]

Powers Oregon is off the beaten path

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by bluestar9

I have always wanted to live by the ocean that has boardwalks & peirs in a large town (or small city). I love summer and being warm,

Those are two mutually incompatible wants for Oregon. There's no real summer on the Oregon coast. Daily summer highs here are typically in the mid 50's. You should look at the Carolinas and south from there.