Best Oregon Town? (Portland, Eugene, Salem: mortgage, lender, houses)

[GStambaugh]

I'm thinking of moving to Oregon - I'm currently in Las Vegas, and the 110+ days are getting to me -

I'm from a small town in Oklahoma (pop. 1800) that was a quick 20 min drive to Norman (pop. 80,000) So Growing up - I had the best of both worlds, Small town living with access to anything major in a big city.

My job is currently with a Mortgage Lender - I have subprime experience and now working with an A paper lender, I also spent 10 years working in the advertising / marketing world.

I'd love to have a small house with some land - where our neighbor is not 10ft away in a cookie cutter track home.

Looking forward to your comments.

G

[LindiLou]

I am moving to Oregon as well. I am staying in Salem OR right now checking out some areas. My favorites so far are Tigard & Beaverton. I was there yesterday and im pretty sure that is where I will settle. I may run across some other areas that I like but I was definatly impressed with those two areas. Good luck

Lindi Lou

[Waterlily]

Cottage Grove is about 20 miles from Eugene. That might work for you. It depends on how big of a city you need to work in.

Some folks live in Coquille and drive the 15 miles to work at the coast in Coos Bay. Myself I like it here in North Bend which is right next to Coos Bay.

[freedom]

Cottage Grove is a good suggestion.

They are up and coming. Very friendly people.

[jjpop]

I ran out of gas on I-5 several years ago just outside of Cottage Grove. I walked to a school where one of the teachers grabbed a gas can from their maintenance shed and drove me 10 miles or so round trip in order to get some gas for my car. When I offered him money, he refused.

That was my one and only experience with Cottage Grove, and I still carry a good feeling about that town.

[evergirl85]

Oregon City is pretty good. There's lots of houses going up so you have a nice wide range of your type of house and location.OC is also just outside of Portland so it's easy to get both worlds.

[FVWinters]

Sounds like you want to be fairly close to, but not living in, a biggish city. This is by no means an exhaustive list of places that might suit but can be used as a place to start:

Within an hour's drive from Salem are Silverton, Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Stayton, Woodburn and Jefferson.

An hour's drive from Eugene-Springfield gets you to Cottage Grove, Junction City, Veneta, plus Florence, Oakridge and Roseburg if you have a lead foot. Corvallis is also close by but at more than 50000 it may be a bit big.

There are lots of nice places an hour's drive from Portland but some that are a little further out than the rest are Sandy, Forest Grove, St. Helens, Canby, Newburg and Camas and Woodland up in Washington.

Medford in southern Oregon is as big as Norman and smaller towns nearby include Grants Pass, Ashland, White City, Jacksonville, Shady Cove (very pretty setting) and Eagle Point.

I didn't mention eastern Oregon but one of my favorites there is Burns. The only "aw Shucks" is it's not close to anywhere else. As the biggest burg in probably 30000 square miles, you have at least two hour's hard driving to get to any place that's larger.

[Oregonbeachlover]

I also like the beautiful rolling hills setting of Amity and areas around it. It is about 6-8 miles from McMinnville (also a pretty town) and 16-18 miles from Salem. It seems like (in my limited research), to have affordable acreages. Sheridan is also a possibility, but you do have to deal with the prison there (hey, but I guess that means jobs too). I have heard that our wineries (Amity) are now competing very successfully around the globe, and so might be a good investment also. I have lived in the Sonoma/Napa area of California and we know what happened there.

[dizzytoo]

I grew up in CANBY. Lived in Portland and Lake Oswego and now Southern CA for years. I go back for visits frequently. Someday I will probably move back. Why?

* Canby offers small town atmosphere close to big city life and business (jobs).
* Canby is very quaint, it has the world famous dalhia fields, pumpkin patches with train rides, the Clackamas County Fair, Upick blueberries and peaches, fruit stands, ferry that takes cars accross the river, river rafting, cute park and more.
* Very middle class and higher. Income level is higher than the national average so it is a fairly educated town.
* Arts center in town
* Nice people with very stable local businesses. The businees even have decent things you can buy so you dont have to go into the big city.
* 5 minutes to the I5 Freeway. But secluded so it does not get the rampent traffic.
* Even has a Fred Meyers! and Starbucks!
* Some of the homes have lots of land.
* Decent highschool with large percetage going to college.
* Quiet and peaceful -- this i really need.
* Local Country Club for golf or dinner
* River next door for waterskiing and boating.

There you have it. I love the place, there are few places like it.