Is Oregon a nice place to live? (Salem, Roseburg: appointed, apartments)

[doctorljcc]

I currently reside in a town of 6000 people, In southeastern Ontario, Canada. 20 min from a city of 160,000. I live directly between two of Canada's largest cities, Toronto and Montreal. Roughly 3 hrs from either city. My wife and I are both in our mid 20's, and are considering relocating to the west coast. California is where we would both love to live, but after extensive research, we have found that the cost of living ( in a safe/clean neighborhood) is rediculous. The avg. price of a home in CA is 350K+. We currently own a 1600 Sqft bungalow w/a full finished basement, large backyard and a detatched single car garage, in a quite subdivision. Our home is valued in the area of 220K CDN, roughly 200K USD? I am a carpenter and my wife is an accountant. I am fairly certain that finding employment would'nt be an issue for either of us. Does a similar place exist in Oregon? Is Oregon a nice place to live and raise a family. Does Oregon posess that laid back west coast mentality that we are looking for? Thanks. doctorljcc.

[Larry Caldwell]

I think it would be a tough move for you. If you speak Spanish, you might get a job as a carpenter crew supervisor, assuming you can get a green card. Carpentry jobs are tending toward minimum wage because of the influx of low cost labor from south of the border. Your wife would have the same green card problem, though accountants are more in demand than carpenters. Housing will cost you about 50% more than you are accustomed to.

The West Coast is really not all that romantic. I have friends who just moved from Salem to upper New York state. They bought a modern 4-bedroom 2.5 bath on half an acre in town for $125,000. He's an EMT, she's pregnant with her 3rd child and working on her masters. There's no way they could have afforded that much house here in Oregon.

[freedom]

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Come visit, and see if it is for you. Oregon is very family friendly. And I speak some spanish, but it was only needed when we did our landscaping or when we go out for mexican food.

freedom

[Waterlily]

Yes Oregon has a laid back lifestyle. Most of us who live here think it's very nice. We have great scenery,beaches,mountains and lots of trees.

There are plenty of smaller towns outside of large cities in Oregon. Just take a look at a map of Oregon.

[Honey Pie]

I have a question. My friend, Don wants to move to Coos Bay. He lives on disability checks. I have tried to find information on the Internet about senior housing. But I get infomation about very expensive apartments. Are there low-income senior housing units? How do I get to the right web-sites? Thanks for any help you can give me. Honey Pie

[bluebird39]

Hi there,

We just moved from Oregon to Michigan for similar resons stated above... Our money goes much further here. I can finally afford to stay home with my kids, instead of working (along with DH) to pay our mortgage. West Coast living has become very expensive. Many of my friends have moved to either Eastern Oregon or the Roseburg area to be able to afford living without 2 full incomes.

Yes, Oregon is incredibly beautiful. I miss that terribly, but you pay for it. When I moved there many years ago (early 90's) it wasn't so expensive, but as more and more people decide to retire there, or who have been forced out of California by high costs, the housing prices have skyrocketed.

Do you have family in Ontario? Oregon is a long way from there. One reason we moved here was to be closer to family. Cross country plane tickets became unaffordable with 4 of us traveling to see both sides of our families (in addition to our house payment).

Also, one of my good friends there was Canadian, and became very dissappointed (as I did too) when it was time to put our kids in schools there. The schools in Oregon have suffered a lot recently. More and more, Oregon is becoming a place for retirees to move to IMO.

I hate to burst a bubble, but the West Coast in general has become a hard place to raise a family. Yes, it can be done. Most of my friends who are still there are people who have long family roots in the West (most are from California).

My 2 cents.

BTW... yes, Spanish is good to know, but in most parts of Oregon it's not necessary. One good thing about one of my son's teachers is that she taught the kids a lot of Spanish. About a forth of his kindergarten class were Spanish speaking, ESL students. Makes it challenging to be sure...

[turnerfamily]

You know I kinda feel it's time to move out of Oregon,but looking elsewhere not everything is as laid back as Oregon.Housing in other states can be much cheaper but check out the proprty taxes,sales taxes,vehicle inspections,vehicle registrations,cost for heat and ac,minimum wages,road toll fees,amenities for the home -internet,cable,cell phones.All these need to be factored into the cost of living.Besides the outrageous income taxes in Oregon other things are pretty minimal.If you can find a stable professional occupation than Oregon can be very tolerable but there's always room for improvment.

[mirjanaf]

Did you ever thinking of moving in Vancouver, Washington which is only a crooss a breadge from Oregon. Housing is more cheeaper the Oregon.