About me, my wife, and what we want from Oregon! (fit in, real estate)

[Minervah]

Why not look for churches in various Oregon towns to find Lutheran churches. Then you can ask what they have to offer and what the job situation in the area might be.

[AndyLoosbrock]

I should have never mentioned religion and politics. I clearly have started a browl. Are our professions plentiful in any economy? Yes. And that is one reason that we think NOW is the time to move.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by AndyLoosbrock

I should have never mentioned religion and politics. I clearly have started a browl. Are our professions plentiful in any economy? Yes. And that is one reason that we think NOW is the time to move.

You didn't start a browl.

I don't know anything about banking but the legal profession has been hit pretty hard in Oregon.

[AndyLoosbrock]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Why not look for churches in various Oregon towns to find Lutheran churches. Then you can ask what they have to offer and what the job situation in the area might be.

That is exactly what we are thinking!

[AndyLoosbrock]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

You didn't start a browl.

I don't know anything about banking but the legal profession has been hit pretty hard in Oregon.

My job is def as #1 earner.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by AndyLoosbrock

We are Lutherans. LCMS. Our faith is VERY important to us.

We are staunch Republicans. We are very conservative, and steadfast in our beliefs.

We are from Southwest Minnesota. The weather here is AWFUL! So cold and windy during the 7 month winter. Blizzards and HORRIBLE roads. Summers are NO better. Hot and Humid (and still VERY windy). Plus the severe weather threats. Tornadoes and hail.

Our hometown is 135 in population. It STINKS. Nothing to do. No grocery stores. No school.

Does that about sum our CURRENT situation up?

What we want:

We want a larger town, obviously. We are thinking 9-10k, MINIMUM. We don't want Salem size, but 50K or so is about our median.

We want our kids to go to school in the same town we live. And GOOD schools.

We want to do it all in one town. Live, work, have kids go to school, GO TO CHURCH, etc.

We, of course, want nice weather, almost year round. NO extremes. No severe weather.

Above all, we want to live in a town where our church has a large presence. We want to send our kids to bible study and church classes IN THE SAME TOWN.

Having early roots in the Midwest myself (and having been raised Lutheran), I can tell you're in for a good measure of cultural shock when you get here. The kind of religious piety that you've known in Minnesota has much more to do with the 19th century cultural history of German and Scandinavian immigrants than it does with theology. You can find a Lutheran church to attend (and if it's a LCMS church in Oregon, it WILL be a church full of Bible-thumping fundamentalists whether that describes you or not), but it won't feel like the same denomination you grew up in. Lutheranism is a minority denomination on the West Coast. Even in the 60's and 70's, Lutheran churches here weren't thriving with big youth programs and special music they were in the Midwest. Today, many Lutheran churches in Oregon are tottering on the brink of financial insolvency.

A lot of Midwesterners move here thinking that people are pretty much the same everywhere and don't realize how much of what they consider "normal" is actually part of an idiosyncratic culture endemic to the upper Midwest. If you're contemplating moving here, you're going to have to reconcile with the fact that you won't be in Lake Wobegon anymore. The social pressure to conform to a certain belief set that is so prevalent in Minnesota doesn't exist here and Oregonians are much more likely to be free thinkers. Will that be a good fit for your family? No matter how you want to raise your kids, they'll be much influenced by their peers and the prevailing social environment. Its unlikely that they'll grow up retaining provincial Midwestern values. They'll be Oregonians, and quite likely proud of their intellectual independence.

And while seven months of rain with temps in the 40's and 50's might seem like mild weather compared to blizzards with below-zero windchill, don't think that cabin fever in winter will be a thing of the past. I can tell you from experience that it is in many respects easier to suit up and be comfortable outside for extended periods in snow than it is in pouring rain. This isn't California. Winters aren't all that cold but they are WET and they are as long as the ones back home. Summer in western Oregon doesn't start until July. I've said this many times before on this forum: those who expect to come here and live out their lives in their own personal bubble of Midwestern culture tend to have short longevity on the West Coast. They miss being around "My People," as Garrison Keillor calls them. If you don't want the Whole Oregon Package, you should think very carefully about whether this would be a good fit for you.

[Silverfall]

I have a friend that is a Missouri Synod follower and I can tell you that they are few out here. Oregon has a low church attendance rate in general and is very religiously diverse, even in moderate Salem Oregon. Lutheranism is huge in the mid-west and barely a blip out here. The non-denominational Christian churches seems to dominate in Salem. Just be aware of that dynamic.

My super conservative friends are fine out here, but I don't think Corvallis would be right for you as it is more liberal due to the university. I think McMinnville might be a better fit, and honestly Monmouth might work too, which you brought up in the other threads. They are more conservative cities. I'm not sure I'd call the Monmouth schools good. Average, yes. Monmouth shares a high school with Independence which is a much more diverse town.

The law field has been hit hard. In fact, so hard that there are more attorneys than jobs right now. The law school grads can't get jobs.

I think McMinnville is the closest thing to what you are looking for, but Brenda is right on. I grew up in Illinois and Oregon is a completely different culture. While you are wanting to escape the cold winters, Oregon is not for everyone. Some people hate it here and end up moving away after a year. It isn't like the mid-west and is a very "everyone is okay as they are" kind of crowd. Missouri Synod beliefs are ultra conservative and definitely in the minority here in Oregon. You have to be okay with that.

[Minervah]

The law field has been hit hard. In fact, so hard that there are more attorneys than jobs right now. The law school grads can't get jobs.

True, in fact some recent law school graduates are taking jobs as paralegals because they can't find work as attorneys.

[hamellr]

I'm chiming in that I believe the OP really needs to come and visit, then decide which of their values they need to corrupt to move to Oregon. Even the most Conservative parts of Oregon are not that Conservative to other parts of the contry. Church attendance, even in Conservative parts of the state is extremely low. As Baby Boomers start going on to the greater reward, Churches across the state are going to start closing and consolidating due to low attendance numbers. This is already happening in communities across the Willamette Valley, and in some of the ultra-small Eastern Oregon towns and will only accelerate.

Again, the job market US wide maybe in recovery, but Oregon is going to be 18-24 months AT LEAST, before it starts hitting here in any measurable way. Cities and Counties across the State are laying off Municipal workers to make up for budget short falls.

In my opinion, to really get close to what sounds like your ideal community, you're going to have to live in one of the smaller towns in Eastern Oregon. Which means under 3000 population for the most part, and fairly remote from any large cities. But then you're going to be in for a bit of a weather shock - long winters, warm summers, mere inches of rain away from being a desert, droughts in the summer, unsafe travel conditions in winter. No matter how much you think you're used to snow and rain in your area, Oregon snow and the just at freezing point ice are another world.

That being said, I LOVE Oregon. I could happily live in any part of the state (and have,) as long as I had a job. But it's not for everyone, and isn't going to be like your current home.

[AndyLoosbrock]

Originally Posted by Minervah

True, in fact some recent law school graduates are taking jobs as paralegals because they can't find work as attorneys.

Really. Wow!