Ashland Oregon? What can you tell us about it?? Looking to move to southern Oregon (Portland: fit in, best town)

[bugsymoran]

WE are headed to the southern Oregon region, and have heard a few good things about Ashland. Please let us know your opinions, hoping to fit into the 'hippie gypsy' culture, so if thats you let us know! Thanks!

[Terryj]

Two words sum up Ashland: Expensive and Progressive, not that that is a bad thing if it fits your life style.

[Minervah]

I don't think of Ashland as a "hippie gypsy" region in the least;it's more like a retiree and/or well-to-do younger crowd. It's a nice town but expensive to live in.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Yeah, the "hippie-gypsy" movement fizzled out in Ashland about 25 years ago. Don't get me wrong...you'll see plenty of people with dreadlocks who are wearing sandals and hemp pants while you're shopping at the co-op...but they have PhD's and teach classes in international studies or environmental education at the university. Most people in Ashland, though, are over 60 and are ex-Bay-Area immigrants.

As long as you don't need a job there and can bring at least 200k in transferable equity with you, Ashland is great. Opinions vary as to whether or not one needs to actually live in Ashland to enjoy the benefits that Ashland offers. It's getting to be quite a crowded little town and the main real estate bargains are going to be found 5-15 miles west of there.

[Fiddlehead]

Yep, it is wealthy and leans left, with very strong ties culturally to coastal California, and commensurately weak ties to Oregon. It is very expensive but nice, with hiking trails all around and beautiful scenery. The 25-40 age bracket is very thin and the 18-22 and 50-85 age brackets are large. Bottomline: if you can find work here, it is nice, but your money will not go very far. The price of entry is usually dumping an inflated house in California, but that has become a bit harder to do lately.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea

Yeah, the "hippie-gypsy" movement fizzled out in Ashland about 25 years ago. Don't get me wrong...you'll see plenty of people with dreadlocks who are wearing sandals and hemp pants while you're shopping at the co-op...but they have PhD's and teach classes in international studies or environmental education at the university. Most people in Ashland, though, are over 60 and are ex-Bay-Area immigrants.

As long as you don't need a job there and can bring at least 200k in transferable equity with you, Ashland is great.

Opinions vary as to whether or not one needs to actually live in Ashland to enjoy the benefits that Ashland offers. It's getting to be quite a crowded little town and the main real estate bargains are going to be found 5-15 miles west of there.

Yes, I agree that is Ashland in a sentence, and why it leans so strongly toward Bay Area retirees.

Medford, in contrast, is downright affordable these days. Again, if one can find a job.

[Hawk J]

Thar is a BigFoot trap, not far from Ashland...

Bigfoot Trap. Sasquatch. Collings Mountain Hiking Trail, Trails. Gigantopithecus blacki.


YouTube - ‪Bigfoot Trap Applegate Lake southern Oregon June 2009‬‏

[Deezus]

I lived in Ashland from 1998 to 2003 while I was attending SOU. There were still a lot of hippies--both young and old in town at that point, although it was just starting to really transition to a more upscale town. It was a fun town then, although it was a little too crunchy hippy transplant vibe for me sometimes. Lots of dreadlocked hippy kids from the East Coast ended up there, mixed in with the other college kids from the rest of Oregon. But it was a fun town, with the only real decent bar scene and live music of anywhere in the region. Lots of good restaurants, although alot of them are overpriced. and I couldn't afford most of them. There's an artsier crowd attracted by the Shakespeare Festival--some of which are actors or work in other aspects of the festival, that brings a slightly more urban vibe to the small downtown.

I was bummed after I left when I heard that the Ashland Creek Bar and Grill became a run of the mill restaurant and that they got rid of the huge deck over the creek--that was the best place to hang out in the college years for live music. Other than that, I think most of the old places--Callahans, Wiley's World, the Co-Op, that were there during my time in Ashland still exist.

It's still a somewhat fun town, although it's a lot pricier for rentals than when I was there. Most people I know who used to live in Ashland now live in neighboring areas like Talent or Medford or even further out in the hills where they can afford to buy property. The best thing about Ashland is that it's surrounded by mountains on three sides--so it's really easy to get up to the Cascades or Siskiyous--and the country isn't that crowded for hiking or camping. It's also a great town for mountain biking... The thing I didn't like is that if you get bored in Ashland and want more stuff to do besides the outdoors, it's a long drive to Eugene or a further drive to Portland or the Bay Area. The options when I lived there were hippy stuff or upscale stuff for rich retirees or tourists, both of which got tiring after a while.

[adaptable]

Ashland is in the top 10 list for Outside Magazines "Best Town Ever" competition. There are a lot of comments about Ashland that are worth reading on this site. Just click on Ashland and scroll down to read the comments. Here's the link Outside Magazine - Best Town | Facebook.

[SeriStarlight]

Ashland is my home town, so I speak from expirience when I say that only move here if you like hippies. There is so many opportunities here for everyone. I've lived all over America from Hawaii, to North Carolina, to Florida and more, and this is by far the most welcoming and creative atmosphere I've been to. If you move, I'd love to welcome you! I'm a highschool student there.
Everything about the town is vibrant, and the mix of old people and college kids makes for quite the array of activities.