Is Grants Pass "odd"? (Portland, Eugene: how much, theater, living in)

[f0rbin]

ive been looking for a home to buy, but the search is a bit rediculos. IMO people ask entirely to much for some of these properties. i dont know if anyone else noticed but the dollar isnt woth crap and neither is some of those crapper houses. to be honest i would rather live in the freaking bushes and get eaten by a mountian lion before i fork over 200k for a dooky house that isnt worth 2/3 the asking price. enjoy the overpriced GP area.

[nanannie]

I think its a bargain compared to some places I have seen in Ashland, Bend,Hood River and Portland

[ewvdt]

We recently purchased property just outside of Grants Pass and love it!
Qualifying for a loan these days is much more difficult than ever before.

[CalOrGal]

I've enjoyed reading the posts in this topic. So many different opinions on GP. Many I agree with. We moved there in 1991 and left 2 years ago. It was becoming like So Calif in the price of houseing. The schools suck. Nothing like not knowing how many days will be cut this year. Friendliness? Hmmm, where we moved to you can walk, ride or drive down the street and people will wave at ya. You'd never find that in GP. The corner beggers. OMG! Where did they come from and why did they land in GP? GP has more then I have ever seen in my life. Here it's against the law.
We pay sales tax now, pump our own gas and have to put up with hot, humid temps here. But there is soooooooo much more for my kids to do. They can actually go outside and play with friends in a safe neighborhood, where we dont have to worry about drug dealers and child molesters. Dont get me wrong, they are out there, just not in our area of town. My son can also play sports at a much cheaper cost...baseball is FREE to play.
We also have a police dept. that cares. I know that if I have an issue of any kind they will be there. We have a huge public library. I loved going to the library in GP and taking my kids there. They loved it. It made for a cheap, fun experience for them. Where we live the library charges an annual fee of 25.00. Im sure that money helps to keep it open. It's to bad the JoCo Library couldnt implement something like that, and bring it back. They need it. I know from personal experience that the schools there just push kids through. There is no holding back...retention of any kind. My son would have benefitted from retention as he was extremely immature and not ready but Dist. 7 absolutely refused. Said NO WAY. It will affect him socially in the long run. I guess academically didnt matter.
I miss the weather of GP and the river. Other then that there isnt much at all that I miss. I have always believed the California transplants played in a huge part in the rapid, extreme rise in housing costs. It's to bad the housing is so high. Not to mention the cost of gas. Like I said, mini So Calif.
The only things GP has to offer is weather, scenery and the Rogue River. To bad it costs to damn much to enjoy it.

[lquinnett]

Originally Posted by Culture_Withdrawal

That sounds like something your grandfather would say.

I've lived all over the country and Grants Pass is by far, the worst place I've ever lived.

try using your spell check a little more effectively...
Not sure what a "meth attic" and other such malapropisms are;
and I live here in the uneducated, hillbilly town.
I, too have lived all over the world and you just sound like a generally unhappy person. Good luck w/ your search 4 the perfect town.
Ironically, you should not move there...if you get my drift.

[jennafifi]

Originally Posted by newlife7

why? you give no reasons for this.. it's obvious you personally hate the place, maybe you have a grudge against it or something, but you give no reasons why i would be better suited elsewhere? are you saying a person cannot form lifelong friendships in this area?

Hey, if you want to know the truth, here it is. People in this town DON'T wear their religion on their sleeves. They DON'T go around thumping the Bible, and I DON'T hear "praise the Lord" everytime something good happens! It's not that bad at all. I have to admit, it's taken me some time to like it and for GP to grow on me, but it has. I moved here from Alaska and really hated it (I was 15, had no choice, lol). It was hard moving to a new HUGE high school (I went to Grants Pass High, which I thought was a mistake because I thought it was a college), trying to make new friends with people that had been friends for years, and trying to fit in because I am Korean. NOW I'M NOT SAYING PEOPLE HERE ARE RACIST. Because I have never experienced it - it's just a really white town. Coming from Alaska that had a lot of diversity (and a younger population) was just very different to say the least. I will say this - the old farts in this town are generally grumpy - not all of them, but the majority of them. But I'm assuming anywhere you go they'll be pretty crotchety. The younger crowd, they're all pretty cool. Just smile and say hi and you'll never get snubbed! There's not much of a night life here, but Medford's not far - there's a few clubs there. If you love outdoorsy stuff, this is the place. You're not too far from anything here too - the river, the coast, big cities, lakes, recreational areas, historical areas, etc. The job market sucks to say the least - but I opened my own business and got out of the rat race, and there are LOTS of business owners here. I've read "too much traffic" a couple of times in this thread - where the hell are you guys driving???! Do you even realize what "too much traffic" is???? I've also read some things about bikes lanes - yes, there are bike lanes EVERYWHERE in this town. And no, you won't get hit by a car as long as you're riding your bike responsibly. I can't tell you how many times a guy on his silly bike will dart out in front of traffic! It makes no sense! Oh, and housing is pretty expensive here - but it's going down too. There's plenty of cheap rentals out there as long as you don't smoke and have dogs - they seem to be pretty strict about that. As far as politics go, what town doesn't seem to have crooked politics? I mean seriously, people can *****, moan and groan all they want, but until those people get in there and make some changes, what's the point? And whatever it is that you don't like, someone else does like - it's impossble to please everyone. But in all honesty, whining about it on an online post is certainly going to do nothing. Be proactive if you want changes, geez. I highly doubt that anyone that matters sits here and reads these posts and makes notes about what to change and what not to change! But anyways, I digressed a bit, trying to address a bunch of stuff I had been reading. But as I said, this is not another Bible belt town at all. There is a huge diversity of religous beliefs and backgrounds and most people are pretty tolerant. I'm assuming you are not in the reitirement age bracket too, so the people that you will mostly associate with are pretty laid back.
Oh, another I wanted to address taht I read - I wouldn't say at all that meth-heads run rampant throughout this town - that's pretty laughable. I mean, if you're meeting meth-heads everyday of your life, I'd re-route your day! Sure there is a problem, I'm not denying that, but to think that the majority of druggies are concentrated in this area is ridiculous. Worried about your kids running into one?? Raise your kids responsibly and it shouldn't happen. Your children don't go home to drug addicts, they go home to you, their parents - it is the parents' responsibility to make sure they make smart decisions. My husband was born and raised here, I moved here during my sophomore year - neither one of us touched a drug - not that we didn't have friends that did them, or went to parties that had them - but our parents raised us right. And if you're going to keep moving your kids around thinking you're going to escape the drug problems that are in every single city, you'll probably screw with your kids head and heart just as much as drugs would. Okay, I think I addressed everything that was bugging me that I read!

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by CalOrGal

It's to bad the housing is so high. Not to mention the cost of gas. Like I said, mini So Calif.

Really? Where in So. Calif. can you get a 3 bdrm. 2 ba. house on a quarter acre lot for $200,000?

Nanannie is correct. Grants Pass is the bargain basement for southern Oregon real estate. It's not like it was in the 20th century, but no place worth living in is.

[Den Mathias]

Originally Posted by jennafifi

Hey, if you want to know the truth, here it is. People in this town DON'T wear their religion on their sleeves. They DON'T go around thumping the Bible, and I DON'T hear "praise the Lord" everytime something good happens! It's not that bad at all. I have to admit, it's taken me some time to like it and for GP to grow on me, but it has. I moved here from Alaska and really hated it (I was 15, had no choice, lol). It was hard moving to a new HUGE high school (I went to Grants Pass High, which I thought was a mistake because I thought it was a college), trying to make new friends with people that had been friends for years, and trying to fit in because I am Korean. NOW I'M NOT SAYING PEOPLE HERE ARE RACIST. Because I have never experienced it - it's just a really white town. Coming from Alaska that had a lot of diversity (and a younger population) was just very different to say the least. I will say this - the old farts in this town are generally grumpy - not all of them, but the majority of them. But I'm assuming anywhere you go they'll be pretty crotchety. The younger crowd, they're all pretty cool. Just smile and say hi and you'll never get snubbed! There's not much of a night life here, but Medford's not far - there's a few clubs there. If you love outdoorsy stuff, this is the place. You're not too far from anything here too - the river, the coast, big cities, lakes, recreational areas, historical areas, etc. The job market sucks to say the least - but I opened my own business and got out of the rat race, and there are LOTS of business owners here. I've read "too much traffic" a couple of times in this thread - where the hell are you guys driving???! Do you even realize what "too much traffic" is???? I've also read some things about bikes lanes - yes, there are bike lanes EVERYWHERE in this town. And no, you won't get hit by a car as long as you're riding your bike responsibly. I can't tell you how many times a guy on his silly bike will dart out in front of traffic! It makes no sense! Oh, and housing is pretty expensive here - but it's going down too. There's plenty of cheap rentals out there as long as you don't smoke and have dogs - they seem to be pretty strict about that. As far as politics go, what town doesn't seem to have crooked politics? I mean seriously, people can *****, moan and groan all they want, but until those people get in there and make some changes, what's the point? And whatever it is that you don't like, someone else does like - it's impossble to please everyone. But in all honesty, whining about it on an online post is certainly going to do nothing. Be proactive if you want changes, geez. I highly doubt that anyone that matters sits here and reads these posts and makes notes about what to change and what not to change! But anyways, I digressed a bit, trying to address a bunch of stuff I had been reading. But as I said, this is not another Bible belt town at all. There is a huge diversity of religous beliefs and backgrounds and most people are pretty tolerant. I'm assuming you are not in the reitirement age bracket too, so the people that you will mostly associate with are pretty laid back.
Oh, another I wanted to address taht I read - I wouldn't say at all that meth-heads run rampant throughout this town - that's pretty laughable. I mean, if you're meeting meth-heads everyday of your life, I'd re-route your day! Sure there is a problem, I'm not denying that, but to think that the majority of druggies are concentrated in this area is ridiculous. Worried about your kids running into one?? Raise your kids responsibly and it shouldn't happen. Your children don't go home to drug addicts, they go home to you, their parents - it is the parents' responsibility to make sure they make smart decisions. My husband was born and raised here, I moved here during my sophomore year - neither one of us touched a drug - not that we didn't have friends that did them, or went to parties that had them - but our parents raised us right. And if you're going to keep moving your kids around thinking you're going to escape the drug problems that are in every single city, you'll probably screw with your kids head and heart just as much as drugs would. Okay, I think I addressed everything that was bugging me that I read!

Great Post!

But remember, paragraphs are your friends!

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by TribalCat

I was reading a thread about Southern Oregon (I've forgotten which one), and the poster was talking about the different towns. He wrote that Grants Pass was "odd". Is it?

Why in the world would anyone think that?

[backdrifter]

That's Soviet propaganda right there, you commie pinko! We are not living in the stone age in America!