What is the downside to living in Oregon? (Grants Pass, Ashland: insurance, month to)

[elcapitan]

jimg1126:

I am curious where you would like to move, if you plan on moving. I just want to get an idea what you think is ideal so I can determine how relevant your posts are.

[zilfondel]

...and hence, it all comes down to:

Originally Posted by LADY_DI

no trader joe in salem

Indeed. Glad they might build another one in Portland. At least there's ONE thing California gave the world...

[tenacity]

We returned in October from a wonderful trip to Oregon. We camped in our tent trailer at the KOA campground in Sisters. It is a beutiful area and while part of me would live to live there, the Bend area reminded me of Palo Alto in Calif. It was very upscale and growing like a weed. The prices were higher in the grocery store than so. Calif.

I loved the Roseburg area and all the trees. We stopped in JAcksonville and paid a huge amount in the historic downtown for a less than gourmet breakfast. I guess they are proud of their prices. The rent must be very expensive. Obvioulsy, Calif has had an impact in Oregon.We may have to look at buying land as well as the prices were pretty steep (Calif prices). I am a farm girl and raise dairy and meat goats and by trade I and a certified equine therapist. So a horse or ranch community is preferred for us. I also teach dog obedience classes. so we may have to look at Eastern Oregon.

We've got about 2 years before we can think about moving and and overall 5 before my husband can retire, so we may be here awhile longer, unless the smog and the traffic here kills us.

[jiffin4java]

Originally Posted by blazen

Certified Equine Therapist? LOL!!!

Every horse needs some quality time on the couch to discuss their lives and personal problems.

LOL!

I'm guessing it's more along the lines of helping the horse bounce back after a broken leg or something like that.

[jiffin4java]

Originally Posted by blazen

What a bunch of BS. This is the type of business that will soon be bankrupt as the economy slides from recession to depression.

Wow. That was pretty mean. Way to make someone feel inadequate. There's obviously people who see the need for this type of therapy for their horse or the business wouldn't be there. You don't have to understand it but you don't have to be that way. I can see where it'd be useful if you had a racehorse or showhorse....no different than you going to therapy for your own muscle pains. It's like saying, "A veterinarian! Who the heck would take their dog to a doctor and spend all that money?" Well, obviously someone who loves their dog and has the resources to do so.

Be nice.

[tiffela74]

Tenacity,
dont pay Blazen any attention....you should see what he said to me on the Weather thread up in Portland! sheesh....Some people thrive on being cruel and negative.
Im glad you have a career you enjoy, and as Jiffin4Java says, there obviously people who are in need of your services. Personally, my little rat terrier could use your help as well in the doggy obedience! lol Theres a need for that pretty much wherever you go Im sure.
Im glad you enjoyed your trip here to Oregon. Bend area IS quite beautiful! My mom is moving there, its her idea of paradise. You're right though, things can cost more out there!
Roseburg is lovely too, if you go out a bit further, you may find some better deals on property. Along 42 is beautiful, and might fit your needs.
Maybe you could buy some distressed property and use the next couple years to improve it for yourselves for when youre ready to move. At least that way too, you'd always have a place to camp!
Best of luck to you!
Tiffany

BTW, Great Stick Up post Jiffin4Java!! Kudos!

[jiffin4java]

LOL! Thanks. Good luck to you, Tanacity!

[tenacity]

Have you or a family member ever pulled a hamstring muscle or had a bruise that was worse than a break? or seen a dog running on 3 legs, because one hind leg was paralized? The service I provide is called Electro-Acuscope Myoscope Therapy. The old fuddy duddy (Blazen) who poo poo'd what I do, it is obvioulsy very closed minded to anything that he can't be and authoritative voice. I've met his kind before.

For the rest of you, I invite you to google the name of the therpy and read about it.
[SIZE=-1]The Electro-Acuscope is a highly sophisticated electronic medical instrument which is designed to scan and treat many types of electrical stimulators called TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation). TENS means that the instrument uses electricity to reduce pain by stimulating the nervous system of the body without puncturing the skin in any way. The Myoscope, companion instrument to the Acuscope, gently stimulates the muscles, tendons and ligaments, reducing spasm, inflammation and strengthening tissue damaged by traumatic injury. Together they comprise the most technologically advanced and effective electronic physical therapy equipment available in health care today. [/SIZE]

Animals have to be referred by their veterianians for therapy. This is why I called your state veterinary board whe we were considering Oregon and was happy to hear that they would welcome the therapy.

Several of the Kaisers in Calif. have them in their sports therapy dept. In 1985 they recalibrated the instruments for animals. Many vets have them in thier practice and there is a growing population of therapists specializing in the field in the U.S. The end result is that the therapy accelerates healing by any where from 50-300% and provides pain management. How much repair occurs actually depends on the nature of the injury, age of the animal etc. Several of the major sports leagues have been using these instruments for a number of years. Touche'

Ok now for Oregon.. I grew up in the foothills above Sacramento, which is wall to wall homes now. EEK! I'm a 4-H goat leaderr and 4-H dog leader, so I'd like to also live where there is a healthy 4-H membership.My husband is active in the Masonic Lodge so living in a community that has one near by is also a plus. I have allergies and heard that south of Roseburg is a little drier than north of Euegne.. Is this correct?

I am getting concerned abou my husband's well being as the once, 1 hr 15 min commute 3 years ago is now 2 1/2 hours each way, due to increases in traffic. We are stepping up looking at locations and appeal.
If you have any favorite areas, I would be interested to hear about them.

Tenacity

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Oregon has mediocre public schools and an abysmally poor state system of higher education.

Police presence is nonexistent in many areas, the jails are revolving doors, and many crimes, like car theft, are never even investigated in the larger cities.

The large population centers rule the political process. Rural areas of the state are required to follow environmental laws, but cities are exempt. For instance, I can't do anything within 100 feet of the stream that runs through my property, but cities build streets and parking lots right up to the stream bank, and sometimes just install concrete culverts and pave them over. They want pristine waters, but dump their sewage into the river. I would love to see a law mandating that cities draw their drinking water downstream from their sewage outfall. You would see them get real serious about treating sewage!

Another thing that bugs me is the number of people building McMansions that don't have a clue how to spend money. They buy a catalog house plan and bulldoze a site flat on a hillside, no matter how unsuitable the site is to that house plan. People sit in their breakfast dining room, and stare out the windows at a cut bank. It's just tasteless and stupid. It's like Frank Lloyd Wright never lived. If I had $500,000 to spend, I sure wouldn't spend it on a cookie cutter pile of crap.

That's a few things to start. There are more.

I agree with you 100%!!

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by jadgeb

Oh my, you've really opened a can of worms with this paragraph. My husband is an Industrial Engineer who graduated from Purdue University and also has an Associates Degree in Forestry. He is extremely knowledgeable, skilled and has a wonderful work ethic. He has worked in the high-tech industry in the Valley, cruised timber, built houses, built radios and computers, DESIGNED computers, had staff who built computers report to him, managed a manufacturing business and 20 employees, built custom muzzleloader rifles (beautiful), flown helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, worked in Human Resources, run CDL truck schools, been a Quality Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, etc. etc., and he has a horrible time finding a decent employer in Central Oregon. (He has been here since the mid-90s after the high-tech bust in the Valley).

It is not for lack of skills (in Central Oregon) that many people cannot get decent paying jobs. There AREN'T that many! And first you have to get hired. I know this for a fact having lived here for 30 years. If you don't know someone (who knows someone at a business or at the county, city, school district, etc.), you aren't of a certain pedigree or have the right last name, it is very difficult to find a good job here. You make do with what is available and keep putting out resumes and knocking on doors, while working at crap jobs. As a matter of fact, my husband recently was submitted for an Engineering job through a recruiter who recently moved to Central Oregon (NOT from California!) and the recruiter could not believe the amount of nepotism and cronyism in this area. He was appalled and brought up the subject; my husband, of course, had made no mention of it.

As far as the "drains on the economy", we contribute mightily via property taxes and income taxes, etc. There are many government programs for which I am not eligible for, make too much money for if the need to use them arose, but make too little to be able to save for retirement AND keep the wolves from the door. A number of people I come in contact with where I work have 2, 3, or more part time jobs just to make a living here. Sure, there are a lot of people who are just beaten down and discouraged from looking for work, out of work, who have used all their unemployment benefits, etc. Remember that Oregon is still largely rural, and if you have to expend a good proportion of your income on long distances for gas to get to town, get to work, rent/mortgage, utilities and food, what is left? Yes, you can move, if you can afford it.

For many years, (speaking as a native Oregonian with multi-generations in the soil) Oregon employment has degenerated to the point where finding a family wage, living wage job is a joke. Those jobs rapidly declined with the loss of high-tech jobs, good manufacturing industries moving out of state, and the loss of the logging and fishing industries. I remember visiting relatives in Prairie City, reading the Blue Mountain Eagle and out-right guffawing over an op-ed piece sarcastically commenting about how "the tourist industry and trade" would replace all those timber jobs lost in Central and Eastern Oregon. You bet.

If anyone cares to check on how people once employed in good paying positions have fared since losing those jobs, go to OLMIS - Low-Wage Industries Continue to Fuel Oregon Job Growth Figures. Many of them are not finding work in any higher paying positions and have to take jobs where they are underemployed. That works as long as you can keep paying the bills, but what a waste of skills and talent.

I guess you'll just have to consider yourself lucky that you have a job that pays decent wages. That, in the majority of Oregon, is a rarity.

I agree with you 100%!!! There are also a LOT of builders, etc. who hire illegals, or pay whomever under the table, which takes revenue away from the communities and the state on the whole.