What is the downside to living in Oregon? (Portland, Eugene: leasing, lofts)

[x-evanstonian]

There is a Republican minority presence here.

[chrisruns2far]

Originally Posted by x-evanstonian

There is a Republican minority presence here.

Whereas Oregon as a state does barely lean Democratic, outside of 6-7 counties, the rest of the state is majority of Republican.

I shift took place in the Oregon Republican Party in the mid to late 90's from a party of moderates who understood the value of conservation, sustainability and the beneficial socio-economic path of consensus in which both major parties worked together in a much more productive and pro-active manner. Approx. 10-years ago the party was high-jacked by the Christian Fundamentalist, far-right elements that changed the dynamic of state government to one of hostility and uncompromising.

This has made Oregon a much more conservative state since I first moved here in 1988. The culture in Salem has become one of failure to govern for the common good in which no politcal will can be mustered up to tackle the fundemental issues that burden so many of us.

I'm hopeful that with the many positive bills passed in the 2007 legislative session that we may be taking tranistional steps back to a time when the far-right element is but a trivial nusiance so we can get on with tackling the serious issues facing our state.

[gemfem29]

I don't know about the rest of Oregon but the downside to Coos Bay is Gloom, uneducated hillbillies, dark winters, cold, too many pine trees, bad economy, barely any interesting jobs. Ford trucks from the year 1970 to 1990 on the streets

[Pro-4X Titan1]

Stop talking S..t and leave already!!!

[nanannie]

"TOO MANY PINE TREES" Thats just horrid

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by jm21

I'm thinking about moving to TX from OR to get cheaper housing...do I want to leave OR? Not particularly.

I moved to Plano, Texas from southern Oregon last March. The cost of living is very high here.....I wouldn't recommend it.

The "only" thing less expensive than Oregon, "might" be the purchase price of a home. Property taxes and homeowners insurance are astronomical here. Food is higher, utilities are significantly higher. You have to use AC 2/47 during the summer months, and heat 24/7 in the winter. I have a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment, live alone, and just got a $181 electric bill. Registering vehicles is quite high, as is auto insurance. My auto insurance tripled when I moved here!

People aren't very friendly here either, in spite of the old wives tales to the contrary. Most of the people in this area are transplants, not natives.

[jiffin4java]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

I moved to Plano, Texas from southern Oregon last March. The cost of living is very high here.....I wouldn't recommend it.

The "only" thing less expensive than Oregon, "might" be the purchase price of a home. Property taxes and homeowners insurance are astronomical here. Food is higher, utilities are significantly higher. You have to use AC 2/47 during the summer months, and heat 24/7 in the winter. I have a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment, live alone, and just got a $181 electric bill. Registering vehicles is quite high, as is auto insurance. My auto insurance tripled when I moved here!

People aren't very friendly here either, in spite of the old wives tales to the contrary. Most of the people in this area are transplants, not natives.

We moved here for my husband to go to school and I'm so excited we're leaving in February!

I'm not sure I agree with the prices being higher. We had major sticker shock in reverse when we got here. However, we're not homeowners here and we didn't change our vehicle insurance/registration over so I'm not sure about those two aspects. As far as heating/cooling, yes you need your air on all summer but I have yet to have to turn on my heat. We are in south Texas though, near San Antonio, so that may have something to do with it. We pay $775/mo for a 3bed/2bath duplex with big yard and we pay roughly $200 a month for all utilities combined. As for food, I can feed my family of four on $50 a week with no problem and we don't have a "cheap" grocery store around us so we usually go to Albertson's. Now, if you wanna talk Christmas trees...WOW! ROFL! We had to pay $60 for a smallish tree because they ship them here from Oregon!

I completely agree with you on the people. It's a major misconception about Texas. Everyone says the people here are the nicest and I personally have found that to be completely untrue. Maybe it's that most of the population where I live are also not native. I don't know. But I find many of the people I come across to be nice on the surface only. They don't take the time to get to know you or go out of their way for anyone. I've yet to find a real genuine person here and I haven't made a friend here since we moved hear a year and a half ago, which I find really unusual. There isn't a sense of community or an outpouring of care for a family in need or anything like that like most other places I've been.

I have to say the worst thing I've ever experienced was going into a grocery store here and witnessing an employee collapse about ten feet from me and there were several other people around her too, but everyone just simply stepped over her or stared. Her own boss didn't even know her name when I asked her. It was pathetic and extremely disturbing to me.

Maybe my experiences here are isolated and people are mostly helpful and nice. I'd like to think that, but I have yet to encounter it. Maybe it's the area. LOL! Texas is a LARGE state.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by jiffin4java

We moved here for my husband to go to school and I'm so excited we're leaving in February!

Lucky you! I'm probably going to move when my lease is up in the spring too.

I'm not sure I agree with the prices being higher. We had major sticker shock in reverse when we got here. However, we're not homeowners here and we didn't change our vehicle insurance/registration over so I'm not sure about those two aspects.

I'm sure the cost of living depends on where you actually live. Do yourself a favor, and don't change your auto info in Texas. LOL

As far as heating/cooling, yes you need your air on all summer but I have yet to have to turn on my heat. We are in south Texas though, near San Antonio, so that may have something to do with it. We pay $775/mo for a 3bed/2bath duplex with big yard and we pay roughly $200 a month for all utilities combined.

I have a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment on the third floor, and I pay $920, and another $65 for my enclosed garage.

As for food, I can feed my family of four on $50 a week with no problem and we don't have a "cheap" grocery store around us so we usually go to Albertson's. Now, if you wanna talk Christmas trees...WOW! ROFL! We had to pay $60 for a smallish tree because they ship them here from Oregon!

I know, the cost of a "live" tree is insane here! I wimped out and got a phony tree for the first time ever! I wouldn't have even gotten one but my youngest son was flying down here for Christmas week, and I wanted it to be Christmasy for him.

Maybe I should look into creating a Christmas tree farm here? LOL

I completely agree with you on the people. It's a major misconception about Texas. Everyone says the people here are the nicest and I personally have found that to be completely untrue. Maybe it's that most of the population where I live are also not native. I don't know. But I find many of the people I come across to be nice on the surface only. They don't take the time to get to know you or go out of their way for anyone. I've yet to find a real genuine person here and I haven't made a friend here since we moved hear a year and a half ago, which I find really unusual. There isn't a sense of community or an outpouring of care for a family in need or anything like that like most other places I've been.

I have to say the worst thing I've ever experienced was going into a grocery store here and witnessing an employee collapse about ten feet from me and there were several other people around her too, but everyone just simply stepped over her or stared. Her own boss didn't even know her name when I asked her. It was pathetic and extremely disturbing to me.

Maybe my experiences here are isolated and people are mostly helpful and nice. I'd like to think that, but I have yet to encounter it. Maybe it's the area. LOL! Texas is a LARGE state.

I have yet to encounter it either. Native Texans are so busy blaming transplants for everything, that they have forgotten their "hospitality" manners. And don't dare mention it if you're from California, they'll tar and feather you! LOL

That's incredible what you encountered at the grocery store! How sad that people couldn't even help the poor girl!

[jiffin4java]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

I have yet to encounter it either. Native Texans are so busy blaming transplants for everything, that they have forgotten their "hospitality" manners. And don't dare mention it if you're from California, they'll tar and feather you! LOL

That's incredible what you encountered at the grocery store! How sad that people couldn't even help the poor girl!

LOL! I know! I have my CA plates still and I get the strangest looks! And I'm not even a CA native! LOL! I was born and raised in MI. My first day here I drove to the store and some guy kept honking behind me and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I'm not a slow or a bad driver. I figured out later, after finding nothing wrong with the van or my driving, that it was my plates! AAAHAHHAHAHAAAA!

We're still waiting for word from the FAA on where we're going and we're hoping for Oregon.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by jiffin4java

LOL! I know! I have my CA plates still and I get the strangest looks! And I'm not even a CA native! LOL! I was born and raised in MI. My first day here I drove to the store and some guy kept honking behind me and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I'm not a slow or a bad driver. I figured out later, after finding nothing wrong with the van or my driving, that it was my plates! AAAHAHHAHAHAAAA!

We're still waiting for word from the FAA on where we're going and we're hoping for Oregon.

Well luckily I had "Oregon" plates on my car when I moved here, but I mentioned in the Dallas - CD forum that I was a California native.........well, you can imagine what happened next!

Is your husband in flight school, or training to be an air traffic controller? If so, I believe the Medford, OR airport is expanding. Maybe that's a possibility? Southern Oregon is definitely better living than the northern part of the state. The weather is MUCH better!!!