What is the downside to living in Oregon? (property taxes, houses)

[LADY_DI]

not enough jobs, wait is long

too many cars on the road

no trader joe in salem

[angelbug]

Originally Posted by tenacity

We've heard that it's best not to say your from California.

I always laugh about the Californian thing. Do the people who hate Californians mean the shallow Hollywood type, the San Francisco old hippie type, the Silicon Valley computer geek type, the crunchy granola back-to-the-land organic farmer type, the middle-aged cosmetic-surgery junkie type, the Central Valley almond grower, the Modoc county beef cattle rancher, the staid Sacramento state government worker, the Humboldt County pothead, the Orange County born-again fundamentalist Christian, the San Diego Air Force family, or the Bakersfield oilman with his cowboy hat and boots? What exactly IS a "Californian"?

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Kristynwy

The statistics showed that two working adults in a household are not making enough money to survive and have all of their necessities and housing be provided with their incomes. Originally it was about 50% now it is more like 75% and construction work is going down in wages not up, and taxes continue to go sky high. The livelihoods of people are being sucked right out from under them...

There was recently an article in The Oregonian about the falling wages in Oregon. Adjusted for inflation, the average wage in oregon has dropped almost 11% in the last 10 years. Oregon is losing high paying, family wage jobs and replacing them with low paying service sector jobs.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by angelbug

I always laugh about the Californian thing. Do the people who hate Californians mean the shallow Hollywood type, the San Francisco old hippie type, the Silicon Valley computer geek type, the crunchy granola back-to-the-land organic farmer type, the middle-aged cosmetic-surgery junkie type, the Central Valley almond grower, the Modoc county beef cattle rancher, the staid Sacramento state government worker, the Humboldt County pothead, the Orange County born-again fundamentalist Christian, the San Diego Air Force family, or the Bakersfield oilman with his cowboy hat and boots? What exactly IS a "Californian"?

The stereotype (all the way around) is that the "Californian" is the one who buys the gaudy McMansion on the hill above your house, laughing all the while that it costs less than the chicken coop he had on his property in California and then saying that things aren't run right here, that we ought to do everything the way it was done "back home" where things were much better.

It IS a ridiculous stereotype, but it's also a widely-held one, from Oregon to Washington to Colorado to Arizona to Idaho to Texas.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Kristynwy

Real estate is skyhigh there now.. I remember when I was a kid you could buy a home for 100,000-130,000 that was pretty decent. Last time I checked a 2 bedroom starter home that needs work is 200,000 and up.

When I graduated from College, in 1969, you could buy a nice 3-bedroom house in Corvallis for $13,000. That same year, a guy called me on the phone wanting to sell me an acre of land in Central Oregon for $500. The terms were $50 down, 5% interest, and they would carry the paper. I laughed at him. $500 an acre would buy fertile Willamette Valley farm land. Why would I want to spend $500 on a near desert acre in some place called the Crooked River Ranch?

When I graduated from high school, I had $5000 saved for college from summer jobs. I could have paid cash for 100 acres in the Eola Hills in West Salem. Salem itself had a population of about 50,000, and Lancaster Drive was a 2-lane country road. There were only 2 million people in the whole state, and people were a lot more rural and self-sufficient.

Things were always cheaper when you were a kid. Paper money doesn't hold its value. Plus, a "nice" home in the 1960s would be an outdated, leaky, energy inefficient shack by 2007 standards. I didn't even buy my first home with central heat until 1986.

There will always be missed opportunities. No matter where you live, you will look back and wish you had done things differently. On the other hand, sometimes you get it right.

[jadgeb]

As a native Oregonian, I am appalled at the way this state has changed. It is not the state I grew up with. I am a farm kid & now a rancher in Central Oregon. Things have changed for the worse. With employment and wages, we are going backwards. It is sad to travel to the Hood River Valley where my folks had an orchard and see how the town has changed. The whole state has become "loved to death".
Because of physical disabilities, I am no longer able to ranch as much as I used to but still have a few farm animals. I have worked at a job (NOT a service job and I have many, many skills) for 12 years and now make $10.75 an hour! It is hard to find a better job for better wages, and also receive health insurance (which I desperately need.) I think employers in Central Oregon are 20 years behind the Valley or Metro area. Even though there are "lots of jobs and not enough employees", as widely touted in newspapers and other media in the region, for the most part the jobs are crap. They consist of service jobs that do not pay enough money for a single person to subsist on, let alone pay for other expenditures. My husband and I are very frugal and are trying to live on my wages until he finds another job. I've owned our property for 20 years, thank God, or we would be in dire straits. It is scary to think that one unexpected step could send us over the edge, and I hate to think of all the people in C.O. who are dealing with the same thing. Employers here do NOT want to pay a decent wage! If you do find a better job (mostly out of town), you have to weigh the pros and cons of driving to work with the gas prices, tire wear, etc. Is it worth it?
My husband is an Industrial Engineer who worked for many years in the Valley until the mid-90s hi tech industry bust. He has MANY skills but is unable to find a decent job that will pay him what he is worth. He has worked as a Quality, Manufacturing and Facilities Engineer also. Either people think he is overqualified, over-educated, don't know what the hell his resume means, or they don't want to pay a commensurate wage for the skills. It is very frustrating for him to deal with this time and again at interviews or with no response to his applying for jobs. Subsequently, he has had several jobs where he is definitely "underemployed". Think of this when you are applying for professional-type work.
For all those lower income persons who are thinking of moving here, beware. Bring extra cash with you, or expect to work 2 or 3 jobs in the service economy until you can "find something better". The area is rife with nepotism and cronyism, also, so don't expect to waltz into a better job "just like that".
Do not relocate to Deschutes County unless you have suitcases full of cash! Thank God I do not live in Deschutes County. The property taxes will eat the average person alive.
This area is beautiful, but the old saying "poverty with a view" has always been accurate. There seems to be no place left in the state to escape the McMansions and extreme wealth that is coming here and driving the locals out, and slowly re-defining this area. With the way property values are over-inflated and having family all over Oregon, we are not willing to move for an unknown at this time. In fact, we probably can't afford to move. Where would we go?
The standard of living here has gone way down for a lot of people. I would consider us to be on the cusp of poverty. We are always worried that the car will break down, one of us will need hospitalization, etc. with all the attendant bills. It is a grim reality in your 50s, and things were not always like this.
You are dealing with more drugs, more crime, gang activity, and other assorted things not conducive to a decent way of living.
Just a few words to the wise before you move here, things are not always what they seem.

[elmerlyn]

Originally Posted by elcapitan

If anyone in Oregon openly dislikes you simply because you are from California, I would be 99% sure that they are an ignorant bumpkin. Probably the same kind that expects government handouts but doesn't want to pay a dime in taxes.

Never be ashamed of where you are from. Period. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

thank you for your comment. i am from california and moved to a rural town in washington. after a year of californian bashing i finally have had enough. it is apparent to me that people want to blame californians for everything. here is my take...it is the locals who are selling THEIR property. THEY are setting the high prices! it is the local government that THEY elected that are approving all of the subdivisions and big box stores. if the locals want to keep their property prices down, sell them at a lower price. if they don't want their farms (owned by locals) then support the farm and elect different officials. otherwise you only have YOURSELVES to blame.

[eric351982]

Hello,
Oregon is a strange combination of things. It rains nine months out of the year, making my 18 years there very depressing and surreal. The politics are 'blue' and liberal, although not as liberal as its neighbors to the south (California) and to the north (Washington). Oregon is a different state because its geographical location and WEATHER make it unlivable for many people and allows Oregon to keep its population low. Nine months of chilling rain and gray are not the same as snow. In Portland and Eugene (Oregon's only two mentionable cities) snow is the exception. 38 degree rain and gray is the norm for 8 months out of the year. If you enjoy sunshine, don't move to Oregon. Oregon offers a great quality of life, but lacks the cultural importance and experiences you'll find in California.

[eric351982]

Hello,
I was born in Long Beach, California but mostly grew up in Eugene, Oregon. Oregonians bash California every chance they can. They only bash California because they are jealous of California's universities, economy, tourism, culture, art, and educated population. Oregon tends to celebrate the slacker attitude with a disdain for anything worldly or important. Oregon in one word: pathetic.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by heavens54

Doesn't seem to be too much on the downside from what I hear...maybe lack of jobs? And too much rain for those who don't like rain...a little traffic in Portland at the usual traffic times. Anything else that really bugs you or others about life in OR?

2 leg economy
1/2 grow dope
the other 1/2 catch them doing it.
stephen s
san diego ca