What is the downside to living in Oregon? (Portland: crimes, house)

[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?

[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.

[mdvaden]

Democrat Governor and state goverment leadership if you are a Republican

Environmentalists if you are in the logging industry

Maybe, just maybe.

[albinoazian]

Originally Posted by mdvaden

Democrat Governor and state goverment leadership if you are a Republican

Environmentalists if you are in the logging industry

Maybe, just maybe.

Sounds like positives to me.

[heavens54]

So, the colleges in OR are not impressive?

[Fat Eddy]

Oregon is a great state and I love living here. The coast line is an especially nice place to live. That said, jobs are hard to find especially here on the coast. I agree with Larry Caldwell about the "McMansions" popping up everywhere. I am not against people from Ca. or Nevada moving into the state but it seems that they bring in a ton of cash, buy up property and double the price in hopes of making a quick buck. This has caused the price of property to go through the roof making it impossible for average Joe's to purchase a home where they have lived and worked for years. Add that to the fact that the influxes of Californian’s and groups of extreme far left believers have instituted laws that are destroying the fishing and logging industry. Fishermen and loggers on the coast can no longer make a living and our small coastal communities are drying up. Now don't get me wrong, I am a conservationist. I believe we should protect our resources and not fish or log until there is nothing left, but the laws we have now go overboard. If you want to live on the Oregon coast you must either bring a job with you or be independently wealthy.
With all of that said, there is nothing like waking up in the morning and going for a walk on one of the many great Oregon beaches. I think Oregon has the best coast line in the U.S. and I have traveled up and down the East Coast, West Coast and Gulf Coast. The rocks and cliffs here are a sight to see.
-Fat Eddy

[fizbin]

Downsides? Too many folks from California moving in??

[seashelly]

Street people/panhandlers on the corners.

[jjpop]

So, the colleges in OR are not impressive?

I believe Larry is only referring to public universities. UO, OSU, PSU, OHSU and OIT have great reputations, but the public university system suffers from chronic underfunding. Researchers and professors have to secure funding via grants from the federal government or from endowments or foundations, and part of the grant money is earmarked for the university as kind of "overhead" so that the professor can have an office and help pay for department staff. Even with funding problems, the universities are top-notch in some subjects.

I don't know as much about the other public universities (SOU, WOU, EOU), but I have a relative who teaches at one of them and she is grossly underpaid.

[PNW-type-gal]

There is definitely an attitude in Oregon, and I guess the way to explain it is that other states have similar attitudes - anywhere in which you can buy one of those bumperstickers that say "Native" and have some state-specific phrase or image on them.

California, Colorado, Texas, Washington, Oregon all have that somewhat irritating pride-of-place that often pushes over into an arrogance. I like living here, but I don't think it confers some special grace on me. I love Portland, but I'm not blind to its faults - I just think the positives far outweigh the negatives.