Help Me Move To Oregon...please? (Portland, Eugene: get credit, work, homes)

[little peg]

Originally Posted by goldpolkadots

Little peg, what was it like living on the coast?
Does it flood?
How are the homes?
Colleges?

The Tillimook area is not a stranger to flooding, Most of your universities are east of the coastal range, not sure on housing just know that there is limited amounts, very beautiful area.

[tiffela74]

i love living on the coast....we've not every had problems w/flooding, i know theres a few areas around here that do a time or two each year...just dont buy in the floodplains
Coos Bay has a nice College. Southwestern Oregon Community College. I like their dorms, right on the lakes.
homes vary from the 7000.00singlewide in a park to the multi-million dollar mansions along the coast or up along the hills.

[sherwoodmom]

Look it up it was rated one of the top places to live in Money Magazine. I have lived here 13 years and love it. Hope you like the rain though.

[natronacounty]

Well, I guess there is something wrong with me, but I personally hate it here in Oregon. Ever since I decided to come out here with my family last year, I have by and large disdained the decision. Maybe it's because I am a little too cut off from others where I live on the coast, but it seems like all the metropolitan areas have their drawbacks (eg exorbitant cost of living, crime, crowding, pollution), too. Granted, Oregon has some incredible natural beauty, but at least where I live it is rainy and gloomy so much of the time that it is pronounceably miserable trying to get out and enjoy it. I mean, how fun is it if you are housebound because of incessant day-in day-out cold drizzly or blowing rain or forced to where a rain slicker wherever you go? I think I will take just about any other form of weather any day. My advice is that if you are a young or middle-aged adult (unless you are a pervasive homebody or friend of the trees), don't put yourself in some small remote western Oregon town where you may get trapped by marginal employment and other prospects. And, if you don't enjoy the water like a duck, I would recommend southern (not the coast) or eastern Oregon if you do choose to come here.

[DavePautsch]

natronacounty...I'm sorry you're having such a bad time. I have to chime in here that some friends of mine have a house in Waldport that they have graciously let us use on occasion. I love Waldport and the coast area, but a week there there is usually enough for me (sometimes too much)...I can't imagine living there year 'round.

On the other hand, my family and I are in Albany and wouldn't move. I've said so many times in this forum that EVERY place has something about it that 'sucks' but people live there...and many love it. You just have to find the place that has something that overcomes whatever it is that sucks...someplace that feels like home.

Thank you to EVERYONE in this forum for sharing the information to help people make their decisions. I sometimes get frustrated with some of the negativity here, but I recognize that those opinions are just as valid as mine...and all help to give a rounded view.

[mjgcamper]

There are a few things you must remember about Oregon. Like many places it's getting crowded. People are moving here not only because of the recreation and beauty, but reduced problems from lower population as comped to Cali, Washington State, and back east. Demographics in the past has shown Ore. to be less populated, and I think still is, but like I said we are just now seeing an inkling of things to come. Overdevelopment, crowded roads, pollution in the I-5 corridor. It's amazing to see a thick blanket of smog never seen before till recently.

Some helpful tips would be expect to see mild weather but lotsa rain at times. To buy some acreage to save little piece of natural beauty and seclusion for your family. Not in a subdivision mays well live anywhere then.

I remember Oregon 30 yrs ago.... was like worlds away from overdevelopment and crowds. I own a piece of heaven out in the country and would not trade it for anything right now, but, in in a little time it will be time to find another uncrowded new place to live as it's starting to gain momentum like never seen before.

[PDXBADGER]

Suggest Eugene (good "college-town" approximately two (2) hours south of Portland), Lake Oswego or West Linn (Portland OR suburbs). Another possibility would be Camas, WA (just north of Portland, OR).

[Silverfall]

If you want to be near a college then it's the Portland Metro area, Eugene or the Mid-Willamette Valley. These are all pricer areas, with the Mid-Willamette valley being the cheapest.

I grew up in DeKalb, Illinois and lived in Illinois for 22 years. I have lived in Oregon since then, 16 years, and would never move back. I still laugh when people talk about the humidity here. It is NOTHING compared to mid-west summers. Summer and fall are great, and I have no issue with the rain. WAAAAY better than freezing and shoveling snow. It's all a matter of perspective, I guess.

I live in Salem Oregon, and I would think that Salem, Keizer, and Silverton would be good choices. North Albany also has great schools. No university in Albany, but not a bad drive to Corvallis or Salem. There are several smaller towns surrounding Salem that might work, but since you are asking about elementary schools, I encourage you to look at the best areas for that.

In Salem you would want to look at homes in the 97302, 97306,97304 zip codes. Keizer is 97303. There are affordable homes in those areas.

Salem does get occasional flooding in SOME AREAS, right on mill creek. Oregon also has occasional landslides, and minor earthquakes, but nothing like the mid-west.

I do miss the lightening storms of the mid-west. Our lightening out here is insanely boring, but we get a lot of rainbows compared to the mid-west.

As for water quality brought up by someone else. The Willamette here in Salem is considered fair, and it gets to poor by the time you hit Portland. I think South of Eugene is when the water quality of the Willamette returns to excellent. Salem had a large mill on mill creek for many years when it was first settled and they are still finding residual chemicals in it. It's not a river you play in. BUT the Santiam river is not far away, and the water quality there is excellent.

I encourage you to come join us. It's really great here.

[SharaM]

I live in Eugene and I love it. It's a nice college town and the Eugene 4J school District has a great reputation. Let me know if you would like more information.

[sevenpixies]

nono... I am in albany right noe stuck in slum. Albany, corvalis and lebanon are all dumpy!