Hermiston (Portland, Umatilla: sales, real estate, buying a house)

[Judy McGuire]

We are moving to Hermiston from Hawaii sometime in the next few months and know nothing about the area. My husband will be working at the Umitilla Depot and I do not have any idea what I wlll do there...I am a nurse, with 30 years administration experience. Help! Ideas! Photos!

[Clear2land]

Hi Judy:

This will get you off to a good start.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Hermiston-Oregon.html

After looking that over, I would Google Hermiston Oregon and you can pick up a lot of information from the local newspaper and Chamber of Commerce. The classified ads will tell you about jobs and real estate in the area. I would also Google Hermiston Oregon Hospital to see what comes up as well.

Hope this helps!

Dan

[Steve97415]

Learn Spanish and develop an appetite for watermelons.

[Waterlily]

Originally Posted by Judy McGuire

We are moving to Hermiston from Hawaii sometime in the next few months and know nothing about the area. My husband will be working at the Umitilla Depot and I do not have any idea what I wlll do there...I am a nurse, with 30 years administration experience. Help! Ideas! Photos!

You'll have abig change in weather from Hawaii. Hermiston gets hot in summer and cold in winter. You'll get some snow and it's windy sometimes.

About a quarter of the city is Hispanic. You may see a few cowboys and farmers around town too. There are some ranches outside of town.

The good news is that Hermiston is more affordable than western Oregon. If you make pretty good wages then you'll have no trouble buying a house should you decide to stay.

[Judy McGuire]

Originally Posted by Clear2land

Hi Judy:

This will get you off to a good start.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Hermiston-Oregon.html

After looking that over, I would Google Hermiston Oregon and you can pick up a lot of information from the local newspaper and Chamber of Commerce. The classified ads will tell you about jobs and real estate in the area. I would also Google Hermiston Oregon Hospital to see what comes up as well.

Hope this helps!

Dan

Thanks, Dan....I have done all of your google suggestions and do have considerable information...looking more for first hand info.....Mahalo

[BBMae]

hermiston is a small town. about 20,000. many hispanics but everywhere is.
no problem with that..everyone we have met in this town (2 years) have been friendly.shopping is somewhat limited as we are smallish but it is only 40 miles to Tri-Cities with all the shopping you could want. We have a very good doctor here (several to choose from) and the hospital is top rate IMO and if they can't figure it out they will ship you to Portland or Spokane or Tri-Cities.
Schools seem to be very good (our children are grown). Grocery stores: Safeway, Superwalmart, Super1. You can look up other businesses in Chamber site. Housing is quite plentiful so you should have no problems finding something you like. Some new some old. Our neighbor across the street works at the Umatilla Depot.

[tamaroo]

Judy,
We are also moving for my husband's job in Umatilla- He believes his recruiter even mentioned your family during the hiring process.
We are looking at both the tri-cities (WA) area as well as Hermiston. Tri cities housing is very inexpensive, the larger cities have more to offer activity wise for the children, and the commute from Kennewick is only 30 minutes. I'm wondering if you have found anything positive about living in Hermiston>?
Tami

[WazzuCoop21]

I will tell you that if you have kids, they will be bored to tears in Hermiston. No offense to those from Hermiston, I have family there, but I currently live in the Tri-Cities and it's not a bad commute if you're willing to do it. There is no sales tax in Oregon so that's a plus. Hermiston should have very cheap housing, but being in a farming community there are a lot of migrants around, so the remark about learning Spanish is partially true. In reality, Hermiston is a small farming community and if that's what you want, you will probably like it there. If you want a little more "city" feel, I'd suggest the Tri-Cities. just my 2 cents.

[WazzuCoop21]

Oh & another big plus is that if you live away from Hermiston, if there was ever a leak in mustard or nerve gas, you won't have to evacuate in 1 minute. You should look into that as well if you haven't already heard about all the chemical agents stored at the base there. The Tri-cities is wind sheltered from any chemicals that would be released if an accident or attack occured.

[newguy85]

if you are worried about the chemical depot, Tri-Cities is located right next to the Hanford nuclear reservation.