moving to Oregon (Eugene, Salem, Medford: homes, transfer, good schools)

[tiffela74]

oh, the beach....watch for those dang sand fleas too!!
Tiff

[beachlife]

aloha,
i feel obligated to give you my two cents worth.
i have lived in pebble beach, ca., lake tahoe, ca., napa valley, ca., squaw valley, ca., los gatos, ca., maui, hi., roseburg, or., and now ashland, or.. my wife, who is a dentist in medford, only goes to medford to earn an income. i personally hate going to medford. my wife and i have lived in a town called ashland for four years now. since we have decided not to move to california right now, ashland has been very hard to beat. we have looked all over oregon, and always return to life in ashland. in my opinion, there are three places to look at; portland, bend, and ashland. the only downfall is that these places are more spendy than anywhere else in oregon. if you are used to the market in california, hawaii, etc., the comps. won't be quite as high and you will get a lot more value for your money. if money is an issue, i don't know what to suggest; maybe someone on this forum can help better than i.
i hope this helps.
aloha,
michael f.

[babypuppy]

I'm retired and on a fixed income, thinking of moving to Oregon, I have family in Eugene also Vancouver. I now reside in San Jose, Ca. Was thinking of moving somewhere between Roseburg and Eugene that way I can visit family and also drive back here to see friends. Have you been to Roseburg? I'm trying to get some information on the town
and some house prices also. It seems to be getting harder to get the simple information needed. Is it a place for me? what do you think? Its not to far from Eugene nor the Caif
border. I will also checkout your area but if it's expensive like you say, not an option for me,that's why I'm moving. I want to play now..

[Waterlily]

Originally Posted by babypuppy

I'm retired and on a fixed income, thinking of moving to Oregon, I have family in Eugene also Vancouver. I now reside in San Jose, Ca. Was thinking of moving somewhere between Roseburg and Eugene that way I can visit family and also drive back here to see friends. Have you been to Roseburg? I'm trying to get some information on the town
and some house prices also. It seems to be getting harder to get the simple information needed. Is it a place for me? what do you think? Its not to far from Eugene nor the Caif
border. I will also checkout your area but if it's expensive like you say, not an option for me,that's why I'm moving. I want to play now..

There are quite a few retired people there. I was there for a day and night just a couple of months ago. There are your basic stores, Home depot and resturants. At time the main streets get some heavy traffic but maybe we just hit it at the wrong time. There is a VA hospital downtown and lots of parks.
If you are looking to buy a home check at realtor.com to see the home for sale.

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by ConnieandFrank

Thanks for answering. What do you think of Corvallis? We were looking at some of the places to have a small ranch near Corvallis and it seems there are some good places. Does Corvallis get as much rain as Salem? Do you know about the jobs there? The University? Have you guys ever experienced any earthquakes? How far are the South and North Sister Mountains from Corvallis (hope I got the name write.) Do you guys have drills for tsunamis or is it something you guys don't worry much about? Thanks for your time.
Connie and Frank.

We do get about as much rain as Salem. Actually, from about Cottage Grove north to the Canadian border along the I-5 corridor you can expect very similar climatic conditions (i.e. rainy fall, winter, and spring with a few exceptions).

As far as jobs go, it is entirely dependent on what you are seeking for work and what pay you expect. There are tech jobs at Hewlett Packard and some other employers, although the H-P plant has downsized significantly over the past 5 years. There are jobs with Oregon State--everything from administrative-clerical to full professorships. There are service jobs too, of course. It's not what I would call a bustling economy here. I would make sure I had a job before I moved, unless I was independently wealthy.

Oregon State is a good University. Like any university it has it's stronger schools and its weaker schools. The School of Forestry is world-class, but facing increasing budget strains. There are websites that you can use to help research the strength of a particular program at OSU.

We have experienced earthquakes. The last one I remember feeling was the one that was centered near Olympia, WA a few years ago. It was nothing here--I thought someone was walking hard upstairs! Prior to that, there was a good shaker in 1993 called the Spring Break Quake. Earthquakes are not a constant concern, but I will admit that I pay extra for earthquake insurance on my homeowners policy.

To drive to a place where you could hike in to the Three Sisters Wilderness probably takes about 2 or 2.5 hours. If you want to hike to the summit it's several hours. I've heard that South Sister is the easiest of the three to summit, but I've never done it.

Tsunamis are not a concern in Corvallis since we are inland with a mountain range separating us from the Pacific.

[Dangerous Dave]

Originally Posted by ConnieandFrank

Thanks for answering. What do you think of Corvallis? We were looking at some of the places to have a small ranch near Corvallis and it seems there are some good places. Does Corvallis get as much rain as Salem? Do you know about the jobs there? The University? Have you guys ever experienced any earthquakes? How far are the South and North Sister Mountains from Corvallis (hope I got the name write.) Do you guys have drills for tsunamis or is it something you guys don't worry much about? Thanks for your time.
Connie and Frank.

Connie, I live next to Corvallis and yes, it rains as much as Salem. I don't know about the 276 days a year part, and that doesn't account for how much rain. The rain here isn't very hard, more of a drizzle most of the time. I came from the driest part of Arizona, and it doesn't bother me. There is plenty of ranch land both in Corvallis and North Albany. Philomath too, if you don't mind being amidst cowpokes. Sisters peak is visible from here, I think it takes about an hour - hour and a half to get there. Not sure about the job market there, depends on what you do. There's no tsunami warnings as we are seperated from the ocean by the Coastal Range. I think I may have felt a slight earthquake once, nothing like in Socal.

[DavePautsch]

Dangerous Dave - RIGHT ON!
I live in Albany and have for the past 6 1/2 years. We moved here from Hawaii, but have also lived in So. Cal, Indiana, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania.

I would have a difficult time believing that it rains 276 days a year here! Yep, it rains. It is pretty much gray from November to March...but the Spring and Summers, and most of the Fall are wonderful. Not too humid (about 2 weeks a year you have to turn your A/C on)...lots of sun...WONDERFUL.

I was lamenting the rain the other day when the snow storm blasted through the mid-west on the news...Thanks...I'll take the rain.

Corvallis and Albany have lots of great points about them. They are pretty different in terms of culture, but there is a lot of mixing and matching available so you can live in either town and have the same benefits. We chose Albany because it was less expensive with regard to housing.

I can tell you that there is still acreage available for sale; with and without homes (some have manufactured homes too). "Reasonably priced" is somewhat relative, and it depends on what the intended use of the land is. I can tell you about one 5 acre home in the valley at $550,000, and others in the $300,000's. Acreage tends to me more expensive closer to Corvallis or Salem, less so toward Lebanon and Junction City.

I was reading a recent survey of the City of Albany and had to agree with it (it's on the city's web page) that the friendly people were the best part about this small town. We are well located in relation to everything - 1 hour to the coast, 1 hour to the mountains, 1 hour to Portland, less than 1 hour to Eugene.

Of all the places I've lived...we chose to settle here.

Wishing you all the best...there's lots of good info on these boards (showing you just how friendly Oregonians really can be).

Dave

[Dangerous Dave]

Amen Dave. I'm actually on the cusp of leaving Albany. Don't want to, I really like it here but I've been offered a job that I can't pass up elsewhere, although it could eventually bring me back to the area in a couple of years.

[casey1996]

Originally Posted by beachlife

aloha,
i feel obligated to give you my two cents worth.
i have lived in pebble beach, ca., lake tahoe, ca., napa valley, ca., squaw valley, ca., los gatos, ca., maui, hi., roseburg, or., and now ashland, or.. my wife, who is a dentist in medford, only goes to medford to earn an income. i personally hate going to medford. my wife and i have lived in a town called ashland for four years now. since we have decided not to move to california right now, ashland has been very hard to beat. we have looked all over oregon, and always return to life in ashland. in my opinion, there are three places to look at; portland, bend, and ashland. the only downfall is that these places are more spendy than anywhere else in oregon. if you are used to the market in california, hawaii, etc., the comps. won't be quite as high and you will get a lot more value for your money. if money is an issue, i don't know what to suggest; maybe someone on this forum can help better than i.
i hope this helps.
aloha,
michael f.

Michael, It's so nice to hear from someone who actually lives in Ashland. I've been asking on these forums for months for feedback from residents of Ashland, and only hear from non-residents complaining about the high price of Ashland. I, too, have lived in Lake Tahoe, Napa, unfortunately not Maui, which I love (Do you know Barry Flanagan with Hapa), and will be moving to Ashland hopefully this Spring. So, what do you like and NOT like about Ashland. How did you land there. I know about the arts, the scenery, the walking trails, the restaurants, etc. I fell in love with the place the 1st time I saw it, and I found the people unbelievably friendly. But I'd like to know what it's honestly like to live there. Do you get bored, do you feel it's too small and isolated? I know it's not cheap, actually I found gas, food, restaurants comparable to the San Francisco Bay Area (I'm sure that's because of the tourist draw), but the housing although expensive for Oregon isn't bad compared to California. Would love to hear your opinions.

[kostrikin]

Salem area is wonderful! You know the pioneers came here for the mild climate. This year is atypical; we are getting much more cold weather than usual, and have a huge mountain snowpack. I have 5 level acres near Canby I have lived on for 21 years. I have kept up to 7 horses on it, with a responsible management plan. Now I have just 3 horses, as my kids are grown and I now work full-time as a real estate agent. I am interested in finding a place in Arizona for myself. What do you recommend?
Marybeth