Best rural area (Portland, Eugene, Salem: insurance, homes, good schools)

[Trailblazer89]

I'm looking at retiring to a very rural area with a low cost of living, lots of outdoor activities, and close to a hospital. I would like to have the more moderate temperatures that I hear about in the PNW. I don't want to live in a desert climate. What small towns would you suggest?

[PNW-type-gal]

Exactly how "rural" and how small a town? Generally, the large hospitals are in the larger cities (Portland, Salem, Eugene, Medford). Are you looking for acreage (as in for a hobby farm) or do you want to live in a small town? Check out: Silverton, Dallas, Canby, Cottage Grove (all in the Willamette Valley) and some of the areas around Medford for a bit more sun and a lot less rain in the winter.

[Trailblazer89]

Very rural with lots of nature. A hobby farm or land for a cabin would be nice. Some place where I could be at the beach or in the mountains without a long drive.

Would the Willamette Valley be too populated?

[Silverfall]

Define too populated?

Dallas is a good choice, I think. Maybe Stayton as well.

[tablemtn]

There are only a limited number of hospitals in the state. You might want to look at some maps of where they are, and go from there. OHSU (the state's only medical school that issues MD degrees) has an entire website devoted to rural healthcare in Oregon:

Rural Hospitals

This is their map of all the "rural hospitals" in the state:

Map of Oregon Rural Hospitals

They use an A-B-C rating, with "C"-level hospitals being the largest and generally the most comprehensive, and "A" being the smallest.

The Willamette Valley covers an area about the size of the state of Connecticut; it has some rural corners if you go outside of the cities. You might consider land near the Corvallis-Albany area, especially in the valleys of the coast range to its west. There are quite a few rural "spreads" around rural settlements like Harlan, and you could still be within 45 minutes of the Level II trauma center at Good Samaritan hospital in Corvallis.

It also depends on whether you mind hills and elevation changes on your land. Flat land is usually going to be closer to populated areas, while hilly areas or mixed flat-hilly plots of land are more common in the kind of rural areas you seem to be interested in.

[Trailblazer89]

Hilly. I am leaning towards the mountains after reading threads tonight. The town doesn't need a major hospital. It is a way for me to distinguish between a no stop light town and one with access to civilization.

[pnwmdk]

Part of the problem here in Oregon, with the "want a low cost of living" is that our statewide land use laws have created a huge shortage of housing, even in Eastern Oregon, where we have have no version of "urban sprawl" and never will - we have empty land in massive amounts. There's simply no land you can buy, nowhere to live, where everyone doesn't have to compete against the very well to do in terms of price. I realize that certain parts of our society like the idea of high priced homes and overpriced land, but it's a very narrow interest - one that disfavors the public at large.

[StealthRabbit]

For EZ coastal and OK Portland access;
Consider in or near McMinnville (nice town with shopping / services and a private college for some additional culture) Sheridan...

Also Silverton or Sandy (or Boring) if proximity to Mtns is your desire.

I like Corbett (good schools, but spendy due to land use restrictions of the FEDS (and due to your 'friends-of-the-Gorge') ...)

[Hawk J]

When you live out in the boonies, get an Ambulance Insurance, which has trained Defibrillator Paramedic. It's a good idea to have a defibrillator at home most times. Or get a Life Flight Insurance.

Google ...<<<< lifeflight

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Trailblazer89

Very rural with lots of nature. A hobby farm or land for a cabin would be nice. Some place where I could be at the beach or in the mountains without a long drive.

Would the Willamette Valley be too populated?

Cave Junction would be a good choice. There's a medical/dental clinic in town, and it's an easy drive to Three Rivers Hospital in Grants Pass. Lots of rural acreage available, and a straight shot down 199 to the coast. You also miss the hordes of people infesting the Willamette Valley.