Boardheads in Hood River (Portland, Bend: rent, home, to buy)

[cvanripe10]

Do kitesurfers and windsurfers live in Hood River year long or do they just visit in the summer??

Has anyone moved to Hood River specifically to wind/kite surf and enjoy other recreations like skiing, rafting, kayaking, hiking, biking????
Or do outdoors fans just vacation there in the summer??

Basically my question is - are the residents of Hood River all outdoors fanatics or are they just normal people who just ended up there?

I love outdoors recreation and wanted to move to Hood River for that reason. I'm into carpentry/building if anyone has info on that.

[nanannie]

I dont know why people specifically move there( we are researching that move) but they would have to be boardheads with very good jobs as HR is expensive.

[dachmom]

Hood River was (and still is to some extent) a farming community that has been invaded by windsurfers in just the last 20-25 years. Most of the people who were born and raised there do not windsurf. The prices in Hood River have skyrocketed since the windsurfers have moved in. Some live there year round, most of them live there during the summer then leave. There are not many jobs in Hood River that pay well enough for someone to buy a home there anymore. Yes, I am assuming most of the newcomers are boardheads from California that move there to windsurf.

[cvanripe10]

Hm ok thanks. Although i'm not sure i understand something.

It is expensive to live there...but no one can live there unless theyve inherited lots of money because there arent any jobs???

Not sure I understand how somewhere in the countryside can be very expensive, have no jobs, and people live there.

Do people make a million bucks somewhere else then retire to hood river?? I mean, how do you pay your high bills if you dont have a job? How does the town survive?

But anyway i'm into carpentry/building. Do you think that kind of work is available in HR?

[Patti LeBlanc]

I live in Albany, about 2 hours south of Hood River. I am a windsurfer, thought about moving to Hood River 12 years ago. It was easier to live & work in the valley & travel on windy weekends. The prices have gotten very high, & the jobs are slim. Although, it is hard to find a more beautiful place! The sailing is wonderful, the people are friendly, the weather is great! Maybe some day, I will actually make the move, for now...I can be in the water in 2 hours!

[cvanripe10]

cool, is Albany a suburb of Bend?? i've thought about Bend, although the topography isnt very nice(as i see it in pictures..). But the town looks new and exciting.

Hows work and rent there?

[FoxyKnox]

Albany is along the I-5 N/S corridor on the West side of Oregon. Hood River is east of Portland, off of I-84. Albany is south and west of Hood River (about 1.5 hours directly south of Portland). Albany is about 2.5ish hours west of Bend. I'm not sure of the locale of Bend to HR, but Bend is probably about due south of HR, I'm just not sure the route or the distance/time. Bend is in a growing boom, to the best of my knowledge, Albany is not. I'm not sure that building/carpentry jobs are as abundant in Albany as they would be in Bend.

[cvanripe10]

How is Hood River doing after that terrible storm i heard about??? They said hurricane like winds?????

[FoxyKnox]

I'm not sure about HR, that area really hasn't been on the news much, it's a bit further inland than where the bulk of the storm hit. KATU.com - Portland, Oregon is one of our local news affiliates...there might be info there.

[StealthRabbit]

The last storm did not get too far inland (came from SW) HR is well sheltered from "pineapple express" storms, they usually have to unload moisture on Mt Hood, before they can climb over and get at HR ... There was another slide on Hwy 35, SO of HR.. but HR has had a couple snows, and the usual winds and freezing rain will not leave it untouched in the next 2 months, but it is not ADVERSE like some areas in the Gorge (down right nasty weather... Cape Horn...)

The boardheads do rule a lot of HR, the real locals struggle with home values and CoL to stay. It is just one of the many 'desirable' places that got snatched up by equity $$ flowing from CA, either directly in, or via 'buy-ups' (local / PDX folks that sold and upgraded)

~ 40 % of the boardheads stay yr round, and do what it takes to make it (usually buy and sell props...) some like the mountain too... many go to Baja, or South America for the winter.

HR is pretty high $$ living, and somewhere, somehow... ??? folks can afford it. There are not many jobs there that would allow one to be a 'single income' family. Some new industry and lots of entrepreneurs keep the place 'moving-up'. It really is a nice location. White Salmon, WA is suffering same demise, but slower, as folks have to pay the bridge toll for shopping / jobs / ... There are folks with serious bucks out here!!