Please help me choose the best small/medium sized Oregon town! (Portland: schools, income)

[paulajean71]

Hi,

We would love some ideas about the best Oregon small to medium sized towns for us.
Here is what we are most interested in:

(1) A quaint, walkable downtown area with shops, restaurants and things going on
(2) Great schools (middle and high)
(3) Bike paths (if possible)
(4) Outdoors activities, hiking, lake, kayak, etc.
(5) Not too high of an average household income, but pretty well-educated
(6) Nearby wineries
(7) Diverse restaurants (Thai, Vietnamese, etc.)
(8) More sunny days than average in Oregon (if possible)

I have done a little bit of research, but have not found the "perfect" town for us. (I know that no town is perfect, but one that has most of what we're looking for would be great.)

Thank you for your help! Paula

[hamellr]

Portland, Eugene, Ashland, or Bend will be your best bet.

No place in Oregon has all of that. Which of your wants are you willing to give up?

[Silverfall]

I'd say Bend is the closest to what you want.

The great schools kills most of Oregon. We've got some good ones, but the educational system in Oregon, in general, isn't great.

[paulajean71]

We are interested in Ashland as a possibility, and Bend. The only thing holding me back about Bend is the long winters. I was also thinking about McMinnville, Sisters, or West Linn (but that has a very high cost of living from what I understand), but I know there must be towns out there we don't know about yet. We are planning a trip to check places out but we obviously want to narrow them down before we head out there. (We live in North Carolina.) So any suggestions you have, we will look at them!

[Nightdiver13]

For comparison, where do you live in NC, and what towns near you would most closely resemble the town you'd like to live in out in Oregon?

[delta07]

Originally Posted by paulajean71

We are interested in Ashland as a possibility, and Bend. The only thing holding me back about Bend is the long winters. I was also thinking about McMinnville, Sisters, or West Linn (but that has a very high cost of living from what I understand), but I know there must be towns out there we don't know about yet. We are planning a trip to check places out but we obviously want to narrow them down before we head out there. (We live in North Carolina.) So any suggestions you have, we will look at them!

Bend certainly fits the bill, ,with the exception of winters. It depends on the year though. Some years are longer and colder than others. However, Sisters is going to have longer and harsher winters than Bend, so if you are concerned about Bend, I'd definitely have reservations about Sisters.

Ashland meets most of your needs, although the cost of living there is pretty high. I don't necessarily think it correlates with average household income though. Lots of wealthy retirees moved to Ashland and drove the housing prices up.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by paulajean71

I was also thinking about McMinnville, Sisters, or West Linn

Well if you are going to come into the valley to see McMinnville, then I would go into Corvallis as well.

[paulajean71]

We live in New Bern, near the small, but quaint, downtown area. I wouldn't say it has an outdoorsy culture though. There are some people who are outdoorsy, but it isn't like when we lived out in San Diego. I like Asheville, NC, but NC overall is a bit too conservative for us. BTW, we don't really have to worry about finding employment; we have jobs where we travel (so an airport fairly close would be nice). Thanks!

[bler144]

If you're traveling regionally, Eugene will do for just about anything Denver-west. If you're traveling east of Denver on a regular basis, honestly it's hard to recommend anything outside the Pdx metro area.

There are a number of smaller airports around the state, but most of them only do short-hops, and the challenge of connecting flights with cross-country routes (times, routes) is a PITA. Medford (Ashland), AFAIK you can only go to SFO, PDX, SEA, or EUG and try to connect to wherever you're actually going from there.

That may not seem like a big deal until you realize that eastbound cross country 6 hour trip plus time change even if you get a direct flight from whatever hub your connection is in, so flights either leave those hubs early (a problem for connecting), or get in late.

[edit - I'd suggest doing a few sample flights on Travelocity from a few of the other small towns, and then add 1.5-3 hours to whatever it tells you the time will be for travel to/from the airport on each end, plus your waiting time at the gate prior to first flight. Bend to Charlotte, for example, will typically be 10-12 hours even with an efficient route and if you're lucky enough to not have any delays (SFO fog) or missed connections.]

[oregonwoodsmoke]

It looks a lot to me like you want all the big city amenities, except in a small town, and for cheap.

Take Bend and Sisters off your list. They are cold. Sisters doesn't have any international restaurants. There are no wineries in the area, except for one that ships its grapes in from the valley. I'm always surprised to find it still in business.

Bend is not cheap and Sisters is even more expensive than Bend.