To all the California people who moved to Oregon (Portland: environment, vacation)

[Just Lookin]

To all you California people who moved to Oregon. How do you like Oregon and where did you move.

Would you come back to California if you could?

[freedom]

Southern Oregon is great, would not move back to So. California. Maybe a vacation home in Shasta County, but not any further south.

freedom

[furyu]

We've lived in south coastal Oregon for four years now, and really love it here. Both my husband and I have lived in various areas of California: the San Francisco Bay area and SF proper, the Foot Hills and Lake Tahoe area, San Diego and Orange County.

There are trade offs to living in a small rural environment like coastal Oregon. For one thing, it's hard to leave here, other than by car. Air travel is difficult, unpredictable and costly.

The natural beauty and wildness of Oregon is incomparable to most areas of California, with the exception of areas like Big Sur and less developed, northern coastal areas, or inland areas close to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe that have yet to be over-developed.

I do miss access to all things cultural: great libraries and bookstores, museums, the theatre (both stage and film), and access to a greater range of shopping choices. I miss the diversity that city living offers, and the community of people who appreciate these things. For that reason I would consider living in California again if I could have the best of all worlds; that is, a swath of coastal property away from noisey neighbors, pollution, and with a nice view, but within easy reach of a major metro area, preferably San Francisco. (Coastal areas within short driving distance of Portland or Eugene would offer much of the same things.)

Of course, that sort of California-living comes at a high cost, and that is why most of us former Californians now live here in Oregon. For an affordable price, we were able to acquire a comfortable and peaceful home, in an unhurried and uncrowded environment, with nature our closest neighbor.

[chrisruns2far]

I moved to Oregon in 1988 and I would'nt move back to CA if you tripled my salary and made me town mayor. I have not been south of the border in 15 years!!! Why go to CA when nearly everything in Oregon and the Northwest is better and much less crowded.

[bobmulk]

I left in 1990 and when I go back now I look at my friends and say "How can you stand it?" There's only one place that I would consider living and that's the mid-Coast area around Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo. But then, we all know that you need Bill Gates' income to live there. You can keep California and the hell it is becoming.

[Just Lookin]

Thanks for all the info. This is why we want to leave also. Now if I could only find a nice little place around Medford out of the city for some peace and quiet.

[Imperial1904]

I moved from San Diego to Southern Oregon in 2002 and if I had the chance and could afford to move back to SoCal, I would in a heartbeat. The people, in my opinion, are not as nice as people say they are. I lived in Colorado for a year and they're much friendlier and more open to Californians than Oregonians. The towns are small but they like to act like it's a big city. You can pretty much tell who's native to Oregon by their driving. When I visited SoCal a couple years ago, I swear the further south I went, the better the driving became. In my opinion, Oregon is overrated. A couple good things about Oregon I do like is the cost of living (personally, it's not really worth it. I've gotten bored out of my mind more than I ever did in San Diego or even Denver.), and the low crime rate although alot of locals will claim how bad their town is and exaggerate the crime rate.

Take my reply with a grain of salt, it's just Oregon isn't the place for me and I do plan to get out of here within a couple years.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Just Lookin

Thanks for all the info. This is why we want to leave also. Now if I could only find a nice little place around Medford out of the city for some peace and quiet.

Applegate Valley is fairly nice, and right between Medford and Grants Pass.

We even have high-speed internet service. Plenty of vineyards too, if you like wine.

I can be inside Medford's city limits in 20 minutes. And can almost be to Costco and stuff in 25 minutes. I was amazed at how little holiday traffic was here - expected more. Portland area was like grid-lock.

Applegate Valley has Medford like temperatures, but we get less fog and 9 more inches of rain per year. Redwood forest and coast only 2 hours to the west cutting through Grants Pass. School bus comes out here from the high school, and the grade school here is excellent with all 8 grades.

Right now, I am sitting here looking at the snow on the upper half of these mountains (photo taken earlier in year). The particular one outside my home office window is the one where the image was taken from. We are where the blue spot is.

Homes are moving decently here - good selection. It's not Applegate Valley, but between us and Medford on the fringe of Central Point, my mother in law's home was sold after being on the market for barely 3 weeks.

[Just Lookin]

mdvaden, thank you. That is what I wanted to read about. How much snow do you get? What is the weather where you are. It sure is pretty there. So what town are you in?
What a great view you have. Beautiful.

[Terryj]

Just Lookin, Yes, the Applegate area is a great place, just a half hour drive into Medford or Ashland to the east and and about the same to Grants Pass to the north. As for the weather, you can expect around 2 to 6" of snow during the winter with temps in the mid 30's to mid 40's. During the summer it can get very warm with temps in the upper 90's and on occasion 100+. The towns in that area are Ruch, Applegate and Williams all 3 are small.