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I am not saying you're wrong Busone, but I just do not see Sherwood as you described at all! We have friends there and are looking to move there ourselves. We hang out over there almost every weekend now, and find it to be very family friendly, clean, safe, and beautiful. I was blown away by your comments (as far as gangs and crime). I will have to do some more research then, the last thing we want is gangs in our schools!! Like JenMc stated...YIKES!
Busone, my family moved to the Boise Idaho area in the late 80's and I could not wait to get back to the Portland area. They still live over there, but that place is a **** hole!!!! Anytime we go over there to visit them, we are very happy to be back home.
The whole Mac, Newberg, and Sherwood area is still in a rural setting, but with big City traffic and cookie cutter homes going in. Have not heard anything about gang problems in Newberg and sherwood area, but actually got mugged at gunpoint walking down the street in McMinnville on Christmas Eve by 2 gangbangers that looked like they were right out of Compton. The local police came and said that it had happened to a few other people that evening, and then they took us to the 7-11 to have us look in the window at what must have been the only black person they could find and asked us if that was one of them, which is wasn't. Strange night!!!! Not a normal thing for that area. Mac is an okay town, but it is not part of the "Portland metro Area" and is a different feel there. More small town rural with kids that want to be "big city".
Hi...My family moved to Sherwood in August (including two teenagers) after scouting out the area thoroughly. We logged about a thousand miles on a rental car while driving everywhere we could from west portland to the central coast. We had a few things that were important factors...good school were number one....rural feeling number two....culture and entertainment (including outside adventuring) three....
We asked teenagers about their schools and outside activities, and where they would like to live if not in Newburg or McMinnville. Sherwood was named more than once because of its schools and proximity to Portland (and Washington Square mall) and the new 10-plex theater. The kids in Newburg stated there was a problem with drugs and racial tensions within their schools, this was similar in McMinnville. The Newburg kids said the town was a bit on the "boring side" for kids and that they "hung out" alot. Sherwood kids said they walked to the Target center and theater when bored and some even said they loved the YMCA teen center (which when we visited was indeed crowded after school with kids.)
The cons of Sherwood are the close proximity of the homes (for the most part) and the growth will pose a problem in years to come making it more of a bedroom community to Portland. However, we plan on moving into the Yamhill countryside when the kids are out of high school in 4 years. What we found about the rural setting is that even in McMinnville housing/land costs are quite high. Anything with acreage is much more expensive than we expected, so for now we can talk to our neighbors through our (practically) adjoining walls.
Otherwise we love Sherwood. We frequent both Newberg and MacMinnville weekly and basically find this whole area very pleasant. I do coroborate the post that mentioned the sex offender numbers in Mac....I checked on the web and there are quite a number of them there as opposed to Newberg or Sherwood.
I am bothered by what I’ve read so far about Newberg. I grew up in California so I’ve seen first hand the changes there. I can tell you that Newberg is very very different.
Newberg is really a terrific place to raise kids. I’ve got two kids one in middle school and one in high school. They are both involved in extra-curricular activities, neither are into sports but sports are huge in Newberg. We’ve met so many people attending our kid’s activities in town we feel like we know everyone. If we don’t know them then one of our friends knows them.
We CHOSE Newberg over every other city in the Portland area 4 years ago and I have not ever been disappointed with our choice. And I have NEVER smelled any stink from the factory.
There are tons of really “neat” things about Newberg.
• The Drive In - open spring and summer
• NHS – split into 5 smaller schools to better educate kids
• NHS – got a huge grant from the Gates Foundation for the small schools program
• NHS – the Drama Department is fantastic
• Just opened a brand new Elementary school last year
• 4-H is actually active and kids have horses or bunnies etc…
• The local movie theatre – one movie at a time only – with comfortable seats
• Old Fashioned Festival – Nice small town carnival
• Easter Egg Hunt – At a local park for 10 and under
• Coffee at Chapters Books – Sip City has great bagels
• Coyote Joes – the owners are very generous to the kids in town
• The St. Paul Rodeo – every year on the 4th of July in a nearby town
• Lots of stay-at-home moms, I’ve never lived where there were so many
I personally commute to Portland each day. It is a bit of a drive but if you can work outside the normal 8-5 even by ½ hour your commute will be much better.
I will tell you that in Newberg like all other towns it is all about location location location. There are two middle schools one is “better” than the other. There are also a couple choice elementary schools. But any really good realtor should be able to give you the skinny.
One thing to remember is that Newberg is a Christian based town. That has its good points, like countless churches, George Fox University, highly polite kids and very involved parents. But also can be a challenge when your kids want to have a Halloween party or invite friends over for a PG-13 movie night. There are some kids in town that are home schooled, only listen to Christian music and do not leave Newberg.
Bottom line is that Newberg is one of the best places to live.
when i lived in mcminnville, i asked a resident why mcminnville and newberg were so different ... why mac was such a wonderful place to live and why mac's neighbor to the east, newberg, seemed like nothing more than a cheap ripoff of a southern california strip mall.
the gentleman responded: "well, a long time ago when people were settling the pacific northwest, those who were stupid and lazy stopped in newberg while the rest of us kept moving until we settled in mcminnville."
after living in the area for awhile, i understood what he was getting at.
But any really good realtor should be able to give you the skinny.
Thanks for your input, I'm taking it into consideration.
Just as a side note on the above, the reason I'm trying to do so much research is because by law realtors can't really give the kind of information that you describe - it's a form of "redlining", so in my experience (I'm going on my third move here) they won't offer "opinion" but will give more statistical type information.
I guess it could be different if you personally know your realtor pretty well, but that's usually not the case if you are re-locating. Just FYI IMHO. :-)
I will tell you that in Newberg like all other towns it is all about location location location. There are two middle schools one is “better” than the other. There are also a couple choice elementary schools. But any really good realtor should be able to give you the skinny.
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Can you elaborate on those schools/? My husband and I are 99% sure we're moving to Newberg this summer and so far like Antonia Crater, Joan Austin and Dundee elementaries and Chehalem MS. Would you agree????
Definitely want to avoid Edwards...
Would love an insiders viewpoint! Thanks...
I have direct experience with Crater and Chehalem MS (CV). Both are great. The two schools are right next door to each other and they work well together.
I've heard very good things about Ewing Young (out in the country) and Joan (pronounced Joanne) Austin. Trouble is that Joan Austin feeds into the other middle school. I have only heard a little about Dundee but it has been positive.
**Side note: CVMS has a sister school in Japan and each year they send some kids here and we send up to 17 of our kids there. It is a fantastic exchange program for a public middle school.
Sorry to say but you are right about Edwards.
Good luck with your move.
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