Best City for me? (Portland, Eugene: fit in, how much, place to live)

[tigerbolt]

Hey everyone!

Me and my husband are considering moving to Oregon or New Mexico in the future and we would love some advice. I think Oregon is absolutely beautiful and looks like a wonderful place to live. I was wondering what city in Oregon would be best for us. I would prefer a city with a a mild winter, less rain/snow, the most sun possible, little to no humidity, a lot of fun things to do, good entertainment, have good shopping options, and a medium/large city. Being from San Diego, I would love to have as much warm weather and sun through out the year as possible. I Know some cities in Oregon get more sun than others, so I would prefer to live in a city that gets the most sun a year. So far I have been looking at Medford, Brooking, Roseburg, Ashland, and Grants Pass since they seem to have warmer winters and not a lot of snow. So we would really appreciate your advice and opinion. Also please let us know what the average winter/summer temperatures and how many days of sun your recommended cities have if possible so we can get a better idea of the climate.

[gray horse]

I don't think you will be happy in Oregon due to the weather. Not much sun in the winter....

[tigerbolt]

Originally Posted by gray horse

I don't think you will be happy in Oregon due to the weather. Not much sun in the winter....

I do think Oregon is a great place for us. Some places do have quiet a bit of sun which I love. I heard Medford has about 195 days of sun a year which is awesome.

[gray horse]

Originally Posted by tigerbolt

I do think Oregon is a great place for us. Some places do have quiet a bit of sun which I love. I heard Medford has about 195 days of sun a year which is awesome.

I'm moving from Portland to Medford, it will have hotter summers but winter is pretty gloomy and cold. It is NO WAY a medium / large city with shopping options and entertainment.

Have you even visited there? It's a place where if you like "farm / feed stores" you will fit in (which I happen to). I'm a former Californian, it will be culture shock after San Diego and I'm afraid you aren't realizing the drastic change in weather and culture.

For me it works, as I consult in San Francisco and fly down there for my "city fix" 4+ times a year.

Check it out and make sure it fits your needs before you make the move. It's somewhat of an armpit, but since I'm a country gal the place works for me.

Central (Bend) and Eastern Oregon will have more sun, but again you are not going to get medium / large city shopping, etc.

[Nell Plotts]

Bend is getting to be a large town, they even have a Costco, Trader Joe's and Target. What more could you ask for?

[PNW-type-gal]

The Medford/Rogue Valley area gets more sun than Bend/Central Oregon (despite the Bend Chamber of Commerce claim that Bend gets "300 days of sun a year!" which is total BS).

I've posted this about a bazillion times (hmm, must save it somewhere so I don't have to hunt it up so often):

City: Number of days of sun/part sun*
Portland: 144 (160 days of precip; averages 42" of rain, 3.4" of snow per year)
Bend: 162 (81 days of precip; averages 11.6" of rain, 32" of snow per year)
Medford: 198 (100 days of precip; averages 18" of rain, 6.4" of snow per year)

to add:
San Diego: 271 (38 days of precip; averages 10.2" of rain a year)

That sun/part sun thing means that the average for the day is between 33-100% clear - it doesn't mean "free of clouds." In Western Oregon (from the Cascades crest to the sea), winters are wet, cloudy and cool. It can cloud over and mist for a week or two at a time, easily, particularly as you go into the Willamette Valley, which is Eugene north to Portland. We tend not to get the tropical heavy rains (although we can, it isn't the usual style of rain) but rather a pretty steady drizzle to mist.

Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland have very hot summers, unlike the rest of Oregon. Medford average 10-14 days above 100° per summer (Grants Pass and Ashland are slightly cooler, but also go above 100°).

You'd really need to come up for a winter to know if you would be okay in it - when I was working in high tech, we had a lot of new-hire engineers come in from parts of California and last one to two winters, turn around and go back (or go east/southeast). Some people adjust just fine, love it and never want to go back. Some never adjust. Before you put all your financial eggs in the "we are moving to Oregon and staying there" basket, it would be good to check.


*Note that the precip days + days of sun/part sun don't add up to 365 - that means that the rest of the days are mostly cloudy to completely cloudy but it is not raining or snowing.

[Leisesturm]

There is a structure in the human brain called the ... Amygdala? As I understand it, it is unique to human brains. It is the structure that allows a person to 'imagine' what it would be like to do _________ or be ___________ or experience ___________. It is the part of the brain that allows a person to look at a map of the United States of America and know that in no way shape or form could ANY part of Oregon have climate attractive to someone who knows and loves the climate of San Diego. The operative word being "love". That might also be a concept unique to human brains.

If there was even one single word about any other intrinsic or quality of Oregon's many cities besides how much sun they get or how warm in winter (or not) or other climate focused worries I might not be so adamant. But... really... someone who is that concerned about what Oregon's climate is like really already knows the answer to the question of whether they should move here or not. They should not. They will be miserable. I get that the San Diego COL but... IDK... AZ?? NM? I mean... given what they have said, I don't think New Mexico is a bad alternative at all. Scouting is likely easier as well.

A visit to Oregon will not be any use IMO. It hasn't rained in Portland in a week. That is not normal. Nothing is anymore. I took my wife to work in 27 degrees this morning. That isn't really all that normal either for Portland. We were out for dinner last Friday and this small family were going on and on and on and on about how cold it was. They turned to us and asked is it always this brutally cold in Portland because that isn't what they were told. I shrugged and said well... I guess its kinda cold but sheesh its not like 8 degrees or something... its December (it was) after all... ... they said they were from Southern California by way of explanation. If they were scouting I think its a safe bet that they have 'X'ed PDX off their short list.

I have the near universal appreciation for mild temperatures and sun. I am from Jamaica after all. I have however lived in NYC, MI and OR and in all cases climate was the least of the reasons for the relocation. Some people snowbird. I know that Montana, Alaska, North Dakota... I know these places would not work for me so I don't even write on their forums asking them if x part of Billings has milder winters than y part. I just don't see how anyone here can confidently assure the o.p. that they will be happy in OR. Only they know that. That Amygdala... trust it. Don't let desired intrinsics of Portland which you think you would love blind you to the reality of what you know you can't handle with respect to things like climate.

H

[Squidlo]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Don't let desired intrinsics of Portland which you think you would love blind you to the reality of what you know you can't handle with respect to things like climate.

H

Well said.