Where should we move to? (Portland, Eugene: low crime, new house, theatre)

[Almanack]

Hi,

My wife and I are early retirees. We live in So Cal (please don't hold that against us). We are planning a trip next month up to Oregon to see if it's for us. We are landing in Medford and driving up to Portland.

Things that are important to us: low crime, good heath care, vegan friendly restaurants
Things that we hope to find: newer homes with reasonable large lots sizes, not too much rain, reasonable amount of sunshine, less dense cities towns than we have down here. it would also be nice if there were some cultural events near by too (theatre, dance company, symphony, opera), but that's not necessary.

Our expectations are that Portland is not for us. While it may be the vegan capital of the world, it is also a big city. We would like to live in a small city or a town, ideally with a few vegan friendly restaurants.

Where would you recommend that we consider?

Thanks for your advice.

Al

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Almanack

Hi,

My wife and I are early retirees. We live in So Cal (please don't hold that against us). We are planning a trip next month up to Oregon to see if it's for us. We are landing in Medford and driving up to Portland.

Things that are important to us: low crime, good heath care, vegan friendly restaurants
Things that we hope to find: newer homes with reasonable large lots sizes, not too much rain, reasonable amount of sunshine, less dense cities towns than we have down here. it would also be nice if there were some cultural events near by too (theatre, dance company, symphony, opera), but that's not necessary.

Not sure what you mean by "reasonably large lot sizes" - 1/4 acre? 1/2 acre? 1 acre? New homes near cities tend not to be on large lots.

To get the cultural events and vegan restaurants, you'd need to stay with the cities - from south-to-north, Medford, Eugene, Salem. Although you cross out Portland, certainly the surburbs are an option, like Wilsonville or McMinville - outside the city proper but close enough for a drive in to the culture events.

After the coast, the Willamette Valley is fairly rainy in winter, and it is more-or-less similar from Eugene all the way up to Portland. There are variations and microclimates by geography and elevation, but the differences aren't huge, except for the higher you go the more snow you'll likely see. You say "not too rainy," but you'll have to define that.

[bler144]

Ashland has some decent vegan options, as does Eugene.

But as PNW notes, lot size will likely be an issue, especially if you're trying to do this on a budget.

For the Ashland area you're probably looking at lots in Medford; for Eugene probably in the surrounding smaller towns: Cheshire/Elmira/Creswell, etc.

[Rob Allen]

For more sun and less rain, go across the Cascades to Bend.

[Almanack]

Thanks PNW and Bler for your replies...

Rain: We've lived in SoCal for 15 and 30 years, respectively. We've grown used to 300 sunny days, so 300 rainy days might be a bit much. Perhaps 180 sunny days and 180 overcast/rainy days? We want to visit during this time of the year so as to get the sense as to what the overcast weather would be.

Reasonably large lot sizes: we live on a 7000 SF lot here in SoCal. When my neighbor has a cigarette, I feel like I'm having a cigarette. When my neighbor's on the phone, I feel like I'm on their phone call too. We'd like to have an acre, but I think a 1/2 acre might suffice too.

New homes: While I never considered myself someone who was interested in living in one of those cookie cutter new home complexes, I've come to realize that I really am a suburbanite at heart and I find the insides of those new houses are really quite nice. However, they tend to be on 7000 SF lots, so again, I'd be "enjoying" my neighbors cigarettes.

Coast / Water: My wife would LOVE to live by the water. Unlike up in WA, there really aren't any towns/cities in OR where you could live and have easy access to services like Trader Joes and Costco, right? How about along the river? Any towns on the river that are close to vegan eats, Costco, TJ's?

[Almanack]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

For more sun and less rain, go across the Cascades to Bend.

I have friends who rave about Bend, but it gets considerable snow in winter, right? That's not for me. Also, I hear the pass can be treacherous, no?

[BaseLineRoad]

What is your budget? What do you do for work? I think those are going to determine a lot about where you end up.

[PNW-type-gal]

Costco: (south-to-north) Medford, Roseburg, Eugene, Albany, Salem, about 5 in the general Portland area plus Bend and Astoria as well.

Trader Joe's: Medford, Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, 8 in the general Portland area plus Bend.

In-N-Out: supposedly in Medford by year's end, just passed city planning approval. North of Albany, Burgerville is the local chain and it has some tasty seasonal things (Walla Walla onion rings, sweet potato fries, Halibut fish-n-chips, berry shakes).

IN a city you will not find large lots - anything over 10,000 sf would be unusual and likely part of an older property that was once just outside the city. The kind of huge developments that are common in So Cal are not common here. Not so say that there aren't developments of 10, 20, 50 houses, but not the hundreds like So Cal.

The average number of "sun/part sun" days in the Willamette Valley is 140-145 and those are mostly between mid June and end of October. Medford (Ashland/Medford/Grants Pass) is just below 200 days, but in a similar pattern, pretty much between April - early Nov. Bend is only slightly sunnier than the Willamette Valley, although it is much less rainy.

Medford and Grants Pass have the Rogue River; Eugene, Salem and Portland have the Willamette River; Portland has the Columbia River as well. These are pretty large rivers, there are also smaller streams, tributaries, lakes.

There is a mountain range between the valleys and the coast, such that you pretty much live right on the coast or at least an hour or two inland. The coast is cool, rainy and windy and if you think you might have trouble with the rain in the Willamette Valley, the coast is not an option.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Almanack

I have friends who rave about Bend, but it gets considerable snow in winter, right? That's not for me. Also, I hear the pass can be treacherous, no?

I don't find it that bad, but I first learned to drive in heavy snow. YMMV. You'd certainly at least want to be proficient in putting on chains.

In the "cities" of Oregon 7000-12000 sqft lots are pretty common. But 1/4+ acre is doable in Medford, and particularly the hills and smaller communities south of Eugene. It's just not likely to be cheap by local standards, esp. if you want the house itself to be in decent shape. If you're cashing out $750,000 in CA equity, well, then the world is probably your oyster.

One other note is that even on 1/10 of an acre the abundance of trees in Eugene or Portland can help mitigate light-moderate noise and make you feel you have a bit of space. Though obviously a lot depends on just _how_ noisy your neighbors are. But you may not need as much as you think, or may ultimately find you don't actually enjoy being quite that isolated IRL, or that your neighbor runs a tractor at 6 a.m., etc.

[Almanack]

200 days of sunshine... that's great!

In glancing at Zillow, there do seem to be several homes that are on larger lots, granted they are also priced higher, but they do seem to exist on the outskirts on Medford, like in Jacksonville?

In-n-out: that's what a hamburgers all about... but since we're vegans, we'd only be going there for the fries ;-)