Looking to move from Reno back to OR..... (Eugene, Medford: appointed, sales)

[Jancita]

We lived in OR for 7 years after retiring from Santa Rosa. We moved to Reno to be closer to the Grandkids in Napa. We are tired of the weather and the unfriendliness in Reno and are thinking of moving back to OR - Medford area because Napa is NOT an affordable option. OR was not a problem tax wise for us and most other things were far more affordable than CA - Car License, Drivers License, Insurance - no sales tax on large purchases...... Although NV has no State Income Tax - other things are more costly - Car Insurance is extremely expensive in Reno because of the 24/7 Casinos... Also you must Smog your car every year when you renew your tags. Everything is Brown most of the year here in Reno and there is lots of Wind which makes outside activity very difficult. We both miss the Greens of the landscape in OR. We made a trip back to OR last March after dealing with the winter browns and snow in NV - and truly appreciated the flowers and trees in bloom all along the road from here to there.....
We sold our home we purchased here in Reno after 2yrs and are ready to move on! We are thinking about renting before making a purchase.
Any suggestions.......Also are there any 55 & older communites in the Medford area?
Thanks for any input. We are hoping to make a road trip in the next few weeks.

[PNW-type-gal]

Much of the Rogue Valley requires emissions testing as well (vehicles 20 years old and newer) with registration renewal, which is every 2 years. In the Rogue Valley it is $10 for the test and the DEQ station will also handle renewing your tags.

I know of a couple mobile home parks and an apartment complex that are 55+. It can be hard to find them online because they tend to lump actual assisted living communities in with 55+ communities when they aren't the same thing at all.

The Rogue Valley has some dicey areas, don't pick a rental by price alone. The green hills here will turn brown in late summer and stay that way until the late fall rains green them up again.

It would be 6ish hours to Napa - pretty sure you might be able to find something in California that would be closer yet cheaper than Napa/Bay area. Redding, Red Bluff, Chico, Paradise are a heck of a lot closer to Napa. Redding, Red Bluff and Chico all have very hot summers. We have a hot summer, too, but it isn't Redding-level hot. Housing here might be cheap by Bay area standards, but it isn't really all that cheap.

[bler144]

I like Chico/Paradise. Paradise seems to keep a bit of green even in the summer.

Ukiah/Mendocino County would be a potential alternative that's even closer to Napa if you're wanting to see the grandkids on a regular basis.

[Jancita]

Originally Posted by bler144

I like Chico/Paradise. Paradise seems to keep a bit of green even in the summer.

Ukiah/Mendocino County would be a potential alternative that's even closer to Napa if you're wanting to see the grandkids on a regular basis.

We looked in Ukiah / Mendocoino before moving to OR.....For many years we lived in Cloverdale and would regularly travel up to Ukiah. Prices had skyrocketed there and we ultimately decided to move to OR where the house prices were more affordable..... Chico / Paradise, Redding & Red Bluff are all TOO HOT to deal with at this stage of our lives and having lived here in Reno for 2yrs we know the high dessert is not for us.
Thanks for your input..

[PNW-type-gal]

I don't know what part of Oregon you lived in prior, but the weather is pretty similar in Chico and Medford - Chico is a bit hotter and has more days over 100° than Medford, but Medford (and the rest of the Rogue Valley) have between 8-12 days over 100° a summer.

According to the NWS records, the average high temp in Chico crosses 90° about late May and doesn't drop below 90° until early Sept. In Medford, the average high temp crosses 90° in mid July and drops below in late August.

[Jancita]

We lived in Sutherlin. Our home was beautiful and we had great vistas of rolling hills and valleys in the outskirts of town. It is a really pretty drive to Oakland which is the closet town via the backroute and on the way to the local landfill. Our problem was we lived on a Golf Course and are not golfers. The views from our house were super - we had the whole golf course green and no task of mowing or watering it! We got to experience beautiful Sunsets and there was a mountain range the Callahans visible in the distance from our family room and kitchen window. Driving on the back roads into Roseburg you would occasionaly see Bald Eagles and Osprey. The Umpqua river is beautiful and the drive is relaxed and pleasant... Hwy I5 is direct route into town, 12 miles to Roseburg where you have lots of grocery shopping choices including the Costco. When we moved there we had to drive to Eugene for the Costco, TJ's, Best Buy, Macy's & Gottschalks, JC Penneys - large Mall. There is a small mall in Roseburg with a very small Macy's and other stores have come in since we left...so there are more choices.

The problems ensued with the RUDE Golfers who came into our yard to retrieve their balls, broken windows and privacy screening. Constant hits to the roof by golfballs which always made you go and check the roof or other portions of your property for damage. In order to have the golfer responsible for damage you have to catch them in the act!

The weather was decent. When we first moved there we were told the weather was comparable to Bennett Valley, CA - for the most part that was true. Our 1st winter we experienced Snow which you rarely saw in Santa Rosa but the weather everywhere is changing rapidly.....There was not a lot of heavy rainfall...mostly the gray days had spitting rain which was more an annoyance than a problem but the gray days did a job on me......When the sun was out it was beautiful. We had snowfall several more times in the 7 years we lived there but it usually melted after a few days. I was always glad to see the golf course covered in white and that meant NO Golfers on the course. Summers we did have hot days requiring using the a/c but it always cooled off at nite.

We sold our home in order to be closer to the Grandkids - which we did not have when we moved to OR. Now that we have sold our home in Reno we need to go someplace where my husband and I will be happy in this stage of our retirement. The kids have their lives and schedules and are far better dealing with all the chaos than we are at this point so we need to have our space where we can leave and go visit them a few times a year and they can also come to visit us when their work schedules permit.

So now we are looking for a peaceful place to live where you can enjoy color in the yard and go outside for nice walks without the harsh biting winds or freezing temperatures that plague you in Reno. If it's not freezing, its summer and too hot to go outside also the winds know no season.....

[bler144]

I'm not sure you're going to find a perfect solution. Medford may be a bit closer to Napa than Sutherlin, but summers are also much hotter on average.

[PNW-type-gal]

As we've said, if Chico (and particularly higher-elevation Paradise) is too hot, then the Rogue Valley is too hot and you might need to be looking further north, from Cottage Grove on up I-5.

If you don't mind damp, you might look at the coastal areas from around Eureka to, say, Florence. Moderate temps (although a bit windy in the winter), lots of moisture.

[jjpop]

But if the gray days did a job on you, you might even be disappointed with the Rogue Valley in the wintertime. I think it's much less sunny than Reno.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by jjpop

But if the gray days did a job on you, you might even be disappointed with the Rogue Valley in the wintertime. I think it's much less sunny than Reno.

Reno is up around 255 days of sun and part sun, Medford is at 198. Eugene is at 148.