Central Oregon (Portland, Eugene, Salem: 2015, homes, living)

[BestintheWest]

Can anyone give me a few Central Oregon towns, not high desert, with trees and greenery, affordable living cost(I know it is relative), and not too cold and very little snow? Just looking for a cooler and cleaner air place to move to.
Thanks

[boulder2015]

What are you referring to as "Central Oregon"? If you are referring to areas East of the Cascades, you are basically referring to "high desert" by default? Sisters doesn't feel very "deserty" to me, but is cold and gets snow, but is also very expensive. East of the Cascades is nearly all desert, without much trees and greenery, except for the high elevations...which are cold and snowy.

Most of the Willamette Valley would fit the place you are describing: Cottage Grove, Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, etc.

Willamette valley= trees, greenery, mostly affordable outside of Portland, minimal snow, and depending on where you're coming from, not that cold. That sounds like what you are looking for... but it isn't called "Central Oregon".

Hope that helps!

[karlsch]

The area east of the Cascades that is closest to the OP's description would be Northeast Oregon in the Elkhorn and Wallowa mountain area. The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is the largest in Oregon.

It does get cold in the winter (at least for some people think so) and the only towns, LaGrande, Baker City, Joseph, etc. are small.

[boulder2015]

Yeah, but the poster mentioned "cooler" and "not too cold". The Northeast is hot as hell much of the year and freezing much of the year. The Willamette Valley is fairly temperate most of the year. Guess it really depends where they are moving from. If it's Arizona, then, yeah, I guess the Northeast would feel pretty cool and is certainly more green. But the flatter areas where people live (La Grande, Baker, etc.) still feel "high desert" to me. The Wallowas and Elkhorns are gorgeous, that's for sure.

[PNW-type-gal]

Well, people have different ideas of what "high desert" is. For some people it is along the lines of Joshua Tree/Twentynine Palms in California.

If that was your mental image, Bend would seem pretty green, although the trees naturally tend toward pines with a few aspens thrown in. Bend's average high is only over 80 for about 4-6 weeks a year, making it a fairly mild summer if you are thinking 100°+ plus 3-4 months. And while it snows in Bend, it doesn't generally just blanket the ground and stick around for months on end. It can hit 0, but it doesn't stay there.

[redguard57]

Prineville comes to mind. It's kind of on the border between high desert and the Ochoco NF. It gets some snow but not a ton of snow - average is 13 inches per year, although that depends on how bad the winter is. It has some of the more affordable homes available in central Oregon.

Otherwise, maybe The Dalles?

[redguard57]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Well, people have different ideas of what "high desert" is. For some people it is along the lines of Joshua Tree/Twentynine Palms in California.

If that was your mental image, Bend would seem pretty green, although the trees naturally tend toward pines with a few aspens thrown in. Bend's average high is only over 80 for about 4-6 weeks a year, making it a fairly mild summer if you are thinking 100°+ plus 3-4 months. And while it snows in Bend, it doesn't generally just blanket the ground and stick around for months on end. It can hit 0, but it doesn't stay there.

Bend would not qualify as "affordable." Bend is 2nd to Portland for high housing costs in Oregon. It fits his other criteria though.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by boulder2015

Yeah, but the poster mentioned "cooler" and "not too cold". The Northeast is hot as hell much of the year and freezing much of the year. The Willamette Valley is fairly temperate most of the year. ...........

I mentioned that it gets cold in the winter.

The area around Pendleton and Hermiston is the hottest place in the Northeast. The daily high temperatures in July and August in the area I mentioned are only slightly higher than in the Willamette Valley and with lower humidity. The average temperature for the entire day is lower.

[boulder2015]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Well, people have different ideas of what "high desert" is. For some people it is along the lines of Joshua Tree/Twentynine Palms in California.

Yeah, I guess so, but that would just show the lack of their geographical knowledge. Joshua Tree is considered "low desert".

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by boulder2015

Yeah, I guess so, but that would just show the lack of their geographical knowledge. Joshua Tree is considered "low desert".

That would be a surprise to a lot of people, since the word "High Desert" appears in about half the business names in town.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_D...8California%29