Please help compare coastal towns

[alpine]

Brookings! We lived there for a year, beautiful area when the Sun shines which isn't much. Cloudy days are depressing for some people. Seafood is probably the best on the OR coast if you like fresh caught salmon, steelhead, tuna, crab & shrimp right off the boats. We left because on the constant rain but we had to try it. We looked at all the small towns on the OR coast. Crime rates are available for all towns on the internet.
We looked inland but didn't like it as well. Went as far in as Joseph.
We looked at a lot of places before I retired from SoCa in 98, Used the internet to "see" different towns then drove there to actually see it. Was disappointed more than not. We checked out various western states and have lived in WY, NM, OR, MT and are back to WY (Cody) where we will stay. Except some Winters we go to Lake Havasu AZ and live in son's home for a couple of months. WY has low sales tax (4%) no state income tax, great water, no smog, low crime rates, lots of Sun, little snow and low COL.

[icreate]

My experience with the coast is that it caters to tourists as its' lifeblood, but snickers behind their backs. The people I have encountered who live on the coast have generally been rude and very set in their ways. Brookings probably has the most liberal frame of mind (actually Harbor). When I was selling lingerie, there was a crowd there that was very open-minded.
You might want to check out the Ashland area and vacation to the coast.
Just a thought,
icreate

[randav]

I lived in Coos Bay for 11 years. IMO it continues to suffer economically. Once the world's largest lumber shipping port, since the demise of the lumber industry, it cannot seem to recover. Most prominent businesses now are the health care system and the casino. Bandon was just a little fishing town until it was "discovered" by big money recreationists. The coastal towns of the north are more supported by (or invaded by) weekenders and vacationers from Portland-Salem. Brookings seems to be more attached economically to northern California than to Oregon. All the coastal towns, as well as slightly inland towns like Coquille, have suffered from the politics of the valley. The availablilty of goods and services is limited in all of them. State land use laws have restricted development in areas outside the Willamette Valley. It is as if Portland and Salem want to keep the whole rest of the state for their playground. As for the whole of Oregon, some find its liberal politics welcome; others find it disgusting. Personally, I like the "I-5 corridor" from Corvallis to Grants Pass. There are trade-offs, however, everywhere. You can't expect green grass and trees if you're unwilling to accept some gray skies.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by randav

All the coastal towns, as well as slightly inland towns like Coquille, have suffered from the politics of the valley. The availablilty of goods and services is limited in all of them. State land use laws have restricted development in areas outside the Willamette Valley. It is as if Portland and Salem want to keep the whole rest of the state for their playground.

Oregon's 19 Land Use Goals apply equally inside of the Willamette Valley or out. It isn't what Portland and Salem want, it's what WE want. We in the coastal towns are among the biggest supporters of Oregon's centralized land use policy -- keeps us from being victimized by corporate developers. All across the West, people are fleeing southern California, northern California, Arizona sprawl, urban Texas, Puget Sound and other livability-compomised areas that have embraced hell-bent-for-overdevelopment construction. The fact that Oregon is the only state that holds citizen livability above the almighty dollar of the corporate developer is what keeps people flocking to Oregon whether they know it or not.