Isn't Western Oregon disappointingly "un-wild"? (Portland, Eugene: 2014, transfer)

[boulder2015]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

Once again in the dumps? It still is in the dumps

And yet housing rates are high and rising in many areas, unemployment is lower, more people moving there than to any other state. Compared to some areas in the country it may not be booming, but compared to most it is. And certainly compared to, say five years ago, or the 80s, it is doing very well. That doesn't improve life for all people, unfortunately. But Oregon is no exception to that.

[boulder2015]

And despite my comments above, I would STILL urge anyone moving to OR to find a job before moving there.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

Once again in the dumps? It still is in the dumps

A lot of people are in the dumps, but the state itself is doing fine.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by boulder2015

Don't usually agree with you, Elk Wallow, but you are spot on with this one. I see no trend towards Oregonians demanding more strip malls, auto plazas, cookie cutter housing. The demand to live there is increasing, but that will just raise property values and rents. I doubt that growth will spiral out of control.

It won't happen like that.
New developments will be upscale, beautiful, eco-friendly, blah blah blah.
It will look like it fits in Oregon.

It won't be nameless, faceless, out of control rampant development, but will fit exactly the Oregon lifestyle and Oregonian attitudes, but it will still be development.

As an example, look at what happened to the Happy Valley, Damascus, and Boring Areas.
Have you taken a drive to Molalla and continued through Silverton to Stayton lately?

Short years ago, that area was mainly farms and very rural living.
Now not so much, and how quickly and quietly did that happen?

As Portland becomes more expensive and crowded to live in, watch what will happen to the smaller towns surrounded by farmland within and hours drive.

I guarantee you that nice discreet housing developments will spring up here and there, a little at a time, a few houses at a time, and then all of a sudden BOOM, people will say what happened here?

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Large numbers of wealthy read Forbe's and Oregon remains one of their highly voted places to retire. There is more to life than income tax. The wealthy are old hands at finessing the nuances of the Tax Code. Maybe instead of pessimism you should hire a Tax Advisor.

What's with the pessimism crack? Not retiring anytime soon but facts are facts.
Oregon is not financially friendly place for retirees.

Sure. Some will come anyway either they don't care or are ignorant to the fact. It's ok either way.
In the other hand, retirees will not come here in droves either. There is no way Oregon will become the Florida of one.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

What's with the pessimism crack? Not retiring anytime soon but facts are facts.
Oregon is not financially friendly place for retirees.

Sure. Some will come anyway either they don't care or are ignorant to the fact. It's ok either way.
In the other hand, retirees will not come here in droves either. There is no way Oregon will become the Florida of one.

Oregon is tax unfriendly for some retirees. If you are drawing on a 401k, it takes 9% to 10.5% of your retirement account. Capital gains are taxed the same as income, so if you have to sell assets in retirement, you also get stroked pretty hard. Property taxes, OTOH, are pretty low. It's all in where you hang your money.

[BruceM]

We came to Oregon for it's beauty, bounteous outdoor activities and the bike friendliness of it's cities.
The tax rate never entered out minds.
The old adage "There is no such thing as a free lunch" applies here.
If you want low taxes you will live somewhere with substandard public services, like Texas where a fertilizer plant blew up due to lax regulation & oversight.
I lived in FL for 28 years and I would never go back even if their tax rate was zero (FL has no income tax but they do have sales taxes).

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

It won't happen like that.
New developments will be upscale, beautiful, eco-friendly, blah blah blah.
It will look like it fits in Oregon.

It won't be nameless, faceless, out of control rampant development, but will fit exactly the Oregon lifestyle and Oregonian attitudes, but it will still be development.

As an example, look at what happened to the Happy Valley, Damascus, and Boring Areas.
Have you taken a drive to Molalla and continued through Silverton to Stayton lately?

Short years ago, that area was mainly farms and very rural living.
Now not so much, and how quickly and quietly did that happen?

As Portland becomes more expensive and crowded to live in, watch what will happen to the smaller towns surrounded by farmland within and hours drive.

I guarantee you that nice discreet housing developments will spring up here and there, a little at a time, a few houses at a time, and then all of a sudden BOOM, people will say what happened here?

That is actually a good thing for the small towns surrounding the Portland metro because it is giving them an influx of tax dollars that helps these small towns function. I have friends that bought an old house in downtown Stayton to get that small town lifestyle while still being able to work in Portland (though soon transferring his job to Salem to be closer to home.) Plus the types of developments that are going in are ones that are common to Oregon, which are small lot subdevelopments that provide a more tight knit sense of community rather than your typical sprawling suburbia subdevelopments.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

Plus the types of developments that are going in are ones that are common to Oregon, which are small lot subdevelopments that provide a more tight knit sense of community rather than your typical sprawling suburbia subdevelopments.

But your neighbors will still avoid you anyways.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

But your neighbors will still avoid you anyways.

One doesn't have to talk to every neighbor that lives around them regularly. After a while, that just becomes a busy body.