moving to oregon... best weather (Medford, Bend: sales, real estate, oceanfront)

[thumper10mm]

hey,
i am moving to oregon this summer and have been trying to figure out where to live. i am single, self employed, work out of the house, and have no kids. i would love to live on the coast but if i can't live on the ocean i don't think it would be worth it. i would like to be near a city for all the amenities, but would really like to live in the "sticks" i am a very private person and nothing is better than stepping out on the porch and hearing nothing but nature! is there anywhere that doesn't get tons of rain? any help would be greatly appreciated!
mark

[Bendite]

Are you saying that if you can't live on the coast then moving to Oregon isn't worth it? I'm a little confused by your statement. The lowest coastal rainfall is in the south, around Bandon. It doesn't rain all the time on the coast (or anywhere in Oregon for that matter). The wettest months are late fall to early spring, but the summers have lots of dry days. You won't find big cities on the coast but towns like Newport offer lots of amenities (Newport is further north, so a bit more rainfall than the south coast). If it's precipitation you want to avoid, then east of the Cascades is drier, but then you have no ocean, so the problem is, there is no where here that will give you all that you are looking for, but many places will provide much of what you're seeking.

[thumper10mm]

thanks bendite,
what i meant was if i couldn't live oceanfront (which i don't think i can afford) then i don't think i would want to live on the coast, that being said, i have been looking into moving west for about a year now and oregon sounds fantastic with the exception of the rain. i keep reading conflicting stories about the amount of rainfall, i was originally going to try the outskirts of portland, but then again one report will say on average of 70 inches of rain, and then i will find reports about st. helens or i believe milwaukee that get less than half that and are within 50 miles of there. now i have grown up in the southeast u.s. and the weather doesn't vary that much. please don't get me wrong i LOVE a good rain storm, but weeks on end of drizzle and constant rain is just depressing. is there a more arid region more toward bend or somewhere else in eastern or southern oregon near what would be at least a mid size city with good restaraunts, maybe good shopping, places to meet women etc...
i am not looking for a specific place, more of specific weather mild summer and winter normal or less rainfall and a moderate amount of snow, basically 4 good seasons. thanks again!

[Bendite]

Oregon has a lot of micro climates so that's why the weather can vary within just miles. From your description, it sounds as if you might like the area between Sisters, Tumalo (pronouced like tummy) and Redmond, a triangle of space close to Bend. Central Oregon is not cheap housing wise, but I just checked on the Sisters Nugget (local newspaper) website and there are places for rent for under $1,000. Tumalo is a very small town about 10 miles from Bend and if you could find something in that area, you'd have your 4 seasons without much precipitation (except the occassional year like this snowy one). The area is very close to outdoor activities and it's less than a 4 hour drive to the coast. There are lots of places on acreage and some of them are very expensive, but there are bound to be some jewels to be found with a good search. There's a real estate company in Sisters called Ponderosa Properties that handles sales and rentals in the area and they might be helpful. The town of Sisters itself I would not recommend. It's expensive and the town is faux western on purpose to attract tourists. But the outlying areas would be places as you describe - nature out the front door yet close to many amenities.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

1) Keno

2) LaGrande

3) Baker City

4) LaPine

Closer to the beach:

1) McMinnville

2) Cottage Grove

3) Vernonia

[sassyone]

Originally Posted by thumper10mm

thanks bendite,
what i meant was if i couldn't live oceanfront (which i don't think i can afford) then i don't think i would want to live on the coast, that being said, i have been looking into moving west for about a year now and oregon sounds fantastic with the exception of the rain. i keep reading conflicting stories about the amount of rainfall, i was originally going to try the outskirts of portland, but then again one report will say on average of 70 inches of rain, and then i will find reports about st. helens or i believe milwaukee that get less than half that and are within 50 miles of there. now i have grown up in the southeast u.s. and the weather doesn't vary that much. please don't get me wrong i LOVE a good rain storm, but weeks on end of drizzle and constant rain is just depressing. is there a more arid region more toward bend or somewhere else in eastern or southern oregon near what would be at least a mid size city with good restaraunts, maybe good shopping, places to meet women etc...
i am not looking for a specific place, more of specific weather mild summer and winter normal or less rainfall and a moderate amount of snow, basically 4 good seasons. thanks again!

Having had lived in Oregon until the last 3 years, if you don't like rain, you might not like Oregon. If you lived in southern Oregon like Medford you would have a lot warmer weather. Central Oregon is beautiful in the summer, lot's of snow in the winter. We owned a home in Lapine and the winter snows we did not care for. You mentioned you liked living in the sticks so to speak, You might check out the sandy river on the way to Mt.Hood.
Oregon is a beautiful green state, but the reason for that is rain
Sassy

[freedom]

Southern Oregon has the best 4 seasons, the most pretty girls, and the bang for the buck on housing when considering the medium size city amenities. 2 hrs. to the coast, dozens of lakes for boating and fishing, great rivers.
Housing has become very affordable.
Check out shady cove, or trail. Gold hill and Eagle point for being close to Medford.
I looked at 15 houses today that were over 150k off of their highs of 2 yrs. ago.
2400 sq. ft. for under 300k, many in the 250's.

best wishes,

freedom