Is There Hope For Oregon? (Portland, Salem: credit, how much, middle school)

[Silverfall]

They have made a lot of inroads into the drug problems here, but they will always exist. People get depressed, life is stressful, meth is cheap...

I do think we have made forward progress in our schools. There is still work to be done. Measure 5 was passed in the early 1990's and schools really suffered after that. Our rankings are still low, but they are slowly moving up.

I agree with BP that property values are too high for incomes here, which is why real estate will continue to correct over this year and possibly into next. Our normal income to housing ratio is usually in the 3.6-3.8 range out here, and we are at 4.86 in Salem. We are a capitalist society so supply and demand has a way of correcting things that get out of whack. We do pay high income and property taxes, but no sales tax. Sales tax in Illinois was high. You are going to pay tax one way or another, it's just a matter of 1-2 big chunks at a time, or smaller chunks on a daily basis. It all works out the same in the end.

I don't think Oregon is lost at all. I think the challenge has been a lot of growth. Oregon prides itself on its beautiful country, and preserving that comes with a price in the urban growth boundaries. Oregon has been trying to maintain its culture while having growth at the same time. It is not an easy feat. I think the housing decline with give cities a chance to think and modify infrastructure and growth. There were a lot of growing pains in the past few years here.

Your experience when you visited is the essence of Oregon. It is still here, but sometimes the politics of growth, balance, progress can cause people to focus on the negatives.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by mikemorrow

Well, I'm moving there so I guess that there is hope. LOL

Well Oregon is getting better already. I issue you an early welcome!

[illinoisboy]

Well, it is good to hear that the schools are getting better out there. I know thats a big factor for someone (like me) to consider before moving. However, I have one more question. I heard from another thread that "it's (gang activity) a new problem so it's a big deal to people" So, the question is: do the police seem aware of the increase in gangs and crime? Are they taking any steps to stop it? To control it? I know that Chicago is FARRR worse than any city in Oregon. But if we do move, we'd like some change from where we're living now. We'd hate to be living in Portland 10 years from now and watching the news every night just to hear about another person getting murdered due to gang violence.

[Silverfall]

Yes the police are aware. NE Portland is the heart of most gang activity in Portland. I know they are stepping up patrols there. I know there was a recent spike in activity in NE Portland. I also know that gang prevention programs have very little funding. There is a gang task force up there.

Honestly, if you stick to south area (Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tigard), and the West Hills those communities should be fine. Obviously there are no guarantees, but they have long been great places to live.

[mikemorrow]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

Well Oregon is getting better already. I issue you an early welcome!

Thanks Silverfall I'm moving to the southern coast. Every state that I have been to has its ups and downs. For me, Oregon has more ups. I have just found out that when I get there I will have to rent (bummer). But the future looks great.

[provincal b]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

Sadly, no.

Our schools are failing despite the highest compensated teachers in the world (that's right, the world),
...
We're here all right, but surviving on life support.

I'm curious where you heard that statistic about teacher compensation. My mom was a teacher's assistant for several decades and I would have thought that she would have been bragging more if her union could have got her that!

About 2 minutes of 'Google-fu' turned up this .pdf file from the American Federation of Teachers which contains a salary survey of all US teachers by state -- in 2005, 13 states pay their teachers more on average than Oregon. Connecticut was the highest, with 20% higher pay on average. Here is the link:

http://www.aft.org/salary/2005/downl...larySurvey.pdf

Do you have any evidence that Oregon's teachers are paid more highly than anywhere else in the US? (We can forget about the rest of the world for now, although I find that claim extremely dubious, to say the least)

For the record, I feel that not only is there hope for Oregon, but we are doing much better than many other parts of the country on a number of fronts. Our progressive land-use policy set in place during the 1970s has cultivated our local agriculture, prevented urban sprawl and enhanced our quality of life by protecting our forests -- meaning we'll actually still have a timber industry in the future. Thanks to those same land use policies protecting open spaces from cheap development, our housing market is still very strong compared with the rest of the country.

Portland and other towns are attracting hordes of highly-educated people that will either start businesses and attract high-quality businesses to our state. If anything, we need to increase education funding so that we'll have more highly-educated workers in the future. Yes, we need more jobs and there is a drug problem, but these are national problems and we do need to address them locally, but it is not an indication of Oregon in decline. I'm sure there are many, many mountain, midwestern and southern states that would be very happy to trade economies with us.

I hope that a lot of the panic about "gangs" and "illegals" by my fellow Oregonians is overreaction to the media's and the right-wing's hype and fear machine, but I fear it that it is often thinly veiled racism by people trying to keep Oregon "white" like them, an attitude I find disgusting.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by mikemorrow

Thanks Silverfall I'm moving to the southern coast. Every state that I have been to has its ups and downs. For me, Oregon has more ups. I have just found out that when I get there I will have to rent (bummer). But the future looks great.

Coast living is not cheap, but we have some incredible communities on the coast.

You can always enter the essay contest to win the house in Yachats...Entry is only $200!

[bobmulk]

Be wary of people who make false and incendiary comments without backing up their facts (highest paid teachers in the world). Give me a break.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by bobmulk

Be wary of people who make false and incendiary comments without backing up their facts (highest paid teachers in the world). Give me a break.

I was googling around after I read that, too... it just didn't sound right to me.

Here are some links I found:

Teacher Salaries by State -- GovSpot Lists

AFT - Teacher Salary - Teacher Salaries - Teachers Salary - Teachers Pay - Teacher Pay

I think also though you can't just go by state, that's just an average. The teacher's pay will vary between school district's, cities, counties...

[watmonki]

Hawaii does have the worst Meth problem. With it being just a few small Islands you can imagine the crime that goes on here. My car was stolen 3 times in one month. I can attest to the fact that at least 3 out of 25 ppl you walk past on the street are at the very least occasional users of meth. They're etremely easy to identify. Can someone tell what Oregon is doing to curb the meth problem? Hawaii has a very strong and dedicated task force, incorporating schools, Police, Weed & Seed districts etc to combat the issue, more importantly the have social services in place to further combat the problem on a more personal level as opposed to just legally slapping users and sellers with a crime. Seeing that Oregon is so large and the Vast rural areas everywhere, It seems the problem maybe difficult to address. Can anyone fill me in? I love Orgeon and would like to relocate someday.