General opinions of living in Oregon? (Portland,Astoria,Mt. St. Helens,Eugene) (Salem: transplants, rent)

[EmilyIowa91]

I live in Iowa,born and raised. I have always felt like moving to another state with more to do would be the best thing for me. My family and I always traveled when I was yoing,and trust me when I say that in the 28 years I have been in Iowa,I have seen literally every corner of this state,and the surroinding states as well. I NEED Oceans AND MOUNTAINS. IT IS A MUST.

Well now,I have a almost One year old and I can not wait to move. I have always been drawn to Oregon-Washington area, and I want to pick up and move there within the next few years. I have done PLENTY of research on Oregon and decided thats where Im going to live for the remander years of my life.

My questions to Oregonians:

What do you LOVE about Oregon?

What do you HATE about Oregon?

Is it a challenge to find jobs,and decent people?

From your point of view,is Oregon a great place to grow roots and plant a family?

Would you stay or leave,if it was an option?

[Larry Caldwell]

I love the winters, which are nice and cool and rainy. The seafood is great.

I hate the summers, which are hot and dry and uncomfortable. The worst weather is only July and August, though, and it does cool off at night. A lot of people head to the coast to beat the heat. The coast is good for dodging the smoke from the forest fires. If things aren't on fire, the mountains can be nice in the summer too. As you get above 4000' your sweat evaporates faster and helps you stay cool. Stay hydrated.

It's tough to find a job that will cover the rent, which is outrageously expensive.

People are great, but they mostly keep to themselves. If you want to find friends, find interesting things to do.

People get married, have kids and buy homes here just like anywhere. Success or failure at that is pretty much an individual thing. It helps to have family support. I have a nephew who got married and had a kid. He and his wife both have good jobs. They bought a home, and Grandma (my sister) is retired and does the child care. If they didn't have her, they would spend a big part of their income on child care.

[PNW-type-gal]

Iowa and Oregon are somewhat similar in that they are relatively small states (3.3 million people in Iowa, 4 million people in Oregon), with one large city, two medium-size cities and a lot of small towns.

The difference between the two is that Oregon has dramatic climate changes as you move across the state, from a cool "rain forest" (not technically a rain forest, but cool damp and cloudy much of the year, with precipitation amounts between 60-100" of rain a year) at the coast to a temperate river valley to high mountains to high desert.

Oregon is also much more isolated than Iowa - from the heart of Iowa, you are 3-6 hour drive from Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, St Louis. From Oregon's largest city, Portland, the same 3-6 hour drive gets you to Seattle. San Francisco is 10 hours, over mountain passes in the winter.

Job-wise, the biggest city and its suburbs are going to be the best place to find the largest number of jobs and services. It is also the most expensive place to live and work, although all of Oregon is going to be expensive compared to Iowa. The average rent for an 800 sf apt in Des Moines is $750, in Portland it is $1475. Probably like Des Moines, as you move away from Portland center the rent goes down a bit. In Salem, about an hour south of Portland, that rent is about $1,000.

I've had the choice to stay or leave several times and always chose to stay, although I chose to move to a smaller town because I was tired of the traffic and crowds in Portland - plus I wanted a little less rain and a little more sun and was willing to put up with hotter summers to get it.

[Johnny Z]

What's not to like about Oregon, I moved here 44 years ago, and have seen most of the state. It has something for every kind of life style. Mountains, Deserts, the Ocean, several types of forest and range land eco systems, lots of streams, rivers and lakes. I'd say most the people are pretty good but there are some liberal and conserative areas and some issues about that I won't go into. I don't get involved much with that stuff. As far as jobs and making it a home, that' not something I can answer for you. If you have skills in something and it's in demand where you settle, you'll probably find a job.

[Bees522]

I agree with most of the above. Except the isolated part. I grew up in New York, live in Eugene now and I have never felt isolated. The few things I can't have here, I can find in Portland or Seattle. Oregon is beautiful and I love it here. But my partner brought work with him, with most of his northeast salary so the COL was easier on us than it might be coming from Iowa. Rents are high and many jobs are low paying. As in many places, folks in tech and medicine do well.

I do not plan to move ever again. It's going to take me the rest of my life to see all the beautiful places here.

[eddie gein]

I'm not an Oregon resident but used to spend summers there yearly and make it back on occasion. You being from Iowa, there is one thing I always loved about Oregon specifically considering I was from Oklahoma.

When you feel you need a taste of home you can just go into the Willamette Valley. There won't be corn necessarily but in the summer you will feel like you are in Western Iowa except with a mountain view. As much as I loved the forests and mountains, I really felt comfort getting out in the valley and buying berries and things. They have a lot of wineries out there these days.

And if you go over the Cascades it's not too far till you feel like you are in western Nebraska or eastern Wyoming/Colorado.

We took a couple of trips over there when I was a kid and you see ranchers and cowboys like you do in west Texas. Guys on horses and the whole getup. Of course that was 40 years ago. Probably on 4 wheelers by now.

[Bees522]

I didn't answer all your questions. I do feel Oregon is a great place to plant roots. We made friends easily, I'm pretty happy with the schools. Statewide they are not great, but where I am in Eugene they are good. Crowded but good. There are loads of things to do with kids and lots of ways to get involved in the community. Eugene is full of transplants so it's easy to find friends.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by EmilyIowa91

I live in Iowa,born and raised. ... in the 28 years I have been in Iowa,I have seen literally every corner of this state... I NEED Oceans AND MOUNTAINS. IT IS A MUST.

... I have always been drawn to Oregon-Washington area, and I want to pick up and move there within the next few years. I have done PLENTY of research on Oregon and decided thats where Im going to live for the remander years of my life.

My questions to Oregonians:

...

No Longer from Oregon, but... I go there several times / day / week... and have investments, jobs, offices, teaching roles, and business mentoring in OR.

1) @ age 28... I escaped my home state (Colorado) and came to PNW. It was a good move (but I miss the winter SUN!!!, & great bike riding in CO)
2) If you have this criteria. ""I NEED Oceans AND MOUNTAINS. IT IS A MUST."... Don't give up on WA... it is only 1 minute away from OR. WA is INCOME tax free, and has some significant advantages in economy, commerce, and politics. (and FREE Ft college instead of High School (since 1991)

for the last 30 yrs... WA gets 300 new Oregon residents / month (fleeing for better schools / taxation / business opportunities)

Have you been / spent a summer on Olympic Peninsula or the North Cascades NP ??

That is where you can find Mtns and Ocean 10 - 40 min from each other!

BTW: we in PNW, avoid HATE (ing) anything. All comers (and viewpoints) are welcome.

One of the PNW state's discourages "tolerance" / various viewpoints. the (4) other PNW states accept (encourage) differing dialogues / opinions.

[J.M.L.]

Check the political climate, too, and make sure it meshes, or at least tolerable, with your views.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by EmilyIowa91

I live in Iowa,born and raised. I have always felt like moving to another state with more to do would be the best thing for me. My family and I always traveled when I was yoing,and trust me when I say that in the 28 years I have been in Iowa,I have seen literally every corner of this state,and the surroinding states as well. I NEED Oceans AND MOUNTAINS. IT IS A MUST.

Well now,I have a almost One year old and I can not wait to move. I have always been drawn to Oregon-Washington area, and I want to pick up and move there within the next few years. I have done PLENTY of research on Oregon and decided thats where Im going to live for the remander years of my life.

My questions to Oregonians:

What do you LOVE about Oregon?

What do you HATE about Oregon?

Is it a challenge to find jobs,and decent people?

From your point of view,is Oregon a great place to grow roots and plant a family?

Would you stay or leave,if it was an option?

So I moved to Oregon 28 years ago now from Illinois. Not Iowa, but similar.

What I love about Oregon is that there is no lack of things to go and see just within the state. You get high desert, mountains, coast, and farmland all in one state. There are great trips to Washington, Idaho, northern California that are driveable with kids. There are all sorts of local swimming holes, places to kayak, go tubing, sledding runs in the mountains, waterfalls to hike around etc. My kids grew up doing these things and aren't addicted to social media or tv.

Oregon has a casual culture which works for me. Most women don't wear makeup or wear minimal makeup. It's okay if you aren't a fashion diva, decked out in high heels, etc here.

It's not an overly religious state. It's totally okay here if you don't go to church and it is totally okay if you do.

I'm definitely a PNW'er for life. I like the weather here and there are a few hot weeks in the summer, but that is what the rivers are for. Detroit Lake is great for super hot days. The summers are NOT humid here.

I do think Oregon is a great place for families that want their kids to grow up away from TV culture. There is just so much outdoor stuff to do, you have to kind of work at staying home all the time.

What do I hate about Oregon?
Hate is a strong word, but I find the politics a bit frustrating. Oregon has some funky politics and does some things very oddly. School funding is one of them. I have been happy with my kids' schools in South Salem, but schools are funded by the state for the most part and not local property taxes.

We do have a growing homeless population due to a serious lack of affordable housing and people moving to the state so this is a significant issue, in my opinion.

I find that most people here are quite decent. Actually, total jerks are a rarity in my world. I just don't run into them that often. Oregon is a very slow paced lifestyle so I think people just aren't quite as rushed and stressed out.

I don't know what kind of jobs you are looking for so it may be easy or it may be hard. That is difficult to say without knowing if you have any special skills or not.