Please offer some advice for our relocation (Portland, Eugene: real estate, rent)

[juneauite]

Hello!
I just stumbled upon this site, and it sounds like there are some very knowledgable Oregonians here, which is great.

Here's my situation. My family (me, my husband, and two very young daughters) is currently living in Juneau and we've been here about 2 years. There are some great things about living here, and some not so great things. Here's what we like about it:
* it's small enough (pop. 30,000) that my husband, who is an attorney, can work at a small law firm, be home for dinner every night, and have weekends free. We are not interested in having him work the insane hours he would have to in a big city.
* there is a real sense of community here, with friendly people, and wonderful family events to attend.
* the surroundings are beautiful and there's lots to do outdoors.
* it's safe for kids.

Now, the cons:
* It rains ALL THE TIME. Seriously. I can handle Oregon or Washington rain, but this is a whole other situation, and it's definitely wearing on us.
* While the surroundings are beautiful, the city itself is not very clean and well-kept, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of pride of ownership reflected in many of the homes.
* Extremely limited retail here. We have a few grocery stores, two "malls" with stores that constantly go out of business, and no real downtown shopping district to speak of.
* The restaurants....*shudder*
* We are isolated here. There are no roads out of Juneau. The only way out is by plane or boat, and both options are expensive. We rarely make the trip to the "lower 48" because it is so costly and requires so many transfers. We miss our family and friends!

Okay, so that's the basic situation, and we're looking to move, hopefully in the next 6 months or so. My parents and several good friends live in Portland and Seattle, and we would love to be within reasonable driving distance of them for weekend visits, etc. We're looking for a place that has the same benefits that we've found in Juneau, but with a cleaner, more vibrant downtown, better weather, and just more to offer in general. We'd like to live as close to the downtown area as possible, since we'd love to be able to walk to stores and restaurants instead of relying on a car as much as we have to here.

So that's the criteria, and we are considering:
Corvallis (my first choice at this point, based on the research I've done)
Salem
Klamath Falls
Ashland
Medford
Bend

Outside of Oregon, we've thought about Olympia or Bellingham, WA.

I would love to hear your advice, based on our desires. We are looking for the perfect place to live and raise our kids. Also, any thoughts about the job market for an attorney who wants to have a 40 hour work week?

I really appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks in advance!

ETA: oh, I should mention that our budget for a home is in the low to mid 200,000.

[Waterlily]

Based on what you can pay for a house I'd say both Ashland and Bend would be out of the running. You might want to add Roseburg to your list of places. It's got pretty good weather.
I don't expect any us would know about jobs for an attorney.

[PDXsailor]

Why only small and dry places in Oregon, yet wet and bigger places in Washington?

[Clear2land]

The problem with Oregon for you is the amount you have to spend on housing. Affordability can be found in and around Roseburg and especially cities that surround this prosperous community. If you want less rain, look into cities in Southern Oregon. I would suggest Medford but that is three times the size of the city you are currently living in. Grants Pass would be my second recommendation for you. Southern Oregon is more like Alaska than is the flatlands that make up the Willamette Valley. Yep, I’m convinced that you would like Southern Oregon best. Washington gets more rain and is cloudy and cooler than Oregon. However, it too is fraught with beauty. To live in Washington you will surly need high sheen galoshes and a canary yellow raincoat.

Dan

[Cornerguy1]

Let's take some of the Oregon locations you mentioned in turn.

Ashland: A very pretty, very trendy and very expensive choice that may meet your size requirements and climate requirements, but might cause your banker to sprout 3 new grey hairs.


Medford: A rapidly developing city probably 3 times the size of what you are accustomed to. Housing is in great demand and therefore pricey. Medford's climate is very temperate: hot (90s) in summer and mild (40s) in winter.....snow is a rarity. Shopping in Medford tends to be spread out in large box stores and malls, so walking might be a challenge.

Both Medford and Ashland have the transportation advantage of being on I5, but, while a weekend jaunt to Portland might be reasonable, Seattle and area would make for a round trip of over a 1000 miles.


Klamath Falls: Close in size to your current location, but with a desert-like climate. Hot and dry (90s with low humidity) in summer and coolish (20s) in winter. The downtown core of Klamath is slowly succumbing to Walmart syndrome where large stores locate on the outskirts of town and the Mom-and-Pop shops of the established town have difficulty competing. Klamath is serviced by only 2 major roads. Route 140 runs west over the Cascades to connect it with Medford (70 miles) while US97 runs north-south to nowhere in particular. The Klamath airport offers flights (spendy) only to Portland while Amtrak offers daily service to Portland (6 hours) and Los Angeles. Amtrak is reasonably priced, but rail traffic on the west coast line is heavy and the trains are often delayed and well behind schedule.

Quite frankly, if option of easily accessing Portland and/or Seattle is important to you, these 3 locations are likely to far south to consider and you should concentrate your efforts on towns located in the north half of the state.

[CantWait2Bthere]

Juneauite

My husband and I visited Corvallis this past July and we loved it. I am sure the research you did on it relected much of the same postive things that I as a mother also find important. While we were there we visited the Chamber and thought it interesting that the two ladies who work there were both from Colorado. Colorado was another state we considered but they both shared with us how they would never go back as Oregon is a nicer state.
I noticed that the homes available in Corvallis are a little higher than other areas and that in our second choice city, Eugene one can buy a little more home for the dollar. We didn't get to spend as much time there however to get a real feel for the place. Have you been to the website ****.com? We used that sight to narrow down our choices. Have fun!

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by juneauite

Also, any thoughts about the job market for an attorney who wants to have a 40 hour work week?

So he wants a half-time job, eh?
What's his field of practice?

All of your pros and cons apply equally to the Oregon Coast, so it's good you're not considering that. The housing budget is the limiting factor. But with your husband being an attorney, I would think the best COL/salary quotient would be Salem. Monmouth (about 20 minutes north of Corvallis) might be a possibility, but you'll need to stretch your budget just a bit more to get into Corvallis proper, I think. Even Philomath will probably run close to $300k. McMinnville is another possibility. With a bit of a commute, your husband would be able to take work in either Salem or SW Portland...or both!

[juneauite]

Thanks for the replies. I should clarify that when I say I'd like to have access to Portland and Seattle, I mean that every couple months or so would suffice, so the distance from southern Oregon doesn't bother me. I'm surprised to hear that Corvallis real estate is more expensive than Eugene. I've been poking around on the internet and thought we'd be able to find something in our price range. What about a condo or townhouse near downtown? Anything like that available? Anyway, we'd most likely rent for awhile before deciding to buy, so maybe by the time we do we'll have more to spend.
I'd like to know more about Roseburg. What's the community like? The downtown area? Schools?

Thanks so much. This is really helpful.

[juneauite]

[quote=Steve97415;253580]What's his field of practice?

I would think the best COL/salary quotient would be Salem. QUOTE]

He doesn't have a particular field; the firm he's at now is very diverse in its practice, and he's worked in education, real estate, and insurance defense. Hopefully that will serve him well, as well as his Columbia Law school degree. THe key is finding a small firm like the one he's at now.

About Salem - Everyone I've mentioned it to sort of wrinkles their nose. I get the comment that it's "very industrial" and that there's "not much going on." What's the scoop? It seems okay from the internet research I've done...

[DavePautsch]

juneauite...just a few points about Corvallis for your research.
Just about 1 1/2 hours to Portland. We travel to the Bremerton/Silverdale WA area about every two months or so, its a very similar distance to get to Seattle, so you are looking between 4 and 5 hours depending on traffic (especially Portland/Vancouver traffic). time your trips accordingly
The downtown area of Corvallis has some nice features and they have really begun focusing on the riverfront area. Living within walking distance to downtown isn't really feasible with your budget though.
Corvallis is more expensive in large part due to the high cost of land and land development there. A builder I know is starting a development there this winter and it is much more expensive to build there than it is in Linn County just across the river.
That said, there ARE some very nice communities in close proximity to Corvallis that offer many of the same things you are looking for. I live in Albany (about 10 miles east of Corvallis) and have found here everything you like about Juneau (except that I'm not an attorney).
Small town, the downtown area has some nice elements to it and is working hard to revitalize. As a matter of fact the big project now is called the Brass Ring, a historic carousel with a carousel museum.
Housing prices here are less than Corvallis and you can get a very nice home in the mid-200s. New construction, 3 or 4 bedroom, 2 or 2.5 bath between 1500 and 1900 square feet. There are historic homes in Albany (down town area) and quite a few very nice family-oriented neighborhoods.
Good luck in your search, you have found a place here (in this forum) where lots of people will give you great information and humble (although not always) opinions.
Best of luck.
DavePautsch