Possible relocation from Alabama to Oregon

[jjpop]

I don't want to stereotype, and please forgive me if I am. But since you are coming from the Bible Belt I think you should be aware that Oregon has (I believe) the lowest church-going population in the US.

That's not to say that people don't go to church. There are thriving churches here. But for many if not most Oregonians it is not an integral part of their lives. Maybe lolivet can speak to this, since he/she came from Atlanta.

[John Shaft]

Originally Posted by Viola4

Wow! Thanks for all the input. As far as housing, you do tend to get more for the money here. I did try to poke around on some realtor websites and was a little disappointed with the homes. I tend to like all brick homes and I didn't find to many of those. We just have to way out the pros and cons. The sceneary is beautiful though! We have alot of talking to do. I think my husband is going to plan a little trip over to, just to take a look.

I too had to adjust to the lack of brick homes (although we found one with some brick). It turns out there are some valid reasons for this, though:
* apparently brick is more expensive up here - maybe it can't be easily manufactured in this climate?
* wood is VERY plentiful and hence a useful building material
* brick exteriors aren't ideal for coldish, damp winter...better to have wooden or even vinyl siding.

And the houses and lots are indeed small compared to what you are probably used to. We ended up buying in a "lesser" neighborhood where the lot sizes and houses were bigger than in the more desirable locations. It's nice to sit on our back porch and enjoy a private backyard without having six houses looking down on you.

[PNW-type-gal]

Not a lot of clay up here and definitely not the right kind of clay for brick - it's all trucked in. Hence not many houses are built with it and very people develop a taste for it.

[scoobygold]

check out houses with glencoe highschool. the spring meadows neighborhood is walking distance to all elem middle and highschool. lots of families with teens..quiet streets and lots of block parties. you can get a 3600 sq ft home with all the upgrades..bonus den sound for only 500. big homes for great price. everyone wants a good deal so when the market turns you can make some money...good luck.. hillsboro is about 1 hour from the beach and 20 .minutes from downtown portland.

[Smiled]

Actually, around Portland, there's lots of clay, which you will discover once you get through the topsoil. The main reason there's not a lot of brick in the Pacific NW is that it's earthquake country. Every 300 years or so, there's a 9.0 shaker off the coast. Wood framing is very flexible. EQs here are rare compared to California, but there are plenty of faults.