I know its been asked before... is this the right choice? (Portland: sales, health insurance)

[bubbleberry]

Hi Guys.

I have read lots of the posts & hear the same thing again & again, but I need some advice, so here goes...

I have just relocated here from Ireland, having found & married the most amazing woman to have ever walked the face of earth, my beautiful American bride.

We are thinking of moving to Oregon, my wife was adopted, & has some family in the area that she wants to develop a connection with. I love the place, its more like Ireland that Ireland, rolling hills, tree lined roads...its amazing.

BUT, we have 2 small problems...

I have always worked for myself, I run a small, high quality carpet cleaning business, which I would have to start from scratch again, so there needs to be a realitvly big population of family homes to keep me in business.I do not want to dominate the world of carpet cleaning, I just want to feed my family...

The second problem is a bit tougher. My wife was diagnosed with a low level form of depression, called dysthymia. She will have it for life( although we are working on that, but its safer to assume) I have read all the posts, I know about the cloudy but blue sky's, & I know that most people who are used to the climate where they live will think that its fine....I have lived most of my life in Ireland & am constantly defending the weather, but when it sucks, it sucks, & I am not prepared to take a chance with my wifes health.

If we make this move, we make it once, we cannot afford to keep moving, we want to buy a house & start a family.

So where do we find a nice town that gets a bit more sunshine than the average.We do not mind when it rains, and we understand that the skys can be cloudy & blue, but my wife needs to wake up to blue skys more often than grey.

Thanks guys, your replies will help us plan our lives together.

[Krystle]

Hmmm. Well, most of the people (i.e. potential customers) are in the Willamette Valley, but so are most of the clouds. If you can get your business off the ground in Eastern Oregon, you'd be good to go. I hear it's much sunnier on that side of the Cascades, and you can always drive over to the western part to get your "Ireland fix" while your wife visits her family. Where are you located now and how does she like it there?

P.S. - Your wife is very lucky to have such a concerned and adoring husband. I hope you find just the right spot!

[rickers]

There are many places with Ireland green landscape in the spring but if you want green grass and trees all year then dreary cloudy rainy days will be the norm.

[scone]

IIWY I'd consider the area from Roseberg to Ashland, as that region has a lot of new housing and people. You might also check out the Bend area, which is not quite as green but is very sunny and has been growing rapidly.

However-- all of Oregon is beginning to experience the effects of the "housing bubble" bursting, and there have been collateral damage in every industry remotely connected to housing. IIWY, I'd wait a year, at least, before making any move. Just see how the situation pans out. You don't want to move here during a recession, because residential customers can choose to skip carpet cleaning if they have to, in order to focus on bare necessities. OTOH, commercial customers, such as health and hospitality, must clean their carpets regardless. I would research that area, to see if there is some such niche market you could try, or go to work for someone else to get a start.

At any rate, I would suggest you have a savings cushion of six months income, at least, before you come here. Along with some form of health insurance, of course. That's going to be a real sticking point, as the American system has no real national health as in Europe. It's easy to go bankrupt because of medical bills in this country, sad to say.

I don't mean to discourage you, but I've seen people come to Oregon with little more than a suitcase and end up flat broke. I can't emphasize enough the importance of planning your work and working your plan. Even then, you are taking a risk. But then again, all life is a risk. Best of luck to you.

[bubbleberry]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice.

At the moment we are living in Ventura, California, & to be honest we both cannot wait to leave. We came here because my wife wanted to experience living in a beach town, living the Californian dream.But the problem with the California dream, is that it is based on a lifestyle that has long disappeared.

The only people who can afford to live the dream, a house near the beach, long days of summer etc are those that work so hard they have no time to enjoy it. I have no idea why, but a house in the WORST part of Ventura costs $350,000 & that is for a fixer !

My wife has health coverage, she works for a bank, & we can keep that under an extended plan, so it should not be an issue,.

I have started my business here in Ventura about a 8 months ago, and its just starting to make money, but it would be a long time before I could sell it, so it makes sense to leave now and start somewhere that we want to stay, as appose to spending more on growth, & then leaving.

My wifes brother lives in Ashland.They are by no means close, but he is older, & supportive, we do not want to live in the same town as him, but be close enough to visit.

Our plan is to spend as many weekends as we can visiting the areas, & at the same time my wife will look for work.As soon as she finds a job we will move.I will take a part time job doing anything...& slowly start the business again.

We have a few locations in mind, we have listed them according to what we know, which is not a lot, & also assuming that east of the cascades has better weather.I would really appreciate your advice.These all sound like wonderful places... have we got them right or wrong?


We thought of Eugene because of its location, between the coast & the mountains, they say that it is in an amazing location, lots of city life, surrounded by the country,but its also on the gloomy side of the cascades.We also read that crime is rising, and the quality of education is falling?

Corvallis, is noted as being a "green" city, so it fits with my business, which is 100% natural carpet cleaning.Corvallis public schools spend $6,763 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $6,058, so thats a good point.Unemployment is also below average. Its got a nice location, but its also on the wet side of the cascades?I read on this forum about the cloudy blue skies.Neither of us mind rain, it keeps the air clean, the rivers flowing & the plants growing, but we want to be able to spend alot of time outside. What is Corvallis really like?

Bend was high on the list, but we read that it has traffic congestion, which is only set to get worse as it grows? But its on the warmer side of the cascades?Does anyone know anything else, the last thing we want is to move from Southern California Roads to similar problems?It is however on the right side of the cascades, so they may experience a bit more sunshine.It is also a bit more expensive?I read in various forums that Bend is now filled with middle class Californians pretending to be millionaires, which is exactly the people I want to avoid ? The population is only 71,892, so it cannot be that bad...can it?

Ashland sounds very nice, but house prices are close to those where we are , so that puts it lower on our list.They say Ashland is fast becoming a mecca for the wealthy moving up from San Francisco and the Bay Area, but I generally like the San Fran people, so the only worry is house prices.Its also to the gloomy side of the cascades?

Any other suggestions guys ???? Remember we am not looking for perfection, just somewhere we can call home, somewhere where we can feel the sun on our face & the wind in our hair, somewhere we can be content.

[scone]

Unfortunately, all the prospective cities you mention, apart from Bend, are on what you describe as the "gloomy" side of the Cascades. However, the number of cloudy days varies greatly from, say, Portland to Ashland. IMO it tends to get sunnier as you go south. But it's definitely not like Ventura. (I used to live in Oxnard.)

Also, every city with enough housing to support your business will also have some traffic congestion, it seems to me. The two things go together. I mean, you could move out to Harney County, in the southwest corner of Oregon, but it's very sparsely populated, and you'd spend all your money on gas to service an extremely spread-out client base.

You should also be aware that housing is not cheap. Cheaper than California, maybe, but still most are in the six figures, especially as you get closer to Portland.

BTW, if your wife is looking for a bank job, I would be wary of Washington Mutual. They have hit some financial trouble, their stock is way down, and there are rumors of bankruptcy. If there are layoffs, as there have been in the mortgage industry, your wife may be competing with a larger pool of financial professionals for a smaller number of jobs.

You can use the City-Data tables to find exact statistics on each town/city you might be interested in. Good luck.

[LisaLooLoo]

If you are looking for an area that values "green" methods, Eugene would be a good place to look. Sometimes called "Berkley North" there is a definite liberal and eco-friendly mentality here.

There are several smaller communities outside of town that still offer reasonably priced homes with decent commute times. Traffic from these smaller towns is not bad, occassionally I even have to slow down to the speed limit No matter where you live, traffic in Eugene is nothing like Southern California. It's not perfect here, but it's better than SoCal and even Portland.

The banking industry is alive and well in Eugene (I work for a bank), with a lot of independent, smaller banks and good representation from larger banks as well. The only sector of banking that seems to be suffering right now (in this area at least) is the mortgage sector. Commercial, retail, and private banking all seem to be doing well, though we do have our challenges. There are jobs to be had.

And last, but certainly not least, the weather. It rains here. It gets very grey here. But it is beautifully green and the summer months are heavenly. If you do decide to move to this area, taking a sunny vacation (even if just to California for a visit) once a year, in January or February or even March, can make the winter seem less lengthy.

Best wishes, and good luck with your decision.

[sav]

You seem like a very thoughtful and concerned husband. If your wife is prone to depression, I would not move to the rainier, western side of oregon. Perhaps she would have a different experience, but many people seem to have a very difficult time adjusting to the relative lack of light, and it can be cumulative or worsen over time. If you are going to consider those towns listed (corvallis, eugene, both cools spots), I would recommend going with her to visit for 1-2 weeks in November/December and see if it feels like a good fit. Best of luck to you.

[Bendite]

Originally Posted by bubbleberry

Bend was high on the list, but we read that it has traffic congestion, which is only set to get worse as it grows? But its on the warmer side of the cascades?Does anyone know anything else, the last thing we want is to move from Southern California Roads to similar problems?It is however on the right side of the cascades, so they may experience a bit more sunshine.It is also a bit more expensive?I read in various forums that Bend is now filled with middle class Californians pretending to be millionaires, which is exactly the people I want to avoid ? The population is only 71,892, so it cannot be that bad...can it?

Our population in Bend is closer to 78,000. Yes, there is occassional traffic congestion in a few main areas that are not built to take high volumes of traffic. We have a short rush hour in some places and downtown can get a little packed and parking hard to find at lunch. All that being said, I would not declare that we have a bad traffic problem overall. The bigger complaint I have is all of the doofusses that don't know how to drive in a round-about, which we have a number of.

Bend is on the drier (sunnier) side of the Cascades, not necessarily warmer. Our nights tend to be cooler because we're in the high desert. More expensive? well, you can find housing as high as several million dollars, but our overall 2008 housing median price is $154 per square foot, down 21% from 2007 (according to one realtor's site). The median sales price is under $300,000. I'm not a middle class Californian trying to play rich, and I don't think many people living here are (some of us are even native Oregonians). The problems, at least to me, lie with the people who are very wealthy that bring a certain attitude that doesn't sit well with the rest of us. They are, however, a small minority and I no longer see them driving around in their Hummers. Californians and others from really inflated housing markets were buying second homes here, using the equity from their over-priced homes, and inflating our home prices. That pattern has stopped, at least for now. There has also been a considerable migration of retirees to the area. Several more recent "immigrants" leave once they realize that we have real winters here.

There must be good carpet cleaning opportunity in Central Oregon because there are alot of them listed in the Yellow Pages. Only a couple of them advertise that they use a "green" approach.

[bubbleberry]

Again Thanks guys. I hope my "reports" on the various areas did not annoy anyone, but from what I read they appear to be true.

Bendite, you write

"The problems, at least to me, lie with the people who are very wealthy that bring a certain attitude that doesn't sit well with the rest of us. They are, however, a small minority and I no longer see them driving around in their Hummers. Californians and others from really inflated housing markets were buying second homes here, using the equity from their over-priced homes, and inflating our home prices."

Have they now left the area ? Has the housing slump forced them to sell? Perhaps the cloud has a silver lining??

Californians are, on the whole a great bunch, I have met some very good people here, but there is a different mentality ? I always try to remember that people do what they do because it makes perfect sense to them, not because they are trying to annoy me...That being said I think Hummer drivers & their cohorts need to rethink their needs!

You also wrote "Several more recent "immigrants" leave once they realize that we have real winters here."

Could you define real winters for me...Back in Ireland during winter people would go to work & it would still be dark at 8.am, they would leave work at 5pm, & it would again be dark...

Please tell me its not that bad...

Also my wife asks if Bend is as green as the rest of Oregon... she fears it may be a dry,desert type terrain...she wants a nice garden !!!

And if Bend were to be the area we picked, what is the best area to live in...by best we mean low crime, close to a community shopping area with cafes & shops, close to nature, houses with gardens & nice views....

Our dream is to find the worst house, in the best area, and renovate it....we both value privacy, so we want to be able to lie in the garden without neighbors staring at us but we also like to be close enough that we can walk a dog in nature and walk to a coffee shop or cafe...we want it all I guess, but are happy to start with a wreck of a home in a good location...