Thinking of moving to Oregon, Willamette Valley Area

[Crandall1]

Mill City in particular (where I live) and the Santiam Canyon in general, is pretty backwards compared to the rest of the valley. I moved here from Chicago four years ago, and the only thing that kept all that nonsense at bay is the fact that I was raised in Eastern Oregon. So I could say "well, we moved here from Chicago, but I was raised in Hermiston" and it's all good.

But yeah, if you're looking for a forward-thinking, progressive community of intelligent people, stay out of the Santiam Canyon. Stayton is half agribusiness, and half bedroom community for state employees that work in Salem. Lyons and Mill City are 100% logging industry (5 lumber mills between the two towns, with a total of 2500 population), with the attendant battered wives, loser kids, monster trucks, and meth addicts.

Which is not to say that it isn't beautiful and inexpensive here. But you'll fit in much better if you're a god-fearing republican logger. We moved here because my mother lived here, and we work at home so it doesn't really matter where we live, but now that my mother isn't here any more, we're looking at moving to Corvallis/Philomath.

[roz5555]

Crandall: Thanks for your comment; I could've posted something similar but.. well, I'm not a proper Oregonian. I truly love the area; my best friend since childhood is there and her family. The 'forward-thinking, progressive' isn't necessarily what I look for; I've had all of that I can stand here in SF. Each extreme can be asphixiating. My functional problem there, unfortunately, is jobs. They ain't none.

[Crandall1]

Truthfully, I couldn't speak to the job situation. I am self-employed, and so is my wife. Both of our businesses are internet-based, so it doesn't really matter where we live, as long as we have broadband.

I will say that if I had to go get a proper job, I would be pretty sunk here in Mill City. We'd have to pack up and move to a city straight away, where my skillset would be able to generate income. Most of the jobs here that pay anything are highly skilled manual professions (i.e. logger). This is, of course, common among all the smaller towns in the Willamette Valley, which largely subsist on either logging or agribusiness. If you want to have a normal professional job, you need to be in Salem, Corvallis, Portland, or Eugene, really.

[esya]

Originally Posted by Bidding my time

I have a question. You state that the big problem with Californians is that there are 37 million of them. Are you referring to native born Californians or just anyone who lived for awhile in California.

So, am I one of the 37 million or am I from Idaho in your eyes?

The problem is transiency. We have the same issue in Colorado--everyone in the nation thinks this is the place to come. Then they get here and tell us how we should have laws, communities, and amenities just like where they left. Most of the folks in Oregon and Colorado who have been there a long time stayed because they like LESS population and more outdoors. This is getting harder and harder to come by. Depending on where you are used to, the driving is different, the manner of speaking to each other is different, and the social expectations are different. That's all. If you stay put you sort of must LIKE it that way, so change is not necessarily what you want. If you move you are looking for something different but you know, a lot of people who think they want change don't really want what they get.

[Mike1956]

Having lived in California all my life and considering a move to OR, I do think about the alleged prejudice against Californians. I think about it for about a milisecond until I realize that if someone is going to hate me because of where I was born, they might be inclined to hate me because of the color of my skin, which God I happen to worship, music I like to listen to, make and model of my car, my height, weight or cut of my clothes, etc., etc.

In short, I doubt I would have much in common with such a person.

I usually have no trouble finding some common ground with decent friendly people of all persuasions. I suspect I'd find a lot of those sort of folks eveywhere. It's a glass half full kind of thing.

Originally Posted by bobmulk

There are NO reliable sources that indicate that Oregon is 1/3 Californian. And to the person from Idaho, there are currently 37 million Californians. In other words, 37 million people living in California.

For those of you from California concerned about moving up here and the kind of welcome you'll get--don't worry. No one gives a rip where someone is from. The only people who b**ch about Californians are the ignorant cowards on these posts who don't have the balls to speak to someone's face. You can tell by their attitude when they write that they're not only not terribly bright, but not terribly aware either. They obviously have a problem with Californians for some pathetic reason--kinda like the KKK hating blacks for whatever ridiculous reason.

Pay attention to the intelligent postings and ignore the rants of imbeciles. If Oregon has any drawbacks, it's that we have way too many imbeciles on these posts.

[MTNesters]

Well, A-MEN, Mike -
Are you still planning to take your Feb. trip to McMinnville? Will be interested to hear what you think since you are a reasonable, logical person!

[Mike1956]

We are really getting excited about this.

Have a great relationship going with a local realtor who frequents this forum.

I won't mention her name for fear of running afoul of the moderators, but she is doing a terrific job of locating properties for us to look at. PM is anyone needs a referral.