McMinnville or ????????? (Portland, Keizer, Dallas: real estate, to buy, construction)

[STEELRZ]

I too am looking for somewhere to move in Oregon. My mom and sister live in Tillamook but I know that I can't deal with the constant RAIN, is there ANYWHERE near there that doesn't rain 3/4 of the year????? I am a single mom so want a safe place with good schools also.

Thank you in advance.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by STEELRZ

I too am looking for somewhere to move in Oregon. My mom and sister live in Tillamook but I know that I can't deal with the constant RAIN, is there ANYWHERE near there that doesn't rain 3/4 of the year????? I am a single mom so want a safe place with good schools also.

Thank you in advance.

Rain comes from the Pacific and rides east on the prevailing westerlies. Just make sure you're nowhere near the Pacific (not within 300 miles) and you'll be fine. Your other choice is to get south of the 35th parallel.

[scottinpdx]

I just moved back to McMinnville, I grew up here. I lived in Corvallis for the last 6 years and loved Corvallis but moved back to my parents house to pay off debt and I want to save up to buy a house in Portland or (a condo in downtown Portland) anyways, Mcminnville is a nice community. Besides Linfield there is a Chemeketa campus here in town. There is a Farmers Market in the summer time along with local bands playing downtown during the summer. McMinnville is a good location; you are a hour from the beach, a hour from Portland and about 40minutes from Salem. There are lots of wineries around if that's your thing. There some good resterants here (some pricey ones too). We go the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum that pretty popular and houses the Spruce Goose. Employment is pretty bad here but if your willing to commute there is a better job market in the Portland area. It does rain a lot but living here all my life I am used to it. last year there was a huge snow storm check out vids on you tube. I am sure we are in for more snow this year. if you make it up here Welcome to Oregon!

[rbrannie]

We moved from McMinnville area to Klamath Falls area. I'll be happy to tell you more about both areas. Weather inland from the coast is better than on the coast. McMinnville is a great place to live.

[hornerhous]

I like this thread and will continue to follow it. We have been studying the Oregon life and for the past 3-4 years, hoping to move there when ties are cut in CA. Our first choice was Brookings...LOVE it, but its remoteness has us looking again. We are heading to the Salem area this summer to take a lookie lou at Mac and Silverton etc. We WANT a conservative town. Mac is looking better as I read posts. Is snow frequent or just a once in a blue moon thing? I think I could handle it if it was rare. But if its a common weather pattern....oooo, I don't know! (My California roots are showing!) Keep the comments coming. Update us after your January visit. Looks like a lot of us have things in common!

[jjpop]

That original post was from November 2008, so the January visit was probably in January 2009--over 2 years ago.

[Alinka]

With this thread, like some others, I wish there was a conclusion; I would really like to know what decision some thread starters as well as other contributors who were considering different options came to.

I remember several months ago a retiring physician asked several questions about the Lincoln City area. Then he said (to paraphrase his post) that he had visited, now knew all he wanted to know and no one else need reply. I was so curious about his impressions and decision. Oh well......

[NW Crow]

McMinnville and Silverton are close to evenly spilit on Democratic and Republican presidential voting. Silverton is a bit more church-going by the research numbers. McMinnville's hispanic population is about 50% higher than Silverton's. Neither get much snow- McMinnville averages 6 inches a year and Silverton 3 inches. Pretty similar on average income and housing costs. Silverton in town is about 1/3rd the population of McMinnville. You could probably make either work. Up to you how these things weigh out and how they look in person.

[kosmosbrenner]

We came to McMinnville from a large city in Michigan, 3 years ago. We love it and plan to stay forever. Friendly, close to Portland and Salem with lower traffic and housing, safe schools, temperate weather, those are the upside.

Downside, is limited unless you are in business for yourself. Locals for the most part also love McMinnville. Unlike a poster above we would not recommend Sheridan nor Carlton unless you can live with "diverse" property values. Neither hamlet has a "safe area" for retaining property value if you intend to buy a home, which we did.

[oregon bound]

Hi everyone,

Its me the op. Its been a long time, and I am still Oregon bound, but I think its a ways off, due to my aging parents. Oregon is on my mind every day though and I read this board often. We did not make it back up to Mcminnville in January of 2009, but we did get up there in July of that year. Hubby and I went to the Oregon Country Fair (Hippie festival, outside of Eugene, always a blast!) and I think it was the Who's on Third?/ Turkeyrama in Mcminnville, that same weekend. Mcminnville is fun and we loved staying at Hotel Oregon, wine
tasting and the street fair. Then we looked at Corvallis (nice, too) and then spent the rest of our vacation on the coast.

In July of 2010, we did almost the same trip, trying to narrow down which towns we liked best. But I am embaressed to say we did not go to Mcminnville, even though we had plans to, because it was so crazy hot, over 100 degrees and the humidity was really high. Hotel Oregon is a wonderfull old hotel, but it does not have air conditioning, so we went out to the coast a few days early instead. Our friends from Mcminnville thought it was pretty funny that we are from California (so are they) but we can't take the heat!

Rambling on, but we still hope to live in Oregon someday, My favorite towns that would work best for us are Mcminnville, Corvallis or Newport (yes I've spent lots of time on the coast) Hopefully we will come up for a visit again this year.

Thanks for thinking of me, I wish I had made Oregon my home by now, but I know we will when the time is right!