Is Oregon the place for us? (Portland, Hillsboro: real estate, house, find a job)

[happyd]

My husband and I are in our 50's and a few years ago, purchased a second home in Crescent City, CA. We planned to move there in 2010. We'd like a little more land and a place for our pony and two miniature horses, along with space to garden, and a good climate. AND of course, access to good health care and a decent town or city without a snobby feel to it. We have only an acre now, with a messy neighbor next door, and no way to hide it.
What is a good area that is horse friendly? We don't ride, just motorcycles, but we enjoy and love our horses fully! WE live in the southwest desert, and just hate it here. I am a native New Englander, a true Yankee at heart, and my husband never really had a home, as his father traveled with the air force all his childhood.
We love trees and the outdoors. Crescent city is a vacationer's paradise, but it is a hard state to live in with taxes and financial woes. Advise anyone??

[Silverfall]

Land is expensive in Oregon because we have urban growth boundaries. If you tell the forum what you are looking for and what you can afford that will help to tell them where in Oregon you could potentially live.

What do you mean by good climate?

[Salena Willner]

If you love trees and the outdoors, I think Oregon is a great place to move to. Have you visited or looked online to see what areas you'll like. The best part about Oregon is you have the beach, lakes, snowy mountains, scenic central oregon, and a lot of trees! With Oregon comes rain, and an occasional ice or snow storm (this years was the worst by far) but we dont have any huge natural disasters. Just West of Portland you can find quite a bit of land for a great price, and still be close to the city. Forest Grove, Hillsboro, Newberg, Banks, North Plains, Cornelius, Sherwood and surrounding areas are all great choices in Oregon! I hope I could be of help! Goodluck!

[PNW-type-gal]

1. No, Western Oregon is rainy. Central, Eastern and Southern Oregon are not (or are much less rainy). The general Oregon forum applies to the entire state, not just the Portland metro area.

2. We most certainly do have natural disasters, in the form of earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic hazards as well as occasional landslides and floods in the prone areas. Anyone moving here should be prepared to potentially deal with the after effects of any of those events - although the planning work is pretty much the same all up and down the west coast, no different from any of the other cities.

[ewvdt]

We plan to move to the rural area outside of Grants Pass where we purchased a home in Merlin recently.
Property taxes in rural areas are low and land prices are reasonable.
Medical facilities are more within reach as opposed to the coast and the weather is more desert with lots of sunshine.

[oldhippie]

IF you like the four seasons and can handle some extreme cold and snow, then Union County is a fairly inexpensive place to live and very much horse country. I live in La Grande and love it. The downside is that there isn't an acute care hospital so if you have a major heart problem, cancer or serious injuries, you have to go to Boise or Portland.

It's really beautiful here - we're surrounded by mountains - it's not the dry, barren landscape that covers so much of the Eastside of the state.

[Terryj]

Happyd, if you bought property in Crescent City then you know the climate, I like Crescent City but its a little foggy and just a little more wet than I desire. You might try looking into the Applegate Valley area or the Illinois Valley of S.Oregon.

[GypsyLaura]

Old Hippy, I wish I had met you! After three years here, I cannot find a job nor friends. My house goes on the market tomorrow. But housing here is cheap.
Maybe because I am in NP, but seems clicky.
I do love the open land and straight roads. I lived in Alsea, OR before and too windy roads, rain and pricing high. We are thinking of Meridian, ID. I would love to be around my daughter in Corvallis but too high there. Good luck.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by GypsyLaura

Old Hippy, I wish I had met you! After three years here, I cannot find a job nor friends. My house goes on the market tomorrow. But housing here is cheap.
Maybe because I am in NP, but seems clicky.
I do love the open land and straight roads. I lived in Alsea, OR before and too windy roads, rain and pricing high. We are thinking of Meridian, ID. I would love to be around my daughter in Corvallis but too high there. Good luck.

Maybe it's me but I don't think your employment outlook will be much better in Meridian, ID. Now if you had said Boise, maybe. As for friends... ... you said 'we'. I am part of a 'we' and she is 95% of the friends I have here in OR after what will soon be a year. You aren't going to make friends in Meridian either. You will never make the kind of friends as an adult that you did in school. That's not good, that's not bad, it's just the way it is. If you think about it, probably the 'friends' you think you are missing were/are actually acquaintances, co-workers usually. I've had some quite entertaining and supportive co-workers but in the end it's me and mine for the long haul. So, if you want 'friends' you'll have to get work. I'll go way out on a limb and push the boundaries of polite conversation and say that if you couldn't find work in three years the fault was not with La Grande itself. Maybe you need to change careers. All I'm saying is don't be hasty. You won't get squat for your house in this market and the 'buy and hold' maxim isn't just for blue chip stocks it works for real estate as well. Good luck.

H