Student looking for rural life outside Portland (Sandy, Odell: sales, rentals)

[Sidestreet Getaway]

Hi!

I'm planning a move from Lansing, MI to the Portland area. I will be at grad school at PSU, in the social work program. My wife and I have lived in urban/suburban places for most of our lives, but a couple of summers as farm hands in Maine have given us a taste for rural living.

We're not liberals, per se, but we're far from conservative. I know that we may not find many like us in the woods, but that's ok for now. Maybe there's a rural community populated with hippies?

I will only need to travel to Portland four times a semester for the distance MSW program, so it's ok if we live up to, say, two hours from there.

Does anyone know of a cool woodsy area to live? We will be renting, and cash is a definite concern. We don't mind living rustically. We do want things like running water, electricity and flush toilets, though. Farming communities are fine, but we don't want to be surrounded by miles of field, either.

Thanks in advance!

[Silverfall]

Do you want to live in a small town, or are you looking to rent an acreage property?

[Metlakatla]

Somewhere in Yamhill county might be good for you.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Somewhere in Yamhill county might be good for you.

I was thinking Yamhill myself, but wanted to see what exactly they were looking for.

[Terryj]

If it's woods you want, you might look east of Portland. Sandy area.

[Sidestreet Getaway]

Thanks for your responses

I would love to rent a property with a few acres, ideally with good space for gardening and some woods to walk in. I feel it may be next to impossible to find that kind of rental online, though, and I just don't think I'll be able to visit before I move.

So a small town may be the way to go for finding a place for our first year or so.

Edit: I'm having some luck finding rural rentals in small town papers now...

[StealthRabbit]

for paradise of your living desires, I would look into Trout Lake, WA (propably not cheap, as it is a summer getaway for the wealthy, but there are less of them

something similar and closer to PDX would be towns at the base of Mt Hood
(Parkdale, Odell, Cascade Locks, Corbett, Sandy, Estacata, OR or Stevenson, Carson, North Bonneville, Skamania, WA)

Areas in WA near Mt Rainier might be cheaper as further from jobs, but within 2 hrs of PDX.
Randle, Packwood, Morton, or Cougar.

No income tax in WA, no Sales tax in OR. so the ultra cheap - live in WA and shop in OR

Craigslist should work fine for your needs

[Sidestreet Getaway]

Originally Posted by janb

No income tax in WA, no Sales tax in OR. so the ultra cheap - live in WA and shop in OR

LOL.

Great, thanks for all of your responses. That should give me plenty to get started with.

[mdvaden]

Do you enjoy skiing, or the coast?

Because one is close from the east and the other from the west.

Yamhill county mentioned earlier sounds good.