Best places to live in Southwest Oregon? (Portland, Medford: appointed, house)

[eazywind]

I am looking at Southwest Oregon for a relocation area. Looking for opinions on towns or areas. Looking at the Curry, Josephine, Jackson, Klamath, Douglas or Coos counties. I work for myself with an ebay store, so better or worse job areas is not that important. I am a road cyclist and was hoping for a better climate, so i figured that the southwest would be more climate friendly than the northwest for that. I live in Boise now, but it is just getting too big there for me. Don't mind a small city the size of Medford, but probably looking for something smaller. Thanks. Eazy

[BLAZER PROPHET]

There are two SW Oregons- those areas west and east of the Cascades. Let's review...

If you go east, you'll have cold snowy winters not conducive for bicycling. However, the summers are warm with low humidity and with the wide open spaces a bicycler's paradise. Depending on the size of town, remoteness and privacy you may want, some suggestions would be Keno, Klamath Falls, Bly, Lakeview, LaPine come to mind, but there are may other areas.

If you go west, the winters are more moderate and it extends the riding season, but the summers are very hot and muggy. Also, it is fairly congested and that creates more problems with motorists. Some good areas are Ashland, Medford, Grants Pass, Rogue River...

It's a tough call.

[eazywind]

I don't mind a little weather. I like to break up the riding season by being in the gym from november to march anyway. Since I am in Boise and fairly close, I plan to visit the area soon and scout around. Thanks for the town updates. Eazy

[Nina-in-Ashland]

Originally Posted by eazywind

I don't mind a little weather. I like to break up the riding season by being in the gym from november to march anyway. Since I am in Boise and fairly close, I plan to visit the area soon and scout around. Thanks for the town updates. Eazy

My husband is an avid cyclist and LOVED riding Ashland and the Applegate Valley. He was able to ride all year. Some of the hardcore riders he rode with went riding every day, had rain bikes, etc. I don't think you will be at all disappointed.

[bluebird39]

My 2 cents is that I'd stick near Medford with an eBay business. I know from Michigan, Medford is the longest shipping time by UPS. That little corner of the state has to pretty much fly everything in and out through Portland, or San Francisco. If you lived even further out, your shipping times back East would be even worse. Medford is the ONLY airport in the area. The airport has a FedEx office too, and it has a big shipping truck site near there. Central point is closest to the airport, but their schools are horrible, if that's a concern.

If you live in the mountains either way, you'll be battling snow and ice in the winter on your way into town. Also, all of my friends in the mountains can only get dial up (slow), of Hughes net (expensive). Medford has high speed internet, cable and DSL.

I know tons of people who cycle there. One of the best I've heard is doing the rim run at Crater Lake in late summer. Also, my friends loved going to the top of Mt Ashland and riding all the way down into Ashland (gravity mountain biking).

Good luck.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

There are two SW Oregons- those areas west and east of the Cascades. Let's review...

If you go east, you'll have cold snowy winters not conducive for bicycling. However, the summers are warm with low humidity and with the wide open spaces a bicycler's paradise. Depending on the size of town, remoteness and privacy you may want, some suggestions would be Keno, Klamath Falls, Bly, Lakeview, LaPine come to mind, but there are may other areas.

If you go west, the winters are more moderate and it extends the riding season, but the summers are very hot and muggy. Also, it is fairly congested and that creates more problems with motorists. Some good areas are Ashland, Medford, Grants Pass, Rogue River...

It's a tough call.

Actually it's not at all muggy in the summer in Western Oregon, and it gets just as hot east of the Cascades as it does West, if not more in the summer.

But drivers in Medford and Grants Pass area aren't very bicycle friendly. Grants Pass is probably the better of the two as far as infrastructure specifically for bikes, and I believe there is a great bike path from Grants Pass to Ashland. Ashland would be the top pick for cycling, though it is comparatively very expensive. Klamath Falls is a dingy, awful little town, but few hills at all.

[eazywind]

Yeah, I hear Ashland is very pretty, but expensive. I think the area I am looking at is perfect for its proximity to SF, Portland and Seattle. I used to live in Olympia so I know the precipitation volume of the upper west coast. Boise only gets 11 inches of rain a year and that is great, but the area ( Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian etc... ) is getting close to 300,000 people and I would like to get away from that. Ashland too expensive, Klamath falls and more west maybe not what I am looking for, so maybe Grants pass and Medford area? Would like to be slightly outside of the towns, but the business may call for being in town. Will have to do more research on that. Easy

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Actually it's not at all muggy in the summer in Western Oregon, and it gets just as hot east of the Cascades as it does West, if not more in the summer.

No, it doesn't. Klamath Falls averages about 18 days above 90 a summer and Medford averages about 40 days above 90 in the summer and about 7 days above 100. It's not as humid in Medford as it is in the Willamette Valley, but it's still much more humid than the dry side. Medford's warmer than K Falls in the winter and definitely gets less snow.

[bluebird39]

There is a very nice bicycle/ walkway that connects Central Point to South Medford and Talent to Ashland. It's great! I used to live very close to it in Central Point and used it all of the time.

Here's a link: Bear Creek Greenway

It goes right through the center of Medford, which is nice, including many parks.

Also, the roads around Medford are very nice to ride, but the area is getting more congested.

I'd say that there's very favorable biking climate there. Even the hot days are very cool in the mornings, due to the very low humidity. We used to open up our house in the evening, and close it up in the day to avoid using AC, and it worked great. Plus if it really got hot, we'd head up to the mountains to swim in the lakes.

[dsh1127]

The Grants Pass/Rogue River area is great. There are plenty of outlying areas that you can live, but still only be 10-20 minutes from town. I see alot of cyclists around here - - don't know many details, though. Whoever spoke of internet issues does have a point, though. All I can get without spending a fortune is dial up - not fun. But that can be solved if you choose to live in town.