Moving from Southern California to Oregon (Portland, Medford: environment, relocating, real estate)

[freedom]

Originally Posted by whowants2know

Um, is the Civil War alive and well on the West Coast? We are citizens of the United States...not just citizens of Oregon or California, or wherever.

Wow...this ongoing battle and finger-pointing as to who is responsible for the increase in housing in Oregon is ludicrous.

Those asking the price for their home are the ones responsible for the price of the home. Anyone, moving from anywhere to Oregon does drive up to a house and plaster a price tag on it. The one selling the home does that - they are the greedy ones looking to pad their wallet.

How is making a profit on selling your home greedy?
That is quite a judgement. No one is being forced to buy, a free market sets the value. Prices are set by what one is willing to pay.

People that have more to spend usually set the mark.

So work smart and hard, have a goal and a vision, and home ownership is within reach.

[Thai]

Hi Tazmel,
We're considering a move to Grants Pass or the Roseburg area, but your mention of the Redneck element brings up something we were wondering about: so, those Rednecks are still out there in the small and medium sized towns of Oregon?? Scary and sad. The Bend, K.Falls, and Grants Pass areas of long (and not so long) ago were out of the question as desirable places to live, for us, due mainly to those narrow-minded, unfriendly-to-others-not-like-themselves folks who populated those areas, and to the undontrolled wood smoke pollution problems. All those areas have worked hard and mostly succeeded in improving their air quality: how nice it would be if mind-quality could be as easily improved! Do you feel that there are still a significant number of residents of Grants Pass and Roseburg who express Redneck qualities towards the environment and their fellow humans? I know that the scales have way more than tipped in the direction of more enlightened thinking in Bend itself.
I appreciate your input, as one who has lived in the area.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by Thai

Hi Tazmel,
We're considering a move to Grants Pass or the Roseburg area, but your mention of the Redneck element brings up something we were wondering about: so, those Rednecks are still out there in the small and medium sized towns of Oregon?? Scary and sad. The Bend, K.Falls, and Grants Pass areas of long (and not so long) ago were out of the question as desirable places to live, for us, due mainly to those narrow-minded, unfriendly-to-others-not-like-themselves folks who populated those areas, and to the undontrolled wood smoke pollution problems. All those areas have worked hard and mostly succeeded in improving their air quality: how nice it would be if mind-quality could be as easily improved! Do you feel that there are still a significant number of residents of Grants Pass and Roseburg who express Redneck qualities towards the environment and their fellow humans? I know that the scales have way more than tipped in the direction of more enlightened thinking in Bend itself.
I appreciate your input, as one who has lived in the area.

The necks are Red in Grants Pass from working hard, and playing hard in the sunshine. What other reason for having a Red neck are you suggesting? OH Enlightened One.......

Freedom (Grants Pass, OR)

[Thai]

As a California resident born in Oregon who has lots of family still in Oregon I can relate to some of your comments on the negative side of human nature that would attempt to "work" the system and take advantage of working people. We have seen plenty of able-bodied people here in Calif who work the system, have several kids at county/state expense, stay home and vegetate or hang with their friends, and these are not all young people. It happens all over, I'm afraid. One young school teacher we know who moved to Oregon for a cheaper lifestyle and to stay home to home school her child has actually been able to enroll her child and now herself in Oregon's welfare health care system. Amazing to me that a college educated professional can easily convince the system managers that she "needs" free medical care! She's made a Choice not to work!

[Thai]

For SSRafferty, etc., I'm a Sacramento area grandmother of many and I call small children sweetheart in public sometimes and their mothers don't seem to mind. In fact, they usually seem pleased that their child was noticed and spoken to in a complimentary way. Although born in Oregon, I've spent most of my life in CA and do think that some of the comments about the lack of smiles and friendliness in CA are just that person's experience. People mostly respond to friendliness and kindness positively wherever one lives, I've found. In fact, when we've lived in the Midwest briefly a couple times, I felt the people there were more reserved, slower to accept newness, new folks, and new things in general than we Californians. And I've heard that the further East one goes in the US the more stand-offish people are compared to Californians and other Westerners. Then, there's that old saying: "If you aren't happy where you are, you probably won't be happy in the next place either". Something for a person to think about before they decide that moving will be the answer to all their problems.

[Thai]

Fairweather Golfer, I simply have not found the meanspiritedness you and others speak of here in Vacaville, near Sacramento, where I've lived for about ten years. Vacaville is pretty much a working class town (although that is changing as more people who work in the East Bay and SF move here for better housing prices), so maybe that makes it different from LA. However, I grew up in Sunnyvale, in Silicone Valley, and didn't encounter the ugliness or isolation you speak of there, either. I have kids who are professionals in Moorpark and Camarillo in SoCal, and they do not feel any lack of friendliness. It seems that the attitude one projects is what's reflected back to one, although it's very possible that on Bel Air and Rodeo Drives and in Hollywood there truely are plenty of snobby folks. But, are they really representative of the average Californian, any more than these unhappy writers who blame Californian's for Oregon's problems are representative of the friendliness of the average Oregonian?

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Thai

I've spent most of my life in CA and do think that some of the comments about the lack of smiles and friendliness in CA are just that person's experience. People mostly respond to friendliness and kindness positively wherever one lives, I've found.

Just so. I had a ball in Paris. People were friendly, invited me to parties, and went out of their way to make sure I had a good time. That was not at all what I expected, from endless stories about how rude the French were. I travelled by myself, tried to be considerate, appreciated the new things I encountered, and enjoyed meeting new people.

A while back I was tutoring English as a Second Language at a community college. I was heading for Spain, so needed to brush up on my Spanish. I worked out a deal to swap English lessons for Spanish lessons with a very well educated Mexican couple. I visited their home, and ended up with half the neighborhood showing up, wanting to see this gringo who was actually interested in their language and culture. There was a lot of conversation about their social problems, most of which I missed, but I remember one comment:

"There are good people and bad people wherever you go."

[LauraliO]

I'm not from California, but I am also outdoorsy. I moved here from Colorado, where it's sunny 300+ days a year, and I think the rain is do-able. It's really only grey and gloomy in the winter. The summers are dry and sunny. I like the mild temperatures... They don't usually drop below the forties, although you might get a couple freezing days in January.
I think Portland is fabulous because it's hip, and it's also surrounded by the beauty of the gorge, mountains to the east, coast to the west. Also, even though it's a metropolitan area, it still has a small town vibe that I've never seen in another city.

[Thai]

freedom, I was referring to attitudes, not to the literal color of one's neck, and thought that would be generally understood. My husband is in construction and sports a "farmer's tan" all year on his neck and arms below t-shirt level. That doesn't stop us, however, from thinking that it's important to live as "green" a life as possible, or from not wanting to contribute to the horrors of factory farming by eating the sad, unhealthy "product" of those mega-production facilities. Have you ever heard of 3-E Strategies, a green building consortium out of Bend? We belong to the group, along with more and more Oregon builders who want to be part of the solution to the various problems associated with resource depletion, chemical emissions from building products, energy use, and other concerns. The ambience and livability of a community can be greatly affected if a significant minority of it's residents have a "we don't want these "new" ideas (and folks who believe in them) intruding on our perfect place" attitude. That's just the tip of negative attitudes that can make newcomers who might be different from the old guard feel unwelcome. A pretty important thing to find out In Advance of moving somewhere, we think! Grants Pass is a lovely place and appears to be a modern, clean town. There are things about an area that can't be seen driving through a town's neighborhoods, however, and only by speaking to the residents themselves can one get a real feeling for a town. So we would love to hear from anyone who has knowledge of present day Grants Pass.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by Thai

freedom, I was referring to attitudes, not to the literal color of one's neck, and thought that would be generally understood. My husband is in construction and sports a "farmer's tan" all year on his neck and arms below t-shirt level. That doesn't stop us, however, from thinking that it's important to live as "green" a life as possible, or from not wanting to contribute to the horrors of factory farming by eating the sad, unhealthy "product" of those mega-production facilities. Have you ever heard of 3-E Strategies, a green building consortium out of Bend? We belong to the group, along with more and more Oregon builders who want to be part of the solution to the various problems associated with resource depletion, chemical emissions from building products, energy use, and other concerns. The ambience and livability of a community can be greatly affected if a significant minority of it's residents have a "we don't want these "new" ideas (and folks who believe in them) intruding on our perfect place" attitude. That's just the tip of negative attitudes that can make newcomers who might be different from the old guard feel unwelcome. A pretty important thing to find out In Advance of moving somewhere, we think! Grants Pass is a lovely place and appears to be a modern, clean town. There are things about an area that can't be seen driving through a town's neighborhoods, however, and only by speaking to the residents themselves can one get a real feeling for a town. So we would love to hear from anyone who has knowledge of present day Grants Pass.

THe term redneck just hits a negative cord with me, there is a history on this board of people calling Southern Oregonians redneck hicks and that is not acceptable to me.

As to Green Building, it is a buzz word for appearing enviromentally sensitive. There are some practices that have benifits but it is really just a marketing ploy. We have been Green building up here for years, it just makes sense to put the most effecient materials and appliances and design into our homes that are possible.
Manufacturers have jumped on to the Green motto as a continued sales gimmick for the most part. Which is fine, I think eventually it will lead to real growth in smart products.

sorry for the enlightened one comment, I was in an aggresive mood.

freedom