Where do the Super affluent and affluent live in Oregon? (Portland: homes, unemployment)

[Nell Plotts]

I doubt very much that certified service dogs acompanied by their charge are prohibited from city parks, organizations that are advocates for those with disabilities would be on their case in a nanosecond.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by kate_lyn

Ashland has a small but very elite class - but it's a town to beware of. It's run by tourist-trap specialists and is totally dedicated to getting tourists to come and empty their pockets. Citizens who own homes pay high taxes. If you have a dog with you, stay out of city parks. (This is supposed to convince tourists that Ashland is perfect.) No dog (even service dog) allowed in ANY city park ever - and fines are astronomical. Lots of formerly important retired people jockeying for prestige (culture vultures), but overall quality of life, just ok. Looks better than it is.

Service dogs are always exempt. They are allowed in any public place.

[Minervah]

This intrigued me so I looked it up. Service dogs are allowed in Ashland parks.

City of Ashland, Oregon*-*Municipal Code

[Nell Plotts]

I have a suspicion, just a suspicion, that Kate_Lyn has a very broad definition of "service dog" and someone in Ashland has raised an issue about her dog(s). She is angry about that.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

I have a suspicion, just a suspicion, that Kate_Lyn has a very broad definition of "service dog" and someone in Ashland has raised an issue about her dog(s). She is angry about that.

Yes, "Service Dogs," have to be registered as a Service Dog. A few years ago there was a thing (influenced by a certain blonde hotel chain heiress) where people were getting doctors notes saying that their purse dog was a service dog so that they could carry the $&*(@!)#!@*( things around with them.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Oregon's 'wealthy' are not not wealthy by national or international measures. I went to a party over the holidays where the street was gated. It was a nice but not an 'exclusive' neighborhood and I would not aspire to live there.

There are a handful of billionaires in the state, but you are right. Very few people in Oregon collect a $100 million a year plus paycheck. If you believe the stats from Measure 66, only 2.5% of the state's income tax filers have a family AGI of over $250,000. I couldn't find any figures for the $500,000 top tax bracket.

I don't know who the current rich folks are in Portland, other than Phil Knight, but Howard Vollum (founder of Tektronix) and the Casey brothers (founders of UPS) used to be pretty wealthy. They are dead now, though.

Gated communities are an attempt to solve urban social problems by excluding "undesirable" people. You won't find many upper class people living in them. I have seen a few gated estates in the countryside, but it only takes a few months for the property paranoid to realize that UPS, FedEx, and the USPS don't have time to negotiate entry. The gates stand open and unused.

[observer53]

The wealthiest man I knew in Oregon (this goes back to when I was a kid) lived in a large home on the outskirts of Corvallis, owned I have no idea how many acres of timber, built his own lake on some of his timberland for fun, (taught me, at about 11 years of age, to drive a motorboat on that lake) and was one of the most unpretentious people I've ever known. I'd like to think there's still a lot of wealthy people in OR like him.

[Alinka]

Gated communities are an attempt to solve urban social problems by excluding "undesirable" people. You won't find many upper class people living in them.

This is a lesson I have learned from asking questions on this forum. Although fading, it is still my dream to relocate to Oregon. (I am not from California, but from a real estate poor area which has caused me to question if I can afford Oregon.)

Anyway, gated communities are very popular here. One of the largest gated areas is in the "best" part of town. This does not apply to all gated communities but to many if not most. It has been interesting to learn that this is not the case in Oregon.

[Minervah]

The only gated area I have ever seen in the area wasn't in Porltand but rather it was in Vancouver. A co-worker lived in a condo there in a gated community but the people there were just regular old middle class. No millionaires. But there was a gate you had to go through before getting into the grounds.

If you go down Burnside around 34th or so you will see an entrance to Laurelhurst where there are very wealthy homes. There are two pillars on either side of the street. There were gates there once upon a time or so people tell me.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by ACTS Mom

I found this although I'm not really sure it shows the wealth of each zip code's inhabitants...just highest income per the IRS. Old money is invested, not reported as income on their tax returns.

Highest income zip codes in OREGON

It's hard to interpret a table like that. Zip codes with very high income and only a few tax returns are often NOT residential - from this list, it looks like those really high incomes belong mostly to business owners using their business address to file their tax returns.

Beaverton 97076 is a business/retail/shopping area with very few people actually living there (the residential zip codes are 97006-008).

Portland 97291 actually is a residential high-income area, adjacent to high-income 97229.

Portland 97204 is a tiny piece of downtown - several square blocks - full of office high-rises and retail storefronts. There are a few rich/wealthy people living here as well as some poor people in subsidized housing.