Californians who've relocated to Oregon - weigh in (Portland, Bend: real estate, transplants)

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by snuggarelli

Yeah, I am looking to move a 4th grader as well. I thought I read that Oregon schools do better than Californian schools.

Parental involvement may sometimes be better in Oregon, I don't know, but the Oregon school system is generally overcrowded, underfunded, and the facilities are falling apart.

[freedom]

Larry, that is pretty general. Not representative of Southern Oregon, or Eastern.
We have new schools in GP, and they are very well maintained. I think the old schools are in Ashland, and some in Medford. New schools are being built all over the place. Ashland is closing due to lack of children. They have a negative family growth pattern, So no need for schools.

Everywhere else in So. Or. is growing to meet the demand. Growth makes new schools possible and more $ are sent to the area's that are growing.

[HappyDays]

I moved from the Bay Area three years ago and only up until this year have I really feel like I can get use to this. Housing was the main reason we moved and I'm really glad we did. My husband and I both live 10 minutes from our work and not have to deal with the traffic which is a great plus! Making friends has been a challenge for me because I simply don't know where people "hang out". I am use to big cities - people and cars everywhere so it is definitely a culture shock at first. Portland is defintely a slower pace of life but we're getting use to it. One thing I miss being asian is all the asian food that the bay area has. I use to eat out 3x a week, now I'm a better cook because I can't find any place new to eat. I make my trips to Seattle and BC to "eat up" twice a year so that's a nice little road trip. One thing I really enjoy here is the mild cool weather and the 4 seasons are wonderful. Yes it rains but did you know that in the island of Hilo, HI, it rains (I think) 4x as much! Portland is the place for me... for now

[kikiclark]

So, love the thread as this is my big question too, how does Oregon compare with California. We live in the heart of San Francisco so I've been looking for a slightly smaller city with a still urban feel but with a more relaxed attitude. We just spent two weeks in oregon, four days in Portland, five days in Bend, three days in Cannon Beach on the coast, one night near the Gorge.

I'll sum it up in two words ... GO THERE! It's stunningly beautiful. Yes, I know the entire two weeks we were there the sun was out and it was warm so my view is biased probably. I loved Portland. On the map, it looks large, but it's really quite small with the smaller blocks, you could walk a lot of places. I visited about ten years ago when the Pearl district was just coming to life and it's amazing now. Oregonians have embraced modernism yet still appreciate older architecture and try to preserve it. It was quite kid friendly with lots of things to do for my toddler. The food is excellent. I think Oregonians are much more aware of the environment and eating locally/regionally. We had excellent meals. People were friendly. I loved the independent shops everywhere. It felt like mass commercialism hadn't arrived (yet, yikes) or was stalled. The greenery, water, etc. was beautiful.

The negatives really seemed to me to be the traffic in Portland. It seemed that if you got on a freeway at any time of day, there would be traffic. However, since the city is smaller, you're not stuck in it for long.

Upon returning to San Francisco I was hit with these things square in the face. Lightening speed traffic, aggressive drivers, self-absorbed people walking fast through the airport with the headsets to thier ears. Concrete everywhere, small falling apart homes with no character (marina, marina, marina style...). I was thinking to myself on the drive home ... why did I come home? I want to go back!

I think you should check it out in the fall and winter to see what it's like at other times of the year. But summer is the tops there!

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by freedom

Larry, that is pretty general. Not representative of Southern Oregon, or Eastern.
We have new schools in GP, and they are very well maintained. I think the old schools are in Ashland, and some in Medford. New schools are being built all over the place. Ashland is closing due to lack of children. They have a negative family growth pattern, So no need for schools.

Everywhere else in So. Or. is growing to meet the demand. Growth makes new schools possible and more $ are sent to the area's that are growing.

Roseburg has a sparkly new high school. That doesn't do anything for the elementary or middle schools. Many school districts have eliminated their music programs, it's a rare school that has PE, and even recess has been eliminated from many school districts. Children are going to school in poorly maintained, decaying buildings constructed in the 1930s, supplemented by mobile homes shoved onto school grounds and converted to classrooms. Most school facilities were built 50 years ago to accommodate the baby boom, and are woefully inadequate

If new schools are being built "all over the place," I sure haven't heard of it, though I have heard of a couple being condemned. They are tearing down the gymnasium at the elementary school in Myrtle Creek because it is no longer safe to occupy.

[Mormor]

Dear bobmulk,
For a transplant, that was a wonderful essay on Oregon!!! I think you just about got it right, except that we were really a blue state before the influx of people from other states with their various other political views kind of mucking up the waters. I'm sorry, but it's a very serious situation to me.

[Mormor]

Dear Kikiclark,
My daughter and her friends moved to S.F. after they finished college in 1990 and she lived there up until about 4 years ago, so I know what the S.F. living style is like. One of her friends moved back to Portland to be with her father when her mother died, and she lives in N.W. Portland. There are many big houses that have been converted into apartments (like S.F). It has cute streets, restaurants, boutiques, a big hospital nearby, and there is a new district in the N.W. area called the Pearl District in which lots of renovation has been done (I think kind of spendy?) If you want the flavor of S.F., but not the crazy driving and the hustle and bustle, see what you can find about the N.W. area of Portland. N.W. streets go in alphabetical order, i.e. Burnside, Couch, Davis, Everett, etc. and the number streets I would think go from 16th up to ~ I don't know ~ into the 20's at least.

[snuggarelli]

Thanks Kiki for your thoughts on spending two weeks there.

Thanks happydays for your thoughts as a former californian. I'm from the Bay Area too, and originally from San Jose before any of it became so expensive. Back in those days, the big company was IBM and lots of orchards.

[snuggarelli]

Larry/Freedom,

So, are private or parochial schools doing ok like in the suburbs around portland, salem, or astoria?

We have excellent public schools in my town - scores really, really high. But my daughter hates it there bec. kids are pretty cruel and she's finding it hard making friends. My husband thinks it's because they are too pretentious here. Anyway, we are thinking about taking the financial burden of putting our kid in this really friendly christian school in town. They have older kids in each grade, so she would move back a grade to match up which might help her academically as well.

[snuggarelli]

BTW: do schools in oregon make kids do homework over memorial day weekend and spring break? They have that at the public school my daughter goes to. My daughter said that one of the parents requested that they get homework during holidays. Can you believe that?