Is Oregon a good choice for teenagers? (Portland, Eugene: fit in, real estate market)

[iamhadley]

We live in nevada and are looking to relocate to a small town or city with our 3 teenagers. The high school drug problem in our area is out of control. We want our kids to be in a safer environment in a family friendly town. My husband builds homes, so there must be some work available. Can anyone shed some light?

[Silverfall]

Well the fact that your husband builds homes rules out most cities. There isn't any work for contractors in most areas.

But other than that problem, how do you define small town. We have towns of 300 people here.

[davefr]

There are drug problems in most towns. (even small towns in Oregon).

You'd be wise to sit down with your kids and try and impress upon them the problems that drugs can cause to their lives. (reason with them vs. preach to them). Build up their self confidence to where they can say no and be proud of their decision. Seek counseling if needed.

Trying to shield kids from all the problems in society isn't a good strategy. It'll just make them more curious. Instead, trying to help them rationalize/deal with the problems in society is the best strategy and it can last them their entire lifetime.

You can run away but there's no place to run to. Besides that there are no jobs in Oregon. Your other priority should be to provide some financial security for your family. A homebuilder in Oregon is about the worst career move I can think of.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

First of all, I want to say that my comments might come across as preachy and all that.
Please don't take them that way!
As far as teenage small town life in Oregon, it's probably not going to be that much different that small town life in Nevada.
I think that by the time kids are teenagers, what matters most is how they were raised by their parents as far as instilling honesty, morals, ethics, etc.
By that time in a teenagers life, that is going to matter more than environment.
Most small towns in Oregon tend to be fairly conservative compared to bigger towns and cities like Salem, Portland, and Eugene for example.
On the flip side small town life can be pretty boring for a teenager. They ARE going to find someway to find get a little excitement and spread their wings. Remember the movie Footloose?
The high school drug problems now are quite a bit different than when I was in high school in the early seventies, (go Benson Tech!) but I do remember going to keggers out in the woods, smoking the wacky weed, and doing some pretty crazy stuff.
We did a lot of stuff like fishing, hunting, four wheeling, boating, school sports, etc, because back in those days, just about all of Oregon was small town life even though you lived in Portland.
I have to be honest with you, I believe anywhere you land in Oregon will have problems with meth, pot, etc, in the high schools.
It's up to you as a parent to educate and guide your kids into taking the right path.
If I were you, I would try to find a suburb or a smaller town close to a bigger city so you get the best of both worlds, instead of isolating your kids to keep them out of danger.
These forums have an awesome search feature where you can find info on good school districts, neighborhoods, etc. Give it a try!
BTW are we talking boys, girls, or a mix? How old are they?

And as far as jobs go, if your husband is talented, he may have a better chance in renovation type things than new construction.
The real estate market here is pertty much a buyers market, and new homes are not being built like they were a few years ago.
However, a lot of people (at least the ones that can afford it) are revamping, fixing and remodeling instead of buying new.

[White Mountain]

Everyone here has said what I would have said; I will give you a real life example...My uncle back in the 70's said the same thing about Oklahoma so he moved his family to Colorado. No matter where he went he and his family always fought a war on drugs and lost...can't run away from the problem, teaching through love is your best bet..
best of luck
White Mountain

[ak.nessa]

If you want to run from drugs, move to Utah. Nobody drinks alcohol out there and everyone is really nice. There is hardly any crime as well. You just need to be nice to the Mormons!!!!

[TechmanOR]

I think what your peers do and social acceptance absolutely matters and teenagers tend to seek out whats perceived to be cool in their crowd.

In Oregon, small towns are not too transplant friendly in places where everyone knows everyone and come from farms.

Jefferson High School is the worst school in entire Oregon and have been the leader of failure on Oregon schools statistics for many years in a row. On the other hand, Lake Oswego and Lakeridge are among the best.

When smoking pot, shoplifting and engaging in gang activity are the hip things to do among peers, then your teens would be forced to be a loner or become a troublemaker to fit in.

I had to take a night course once, which was and still is hosted on Benson campus and since the purpose is to repeat a class you didn't pass, it tends to attract troublemakers. The school policy prohibited water bottles as it had problems with drinking on school grounds.

My classmates were not too bright and got pissed at me when I didn't let them cheat off of me. Some people showed up to class smelling like weed and generally it was filled with "I don't care as long as I get a C" students. Teachers didn't seem to care much about obvious cheating by students.

[sarahkate_m]

Originally Posted by iamhadley

We live in nevada and are looking to relocate to a small town or city with our 3 teenagers. The high school drug problem in our area is out of control. We want our kids to be in a safer environment in a family friendly town. My husband builds homes, so there must be some work available. Can anyone shed some light?

Maybe a visit to the local Mission would help them put drug use into perspective. If they volunteered there, with you alongside (that would be "quality" time!!!), then the perspective would even be better.... Just a thought!

If I were an average teen, I don't know if I'd enjoy OR... As for my own self, I would have loved growing up here, but that's because I'm the Euell Gibbons type. I love nature & there's no absence or lack of it here, as there was in the LA inner city where I grew up.

The low UV is a bit of a drag & there are more people than jobs. Even a teen would have trouble getting work here: so much more competition... When I first moved here it wasn't so bad but it got bad fast.

If you have a home & job where you are, in these "times," it may be best to try to make it work for you right where you are....

It seems like so many come to CD thinking the grass is greener elsewhere... It's definitely greener in OR but it's just grass... grass isn't even what it used to be...

Kate