Any place inexpensive anymore? (Portland, Bend: city hall, low crime, lawyer)

[FV9]

My wife and I are in our mid-30's with a 3 year old daughter and a new baby due in January. I am a lawyer and she is a teacher. We have been talking lately about her perhaps not working, but there is no way we can afford it in Portland. We enjoy living here, but frankly the cost of living is getting to be pretty high. Is there any place left in OR or WA where a couple can raise 2 kids, live in a nice house, has decent restaurants, etc (although we are pretty limited to Red Robin nowadays, which isn't very good) without killing themselves? Perhaps I have too much of a white picket fence ideal that doesn't exist anymore. However, we are ready to be done with the rat race. Any thoughts are appreciated!

[Sign]

Originally Posted by FV9

My wife and I are in our mid-30's with a 3 year old daughter and a new baby due in January. I am a lawyer and she is a teacher. We have been talking lately about her perhaps not working, but there is no way we can afford it in Portland. We enjoy living here, but frankly the cost of living is getting to be pretty high. Is there any place left in OR or WA where a couple can raise 2 kids, live in a nice house, has decent restaurants, etc (although we are pretty limited to Red Robin nowadays, which isn't very good) without killing themselves? Perhaps I have too much of a white picket fence ideal that doesn't exist anymore. However, we are ready to be done with the rat race. Any thoughts are appreciated!

I completely understand your point of view.
I just assumed that finances wouldn't be such an issue with your profession but times are tough all over and for everyone, I guess.

Inexpensive?
NOT really, I would say.........except perhaps, areas of Texas and right up through the rural heartland of mid-America and across much of the South?

And as far as your ideal area possibly being something reminiscent of "Little Pink Houses" (John Cougar song)......with little, white, picket fences and all........the PERFECT place for your family might just be.....
LYNDEN, Washington.
Way up in Whatcom County about 15 miles north of Bellingham and 10 miles to the Canadian border.
VERY conservative town of about 10-12,000 with about 85% Dutch heritage, FYI.
But it has a Main Street right out of yesteryear, 50's shows. Picket fences, nice yards, tree-lined streets with sidewalks and fairgrounds.
No bars and several churches.
Easy commute into Bellingham.
Good luck.

[davefr]

Walla Walla, WA

[Terryj]

FV9, the least expensive places left in Oregon are still found east of the Cascades, even these are starting to go up in price. You can still find homes in Central and Eastern Oregon that are less than 150,000. This comes with a compromise your limited on entertainment, shopping ect. Eastern Oregon is a good place to escape the west side rat race.

[Silverfall]

What is your idea of affordable? Do you have your own legal practice or will you be looking to switch firms? What size city/town are you thinking you can live with. Obviously a town of 10,000 will be different than a city of 200,000.

[Waterlily]

Nothing is too inexpensive in western Oregon. Take a look at Redmond,Prinville or Madras. Prices have come down some out there. I've seen some mighty good buys out there. A person could travel to Bend if living in one of those places. That's if you can drive in the snow and ice.

[malachai23]

Dayton, OH is **SUPER** cheap!! Come buy my house so I can move back to Oregon! LOL

[bluebird39]

I agree that most young folks I know who want to stay in Oregon have moved East. I used to live in Southern Oregon, and many of our friends moved to Klamath Falls and other areas near by. We're moving back to Oregon after begin in Michigan for 3 years, adn are headed to Pendleton. I was pleasantly surpriesd at how affordable it is there. But shhh...

[FV9]

Thanks for the comments. While we do earn a comfortable living, it seems it all goes down the tubes in Multnomah County with taxes, etc. I would like to find a town where we could buy a nice place (newer around 3000sf) for $350,000 or so. Of course, it would depend on local salaries. I am currently in a firm, but would ideally like to have my own shop practicing some smaller town general litigation.

As for Lynden, I was born/raised in Bellevue (talk about a town that has completely changed) and know Lynden well.

As for Redmond, OR, we actually looked over there. THe problem is there are NO jobs in Bend/Redmond. I had a job offer 18 months ago there, but declined since I figured the central OR economy was on the bring of collapse. Boy was I right!

Walla Walla is an idea, but it has gotten expensive.

You can keep Dayton! ;-)

[Steve97415]

The law of supply and demand ensures this: if you want what everyone else wants, it's going to cost you money.

More desirable = more expensive
less expensive = less desirable

There is no such thing as an affordable place in a mild to moderate climate with good city planning, a sound local economy, low crime, low pollution, good schools, uncongested roadways, high livability and an artsy progressive vibe. Too many people are looking for that and competition from them drives up the cost of living. If you can find some criterion in the paradise formula that isn't that important too you, but might be off-putting to others...if you would be fine living where it's beastly hot for 8 months out of the year, or some place really remote from major population centers, or where City Hall is broke and the schools have a Third-World feel to them...then you can expect a major reduction in cost of living. But in a country of more than 300 million people, when you find some place that's affordable there's a good reason for it...for one reason or another, a lot of people would not want to live there.