what city in Oregon should i move to? (Portland, Eugene: house, transfer to)

[lindso_tomato]

i am 22, and i want to live in Oregon... the cost of living is so much cheaper than California (where i currently reside). i dont know what city to move to though... i will be transferred from my safeway out here to a safeway in OR. i want to be close to a good church, but not to far from town (i love to window shop, and be around people)-but i dont necissarily need to live IN the city, just near it. can anyone help me out as to what city is better (and cheap) to live in?

[davefr]

Tillamook

[jjpop]

Are cost of living, churches, and proxmity to a city your only criteria? And what do you define as a "city"?

[lindso_tomato]

city.... with target/ walmart/ convenient store... and no more than 10 or 15 min away from where i live... things like that... i'm currently researching Corvallis... but i am still in the beginning stages... any other suggestions?

[jjpop]

Corvallis is considered expensive, but by California standards it may be cheap.

You can get cheaper in Oregon though (Junction City is one example). Just about every city/town with a population over 10,000 in the Willamette Valley has a Safeway. There are stores in southwestern, central and eastern OR too, based on the Safeway website. Also coastal Oregon.

Pull together a list of Safeway stores that you can transfer to and post specific questions about those cities. You'll be surprised at the amount of helpful information you will get. Good luck.

[Blondage]

Wow, you just described almost every small town in Oregon!
There are so many 'bedroom communities' adjacent to the larger cities. I think youre best bet would be to decide what kind of weather, geography, and population you want.
There are so many different sections to Oregon and each one is pretty different from the others. Theres the southwest corner which is called the Banana Belt and has year round moderate weather. The Northeast corner on the other hand is a desert and has sun 300 days a year. Of course the coastal area rains more and central Oregon has 4 distinct seasons.
The West side of the state is more populated than the East. Here on the Eastern side we dont have any malls, and I dont even think theres a Target unless you go into Wash or Idaho. No real cities to speak of. Even my town is called a city and our population is less than 2000.
I live in Union and I think we are quaint (to a point). We dont have any stop lights, and there are many churches of various denominations. Children are safe here and I dont lock my car or house most of the time. Neighbors are friendly and theres a real sense of community which I havent found in many other places. We have a Safeway in La Grande, about 20 minutes away.
On the West side of the state I would say a quaint town would be Myrtle Creek. At least it was when I lived there about 20 yrs ago. Theres a Safeway in Roseburg, about 30 minutes away. Its a much larger city and the West side has the malls, Targets, etc.
Link to City of Union... City of Union - Union, Oregon
Link to Myrtle Creek....Myrtle Creek-Tri City Area Chamber of Commerce
Good Luck!

[rhodan653]

Depends on what you like to do outside of work. Do you want to be near the coast? There are any number of nice coastal communities to pick. Do you want to be near the mountains? Maybe somewhere near Bend would be good for you - great hiking, skiing more sunshine than Portland/Eugene/Coast. Any of the suburbs of Portland would work if you wanted access to the city. If you provide a list of what activities you like people may be able to give you more specific recommendations. Good luck!