Re-location help (Portland, Eugene, Gresham: 2013, homes, landscaping)

[cate67]

my husband and I are thinking of re-locating to the oregon area and really need some help in picking the perfect spot to move. We are moving in 2013 end of the year and starting research now. We are from California specically Lake Sherwood (westlake Village) are formally from palos Verdes and Manhattan Beach CA, very affluent areas and each very beautiful, this is the delemia and what we are struggling with in where to begin looking. Below is a list of attibutes we are seeking, please let us know what you would recommend. We are a young 40ish hip couple, my husband is a celebrity chef and we have our own restaurant (we may open something in the area too) I am a stylist/creative director, both self employeed. We bottle our own wine and are "foodies" so interested in possibly the wine country,I BUT we need to be near water, not too much rain, some sunnier days, close to a big town 30-45 min tops, but want a more rural area with a cute quaint town like Manhattan beach, or (healsburg/mill valley/stinson beach but close to city life) We are looking for at least an 1/2 acre or more, homes that are spread out, but still has a community feeling. looking for like-minded yuppie/bohemian chic couples. We like music, hiking a night-life, bike riding art and culture. I also need to be near LOTS of greenery and lush landscaping. My husband is French so he is used to a more european lifestyle..aka smaller towns, but close to large city. Interesed in possibly an upcoming city that has lots of potential!

Any suggestions? THank you

[hamellr]

You're about four decades late to get every single thing on your list that you want, other affluent Californians have been coming here looking for exactly what you are since the 60's. The "small towns," near large cities are now large areas themselves. Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Gresham used to

If you're "foodies," then you need to be in Portland. There are good dining options in other parts of Oregon, but it'll be one or two small restaurants for the most part. Ashland, Eugene, Astoria are somewhat exceptions. Keep in mind though that Portland has two good cooking schools and a large cadre of nationally known chefs already so the competition in opening something is going to be stiff. On the other hand, Portland "Foodies," will flock to a great place and support it. Read Portland Food and Drink Blog for an idea of what is already here, but pay specific attention to the places that failed. A lot of them held great promise but didn't quite cater to Oregon's tastes.

On the flip side, Oregon loves it's Farmer's Markets. There is at least one a day going on in PDX, somewhere. Most places have at least one, and medium sized cities will have two or three. Not to mention local produce stands (not as prevalent as they used to be, but still around in smaller towns,) U-pick options, CSA options, and as a Chef, ample opportunities to shop directly with the farmers.

30-45 mostly minutes limits you to the suburbs of Portland, most of which long ago shed any presences of "small town." You might be able to find neighborhoods in places like Tigard, Lake Oswego, Battleground, Sherwood, Newport, and Dundee that might hit what you're looking for. Roseburg, Ashland, Eugene, and Astoria, are other possibilities, I'm sure others here will have some good suggestions.

Due to Oregon's Urban Boundary laws, 1/2 acre lots exist, but little are bigger then that. What does exist is getting snapped up and redeveloped into high density housing. Smaller cities that haven't developed yet will be more likely to have 1/2 acre lots. If you decide to go rural, you'll be looking at 5 and 10 acre parcels.

According to the Oregon Wine Regions map, there are sixteen distinct wine areas in Oregon. The Willamette Valley, Hood River area, and the Columbia Valley are the big ones. But generally the further away from the Willamette Valley you go, the smaller towns are and the more rural they are, with slightly more Conservative values if that bugs you.

Lastly... water... you're going to have a few trade offs. The large Oregon Coast cities are in the 10-15k population ranges, many are in the under 1000 range. You can find places along rivers and lakes, but again most of those are small towns.

Bike culture is pretty much limited to the bigger cities - Portland and Eugene. Most places outside of Portland have small community orchestras and theater groups, but you get what you pay for in quality there.

On the Culture side, this is a really hard one to answer. Portland and by extension, Oregon, doesn't have a ton of art museums, theater groups, orchestras, etc, compared to California. On the other hand if you're into local artists, independent and "up and coming," bands, then Portland is going to be on par and in many ways exceed California.

[EnricoV]

Sounds like you should ask your question in the Oregon Forum, not Portland specifically, as it doesn't sound like you have any interest in living in Portland.

[Rob Allen]

"not too much rain, some sunnier days" and "LOTS of greenery and lush landscaping" don't go together. We have lots of greenery because it rains a lot. We also have the Urban Growth Boundary, which tends to make housing more dense inside the boundary, with farms outside. Not many areas of spread-out homes on acre lots. You might find what you're loking for in the wine country of Yamhill County, but that will be more than 45 minutes from Portland.

[cate67]

thanks for taking the time! Appreciate the responses, I know I'm a girl and want it all and maybe my thread is slighly an oxi-moron..with the emphasis on moron..but it helps just the same..thanks!

[Nell Plotts]

There is one community just outside the city of Portland's boundary that is rural: Sauvie Island. It is zoned agriculture. From time to time small (in the sense of commercial agriculture) sites do come available. The drive from the Sauvie Island bridge to downtown Portland is about 30 minutes (assuming that Hgwy 30 is accident free).

There are small towns to the west of Portland in Yamhill County with wine operations.. Dundee comes to mind but that isn't the only one. Some of those areas are doing wine tours, but not at all at the scale of Napa Valley. Vintners I am sure are doing the zoning two-step as wedding/reception locals (think Napa) but with all the tech professionals arriving from CA (think Intel) there may be a market there. Not my field, just observing.

[Minervah]

The closest cute little European-like town I can think of would be Poulsbo in Washinton State. I cannot think of anything like that in Oregon.

As suggested, your post should probably be in the Oregon forum. Also, you sound like you have just what you are looking for where you are. I don't mean to pry, but I wonder why you would want to come to a state that doesn't even come close to matching it.

[Nell Plotts]

I lived on Bainbridge Island, WA for several years, very near Poulsbo. Poulsbo is a cute town but doesn't have a self sustaining economy. People visit but rarely stay, many commute to Seattle or Bremerton.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

I lived on Bainbridge Island, WA for several years, very near Poulsbo. Poulsbo is a cute town but doesn't have a self sustaining economy. People visit but rarely stay, many commute to Seattle or Bremerton.

Yeah, I pretty much knew that, I was just thinking of the appearance. It's the only place I know of that at least looks like what the OP wanted a town to look like. Maybe they could visit to get the European experience.