Forest Grove, McMinnville, Carlton, Sandy... suggestions? (Portland, Salem: real estate, rent, house)

[sushi66]

I'm moving to the Portland area and will rent for a while at first before deciding in which town to buy. I've visited Forest Grove and liked it a lot. I've been researching McMinnville and it sounds similarly nice. I work at home, so location is not so much a concern as long as it has decent cell service and DSL service. A smaller town or even rural location appeals to me, as long as it has a decent grocery store and gas station close by. I'm looking for suggestions of towns that might be a little less expensive than FG or McMinnville so I can save more money for the house purchase faster. Safety is one of the first considerations, and no real temperature extremes.

Carlton and Yamhill are supposed to be nice little towns?
What is Sandy like?
What's so wrong with Cornelius (my real estate agent said Oh, nooo, you don't want to live there)?
Lafayette? I see one poster here on the boards continuously recommending against it, she s/he's the only one.
Other suggestions?

Thanks!

[emh]

I'm staying in Carlton right now, at my cousin's place. Honestly, there's very little to do here. There are 2-3 restaurants, a seedy looking bar, and some wine tasting rooms. That's about it. Carlton is basically redneck central (eg. the drunk neighbors out on their snowmobiles at 2 in the morning the other night). The only real positive about Carlton is that it's only 15 minutes from McMinnville. And in my opinion, McMinnville is a LOT nicer.

[EnricoV]

Sandy is the last real town on the way to Mt. Hood. So a lot of the activity there surrounds the mountain and winter sports. It seems to me to be a nice town. My grandparents lived there some years ago (both now deceased) and it always felt like a friendly little spot when we visited. Someplace like Estacada might suit you, though I have no personal experience there. Other towns east of the Willamette I've always thought seemed nice are Silverton and Aurora.

I'm an eastsider, so I know less about the towns west of the Willamette. My impression of Cornelius is that there's a heavy influx of migrant workers who've set down roots there. That may be the source of the caution.

[rkashka]

I have lived in Lafayette for the past couple of years, moved here in middle of 2006 from Hillsboro. Its a small town with its pros and cons. McMinnville is 2 miles west which is were we go if we need anything. Not much in Lafayette except a gas station, a couple of small mom and pop like markets, and a couple of small restaurants. It's about 45 minutes to 1 hour drive to downtown Portland, depends on traffic and time of day. We moved here because the price of housing was a lot better than where we were. Their were a couple of developers building nice homes. We bought in a development with a club house and swimming pool and really enjoy the area and neighbors. The biggest con of the city is the infrastructure, long over due for an overhaul but the city lacks funding. They are working on it, have plans in place, and when money comes in, they knock off a project or two. Its a small town. Pro is its in the middle of some of the best wineries in the state. Summer weekends are great for short drives (10 to 15 min) into the hills and visit some of Oregon's premiere wineries watching the sun set over the coast hills.

[Lee151]

How old are you? What do you like to do? None of these towns has anything resembling nightlife.

Sandy is part way up Mt. Hood so it is colder than the other towns you mention. Has more snow. Not much to do unless you are into outdoor sports.

Cornelius is heavily Hispanic. Yamhill and Estacada are both very red neck.

McMinnville is the biggest and has the most to do but is farthest from Portland.

Silverton is also nice. Lots of antique stores and restaurants and fairly close to Salem or Portland.

[figmalt]

Cornelius isn't that bad - if you liked Forest Grove you'll like Cornelius (I'm surprised your realtor said that!). It doesn't have it's own school district if you have kids, so be aware of which school district you'll be in as you look for housing. There are some other little towns out that way like North Plains, Roy, Banks, or enclaves like Helvetia. They're all relatively rural, but close enough to bigger towns and highways.

[sushi66]

Thanks for the responses!

I have no need for "nightlife" - well maybe a decent movie theater now and then. I was reading about a fancy one in Vancouver where the seats are extra nice and you can have dinner and wine. :-) Really I'm a homebody and want to work in my garden and take my dogs for walks. My kids are college-age so no real concerns about school districts. My real estate agent says Cornelius "has more crime" - I guess its all relative.

[scone]

Cornelius has had a reputation for Mexican gang activity, but it's not like L.A. The locals have been trying to fix the area up to some extent. Forest Grove has a theater, a small university, a couple of restaurants, and quite a few cute homes. It's prettier, IMO, than many of the other small towns, and has a very active garden club. Good soil out there in the western Tualatin Valley.

[GelflingLady]

I have to say I'm partial to Hillsboro. Here, you can have whatever you are looking for. Part of the town is very rural (northern), part is pretty "yuppy-ish" (Orenco Station), part is older (near downtown) with homes on larger lots, and the rest is pretty suburban. Each area has it's own form of "entertainment" whether it be a mall ( Tanasbourne), movies (pretty much anywhere), or dining (again, pretty much anywhere).

[frgmnt13]

So how is the snow in Sandy. Anyone know more about it?