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I live here. I go to the neighborhood meetings. I belong to a large co-op with members from Salem to Cottage Grove. I talk to people. Many things are happening here that aren't positive as far as crime. We have gangs of mostly men riding around grabbing things out of people yards, taking entire USPS neighborhood post boxes, etc. One of my friends when picking up a co-worker two blocks from where I live had her car dented, she was screamed at and threatened because she was wondering what they were doing at 5 am on someone's porch. There have been home invasions some including rape. And this is in Gilham, not in the Whit. Oh, and speaking of the Whit, humans defecating in people's yards has become so bad that they are bringing in porta-potties and placing them in residential areas in the Whit.
And as far as the police blotter and the papers everything doesn't make them. My neighbor's home invasion never happened if you go by those. The crazy situation we had with the "traveler" never made the blotter. I had a colleague that was raped by Autzen a couple of years ago, it was never reported on the blotter or in a news source. She was told she was one of seven recent rapes in that area at the time by a medical person.
Prices of real estate in this entire area are crazy right now. Corvallis doesn't have enough housing so the prices in the surrounding cities Albany, Lebanon, etc are being affected. The same is happening in Eugene with Cottage Grove, Creswell, Veneta, etc. Many of my friends' parents are cashing out of houses they haven't been able to sell in leaner times. It's seriously a seller's market, Many houses have more than six offers. The rental market is being affected by this. I've had friends whose rents have increased two or three times in a year and many others have had to move because the properties are being sold. We do have a couple of fairly large developments happening that should provide some more affordable apartments but that's a couple of years from completion.
I'm not a pessimistic person. However, if I was moving here, I would want to know how it really is. I miss how it was and hope somehow it will return.
I live here. I go to the neighborhood meetings. I belong to a large co-op with members from Salem to Cottage Grove. I talk to people. Many things are happening here that aren't positive as far as crime. We have gangs of mostly men riding around grabbing things out of people yards, taking entire USPS neighborhood post boxes, etc. One of my friends when picking up a co-worker two blocks from where I live had her car dented, she was screamed at and threatened because she was wondering what they were doing at 5 am on someone's porch. There have been home invasions some including rape. And this is in Gilham, not in the Whit. Oh, and speaking of the Whit, humans defecating in people's yards has become so bad that they are bringing in porta-potties and placing them in residential areas in the Whit.
And as far as the police blotter and the papers everything doesn't make them. My neighbor's home invasion never happened if you go by those. The crazy situation we had with the "traveler" never made the blotter. I had a colleague that was raped by Autzen a couple of years ago, it was never reported on the blotter or in a news source. She was told she was one of seven recent rapes in that area at the time by a medical person.
Prices of real estate in this entire area are crazy right now. Corvallis doesn't have enough housing so the prices in the surrounding cities Albany, Lebanon, etc are being affected. The same is happening in Eugene with Cottage Grove, Creswell, Veneta, etc. Many of my friends' parents are cashing out of houses they haven't been able to sell in leaner times. It's seriously a seller's market, Many houses have more than six offers. The rental market is being affected by this. I've had friends whose rents have increased two or three times in a year and many others have had to move because the properties are being sold. We do have a couple of fairly large developments happening that should provide some more affordable apartments but that's a couple of years from completion.
I'm not a pessimistic person. However, if I was moving here, I would want to know how it really is. I miss how it was and hope somehow it will return.
I've been shopping the 13 Western States looking for the perfect home/property nearly three years now and suspected as much, absence of crime evidence isn't evidence of crime absence.
Hate to say it but once a place goes sour it's never the same again . . .
Thank you so much. I have written down every city with houses in our range. Now I am going to check crime stats. That means a great deal to me. Then look at weather, schools for our 17 year old with autism. Your reactions are helping me so much.
I am using the city-data/crime.com and entering every city we can afford. There are trends showing up. These stats cover the US, so I can compare to how we are rated in this area, which are right on. This seems to be a honest site. I can't change the fact that these numbers may be purposefully skewed by law enforcement. This is not a simple task. But I am giving it the best possible shot. We will visit in March and I definitely want to select areas to visit now. AARP has also been a source. Best I can do for now. Thank you all for sharing with me. There is no choice, we have to move to retire. I am not looking for heaven or a mythical perfect town. I am too old to believe in that. If I can't find something that meets our basic needs, something seems wrong. I'm not ready to believe that yet. Again, thank you all for supporting my search. You are all making a difference.
I am using the city-data/crime.com and entering every city we can afford. There are trends showing up. These stats cover the US, so I can compare to how we are rated in this area, which are right on. This seems to be a honest site. I can't change the fact that these numbers may be purposefully skewed by law enforcement. This is not a simple task. But I am giving it the best possible shot. We will visit in March and I definitely want to select areas to visit now. AARP has also been a source. Best I can do for now. Thank you all for sharing with me. There is no choice, we have to move to retire. I am not looking for heaven or a mythical perfect town. I am too old to believe in that. If I can't find something that meets our basic needs, something seems wrong. I'm not ready to believe that yet. Again, thank you all for supporting my search. You are all making a difference.
Ok, believe me I understand where you are coming from but not where of what you are fleeing from. None of my business!
Oregon can be many things to many people. It's tax friendly place to relocate to in retirement but that depends upon the designation of land you acquire and your intentions in using it. We will not reside in a city of any size.
I've been hot on 80 acre properties with Rogue River frontage that would only tax us on the foot print of the house and others far smaller that had no exemptions and taxed much more . . . just an example.
The State is a mixed bag, It's has had cult enclaves for a half century or more.
Back in the early 80's my Wife and I vacationed there tent camping on the Umpqua and along the way to Crater Lake where we rented a cabin and boat for a few days to do some fishing.
While on the Umpqua a truck bed full of drunk or stoned kids flying strange flags tried to terrorize us at night as we dined on our Forest Service picnic table. They were shooting guns, yelling obscenities and circling our camp spot.
I was well armed and military trained, so didn't bite.
Instead I just let them do their tourist harassment thing until they tired of the game and moved on . . . my wife WAS FRAZZELD, I was nonplussed.
That was four decades ago and things have not changed.
Do what you will, how you will . . .
I wish you nothing but the best but beware, especially of larger cities and major highway corridor properties!!!
I am using the city-data/crime.com and entering every city we can afford. There are trends showing up. These stats cover the US, so I can compare to how we are rated in this area, which are right on. This seems to be a honest site. I can't change the fact that these numbers may be purposefully skewed by law enforcement. This is not a simple task. But I am giving it the best possible shot. We will visit in March and I definitely want to select areas to visit now. AARP has also been a source. Best I can do for now. Thank you all for sharing with me. There is no choice, we have to move to retire. I am not looking for heaven or a mythical perfect town. I am too old to believe in that. If I can't find something that meets our basic needs, something seems wrong. I'm not ready to believe that yet. Again, thank you all for supporting my search. You are all making a difference.
You might also want to look at Oakridge and maybe on the other side of the mountains. Baker City is really nice.
You might also want to consider a gated community — there's plenty of them on the Oregon Coast, and they don't all involve prohibitive costs. I live in one, and although I'm not retired, most of my neighbors are. They're home most of the time, working out in their yards, walking their dogs, or whatever. They notice strange cars and other signs of possible crime. Sure, anyone who really wants to get in probably will, but the chances of crime are far lower.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 11-21-2018 at 11:54 PM..
Again, I am so thankful for all your comments. We are fleeing an high priced state that we've lived in most of my life. Our social security goes nowhere here. We are working toward finding a place that we can buy a home outright and thus have only property taxes and insurance, plus basic upkeep. We come from a small mountain valley which is very nice and nature is everywhere. It is safe and homelessness is not a problem. We have many programs to care for them. Little public drinks and drug use. Its here, but we have a strong police force. Sounds good, huh? Very hot summers now, winter is mild. Drought is becoming oppressive now. We had planned to downsize to a mobile home park, but now they cost in the 200k range. Space rent (lease) are about $1000 a month. We are retiring as a family of 3. We've raised our first grandson since he was an infant. Legal guardianship. He's 17 now, has autism, and will only leave high school next school year with a certificate of completion and have to deal with adult ed next. I don't know how long he will need us. His bio mother had bipolar, lived far away, and just died 4 months ago. We have loved and ethically. We spent tons of money trying to help our family. And, we have a decent chunk of money, but it will only last for so long. Here, it would be eaten up rapidly. Our 3 grown children moved very far away because they can't afford it here. One is in St. Louis, wants us near, but says we would hate it there. He's working his career to eventually come back here, or move to Chicago, which they love and suburbs are very affordable. He says crime is too high for us seniors.
I feel like we have been prudent and lived life with purpose. We are contributors and love to support knowing and helping others. There must be somewhere we can live and avoid the scenario here. We had the Thomas Fire here last Dec., were evacuated and were terrified and having to wear masks for months. I know Oregon has had very bad fires recently, but it's something I know. Threat of earthquakes, yes, been through many and are also threatened with "the big one," as Oregon is. I've been through through tornadoes and hurricanes and they scare me to bits. Got to avoid those areas. My brother just moved away and sight unseen bought a home in Georgia. Has a mortgage but its tiny. His 40 year old dtr lives with him, helping care for him. He did no research, the dtr did some, they got rid of all of their stuff, then drove across the US to GA. He faced a hurricane just as they got there, but fared well. He is worried about tornadoes. But he says he is at peace, finally. He couldn't stay here to retire also.
We have a business to sale (although it was ruined due to my last 6 years of bad health, hospital stays, constant abusive nursing homes, etc. So we may just liquidate. My husband has been working crazy hours, but tourism, politics, the economy, and changing desires of the public have ended its life cycle. It did wonderfully for decades, but times have changed. We also need to sell our Craftsman home which needs to be fixed up more to sell. I have a background in financial analysis and have forecast our cash flow and conservative use of our funds with the goal of moving this June, once our big guy finishes 11th grade. He turns 18 in May, so the restrictions of our guardianship allows us to move him out of state.
But, none of this is a pity party. We've rose to meet each challenge with integrity and love. We feel sure that there is an answer out there, but we are not starry eyed. Our place is great, but also has warts.
Well this is a reply that is very personal, but I think we need to be communicating with you all. You have given me more of a chance to land on our feet.
Eugene, OR Ojai, CA United States
Violent Crime 20.8 17.7 31.1
Property Crime 59.7 30.5 38.1
Eugene is 67.9% less expensive than Ojai.
Eugene housing costs are 147.3% less than Ojai housing costs.
Health related expenses are 1.9% more in Ojai.
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Go to this site to compare many features of any 2 cities you may choose The stats above are from this site. I used it when I decided to move to Springfield 3 years ago. It's very helpful
Last edited by Yac; 11-26-2018 at 01:07 AM..
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