QOL in The Dalles (Portland, Gresham: appointed, crime, house prices)

[Riker3]

Hi Everyone!
My husband is close to accepting a position in the city of The Dalles and was wondering if anyone could speak to the quality of life there. My sister lives in Portland, so we are familiar with the Portland area, Hood River, Cannon Beach, Bend (tourist spots), but have never been to The Dalles. Looks as though the climate is much different (less rain) and more sun, which is a plus. My husband loves mountain climbing and I am a runner, we are not too concerned with shopping, just as long as we have access to organic produce and meat/poultry. What is the political climate? Liberal? We need to get out of the south and back in an area that cares about the environment, well-being of animals, health, education, etc...
Also, should we consider living in Hood River? Sounds like the commute in the winter would be difficult; just wondering if it would be worth it if both of us work in The Dalles.
Any information you can provide will be of great help. Thank you.

[Dogmama50]

The Dalles is more conservative than Hood River, but it is also less expensive to live there. I feel community wise Hood River has more going on with festivals, markets, First Friday, The Dalles is slowly following suit, but not quite there yet. The commute can be bad in the winter on occasion, but it's usually the highway between Hood River and Troutdale that will close, not Hood River to The Dalles. Mosier in between the two is a cute little community if you're looking for something quieter than the others.

What I miss most in Hood River is my CSA, they were by far the best source of fruit, veggies, eggs, bread etc... Here's a link: hoodriverorganic.com

[NW Crow]

The Dalles doesn't have as many trees around it as towns further west in the Gorge. If you looked for a place in between Hood River and The Dalles, in addition to Mosier, you could also consider across the river in White Salmon WA or above it, if you want to. It is 2-3 times the size of Mosier. I see it also has a much higher median housing price but you'd need to comparison shop to see which place has what you are looking for in a house & price. Mosier and White Salmon have notably lower reported crime than The Dalles but it is common for the biggest urban area to catch more of the crime of a region. All 3 are more conservative than Hood River but they all still have at least an even party voter registration to modest Democratic lean.

[Lootmeister]

The Dalles is a great place to live. Very safe. Once you get about 10 minutes east of Hood River, the whole weather climate changes. LOTS of sunshine in The Dalles.

Another cool thing about T.D. was that when the big recession hit, it wasn't felt much there because it's somewhat of a self sustaining city that doesn't rely much on outside corporations etc.

That also means that it's not a super high income place and it lacks high paying jobs, although the recent addition of Google and the presence of Insitu neary surely help.

Supposedly a big high end golf course is going in over near Dallesport. I imagine this will give the area the exposure that it needs to bring in another influx of people.

It will get discovered sooner or later. Get in now while the gettin' is good. House prices are still very affordable.

A funny myth that I often hear from people is that they think the dalles is 2-3 hours from Portland. The reason for this stems from the older crowd who remember the commute prior to I-84 being built. It did indeed take 2-3 hours to drive down the old HWY 30. It's only 67 minutes to Troutdale which is only about 15-20 miles from downtown Portland. That trip goes fast too as the speed limit is 65 and most drive it at around 75. In summary, about an hour to get to Troutdale/Gresham and an hour and 15 to get to dowtown Portland.

The town often times gets a reputation as having a meth problem, but it's really no worse per capita than anywhere else. It's just magnified as it's a small town and everybody knows everybody elses business. If you're a scumbag or have issues word spreads fast here. Having kids, I believe this is a good thing.

Just about half the town gets to enjoy mountain/river views and the traffic in The Dalles is laughable. A traffic jam is like 5 cars at a red light. After spending a day in Portland, it's always nice to come back and it gives you a new appreciation.

I will admit, the longer you live there, the smaller it gets, however, when you compare this nuisance to some of the big city nuisances, it's a fair trade off. Crime is petty. Some car breakins if you live close to downtown, petty stuff etc. It's very safe overall and random crimes are extremely rare. The few murders that have happened here are all people that knew eachother and were lovers quarrels or disputes. Crime goes up a bit during the summer months when the migrant farm workers are here but even with that being said, not much person vs. person scary stuff.

There seems to be a small push going on to make the dalles a better place to live. Old money ruled the roost for many decades and that has started to die off and seems to be getting replaced with forward thinkers. I'm noticing more modern small businesses opening up (restaurants/shops) and we even hear about some big companies potentially moving here from time to time which would provide some better paying jobs.

I'm seeing/hearing more about green and organic type of stuff here too. That was unheard of 10 years ago. I think that Hood River is wearing off on Mosier/The Dalles which is a good thing. Theres even an organic store now downtown and the farmers market held every Wed/Sat is gaining steam and more vendors. I've got to give a plug to Sanodz Farms too, they raise great lowfat beef that will deter you from ever buying meat at the grocery store ever again!

The latest rumor is that Walmart may be building a "Super Walmart" which many are in favor of (consumers of course) but it worriers me a bit as Super Walmarts can really cripple small businesses. Free enterprise and that's the way it goes, but I'd hate to see an empty downtown.

The downtown has personality. 2 one way "guts" which make for being able to run your errands up one side and down the other. The town has an unusually high amount of gas stations and banks for a small town.

Speaking of small town, it's good on the wallet as everything is within a few miles of each other and gas consumption is very low.

If anybody has any questions about The Dalles I'm always more than happy to answer them.

I'm a huge advocate of helping build the community here and bring more good people to the mix.

[Nell Plotts]

Husband and I happened upon Momma Jane's Pancake House a few weeks ago. I recommend it heartily.

[jasonkramer]

if you like lots of wind, then the dalles is the place for you. if not then you wont like it at all. of course when i moved to portland 3 years ago people told me it rained all the time. i have been very disappointed with amount of rain Portland gets.

winters are a lot worse then in Portland, but at the same time most of the people actually know how to drive in the snow and ice.

after 5pm the town is pretty much dead. they do try to have community events but they dont always do too well.

the city police are the worse ive encountered. poor response times and will do what they can to get out of doing actual work. country and state on the other hand seem to know what they are doing.

it is fairly cheap but it is also very dirty. the town is also filled with tons of what can be described as white trash and mexican trash. thats not to say they are violent or rude, but noone woudl ever considered most of the town high or even middle class.

did i mention the wind?

the dalles is not an active city but it is quiet. there are definitely worse places.

lived in the dalles for 18 years.

[Lootmeister]

Originally Posted by jasonkramer

the city police are the worse ive encountered. poor response times and will do what they can to get out of doing actual work. country and state on the other hand seem to know what they are doing.

it is fairly cheap but it is also very dirty. the town is also filled with tons of what can be described as white trash and mexican trash. thats not to say they are violent or rude, but noone woudl ever considered most of the town high or even middle class.

I've had just the opposite experience with The Dalles PD. I reported a potential predator at a city park and a detective came out and made contact with the individual within MINUTES. I've seen some other situations where they showed up fast too. Maybe they were busy with priority calls when you dealt with them?

You're right on with the fairly cheap and white trash comment. The west side of town can be pretty seedy in certain areas. I'm seeing an influx of remodels and nicer cars in town (im out quite a bit so this is very noticable to me) which tells me things are trending in a good direction. I've got kids in school at all levels and there's quite a few new people in town who are very decent too.