Family thinking about moving to Oregon-would like a small town, any ideas? (Portland: home)

[amcolli]

Hi,
My family and I are thinking about moving to Oregon from Seattle. We would like to raise our daughter in a relatively small town. My husband knows someone from The Dalles who says there are openings in Gardensvile,WA at the hospital. Can anyone tell me more about the Dalles? Also, I would like to move somewhere where their is water, I love the green trees and living on the Puget Sound. We are also thinking about the Oregon Coast. We want to live in a good area just not too close to Portland. Thanks.

[dachmom]

Do you mean Goldendale, WA? It is a 45 minute drive from The Dalles. The Dalles is right along the Columbia, but it is also in Eastern Oregon, so it's more desert than the coast or the Willamette Valley. Job opportunities will be better the closer to Portland that you are. The Dalles is a small town (pop. approx. 15,000)with not many big employers(mostly small businesses),which might make it harder to find work. In a small town a lot of people get jobs based on who you know. I'm not saying it's impossible to get a job there, but if you know someone it helps. Goldendale is even smaller (pop. approx. 2,000-3,000) the biggest employer is the hospital and it is even farther from a large city than The Dalles. I'm not trying to discourage you, just trying to be realistic. Also, it's windy in The Dalles year round (the windsurfers love it) and The Dalles is 80 miles east of Portland, so you are looking at a 2-3hr drive to the coast if traffic is light and you don't hit Portland rush hour traffic.

[amcolli]

Hi, thanks for responding. I did mean Goldendale. My husband was offered a job at the hospital there. Have you been to Goldendale? I didnt realize that it would be that far of a commute to The Dalles, thats too far. Is Goldendale green or is it desert as well. I love the western part of Washington with how green it is and all the water. I have never been to central. What about Bend, Oregon, is it really woodsy there- also do you know how big it is? Thanks for your help. We are anxious to move to a smaller town but we would like to keep it as much like the climate here as possible.

[vanight]

People are actually moving from Oregon *especially businesses to WA. If its a small town you seek, your better off just finding one in WA. Income and property taxes are raping Oregon. Thank you Ted K. If you really are insisting on moving to Oregon, I would look closely at the cost of utilities, demographic make up, and generally the reputation of the town to match your political position. Those are the kinds of things I wished I would have taken more time to look at. School quality is something too! Then again, there is home schooling or private. Sorry to be such a humbug, but Oregon just isnt what it used to be before the 80's. Californians saw to that... Oh yeah, the traffic is terrible pretty much everywhere in Portland metro down to Salem. I would go S. or Central, in fact, I still might.

[dachmom]

Originally posted by amcolli:

Have you been to Goldendale? I didnt realize that it would be that far of a commute to The Dalles, thats too far. Is Goldendale green or is it desert as well.

Yes, I was born in Goldendale at KVH (Klickitat Valley Hospital) and my grandparents still live there. It is a dry, desert area with not much in the way of employment. Yes, it is a long commute to The Dalles and the Maryhill grade gets very foggy in the winter, not to mention icy if it snows. Goldendale is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It's a 2 hour drive through very dry desert to Yakima and 45 minutes to The Dalles.
If you like greenery and the coast you might want to try Salem and the willamette valley. You could live in a smaller town like Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Stayton, Sublimity, Aumsville, etc. and only be 15-20 minutes from Salem which has a nice hospital and pretty much every "big box" store that Portland has with about1/5 of Portland's population. I think Salem's last pop. count was around 150,000. Plus, Salem is only an hour's drive to the coast if traffic is good and there are no accidents.

[John Cova]

You might want to avoid the Rogue Valley area. All the Public Libraries in 2 counties including those in Grants Pass and Medford are closed.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by vanight

People are actually moving from Oregon *especially businesses to WA. If its a small town you seek, your better off just finding one in WA. Income and property taxes are raping Oregon. Thank you Ted K. If you really are insisting on moving to Oregon, I would look closely at the cost of utilities, demographic make up, and generally the reputation of the town to match your political position. Those are the kinds of things I wished I would have taken more time to look at. School quality is something too! Then again, there is home schooling or private. Sorry to be such a humbug, but Oregon just isnt what it used to be before the 80's. Californians saw to that... Oh yeah, the traffic is terrible pretty much everywhere in Portland metro down to Salem. I would go S. or Central, in fact, I still might.

If you were actually in business, you would have a different perspective on Oregon's tax structure. The whole income tax code is written to favor small businesses. Almost everything is tax-free. If your small business is paying taxes, you really need to talk to a good CPA. It will be the cheapest $500 you ever spent.

The thing that is hurting Oregon small businesses is the Big Box revolution like Target, Wal-Mart, Ikea and Costco. That pretty much is happening everywhere.

[orygun]

Originally Posted by vanight

Sorry to be such a humbug, but Oregon just isnt what it used to be before the 80's. Californians saw to that...

Amen to that. Nothing personal to any Californian, but in general, you hit the nail on the head.

[shorty78]

hello my name is kristina,and i see your looking for a small town in oregon away from all the hustle of a big town or city correct?well i was born in oregon a small town seven minutes away from the ocean.everyone is friendly there.theres a skate park in town for the kids,they have movies in the high school gym.towns to small no movie theatere.my two step children attend school there and both of them enjoy these schools much beter than arizona's school's.the town is reedsport,or the surrounding towns are windchester bay,gardner,scottsburg.wich all are small towns.one direction you have the ocean in the other direction you have loon lake.plus a few other lakes in the surrounding area's.check reedsport out or the town's around that area your bound to find one that catches your eye.good luck.....