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Don't do it!!!! I did it and it took me years to get back to CA. If you think there are "rednecks" in Modesto, try Oregon! Housing wasn't that much cheaper and jobs were harder to find. Oregon doesn't have the consumer protections that California does. And, because they have no sales tax, their State Income Tax is prohibitive. Oregon (other than Portland or college towns) is full of racist, bigoted people and they hate Californians.
The schools are deplorable, too. I have a child who moved up there and attended junior college. The cost is $85 a unit; he would have paid $36 here. Plus the classes he took there were easier than the classes he took in CA in Junior High. I call that pathetic!!
Ok everyone so i am always reading these posts and it actually helps me out alot
Me & my husband and 3 small children ages 8months, 5yrs 7yrs are planning on moving to oregon soon i have been researching alot made alot of lists towns etc!
so i just want your insight to it all and your ideas to help me with this
you do got to remember im from ca so i been around alor worse and crime and drugs and so on and thats why im seeking better for my kids to grow up and moving away im sure you have all heard about modesto, ca so please i need opinions and your advice im very picky and have my odds and ends but can change alot of my options this is just my want not my have to have list!! THANKSS
here is my list
1.Low crime & not surrounded by druggies which i do know is everywhere
2.Near nationwide stores i need a walmart where if i need to go i can get there quick possibly 5-10miles would be nice and a mcdonalds or some sort of hungry quick fix place!
3.good schools
4.lots of familys or kids , family community would be great
5.Im about 1hr to 2hrs away from beaches would be great as well.. close to lakes rivers etc fun outdoor things but near a beach within 1hr or close i would love
6.sunshine i keep reading about all this rain and stuff and i dont hate rain i but i do love sunshine so deff please let me know where it is nice alot
7.affordable living, possibly renting for awhile for now
8.i would also love to find a place where i dont have to look into my neighbors backyard so space would be nice as well which i know probably isnt easy to find but i would love to not have to share a yard so close.
9.safety is a issue also i want to feel safe in a safe neighborhood
10.shopping i do love shopping and shopping malls etc so that would be nice as well
11.outdoor activities nearby
this isnt a must on my list but its just what i would love to find or similar and im not big on big citys i could survive outside a big city as well i just never been to oregon i have family there so gonna visit soon and i really came to like roseburg so far and eugene, but also found myself looking around coos bay!
please give me honest ideas of places etc and possibly i want to find a 3bedroom or more! Thank you!!
Oregon is full of small, bigoted, racist towns. There's a HUGE meth problem EVERYWHERE in OREGON. Higher than the Central Valley. Uneducated population - historically biggest industry was logging/mills and you don't need an education to do that so there's no emphasis on getting a good education. Higher education is more than twice what it is in CA. Unless you live in Portland, Corvallis or Eugene, there's not much there. When I was there, your income had to be $700 or less a month to get Oregon Medicaid. But a one bedroom apt was $500 a month and in a very bad area of a small town. Walmarts are everywhere adn they have driven out a lot of businesses in those towns. I wish you the best of luck; I will never return there even for a vacation. Great place to live if you are trailer trash!
Oregon is full of small, bigoted, racist towns. There's a HUGE meth problem EVERYWHERE in OREGON. Higher than the Central Valley. Uneducated population - historically biggest industry was logging/mills and you don't need an education to do that so there's no emphasis on getting a good education. Higher education is more than twice what it is in CA. Unless you live in Portland, Corvallis or Eugene, there's not much there. When I was there, your income had to be $700 or less a month to get Oregon Medicaid. But a one bedroom apt was $500 a month and in a very bad area of a small town. Walmarts are everywhere adn they have driven out a lot of businesses in those towns. I wish you the best of luck; I will never return there even for a vacation. Great place to live if you are trailer trash!
See, It's comments like this that give us Californians a bad name I'm sorry for your negative experience in Oregon, but it's not fair to stereo type the entire state and almost every town in it based on your personal experience in one location. I can't understand how so many people think that what happened to them is just "how it is"! Maybe you chose a place that wasn't for you. Perhaps you didn't do enough research first to find a place that would suit your needs. There are crappy places in every state including MANY in California that I would never live in. But that doesn't mean that there aren't places in the state that you wouldn't also love. Oregon may have some Ignorant people just as California does and every other state in the U.S. But Oregon is also full of many kind, welcoming, open minded people! Just as many people and probably more have moved from California to Oregon and loved it. Not because they are "white trash", but because they did research, had an idea of what to expect, chose a place that fit with the lifestyle they wanted, and they welcomed and were adaptable to change. Oregon is a beautiful state that has much to offer. I'm sure it has plenty of flaws, but please don't judge an entire state and all it's people based on your experience.
And please Oregonians, don't judge all Californians on comments like these
Don't do it!!!! I did it and it took me years to get back to CA. If you think there are "rednecks" in Modesto, try Oregon! Housing wasn't that much cheaper and jobs were harder to find. Oregon doesn't have the consumer protections that California does. And, because they have no sales tax, their State Income Tax is prohibitive. Oregon (other than Portland or college towns) is full of racist, bigoted people and they hate Californians.
The schools are deplorable, too. I have a child who moved up there and attended junior college. The cost is $85 a unit; he would have paid $36 here. Plus the classes he took there were easier than the classes he took in CA in Junior High. I call that pathetic!!
See, It's comments like this that give us Californians a bad name I'm sorry for your negative experience in Oregon, but it's not fair to stereo type the entire state and almost every town in it based on your personal experience in one location. I can't understand how so many people think that what happened to them is just "how it is"! Maybe you chose a place that wasn't for you. Perhaps you didn't do enough research first to find a place that would suit your needs. There are crappy places in every state including MANY in California that I would never live in. But that doesn't mean that there aren't places in the state that you wouldn't also love. Oregon may have some Ignorant people just as California does and every other state in the U.S. But Oregon is also full of many kind, welcoming, open minded people! Just as many people and probably more have moved from California to Oregon and loved it. Not because they are "white trash", but because they did research, had an idea of what to expect, chose a place that fit with the lifestyle they wanted, and they welcomed and were adaptable to change. Oregon is a beautiful state that has much to offer. I'm sure it has plenty of flaws, but please don't judge an entire state and all it's people based on your experience.
And please Oregonians, don't judge all Californians on comments like these
See, It's comments like this that give us Californians a bad name I'm sorry for your negative experience in Oregon, but it's not fair to stereo type the entire state and almost every town in it based on your personal experience in one location. I can't understand how so many people think that what happened to them is just "how it is"! Maybe you chose a place that wasn't for you. Perhaps you didn't do enough research first to find a place that would suit your needs. There are crappy places in every state including MANY in California that I would never live in. But that doesn't mean that there aren't places in the state that you wouldn't also love. Oregon may have some Ignorant people just as California does and every other state in the U.S. But Oregon is also full of many kind, welcoming, open minded people! Just as many people and probably more have moved from California to Oregon and loved it. Not because they are "white trash", but because they did research, had an idea of what to expect, chose a place that fit with the lifestyle they wanted, and they welcomed and were adaptable to change. Oregon is a beautiful state that has much to offer. I'm sure it has plenty of flaws, but please don't judge an entire state and all it's people based on your experience.
And please Oregonians, don't judge all Californians on comments like these
Thank you!! I am a native Californian and REALLY hate the "box" people put us in!! We are not all snobs, hanging out at Starbucks and in the Malls. We are NOT at all like what is portrayed in those stupid "Housewives" shows....
My husband and I are considering Oregon for retirement...NOT because we are looking to change your state to another California BUT because of the beauty, weather and down to Earth people...why is frowned upon??
Costco is Chinese owned, and carries many off brands, and costs to join. Wal-Mart carries the same major brands as virtually any other store. The quality is no better and no worse. Wal-Mart is US Owned. Bi-Mart is Local Employee owned, but except for special sale prices or loss leaders they will never be less than Wal-Mart. Good stores, but to say the price is lower would not be accurate. Bi-Mart tends to be about 20% higher across the board. I am not a pro Wal-Mart person, but the statement is just plan not true.
Costco is a publicly traded company, which means ALL of their financing deals are public record. Check something like MorningStar for their stats - the largest debt (bond) holders are large US mutual funds, as are their largest stock holders. They do carry some US-made products (other than food), although they have a lot of deals with manufacturers for specialty versions of products (to complicate price checking). A TV available at Costco will generally have a different model number than a TV from an electronics store, even though they are the same thing.
Fred Meyer is not the small local chain it once was, they are the local face of Kroger Foods, which owns about 2,500 supermarket nationwide, including Qfc, Ralph's, King Soopers and others. if you've ever tried to get your local Fred Meyer to carry a new brand, you find out very quickly that approval does not come from Portland, it comes from Cincinnati.
Thank you!! I am a native Californian and REALLY hate the "box" people put us in!! We are not all snobs, hanging out at Starbucks and in the Malls. We are NOT at all like what is portrayed in those stupid "Housewives" shows....
My husband and I are considering Oregon for retirement...NOT because we are looking to change your state to another California BUT because of the beauty, weather and down to Earth people...why is frowned upon??
It's been said many times, but the issue is with new transplants from somewhere else (yes, generally California, because of the border issue, more Californians exchange licenses than any other state) that talk up where they came from and complain about how things are done in Oregon. Certainly it isn't true for every new resident, but pretty much everyone can point to "that person". No one wants to hear how much better things were where you came from - it's insulting and boorish. Unfortunately many new transplants get the coolish shoulder until it's shown that they aren't "that person." That is, of course, as insulting and boorish as the other behavior. In general - move here, be happy about being here, be friendly, and people will return the attitude.
As the OP shows, a lot of people from California have only a vague and fuzzy idea of what "Oregon" is like, and what they seem to think of is a slightly rainier and much cheaper version of wherever they are from in California crossed with a small idyllic, imaginary town straight out of TV - much like Garrison Keillor's "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." There are many different climates in Oregon, but the major population centers are in the maritime climate (ish) Willamette Valley, where it is cloudy, cool and rainy for most of the winter. Oregon cities, like the entire rest of the country, have crime, some gang presence, high unemployment in 2012, schools that need better funding and every other modern ill. Looking for a city that doesn't have any of those issues is futile. There are pockets, of course, where one or two of those things are worse. The larger the city, generally the larger the gang presence. The smaller the city, the higher the unemployment rate and often, percentage-wise, the worse the meth problem.
Last edited by PNW-type-gal; 11-26-2012 at 11:44 AM..
Bluemerle, this thread is long so I didn't go back to read any early questions you may have about retiring in Oregon.
I am retired and living in Portland because I am a 'city' gal. What are you looking for in the way of retirement? If you are looking for an active retirement community or a continuing care retirement community I think I considered them all. We also looked at condos. Ask, I have no lack of opinions.
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I'm sorry for your negative experience in Oregon, but it's not fair to stereo type the entire state and almost every town in it based on your personal experience in one location. I can't understand how so many people think that what happened to them is just "how it is"! Maybe you chose a place that wasn't for you. Perhaps you didn't do enough research first to find a place that would suit your needs. There are crappy places in every state including MANY in California that I would never live in. But that doesn't mean that there aren't places in the state that you wouldn't also love. Oregon may have some Ignorant people just as California does and every other state in the U.S. But Oregon is also full of many kind, welcoming, open minded people! Just as many people and probably more have moved from California to Oregon and loved it. Not because they are "white trash", but because they did research, had an idea of what to expect, chose a place that fit with the lifestyle they wanted, and they welcomed and were adaptable to change. Oregon is a beautiful state that has much to offer. I'm sure it has plenty of flaws, but please don't judge an entire state and all it's people based on your experience.
