Oregon Coast- Towns to stay in (Coos Bay, Astoria: for sale, real estate, apartments)

[ryanpsaunders]

Hello,
My partner and I are going to be traveling down the coast of Oregon starting in Astora and heading south. We are planning on possibly moving to a coastal town in Oregon in the near future, and we want to see as much as possible during our short 1-week trip. I think the furthest south we will be going would be to the Coos Bay/Bandon area. I am having trouble figuring out which towns to stop and stay the night in from Astoria all the way down to the Coos Bay area. We would like to stay somewhere that we can go drive out from during the day to see the surrounding areas/towns. Any suggestions would be very helpful. A few of the towns we have researched and are considering to stay in are; Lincoln City area, Newport area, Yachats, Florence, Coos Bay area and Bandon. Any negative or positive comments on the towns would be appreciated, as well as any towns you would suggest that I did not list. Thanks so much!

[hamellr]

Personally I'd go with Lincoln City and Florence.

BTW, there aren't a lot of towns outside of the list you made. The Coast Range drastically restricted population growth inland more then a few miles from the coast.

[mornar8727]

Unless you Love the wind...Bandon is not a good choice. Too close to Cape Blanco and weather extremes. Yachats is one of the nicest places along the coast but expensive, as if those two "features" don't always go together. Manzanita the same, mostly vacation rentals so the cost of an on-going occupancy are high. Be prepared for almost no law enforcement presence anywhere along the coast. Reduced staff in most areas and the same thousands of square miles of town, forest and seashore to patrol. If you don't make it further south than Bandon you will be missing the most spectacular scenery. The view just from the highway south of Gold Beach will knock your socks off, let alone actually getting out amongst the seastacks and rock formations. Brookings is of all things, a "retirement" community these days and with that go some of the more familiar shopping and fast food names. Never has been much work along the coast, now it is almost desperate.

[ryanpsaunders]

thank you for your feedback hamellr and mornar!

[bar20]

I live in Yachats and don't find it expensive. We found a 1550 sq. ft. home 50 yds from the beach, not ocean front, for under $200k. With that said if you are looking for a condo I would look in Lincoln City or Newport. There are plenty of homes for sale on the west side of 101 between Lincoln City and Yachats. If you need a realtor send me a DM and I will give you the name of the agent we used that has more than 20 years of selling in Lincoln County.

[rtg143]

Check Trulia - Real Estate, Homes for Sale, Apartments for Rent, Local data and
Zillow - Real Estate, Homes for Sale, Recent Sales, Apartment Rentals

[Silverfall]

I agree with others that there aren't any surrounding areas or towns. I think I'd stay in Florence and then just drive down to Coos Bay and Bandon. I also second heading down farther south. There is some gorgeous coastline down there but it is rocky beach. Brookings would be worth a visit in my opinion.

[Mersae]

Originally Posted by mornar8727

Unless you Love the wind...Bandon is not a good choice. Too close to Cape Blanco and weather extremes. Yachats is one of the nicest places along the coast but expensive, as if those two "features" don't always go together. Manzanita the same, mostly vacation rentals so the cost of an on-going occupancy are high. Be prepared for almost no law enforcement presence anywhere along the coast. Reduced staff in most areas and the same thousands of square miles of town, forest and seashore to patrol. If you don't make it further south than Bandon you will be missing the most spectacular scenery. The view just from the highway south of Gold Beach will knock your socks off, let alone actually getting out amongst the seastacks and rock formations. Brookings is of all things, a "retirement" community these days and with that go some of the more familiar shopping and fast food names. Never has been much work along the coast, now it is almost desperate.

I was curious about your statement about Bandon and the wind. Are you saying Bandon is windier than other coastal towns? And what kind of mph are we talking about? And is it windy year round? Are Coos Bay, Port Orford, Gold Beach, and Brookings not as windy? Thanks!

[mornar8727]

Hi
Just Google Cape Blanco.

For clarity.....the entire Oregon coast is windy but the operative word is coast. A mile or two up any river or canyon and the wind diminishes and ceases. They built a "world-class" golf course on the Bandon Dunes and you can score a "world-class" round if you can guess which way the wind is blowing at any particular moment or can adjust your shot for it. Lots of "dunes" in the area and they occur only when there is a steady and powerful wind.

About 4 miles up any Oregon coast river and you have an entirely different climate zone out of the fog zone. Gold Beach at the mouth of the Rogue River is dank, dark, misty and foggy. Up the north bank and into Squaw Valley, temperatures can be 85 when it is 62 at the coast and you can grow corn and tomatoes that rival the best of Indiana.

All generalizations, local experiences might be different. I spent my formative years as a deck hand on a charter boat out of Gold Beach, lived several years in Newport, a few more in Manzanita and now am at the north coast once a month for several days. I wouldn't give you a wooden sand dollar for the north coast, anything south of and including Port Orford is the real Oregon coast and is pretty much as it was in 1950 other than Brookings which has the feel of a mossy strip mall in anywhere U.S.A.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

It all depends on what you're looking for. I used to live in Lincoln City and work in Newport. I've spent a lot of time on the Oregon coast. Your list is fine, but maybe add Tillamook to it. As for a place to live, I prefer Newport.