Wading through posts on towns...still not feeling educated about Oregon. (Portland: rentals, low crime)

[Ravie]

For a few years now (if you look into my post history you'll see a few years ago we were talking about moving to Oregon...we are once again...) We've been looking for a town in Oregon that offered decent services, smaller atmosphere, etc...

I keep looking into the smaller towns in areas around bigger cities, etc... and All I see are wars from people who think these places are great, and others who think they are terrible. It has been a big headache trying to wade through it all to try and figure out what places to even CONSIDER looking at.

Basics: Husband, Wife, Daughter, Dog, Cat. I like the smaller town atmosphere. Even country atmosphere could be fine but it'd have to be within 30 miles of a bigger city. Neither of us want a lot of rain, but we'd take rain over snow any day (well, she would...). She's finishing school for associates in Teaching with more schooling planned (maybe finish in Oregon?), and I have a technical degree in collision repair and I'm a bit of a jack of all trades and a musician.(a good one!)

I like to fish, hike, camp, shoot, etc...

She likes to shop at cool mom-and-pop type thrift stores and things of that nature.

We both like coffee and wine, so already pretty much anywhere in Oregon is good for us as far as that goes! haha

I'm looking for an area with less crime. A little off the beaten path where we can rent for a while until we're ready to buy a house (and by that point we should know what we want more specifically and have gotten some Oregon experiences out of the way)

One of the big reasons we picked Oregon was because I miss my Minnesotan outdoors, and because she doesn't mind that but HATES the cold snowy winters MN has. She also wants ocean every once in a while...

So I'm just not sure. With her wanting to do more schooling, and me MAYBE wanting to, I see where close to Eugene might be nice, except I've read an overwhelming number of posters use words like "homeless," "crime," "meth," and others...that really turned me off of almost everywhere surrounding that are including Vaneta, JC, Coburg....

I picked Oregon because it has better gun laws in my opinion(I like guns for safe recreational and self-defense uses.) than does Washington...but I'm having such a hard time finding what we're looking for without also getting those bad keywords in the mix...I might have to go North to WA!

Help!?

[Silverfall]

Does your wife want to get an education degree?

[Ravie]

Her story is: Started college for music education, switched majors to elementary education, then added a second major in special education. She has a LOT of credits, however they do not all apply to her current major. She will have an associates in Elementary education sometime in the next 8 months or so, and then will most likely get her full bachelors degree after that, unless she finds something she likes with what she has now.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Well, the only big cities are Portland, Salem, Eugene and the Medford-Ashland area.

I would rule out Portland as it is so big there really aren't a lot of outdoor activities that aren't regulated. Also, I can't really think of an area to go to unless you like crime or have more money than you know what to do with. It is also en elitist liberal area and any views other than those can get you in a lot of trouble. As in violence.

Next is Salem. It's a decent city and there are some very nice bedroom communities (Dallas to the west, Silverton & Stayton to the east). Housing is moderately priced and the schools are pretty good. East access to the coast & mountains.

Then Eugene. It, too, has a few bedroom communities (Cottage Grove and Creswell). Larger than Salem and also easy access to mountains and beach.

Now, the above 3 are all fairly rainy with moderate climates.

The Medford- Ashland area further south has a much warmer climate, less crime and much more open for outdoor activities. There are a host of areas to live (Grants Pass, Central Point...). The coast isn't as easy to access and although there are wineries, probably less than the other cities.

But what you need to do is go and visit them. Everyine has their favorite areas and will defend them beyond what they should be.

[NomadicPhotographer]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

Everyone has their favorite areas and will defend them beyond what they should be.

I think this is such an important point to keep in mind as one probes other minds for opinions. It helps me to imagine qualifiers like "My thoughts on the matter are..." and "According to my preferences..." in front of nearly every statement that's not pure data.

Also, relative terms like "high" (high crime, high costs of living, etc.) and "too" (too much rain, too cold, etc.) remind me that everyone has different tolerances for certain things. What one person considers "too far out in the country" might be another person's perfect retreat from urban sprawl

I've only been reading, and interacting, in the Oregon forums for a month or so and while I've gotten a ton of very useful information, I'm also aware that until I go there for myself, I won't really know whether someone else's point of dissatisfaction similarly affects me.

Ok, I'm going back to wading through posts...

[hamellr]

The more I read and reread your post, the less I think Oregon or Washington are for you.

Smaller towns in the Pacific Northwest tend to have high drug use, especially among the lower income scales and among bored teenagers. The "Mayberry" town just doesn't really exist anymore. Crime wise this translates into Car Prowlings,and various property crimes but little more then that.

Then you want a small AND am out of the way town that is within 30 minutes of a larger city. So does everyone for the past two decades, as such those small towns aren't small or out of the way anymore. This used to describe places like Wilsonville and Silverton, neither is small and charming any more unfortunately.

Then you need to factor in the fact that small towns rarely have rentals in the first place.

Most the counties that have small towns (in Oregon) rely heavily on Federal Subsidies that have been completely cut off, one county has already had to release over half it's prisoners including some who are on the potentially violent side of things. And will not be able to even do things like basic law enforcement such as traffic violations.

Last thing to keep in mind is that you may have a bit more luck finding a job as an auto technician, but teachers are getting cut all over the place. Many of them have years of experience and Master's degrees in Education. Your wife is still 2-4 years from competing with them, but historically Oregon feels economic recovery much later then the rest of the Nation. Washington is slightly ahead but only because most of the economy is based around Seattle.

Now, this does depend on what you consider "small," "low crime," and "cost of living" as Nomadic pointed out.

For the type of lifestyle it seems like you want, you'll need to look in the Southern Willamette Valley. Salem, Eugene, Ashland, Medford, Roseburg. In Washington I'd say Centralia, but avoid Longview at all costs.

[seashelly]

I'd direct them to the Roseburg area.

[Silverfall]

See now I consider Silverton small since it only has 9,000 people. So OP what would be helpful it to define for the group what you mean by small. I think Silverton is charming but it has been impacted by the recession so there are empty storefronts downtown. That does impact its appearance.

But I do agree that a teaching job for your wife out here, until she gets her Masters is highly unlikley. There is huge demand for special ed teachers here, but they want the Master's Degree with it.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by seashelly

I'd direct them to the Roseburg area.

That's a bad choice for getting an education. Medford/Ashland has SOU, Eugene has U of O, Corvallis has OSU, and Portland has PSU. There are also state colleges in Monmouth, Klamath Falls and LaGrande.

[seashelly]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

That's a bad choice for getting an education. Medford/Ashland has SOU, Eugene has U of O, Corvallis has OSU, and Portland has PSU. There are also state colleges in Monmouth, Klamath Falls and LaGrande.

But isn't there a Community College in the Roseburg area that may offer long distance learning degrees connected to some of Oregon's larger campuses? Just a thought.