Looking to move to Oregon - Need advice! (Portland, Eugene: appointed, real estate)

[kanbrein91]

My family is planning a move from Utah to Oregon in the next couple of years. We don't have unlimited funds to research areas on our own and, thus, are hoping some of you are knowledgeable about certain areas and what they have to offer.

My husband will be looking for work as a police officer and we have two kids that we'd like to send to a good public school. We are also looking to buy, not rent. However, we can't afford much more than an average, humble 3 or 4 bedroom home. We need an area where the storms aren't as such that the power/internet is always effected. We need to be relatively close to the city for grocery shopping and activities but also near (at most, an hour drive) to state parks, hiking, mountains, waterfalls, beaches and ocean, etc. We want to be surrounded by that lush, other-worldly forestry and nice people.

We are desperate to move, as we love it so much - so, really, if there are few places with really great policeman career prospects (well paid, comparatively) then just those suggestions will have to do, as long as the homes are still affordable.

We have visited and loved portland, silver falls, and tillamook (though, tillamook is too small-town for us.)
we've heard good things about albany and bend. how are the outskirts of portland and surrounding cities for what we are looking for?

lastly, are there any sites you could refer me to for further research?

any input would be SO greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Silverfall]

What do you consider affordable?

[bler144]

Originally Posted by kanbrein91

We need to be relatively close to the city for grocery shopping and activities but also near (at most, an hour drive) to state parks, hiking, mountains, waterfalls, beaches and ocean, etc. We want to be surrounded by that lush, other-worldly forestry and nice people.

This describes the better part of the Willamette Valley. On the coast you get hiking/coast but no cities. You could also potentially open it up to the Vancouver, WA area (they have a separate forum).

In Bend you have city/hiking but no coast (3.5-4 hours assuming no weather in the pass). The central valley (Salem/Albany) itself isn't exactly forested, but it's a short drive to reach one - Silver Falls, which you note having visited as case in point.

In general any of the 'metro' areas in the Valley (Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, Pdx) will fit the majority of what you're looking for, so you'd have to get a bit more specific on what sort of shopping you do, what size city appeals, what sort of local activities, etc. If you shop at major mid-line chains (Safeway) you can get that anywhere. If you're looking for more high-end in the vein of Whole Foods you're probably down to just Eugene/Springfield or the Pdx area.

And note that pretty much anywhere in the valley can be reached from one of those 4 metros, so even if you get a job in Woodburn or Albany, as long as city rules don't require you to live in the PD service district, one could commute to those smaller towns pretty easily.

A 3 bedroom in Pdx city proper on an officer's salary is doable, but your neighborhood options will be limited if you're looking at staying within a price range of 3-4x salary. If you have a second income such that your total household income is 6 figures, well, that changes things a lot.

But some of the suburbs/outer towns in Pdx metro would be quite doable even just on the one salary: Hillsboro, Troutdale, Oregon City, etc. In Eugene an officer's salary will give you a decent array of options, though the same salary goes a lot farther in Springfield. Springfield seems to be on the verge of becoming trendy ("it's a helluva town!"), but it's not there yet. Still, I'd put it on your list of possibles. In Salem an officer's salary would let you buy in most of town pretty comfortably I'd say.

As to which depts are currently hiring, that I can't say. That's going to be your major determinant in where you end up.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You'll end up where you can find a job. Police positions get a ton of applicants and many cities are not hiring at all. You will not be able to waltz into any town you choose and get a law enforcement job just because that is where you want to live.

Schools are good enough all over the state as long as parents participate in the child's education and make sure homework is done and understood. If you are one of the persons who turn their child over to the schools and expect someone else to do it all, you will likely be disappointed in the school system. If you make sure your child does the work, then your child will be fine.

[509]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Schools are good enough all over the state as long as parents participate in the child's education and make sure homework is done and understood. If you are one of the persons who turn their child over to the schools and expect someone else to do it all, you will likely be disappointed in the school system. If you make sure your child does the work, then your child will be fine.

I would look at the school situation VERY CAREFULLY.

We had friends that lived in Medford and their kids were getting A's and B's in all their classes. The parents thought everything was fine. They moved to Montana. The kids were tested AND MOVED BACK A FULL GRADE. The kids never recovered or caught up with Montana kids. Montana schools are good, but Medford schools were awful and they never knew it until they moved.

We have friends in Eugene and their school system is exceptional. Their kids got the equivalent of a private school education in the public schools.

Both set of parents were college educated and interested in their kids education.

So shop carefully for towns and schools in Oregon

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by 509

I would look at the school situation VERY CAREFULLY.

We had friends that lived in Medford and their kids were getting A's and B's in all their classes. The parents thought everything was fine. They moved to Montana. The kids were tested AND MOVED BACK A FULL GRADE. The kids never recovered or caught up with Montana kids. Montana schools are good, but Medford schools were awful and they never knew it until they moved.

We have friends in Eugene and their school system is exceptional. Their kids got the equivalent of a private school education in the public schools.

Both set of parents were college educated and interested in their kids education.

So shop carefully for towns and schools in Oregon

Oregon schools traditionally taught a year behind the rest of the nation. Oregon has adopted the common core and raised their curriculum to the standards taught by most of the nation a couple of years ago.

The bigger issue now is the ongoing budget issues and huge classroom sizes.

[kanbrein91]

@oregonwoodsmoke, do you honestly feel that you were being helpful and informative? I'm surprised that reply accompanies your stats here. The attitude is unwarranted, to say the least. I was - very simply - asking for suggestions of areas based on a general idea of our wants and needs. Obviously, there wouldn't be a perfect area where we could find a perfect home that meets every single one of our wants.

Absolutely needless to mention, we wouldn't move our family across the country to a city where we had yet to find a job. The fact that we would move at all would be dependent on finding a position. No one in their right mind would assume they could "waltz" anywhere and be offered the job they desire.

But thank you, anyway [insert eye-roll emoticon here].

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by kanbrein91

@oregonwoodsmoke, do you honestly feel that you were being helpful and informative? I'm surprised that reply accompanies your stats here. The attitude is unwarranted, to say the least. I was - very simply - asking for suggestions of areas based on a general idea of our wants and needs. Obviously, there wouldn't be a perfect area where we could find a perfect home that meets every single one of our wants.

Absolutely needless to mention, we wouldn't move our family across the country to a city where we had yet to find a job. The fact that we would move at all would be dependent on finding a position. No one in their right mind would assume they could "waltz" anywhere and be offered the job they desire.

But thank you, anyway [insert eye-roll emoticon here].

So I guess you're giving it right back to oregonwoodsmoke? Because your attitude isn't very helpful, either. Especially not when you're the one asking for help. Graciousness goes a long way.

oregonwoodsmoke's advice actually was good. So you're expecting everyone to give you total rundowns on any and every town in Oregon, on the off-chance that a law-enforcement job might be obtained there? Wherever you move is going to depend on where a job is. At that point, asking where, in relation to that job, is the best choice of a place to live, or making a decision between two or three jobs in different cities, is going to solicit some concrete advice.

[Billy_J]

Well they deleted my link.... But the real estate prices drop dramatically from Portland's high prices when you go down south around Lebanon and Sweet Home. Further south to Eugene and prices go back up. Or west to Corvallis and prices go WAY up.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Billy_J

Well they deleted my link.... But the real estate prices drop dramatically from Portland's high prices when you go down south around Lebanon and Sweet Home. Further south to Eugene and prices go back up. Or west to Corvallis and prices go WAY up.

Could probably summarize at as

Expensive places in Oregon:

Pdx metro
Corvallis
Eugene
Bend
Ashland

Inexpensive Places:

Everywhere else.