What A difficult Choice (Portland, Eugene: 2015, insurance, house)

[Jules007]

Hi All,

Corvallis, Albany/Nth Albany, McMinnville, Wilsonville proper, Ashland - ??
It may be a silly question but with so many lovely towns in the central Willamette & South region, how does anyone know where of these would be a great place to live for active mid age people like ourselves.

The whole wine area, universities, art & theatre and community scene - they all look awesome. Swimming pools, cycling, good food & wine, music and theatre, gymnasiums, motorbiking, all things we enjoy. Mostly we are looking for a community that is open and friendly to foreigners.

Has anyone any bright ideas apart from visiting, what the pros & cons are for these areas.
There is a lot of information on the forum, so much, that maybe a few key points would help before we visit next year.

Cheers
JB

[Nell Plotts]

Corvallis, McMinnville and Ashland are university towns. That fact alone will give you a different vibe than Albany/N Albany and Wilsonville.

Housing costs: McMinnville, Corvallis, Ashland in the first group then Albany and Wilsonville in the second bunch.

Foreigners not an issue.

[Jules007]

Thanks Nell - yes we do like the thought of a mix for sure, a younger vibe and universities in town appeal for many reasons.

How harsh are the Summers ...... they don't read too bad..... Flooding in the area is obviously something that happens.... but seemingly not that often?

[Nell Plotts]

Hot summers are a rarity west of the Cascades. We whine when the temp gets into the 90s.

Flooding depends on elevation and proximity to a water way. There are flood maps, ignore 100-year levels, go higher. We have a number of dams for flood control, the Army Corp of Engineers now has them all managed by computer analysis. The last time we had some flooding (minor by historic standards) the Willamette Basin hadn't been put in the system.

The State Geologist also did a study of landslide risk for western Oregon. They have an office near Lloyd Center in Portland. Well worth a visit. Many hills are comprised of glacial till. If the trees above you aren't viable (burned, harvested) then the soil can get saturated and slide. [example: https://www.minnpost.com/earth-journ...ientists-find] The same thing can happen if there has been construction without adequate storm water management.

You can buy flood insurance but not landslide insurance.

[PNW-type-gal]

Ashland has a university (South Oregon University) but it isn't a university town the way Eugene and Corvallis are. Summers are hot for Oregon, with average summer highs in the 80s and occasional highs into the hundreds (about 12 days an average year) - Ashland is higher in elevation, therefore cooler in the summer than most of the Rogue Valley. Ashland and the Rogue Valley average about 18" of rain a year (compared to the 40+ in the Willamette Valley) and the winter is shorter and a bit sunnier than the Willamette Valley.

Ashland is just about a 5-6 hour drive from Portland or San Francisco (3 hours to Eugene). There is an airport in Medford with multiple daily flights to Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. Other destinations include Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake, Las Vegas, although not with the same frequency. There are no direct flights to the midwest, south, east coast or international destinations. Flights are also more expensive than you'll find in large cities. Unlike the Willamette Valley, there is no train service.

The median house price in Ashland just hit $400,000, so it is more expensive than most Oregon cities. Ashland is in the foothills at about 2,000' elevation so very occasional road ice or snow is possible although not a major issue.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Hot summers are a rarity west of the Cascades. We whine when the temp gets into the 90s.

Flooding depends on elevation and proximity to a water way. There are flood maps, ignore 100-year levels, go higher. We have a number of dams for flood control, the Army Corp of Engineers now has them all managed by computer analysis. The last time we had some flooding (minor by historic standards) the Willamette Basin hadn't been put in the system.

The State Geologist also did a study of landslide risk for western Oregon. They have an office near Lloyd Center in Portland. Well worth a visit. Many hills are comprised of glacial till. If the trees above you aren't viable (burned, harvested) then the soil can get saturated and slide. [example: https://www.minnpost.com/earth-journ...ientists-find] The same thing can happen if there has been construction without adequate storm water management.

You can buy flood insurance but not landslide insurance.

I'm not aware that any glaciers got this far south, though there are glaciers on Hood and Jefferson. The hills that are most dangerous are west of the Willamette near Portland, which are covered by 30' of wind deposited loess. Outside of the Portland area most slopes are covered with a variety of shale, clay, decomposed basalt and 1000 years of organic detritus. There are multiple risk factors for a slide, including the angle of the slope, composition of the slope, and disturbance of the soil. Logging is one risk. Cutting the toe of the slope either by erosion or development is an extreme hazard. Very commonly there is a clay slip plane buried in the ground that intercepts water during rainstorms and saturates the soil above it. Oregon's licensing of geotechnical engineers is a disaster. Often you will find ignorant surveyors doing geotech work because they were "grandfathered" into a license when the new rules were written. Getting an accurate slide assessment of property is very difficult. Often developers do business with the licensed quacks who will rubber stamp any plot plan.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I recommend that you get a job lined up and wherever you can find employment, that is the city that you choose.

[PNW-type-gal]

The West Hills are covered in glacial loess, which is a clay-bearing silt, in our case wind-blown during the series of Missoula (Bretz) floods. This is also true of any hill (Prune Hill in Camas) which was above the floodwater line. Due to heavy clay content and the lack of a developed soil structure, it's prone to slides, particularly where it is thick.

It's hard to get a mental feel for how massive the Missoula Floods were, but the best way to think about it: you know how rivers that flood gets gravel bars built up on either side? Alameda Ridge in Portland and the long ridge line in Vancouver that parallels the river (goes from downtown Vancouver over to Prune Hill in Camas) are both the massive gravel bars for the Missoula Floods. The only building in Portland that would have been above the water line of the biggest of the floods is the top of Big Pink, the US Bancorp Building.

On old article, but still factual:
http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/og/OGv43n01.pdf

[bler144]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

I recommend that you get a job lined up and wherever you can find employment, that is the city that you choose.

Agreed. Cost of living is high and while there are jobs (particularly in service, med, etc.) "good jobs" are more rare and quite competitive in most fields.

Of those places listed, Albany is the "bargain" location despite the fact that it's still higher than the national average for COL, and people not from Albany (fairly or unfairly) tend to look down on it. Though truly it doesn't smell as bad as it used to.

[Jules007]

Luckily I work from home so employment isn't an issue we face as couldn't imagine having to choose a city or town just solely on employment....I can see that it can be a major factor for many though as need the $$ to live as we all do, so fair comment. Its good that airports have easy access out as well, so visiting family will not be an issue from any of the places we are looking at. Thanks everyone.. really interesting.