What does anyone think of Hermiston area? (La Grande, Baker City: Home Depot, school)

[dachmom]

Actually, that smell comes from the feedlots (cows) that are right next to I-84. As far as I know, they are still there.

[jannaviles]

I thought that was the water processing plant....haha! Pee-u!

[oldhippie]

Isn't the drug problem really bad in Umatilla County (compared with other NE OR counties)?

[Baby Sister]

Compared to other small towns I've lived in I would say there is much of a drug problem, but if you're looking for them, you'll find them.

[huntman58]

Well being I lived in Boise for ten years and have driven threw this area I believe I know what kind of place it was said ten years ago. Back then it was colder and got more snow then say Boise ID. Do not know about rain at all thou. The people seamed friendly also then but that was when work was almost every were not like today. As far as drugs and gangs well it can not be any thing close to what we live with now let me tell you. It is almost a shooting galley and open air drug market place down here and we can not wait to get out of here again. We both love small towns and not the big city lights and glamour but just down home folks. The town we live in now is less then 400 people and it is about a 30 mile drive to go shopping so small we can do and love it. For us a small town out side of Hermiston would be good fact better. We are both conservative in thinking and just country folk in heart and wants. So how has it changed say from 2002 to now and if so how?

Any cheap but clean motels to stay at in the Hermiston area? Wife has a job interview on 9/11/2009.

Haws the rental market for 3 /2 homes look and how much do they go for now? I ask as I do not find much at all on line on rentals.

The wife is the only one that will be working as I am disabled and get SSDI. So if we move that is a good thing as she will have a job and I am not looking for one but that is also why the cost of a rental is needed. We also will have our son who is in collage with us so that is why the 3/2 so we can have an extra bedroom for when family comes and visits or to set up as a study /den

What’s the shore fishing like in the area and for what? How about bow hunting with in say about an hour to hour and half of Hermiston?
How is the Jr collage there?

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by huntman58

Any cheap but clean motels to stay at in the Hermiston area?

We stayed at a cheap but clean motel in Hermiston a few years ago and were harassed by teenagers partying in the room next door. They kept calling our phone repeatedly and saying fowl mouthed trash. We couldn't complain to the manager because they wouldn't answer the phone or our knocks on their door. It was amusing at first but it got old real fast. They finally knocked it off when on their last harassing phone call I threatened to shoot them through the wall. Other than the strange motel experience the folks there seemed friendly. I spent the weekend there for a gun show and found some pretty good Mexican food in Hermiston.

[sarahkate_m]

Here are some links which may be helpful!

Cities near Hermiston, Oregon

Denied:1up! Software () - I saw a reasonable rental listed (I think there were 2 but I only looked at one!)

Kate

[annaree22]

I grew up in Hermiston and after moving around a bit after high school have been back for the last 9 years raising a family with my husband, who grew up in Pendleton. We started our family in Pendleton, but chose to live in Hermiston over Pendleton because we found it is a friendlier place. Pendleton is not very welcoming to new move-ins I found. They really like the the status quo to remain unchanged and are proud of it (don't want new businesses, are happy living off Round-Up fame and history, etc). While that works for many people and isn't inherently bad, it isn't the vibe we wanted. It was very hard to meet people - and this from a Pendleton native! Hermiston, on the other hand, is definitely growing. The community is welcoming and the city is trying to make it a family and business friendly area. Check out the GSMC, City of Hermiston and Hermiston Public Library websites for community education and recreation activities that are available for low cost or free. There are quite a few to be found for an area of this size. So, it depends on what you are looking for. If you have a younger family or are planning on starting one, I would definitely go with Hermiston. If you want a place that doesn't want to grow and is happy the way it is, Pendleton is the place to be.
One thing I like about Hermiston is that it is centrally located to Pendleton and the Tri-Cities. If there is something not available in Hermiston, it is a short drove one way or the other. As for higher education, EOU and BMCC are making strides to make it more available within Hermiston. They have recently built a new education center with labs and such that the two institutions share. Also, don't overlook the surrounding towns of Umatilla, Irrigon, Stanfield and Echo. As close as they are, they still retain their own identity and if you really like the small town feel, one of them may do for you. Echo actually is very cute and I hear good things about the schools there.
Also, topography could come in to play. Hermiston, for the most part, is flat. Pendleton is built in a small valley, so everything that isn't on main street (think neighborhoods) is on a steep hill. In summer that is no big deal, in winter is definitely can be if you are uncomfortable driving on snow and ice. Pendleton does get slightly more snow than Hermiston. But we both get icy roads in winter because as a previous poster said, the snow doesn't last long in the sun. Then the temp drops as the sun goes down and presto! icy roads. The neighborhoods in Hermiston are much more conducive to kids and families on bikes as well.
Housing costs are relatively low. There isn't much in the way of rentals around here, which is unfortunate. They can be found, you just have to look. Some friends of ours had good luck by calling realtors when they found a home that had been on the market for a long time and asking if the seller would be willing to lease it for a year. That gave them time to look around and check out neighborhoods before settling down somewhere.
I hope this information is helpful. One thing that I hear over and over is that when people move to Hermiston they think "yuck" and plan to look for jobs elsewhere, then end up staying for 10, 15 or 30 plus years. It's not the place, it's the people that make it great.

[Nell Plotts]

When I was a kid my parents lived in military housing at Ordnance Depot, near Hermiston. My Mother said that when she hung diapers on the wash line the first were dry before she hung the last. She just went back to her start and folded them back in her basket.

[Larry Caldwell]

Best pheasant hunting in Oregon, and the Umatilla Refuge has good blinds. You will receive preference if you have a retriever.