Thoughts on the Ashland Area (Portland, Medford: for sale, crime, houses)

[AZdadof5]

Hey everyone! Oregon is the state my heart lives in, but my partner doesn't want the rain of Portland... so I'm looking ad Ashland. I have been there once, and LOVED it! Can you give me thoughts and tips on living there. I have kids. I hear the schools are great? Posts I see on previous threads say it's very expensive... bit they are old posts, prior to the '08 mess. Is it still pretty crazy? I travel a lot. Does the Medford airport serve basic travel needs? or will it be 3-4 hours to a good airport?

[PNW-type-gal]

Airport first: the Rogue Valley "International" Airport (there are no international passenger flights, there might be international air cargo) in Medford has multiple daily direct direct flights to Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. There are also daily (and, seasonally, more than once daily) flights to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Mesa, Denver, Las vegas and Salt Lake. As is true with smaller airports, flights are more expensive. You can fly from Portland to Los Angeles for a bit more than half of what the flight costs from Medford. It is about a five hour drive to Portland's airport and a little over 6 hour drive (depending on traffic) to San Francisco's. If you fly via United/Skywest your default connection is via SFO, which can be a dicey thing certain times of the year due to fog there.

Ashland is still expensive by Southern Oregon standards, comparable houses in Ashland run about $150,000 more than Medford (average house price in Medford is currently $258,000). More of Ashland's housing stock is on the high end, million+ houses are not uncommon. There are a lot of very well-heeled retirees and second-home owners in Ashland. The housing market is tight, supply is at an all-time low, so it is frequently a multiple bidder situation in Ashland.

If I pull up a popular home listing site and draw a circle around Ashland, I get about 160 houses for sale. If I put an upper limit of $400,000 on price, I get 17.

Rogue Valley weather, while sunnier than the Portland area, is still in a similar pattern. Winters are wet, cloudy and cool. Ashland's average rain is abound 19-20" a year, compared to Portland's 40+, but the rain still falls mainly in the winter, from about the beginning of November to about March. Ashland (and the Rogue Valley in general) is much hotter than Portland in the summer, highs into the 90s are not uncommon and it can hit 100 and above, depending on elevation. Ashland is built into the foothills, so the climate/temp varies by location. The tradeoff for cooler summers would be icy, sometimes briefly snowy roads in winter. Lower elevations are hotter in summer but snow/ice is unusual.

Someone who can't stand Portland's winter weather may not like Ashland's either, even though there is a bit more sun and less rain, it is still a cloudy winter.

I have no kids in school, but most of the people I know in Ashland who have children are mostly satisfied with the public and private schools.

[Harpaint]

You need to have your job situation worked out before moving, but you're probably aware of that. The Rogue Valley has limited job opportunities.

[wolfdog]

It's a fairly liberal college town, if that matters.

[bler144]

Note that parts of Medford (southeast, primarily) are nice as well - nice houses, good schools - at a slightly lower price point. And gives you an option if you just don't want to live in a college town, liberal or otherwise. Other parts of Medford are not as nice, though certainly not a murder-fest.

But it is only slighly less expensive than Portland or Ashland. A "nice" home in a good SD is still likely to cost $325+. But strictly speaking one doesn't have to live in Ashland (or Jacksonville) to enjoy the region.

As others have noted, jobs are your primary obstacle. If you're both doctors, well, then that would take care of both jobs and COL. If you're not doctors, jobs will be a bit more of a struggle, and you'll likely be surprised at what things cost. Summers are much hotter, winters slightly 'better' though as PNW-gal notes, not worlds apart.

[PNW-type-gal]

Why someone would pick Ashland:
- small, artsy, New Age, extremely "Eco-conscious" town
- small stores, not big boxes
- excellent "natural/organic" stores (Ashland Co-Op, Market of Choice, ShopNKart)
- Lithia Park
- small enough town that you run into the same people
- upscale dining (mostly "upscale casual")
- on I5 but set off of it so the freeway doesn't intrude on the city
- Southern Oregon University offers arts events for all
- lots of small music venues
- surrounded by rolling hills, wineries, a small ski area in the mountains

The flip-side, aka why someone might not like Ashland:
- high number of homeless and "homefree," a minority of which are very aggressive, particularly on the Plaza and in Lithia Park
- very expensive housing for the area
- very limited job market (even for the Rogue Valley), mostly part-time - tourists, retirees and college students are the main economy
- relatively high "minor" crime (thefts, car break-ins, etc)
- expensive groceries and dining out
- limited shopping selection, higher prices for services
- relatively isolated (6+ hours to San Francisco, 5 hours to Portland)
- "border" politics - it's not California but it's often not quite Oregon, either.

[gray horse]

This is so sad that Ashland has let their homeless problem go this far. I definitely decided against Ashland because I want country living, and places like San Francisco makes me sick to see the homeless...it's happening on a lesser scale, but ultimately more visually in Ashland. Just something I didn't want to deal with everyday.


It's going to hurt their tourist industry, and the appeal for people to move there.


Ashland transient arrested for assault - News - DailyTidings.com - Ashland, OR

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by gray horse

This is so sad that Ashland has let their homeless problem go this far. I definitely decided against Ashland because I want country living, and places like San Francisco makes me sick to see the homeless...it's happening on a lesser scale, but ultimately more visually in Ashland. Just something I didn't want to deal with everyday.

There is no city on the main I5 corridor in Oregon (and California) that does not have the same problem and Ashland is FAR from the worst. It is the most visible in the Plaza area and the latest method of dealing with it is to step up foot patrols and to enact laws about blocking sidewalks, establishing "keep clear" zones around store entrances and banks, stepping up dog control ordinances (which will annoy the well-heeled tourists as much as it annoys the homeless) and potentially enacting a complete outdoor smoking ban.

[gray horse]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

There is no city on the main I5 corridor in Oregon (and California) that does not have the same problem and Ashland is FAR from the worst. It is the most visible in the Plaza area and the latest method of dealing with it is to step up foot patrols and to enact laws about blocking sidewalks, establishing "keep clear" zones around store entrances and banks, stepping up dog control ordinances (which will annoy the well-heeled tourists as much as it annoys the homeless) and potentially enacting a complete outdoor smoking ban.

Well I can you tell you, people my parents age and the majority of the tourists to Ashland are 65+ are down right depressed to see the homeless, and AFRAID to stroll the main street in the evening. It's like a five block Tenderloin in a darling, sweet town. Last time I was there my mother and I were being stalked by a drunk homeless man at 3:00 in the afternoon. SCARY! We had to duck into a restaurant and have an ice tea to escape him.

[wolfdog]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

There is no city on the main I5 corridor in Oregon (and California) that does not have the same problem and Ashland is FAR from the worst. It is the most visible in the Plaza area and the latest method of dealing with it is to step up foot patrols and to enact laws about blocking sidewalks, establishing "keep clear" zones around store entrances and banks, stepping up dog control ordinances (which will annoy the well-heeled tourists as much as it annoys the homeless) and potentially enacting a complete outdoor smoking ban.

THAT'S pretty liberal. And absurd. And I'm not a smoker.
Ashland, CA