Is Grants Pass a good place to live, raise a family, working in Medford? (Central Point: 2015, crime)

[Leroy James]

I have a job offer in Medford but want to live my daily life in a "smaller" town. I like the scenery, the topography, and just the way Grants Pass looks in general over other areas closer to Medford. But is it good place to live? How is the crime for example, being a touristy town? I'm not all that concerned with number of amenities. Whatever GP doesn't have are things we don't go to on a regular basis and Medford does, so being a half hour away is fine. How is the political climate? I'm not talking about number of conservatives vs liberals, but the affect of local government on daily life. How are things like parks and kids playing outside, the neighborhoods, drug issues, things like that

[PNW-type-gal]

This winter has been unusually snowy and icy and the commute from Grants Pass to Medford has been pretty bad (I have several friends who go the other way - live in Medford, job in Grants Pass) and they have had a few days where they just gave up on going in or their regular 35-40 minute commute has been around an hour and a half - mostly due to accidents.

I think the downtown area in Grants Pass is cute and has a nice mix of things, but I chose not to live there because of the Josephine County funding issues for things like police and fire. Also, I don't know what it is, but there is a particularly obnoxious rural outlook where there have been several cases of fire or ambulance responding to a call and being shot at or harrassed. Maybe it is all the pot grows (the majority of which are only semi-legal), but I doubt it.

If you found the right in-city-limits neighborhood, and Grants Pass has a few scattered nice neighborhoods, I think you would have a good place for your family, but look long and hard. The same pretty much goes for Medford, Central Point, etc, but Jackson County doesn't have quite the funding issues Josephine has and the biggest boundary to watch is school rather than city/county.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

In Oregon, there is benefit with living close to work. Sometimes the weather is less fun for commuting.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

This winter has been unusually snowy and icy and the commute from Grants Pass to Medford has been pretty bad (I have several friends who go the other way - live in Medford, job in Grants Pass) and they have had a few days where they just gave up on going in or their regular 35-40 minute commute has been around an hour and a half - mostly due to accidents.

I think the downtown area in Grants Pass is cute and has a nice mix of things, but I chose not to live there because of the Josephine County funding issues for things like police and fire. Also, I don't know what it is, but there is a particularly obnoxious rural outlook where there have been several cases of fire or ambulance responding to a call and being shot at or harrassed. Maybe it is all the pot grows (the majority of which are only semi-legal), but I doubt it.

If you found the right in-city-limits neighborhood, and Grants Pass has a few scattered nice neighborhoods, I think you would have a good place for your family, but look long and hard. The same pretty much goes for Medford, Central Point, etc, but Jackson County doesn't have quite the funding issues Josephine has and the biggest boundary to watch is school rather than city/county.

Last I checked, police and fire service in Grants Pass was on par with any other city in the state. They claim over 100 employees. I can't imagine a city the size of Grants Pass needing much more than that. County issues are not necessarily relevant to cities in that county. At best county services are less than city services in most incorporated locations.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Last I checked, police and fire service in Grants Pass was on par with any other city in the state. They claim over 100 employees. I can't imagine a city the size of Grants Pass needing much more than that. County issues are not necessarily relevant to cities in that county. At best county services are less than city services in most incorporated locations.

County issues are completely relevant to the city issues - there is a lot of frustration from various LEOs (google the stories in the Courier and the Mail Tribune) about crime issues in Josephine County spilling into the surrounding areas, both the city of Grants Pass and Jackson County.

[wolfdog]

I'm still considering the GP area, as well. Seems I remember there being a sheriff's dept. funding issue. Maybe library, too.
I wish it had another golf course or two.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

County issues are completely relevant to the city issues - there is a lot of frustration from various LEOs (google the stories in the Courier and the Mail Tribune) about crime issues in Josephine County spilling into the surrounding areas, both the city of Grants Pass and Jackson County.

City ≠ County. Are the stories about Grants Pass or are they about Josephine County. I have never read any stories about problems with the Grants Pass City Government. If a crime occurs in Grants Pass, the Grants Pass PD will respond, not the Sheriff. So county problems are not relevant to the residents of Grants Pass, except maybe for mutual aid. And in that case, if the county can't respond, Grants Pass can get help from the OSP. So even that, is not really relevant to Grants Pass.

[Leroy James]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

This winter has been unusually snowy and icy and the commute from Grants Pass to Medford has been pretty bad (I have several friends who go the other way - live in Medford, job in Grants Pass) and they have had a few days where they just gave up on going in or their regular 35-40 minute commute has been around an hour and a half - mostly due to accidents.

I think the downtown area in Grants Pass is cute and has a nice mix of things, but I chose not to live there because of the Josephine County funding issues for things like police and fire. Also, I don't know what it is, but there is a particularly obnoxious rural outlook where there have been several cases of fire or ambulance responding to a call and being shot at or harrassed. Maybe it is all the pot grows (the majority of which are only semi-legal), but I doubt it.

If you found the right in-city-limits neighborhood, and Grants Pass has a few scattered nice neighborhoods, I think you would have a good place for your family, but look long and hard. The same pretty much goes for Medford, Central Point, etc, but Jackson County doesn't have quite the funding issues Josephine has and the biggest boundary to watch is school rather than city/county.

Tell me about these funding issues? How big an issue are they?

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Leroy James

Tell me about these funding issues? How big an issue are they?

I believe this is what the OP is referring to.

Josephine County preps for more budget cuts

It's not just Josephine County. The residents of almost every single rural Oregon county, have repeatedly voted again and again, that they want low taxes and minimum government services. Most residents are perfectly happy with it that way. If you like higher taxes, and more government services, you probably won't find that in rural Oregon.

Again, this is not really relevant if you live in the city limits of Grants Pass. Best as I can tell, Grants Pass city services are on par with any other Oregon city. Though depending on where you come from, city services could be less than where you came from.

[PNW-type-gal]

More like this:

https://kobi5.com/news/josephine-cou...closure-41106/

About To Go From Bad To Worse: Josephine County

In the rural West, residents choose low taxes over law enforcement - Longform Story

The county is the organization that runs jail, the prosecutor's office, the District Attorney. While the city of Grants Pass DOES fund their police (which is one of the reasons in-city taxes are higher than county), the city of Grants Pass can't run the entire operation on their own.

Again - I LIKE the town of Grants Pass, but the county issues most definitely weigh on the city.