moving to Southern Oregon Ideas please! (Medford, Grants Pass: apartments, rentals, house)

[michellefuller8]

Greetings! My family and I are planning to move to Oregon very soon. We are looking for a rental in Southern Oregon preferably in a small town within 20 miles of a city. Prefer a population of 10,000 or less. Beautiful natural scenery is important to us. Our rental budget is initially 650 a month and we need at least two bedrooms. Appreciate anything you offer We have been looking in the Klamath Falls Area so far.

[PNW-type-gal]

The usual first question is: do you need jobs? While the unemployment rate is low, the types of jobs available tend to be either low wage, often not full time, or credentialed medical. The larger the city area, the more breadth in the job market. The smaller the town, the less available.

Klamath Falls is around 40,000 (including its immediate suburb, Altamont/South Suburbs). Outside of that, the small rural towns nearby are considerably less than 10,000.

The Cascade Mountains divide Klamath Falls from the rest of Southern Oregon (Medford, Central Point, Eagle Point, Grants Pass, Phoenix, Talent, Ashland) and make commuting for work out of the question, particularly in winter.

The $650 a month is probably doable in Klamath Falls, much harder in the rest of Southern Oregon. There are less desirable areas of Klamath Falls, you'd need to drive around and see rentals before committing. The housing shortage isn't as acute in Klamath Falls as the rest of Southern Oregon, but you might have some problems trying to find a rental while you are not yet in the area.

[Larry Caldwell]

Be careful about the energy status of some of those low dollar rentals. It gets cold in K Falls in the winter. It can cost $500/month to heat some of those older shacks. Don't rent it unless it has double pane windows, tight doors and at least a foot of insulation in the attic.

Checking Craigslist, I see a handful of 2 br apartments near I-5. Your best bet may be the one in Glendale.

https://roseburg.craigslist.org/apa/6048172003.html

I know the landlord, who is always tearing his hair out about tenant damage. It's a 3-plex, and the neighbors may be a bit sketchy, depending on who is there at the moment. There's a Swanson mill in town, and if you are lucky you might get on there. Water and sewer will run you $125/month.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by michellefuller8

Greetings! My family and I are planning to move to Oregon very soon. We are looking for a rental in Southern Oregon preferably in a small town within 20 miles of a city. Prefer a population of 10,000 or less. Beautiful natural scenery is important to us. Our rental budget is initially 650 a month and we need at least two bedrooms. Appreciate anything you offer We have been looking in the Klamath Falls Area so far.

1. How small would you prefer the small town to be? What would be the minimum population size? 2. You want to be 20 miles from a city of what size? What exactly are you looking to be 20 miles from?

Southern Oregon is mostly a collection of towns with five digit populations, the largest being Medford with a population of 79,000. Klamath Falls has a population of 21,000. Are you looking for a small town within 20 miles of Klamath Falls?

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

1. How small would you prefer the small town to be? What would be the minimum population size? 2. You want to be 20 miles from a city of what size? What exactly are you looking to be 20 miles from?

Southern Oregon is mostly a collection of towns with five digit populations, the largest being Medford with a population of 79,000. Klamath Falls has a population of 21,000. Are you looking for a small town within 20 miles of Klamath Falls?

Yeah, the biggest town in Southern Oregon is Medford. You couldn't rent a dog house in Ashland for $650. The other cities are K Falls, Grants Pass and Roseburg. None of those are good places to be poor.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Southern Oregon is mostly a collection of towns with five digit populations, the largest being Medford with a population of 79,000. Klamath Falls has a population of 21,000. Are you looking for a small town within 20 miles of Klamath Falls?

Klamath Falls is more like 42,000. Immediately adjacent to the city are two suburbs, which are technically just unincorporated county, but the addresses are in Klamath Falls and driving down the streets you don't get any sense that you have left the city of Klamath Falls.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Klamath Falls is more like 42,000. Immediately adjacent to the city are two suburbs, which are technically just unincorporated county, but the addresses are in Klamath Falls and driving down the streets you don't get any sense that you have left the city of Klamath Falls.

That's true of most small towns. Roseburg has an official population of 22,000, except 8-5 M-F, when the population is 50,000. It got so bad that now they won't provide city water and sewer to anyone who doesn't agree to be annexed. Everybody wants the benefits of living in a city, but don't want to pay city property taxes. They don't see themselves as freeloaders, but that is what they are.

[michellefuller8]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

1. How small would you prefer the small town to be? What would be the minimum population size? 2. You want to be 20 miles from a city of what size? What exactly are you looking to be 20 miles from?

Southern Oregon is mostly a collection of towns with five digit populations, the largest being Medford with a population of 79,000. Klamath Falls has a population of 21,000. Are you looking for a small town within 20 miles of Klamath Falls?

Thanks so much for your reply. We do not necessarily have to be near Klamath falls. That was just one area that we had been researching. I would prefer a small town within twenty miles of a city with a population of at least 30,000. I work from home and my wife has restaurant cooking experience. Thanks again for your help!

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by michellefuller8

Greetings!........ Our rental budget is initially 650 a month and we need at least two bedrooms. Appreciate anything you offer..........

If you are looking for someone to offer you a rental, you are looking in the wrong forum.

If what you want is suggestions about a place to meet your criteria, you might get some suggestions, but you will still have to find your own rentals. $650 a month for a two bedroom in Oregon is going to be difficult to find, unless you get way out away from anything at all.

Christmas Valley would be a cheap place to rent and that gets you within 30 miles of La Pine.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by michellefuller8

Thanks so much for your reply. We do not necessarily have to be near Klamath falls. That was just one area that we had been researching. I would prefer a small town within twenty miles of a city with a population of at least 30,000. I work from home and my wife has restaurant cooking experience. Thanks again for your help!

With your criteria the options are extremely limited in Southern Oregon and it's going to be a real challenge to find both jobs and housing in these type of communities. You could try these. They are the only ones I can come up with. But I doubt any of them are going to meet your needs.

Eagle Point (8,900) 12 miles to Medford
Talent (6,400) 7 miles to Medford
Phoenix (4,500) 4 miles to Medford
Shady Cove (3,000) 21 miles to Medford
Jacksonville (2,800) 5 miles to Medford
Rogue River (2,200) 9 miles to Grants Pass
Gold Hill (1,200) 13 miles to Medford