Relocating: Teachers with 2 elementary-age daughters seeking city/suburb suggestions (Portland: fit in, real estate)

[WeLiveOnTheWrongCoast]

First, thanks to anyone that has recommendations. Moving in general can be challenging - planning a move across country can be overwhelming.

I'll start by telling you a bit about our family and why we plan to move from GA (where we both grew up). We are a married couple in our thirties. We have two daughters that are currently 6 & 8. Both of us are public school teachers. I teach elementary school and my husband teaches high school. We are a very active family that loves nature and traveling. We spend our school breaks hiking, camping, and exploring new areas.

We tend to be much less conservative than the majority of those in GA. We are non-religious, support civil rights & animal rights, are environmentally conscious, and generally have a "to each their own" attitude. Additionally, health & wellness are extremely important to us. We try to stay active, and we eat a whole-food plant-based diet (similar to vegan, but with a focus on fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, & legumes rather than just being animal-free) - not a diet that is common in the South. We find it very difficult to make like-minded friends and worry that our children will be ostracized should word get out that we are not religious. We've seen this happen with people we know in the South. Our girls already feel "different" than the other children, and my 8-year-old has repeatedly stated that she wishes she could meet more kids like her. She has actually asked us to move. We also tire of people looking at us like we are crazy or being shunned when our political and social views come up in conversation. Plus, the climate is not for us. We dislike the hot, humid summers, and the mosquitoes here are atrocious.

Before having children, I lived in Pullman, Washington for a brief period of time. I absolutely loved the Northwest and have wanted to move back to the general area ever since. I connected much more readily with the people, and the climate and natural environment were very appealing to me throughout Washington and Oregon. My husband and I have one or both been in school since we met. He will be completing his graduate program this year, and we will be moving the school year that follows. We are extremely excited, but also have the tough choice of deciding where to move. We will be spending this coming summer in the PNW and would like to visit places that make our short list of places to live, while exploring the natural beauty of the region.

So now for the hard part...these are the ideal qualities that we would like find in our new home.

* Progressive population
* Great schools for our daughters and hopefully great for teachers too
* Safe environment - one of the biggest perks of where we live now is the safety of the Atlanta suburb we are in
* Affordable (housing and overall cost of living)- We both teach and don't want to spread ourselves too thin with a hefty house payment; We don't need a lot, 3BR/2BA is just fine
* Great outdoor recreation - Within town: nice parks, trails, bike paths, dog parks; Outside of town within reasonable distance: hiking, rock climbing, rafting, camping
* Community events for kids and families
* Biggish city close by - we are not really city people, but like attending special events from time to time (i.e. - festivals, performances, cultural events, etc.)
* A decent grocery store within 10 minutes drive (we shop at Sprouts in GA). Farmers' markets are great too, but can be limiting certain times of the year. We cook at home almost exclusively, so restaurants are not a factor for us.
* Other Target/Walmart type store(s) within 20 minutes drive
* A major airport within about 60-90 minutes
* Few mosquitoes - most areas have some, but I would like to walk my dog in the front yard and not come inside with 4 bites on my legs
* Climate is flexible. We've visited the area and are fairly familiar with the differences in climate in the different regions. We would be okay with snow, but would rather not be shoveling it for months straight (I lived in Pullman - beautiful in its own way, but a bit much) Rain is not really an issue, though extreme cloud cover could make it difficult to see the stars with our telescope. Perhaps somewhere within driving distance for some amateur astronomy would be nice. Also, we have no interest in living on the beach or being coastal.

Thanks again in advance for your thoughts. We are really looking forward to exploring the area this coming summer!

- JR

[Yankeemama]

Hi there! Housing is getting spendy here in Portland metro but you may want to check out Tacoma, WA. The latter is getting popular, just featured in Sunset Magazine’s best places to live on the West Coast issue.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

There is only one big city and only one major airport. That would make your only choice Portland.

Housing in Portland is expensive. No one cares about your religion or non religion, and they don't want to hear abut it. There are vegan restaurants and health food stores in abundance. Traffic is heavy, making commuting lengthy.

Vegan animal rights people are most often against farming and hunting and fishing, which does not fit in well anywhere in Oregon, so you would have to be very selective about your friends or else learn to keep your mouth shut.

[gray horse]

Sherwood, Wilsonville....but housing won't be cheap.

[redguard57]

Two teaching jobs will not be easy to find at the same time anywhere in the northwest.

Also I'm not clear on what "affordable" means for you. It'll be very hard to find a decent 3/2 with access to those amenities you listed for under $300k. 350k is doable though, if you're willing to give in on a couple things and be patient. At $400-550k you can get what you want fairly easily.

If you're willing to relax the distance to major airport requirement, in Oregon that would open up everything from Eugene north and also Bend, both of which offer much of that lifestyle you're looking for. McMinnville has great schools, somewhat more affordable real estate, relatively easy access to Salem or Portland. Anywhere in the populated areas northwest should have a decent-sized community of the progressives you seem to want to hang with. Even east of the Cascades plenty of them can be found, they're just not in the majority out there ( you should know that from Pullman).

In Washington everything from Olympia north through Bellingham. Also Longview/Vancouver, WA south to Portland. East/West from Portland offer some options. In Portland area you would have to accustom yourself to a commute for affordability.

[Harpaint]

The Eugene/Springfield area would suit your life style I think. The University of Oregon is there and it is a generally liberal area. Homes are more affordable than PDX. Not sure about teaching positions though.

[WeLiveOnTheWrongCoast]

Thanks for all the replies. I should have clarified "affordable" in my original post. That is rather subjective, lol.

In a perfect world, we would find a house for under 300K, closer to 250K would be ideal. That $ gets you a lot where we live in GA, but we realize the housing market is much different in the PNW. We also realize that we may need to move with just one salary if there aren't 2 teaching jobs in the same area immediately available or that we are both hired for at the same time. We don't want to be spread too thin with our income.

The airport requirement is relatively flexible. We'll be flying back to Atlanta probably once per year and will likely have friends/family visiting us periodically. We would actually prefer to live somewhere with less traffic congestion than to live close to an airport. I don't feel that Salem, Corvallis, or Eugene would be unreasonable. We live an hour from downtown Atlanta and are perfectly content with the drive when we need to be in the city. We're more interested in the recreation near our home and local community events that we can enjoy throughout the year without going into the city. We even looked into the Ashland area (not necessarily Ashland itself, pricing is high). It would require a connection through Medford, but a lot of the flights from Portland to Atlanta have a connection depending on the price and time you need.

[Tulippsy]

The left coast is the best coast! Welcome.

[Harpaint]

Two quick comments: According to Zillow, there are homes in your range in Eugene. Medford may be affordable for you and though somewhat conservative, it is a mixed bag and is close to Ashland. Good luck!!

[leastprime]

West Salem.
A <300k home, fenced, 10-12k sqft, within city growth boundary, suburban, with/out view of valley, 3 new or upgraded grade schools of equal distance, Jrhi & SrHi are same distance as grade schools. Easypeasy.