Grants pass problems (Portland, Corvallis, McMinnville: ski resort, mobile home, neighborhood)

[Tlehman21]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Unfortunately Oregon is filled with people who think that clearing forest land to build junkyards is a good use for the land, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of regulations to prevent them from doing it. Personally I don't waste a lot of time complaining about it. Because apparently that is the way they have lived their entire lives, and there is probably nothing I'm going to say to change their minds. Anyway what do I know, I'm just an invader from California, who doesn't understand the importance of cutting down these pesty trees to make room for beautiful junk cars. LOL

i agree, what im talking about is property's that are full on junk yards.

[Tlehman21]

Originally Posted by eureka1

Grants Pass= ugly town in a beautiful vallley.

i actually liked the town, the historic part seems pretty nice and along the hwy looks to be newer development stores with the occasional worn down building here and there. is Eureka any better? i drove through cresent city and seemed like a dump to me.

[Tlehman21]

Originally Posted by PNW to NEPA

It's just the nature of rural places in many areas, not just GP, not just Oregon. If you are willing to pay more, you can move to the Applegate, for example. It's very near GP and beautiful, but very expensive. If you're looking for a rural area that is less developed and has more affluent occupants, you're going to find it where the low income people have been bought out or forced out by wealthier people with horses or dreams of running a winery or that sort of thing.

And honestly, it's not different from urban areas. If you're looking for condo or a loft in a city, the pleasant neighborhoods where the wealthy cluster are going to be really nice and really spendy. If you want a great place for less, you move to 'transitional' neighborhoods and the immediate environs will have elements of poverty and neglect.

Also, will add, being low income and having old cars on your property doesn't make a person a bad neighbor. Sometimes when you have very little you tend to hang on to things you'd be better off letting go of. Still that person may have a kind heart and be there for you when you need a friendly neighbor. If it's a visual thing for you, as in you just find seeing evidence of poverty to be depressing, then you will just have to hold out and hope you find that *one* special place that's both affordable and not adjacent to more distressed places. Josephine County is gorgeous and also economically depressed. It's also resistant to change for a variety of reasons and suffers from the ills of many rural places; lack of opportunity, generational poverty, drug abuse. Grants Pass proper, the city of GP, is probably the best place in Josephine County to live. Better services, better immediate economy... generally a nice place in my opinion. Outside the city you deal with rural county issues. There are more economically disadvantaged people living there because it's cheaper.

I get you're looking for something in the middle --not super spendy and exclusive but not situated among impoverished people either. I think in desirable places like a thriving city or a rural area with great natural beauty like southern OR, it's quite challenging to find that middle place. Have you considered expanding your search to rural areas of Jackson County? Likely even in the less affluent areas it will be more expensive than Josephine County, but you might have better luck finding the middle ground. Ruch? Buncom? Pinehurst?

Thank you for your feedback very informative. By no means im labeling those people bad or down upon im sure there are some very nice people as well. What im talking about and seeing driving around the outskirts of Gp is property's that have turned into full on junkyards broken down vehicles everywhere with numerous trailers on them you cant even tell how many people are living there. Hillbilly living.

Jackson County is beautiful but my wife and I really want the commute to be under 15 min.

So you have no other towns that i may consider that may not have this problem as bad? looking for a place around that size of Gp that has decent shopping that's within an hour of major shopping. city life is not for me. Thats why i find Gp to fit my needs just the one con is pretty major, i dont feel save raising my family near some of those property's. Ill continue to wait maybe a house will come up for sale that doesn't have that near by.

[PNW to NEPA]

Good luck. Josephine County has a stubborn character to it. Always has. It's partly what makes it hard for the county to redefine itself like many other Oregon counties have. The local economy was based on logging and mining. Those are not viable industries anymore. The city of GP has made an effort to build up the tourist economy, and with some success, but it hasn't really spread into the rural county areas. In recent years many have hoped the cannabis industry would become a new basis for the local economy. Even non-users were optimistic about it. However until cannabis is legal nationally, Josephine County is stuck in an over-supply situation. It can produce it brilliantly, but can't have wide enough markets to build out that economic base.

I have relatives with a house outside Cave Junction. Beautiful, beautiful area. It used to be pretty idyllic, then the scourge of addiction hit it, raising crime, causing people to move away, the county voters are adamant about keeping their taxes minimal so there is no revenue for necessary law enforcement or other services. It got pretty depressing over there. With the explosion of cannabis farming it actually got a little better. It was kind of a drag to see all the 10' field fences popping up everywhere, but it brought some entrepreneurial energy to the area. Right now it seems to just be in a holding pattern... not getting worse, not getting better.

[texasdiver]

Rural Oregon is pretty much the same as rural everywhere else.

Over the past 50 years or so rural and urban economies have slowly diverged. There was a time when there were lots of middle class managerial type jobs scattered throughout rural Oregon. So small towns had lots of factory managers, government workers, local businessmen, doctors, lawyers, dentists, etc. As the rural economies have slowly declined there has been a long slow bleed of middle class white collar types (and especially their kids) out of small rural towns and into the cities. The only places you really find well scrubbed prosperous rural areas without trash in yards are wealthy exurban enclaves near large cities like Burke County Virginia (horse country) or Sonoma County CA (wine country). Or highly productive agricultural areas that are dominated by large corporate farms.

[gray horse]

Have you looked on North Applegate Rd.? Pretty area, several wineries.

[Tlehman21]

Originally Posted by gray horse

Have you looked on North Applegate Rd.? Pretty area, several wineries.

Im trying to stay within 15 min to town, so about Murphy is as far as i can go south.

[Tlehman21]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Rural Oregon is pretty much the same as rural everywhere else.

Over the past 50 years or so rural and urban economies have slowly diverged. There was a time when there were lots of middle class managerial type jobs scattered throughout rural Oregon. So small towns had lots of factory managers, government workers, local businessmen, doctors, lawyers, dentists, etc. As the rural economies have slowly declined there has been a long slow bleed of middle class white collar types (and especially their kids) out of small rural towns and into the cities. The only places you really find well scrubbed prosperous rural areas without trash in yards are wealthy exurban enclaves near large cities like Burke County Virginia (horse country) or Sonoma County CA (wine country). Or highly productive agricultural areas that are dominated by large corporate farms.

i get what your saying, but in Tillamook which is very low income i still dont see the hillbilly living what i been seeing down south. Maybe Oregon isnt the right state for me, but my wife wants to stay within 5 hrs of family which is in Tillamook.

[gray horse]

Originally Posted by Tlehman21

Im trying to stay within 15 min to town, so about Murphy is as far as i can go south.

North Applegate Rd. is partially in Murphy and extends to Applegate. I was thinking the Murphy end.

[Hawk J]

The area around Ace Hardware/Fields Home Center, on Williams Hwy, looks pretty nice. Williams hwy goes by Safeway & Walgreens, in Grants Pass. Grants Pass has some pretty nice areas. We live in the mountains. We've been doing most of our shopping in Grants Pass for over 30 years.



https://www.acehardware.com/store-details/07367