Pretty Nervous Here... (Portland: transplants, apartments, condominiums)

[sunshine48]

You absolutely should make a trip to Oregon before relocating. Things are always different in person. I was raised in OR., left in 1972 and was not able to return until 1999. It is a beautiful state. We love it and feel blessed to call it home. But there is such a variety of choices you need to make...such as: weather, population, housing, jobs, etc. We have the fabulous Coast (cold & wet with rugged beauty), Central OR. high desert, (mild summers, springs, falls, w/chilly evenings, long, cold winters w/snow & ice), Eastern OR. (more barren & dry) sparsely populated, Southern OR. most moderate climate w/many wineries and long growing seasons, but smaller populations and fewer jobs, and the Willamette Valley areas (very lush and green w/mostly gray, rainy days and some snow) but having the most populated cities and towns and, of course, more jobs.
Even within each geographic area, there is a lot of variety.
Good luck with your decision.

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by 4sarad

Here is what we're looking for:

I'm a librarian, so I'm looking for a community that values education and literacy. We have no children now, but will some day, so once again... education is important. I want to live somewhere where I can see mountains, but I don't have to drive on any. I love rainy days, so I don't mind a rainy section of the state and absolutely require lots of green grass and trees. We'll be renting for at least the first year or two, but once we can afford a house, we'd like to build our own... preferrably not in town. My husband is a novelist, so it really doesn't matter to him where we live in regards to job outlook. I'd prefer to live in a place with under 20,000 people or so. My husband and I don't go out that much except to enjoy some fine dining. We would like to get into hiking, biking, and kayaking more, though. I'm not sure what else would help here. I would prefer cooler summers than we have here in Ohio. I tend to get light-headed very quickly in heat.

Any advice you could give would be very greatly appreciated!

If you are a librarian, then you should definitely take a look at Portland. Even if you can't afford it yet, you should consider working there - Portland has the highest level of patronage of any library system in the US and also the world's largest independent bookstore: Powell's books.
http://www.powells.com/ (broken link)

They just built/renovated all of the city libraries back a few years ago, and have a VERY innovative system that allows you to check out movies, DVDs, music, etc, in addition to books.

There are smaller suburbs around the city to live in, but I don't think any of them are down to 20,000. As far as the rest of the state - from my experience as a native, they typically vastly underfund education and libraries in general; I'd check out Corvallis and Eugene, however - cities of 60k and 150k, respectively.

In sum, basically you will have to live in the valley, which is rainy and very mild weather-wise; with mountains to the east, west, and south - within an hour's drive. The ocean is also an hour's drive to the west. All of the mountains also have forests on them, and are great for vacations & recreation. Our summers don't get that hot and we have pretty low humidity (a little dry usually, but not bad).

You can hike, bicycle, camp, and kayak all over the state - there are many books you can buy at the local bookstores and REI outdoor equipment store that show all the good places to go to, since you enjoy that kind of thing (as do I). We're big on the outdoors here!

The bottom line, however, is where there is people and money, you will find better funded educational systems (and libraries). You might also check central Oregon - Bend is a very fast growing city with lots of money; it probably has a good educational system, but it doesn't rain, and it gets the hot/cold extremes due to being in the [high] desert.

Originally Posted by gizmo980

I just re-read your post, and realized that you want a small town... so Eugene, Portland and Salem would be out! There are plenty of small communities in those metro areas, though, so you can still find something along that stretch. I don't know too much about it, but I've always liked Cottage Grove, which is about 20 miles south of Eugene. Also some cute towns north of Eugene, outside of Portland... and maybe Astoria, Corvallis, Ashland, or Hood River?

These are also good choices - kind of forgot about them! Not sure about Astoria or Hood River, but Corvallis, Cottage Grove, and Ashland are smaller towns with colleges in them.

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by 4sarad

In Jackson County? I was just looking at them earlier today. Didn't they just renovate all of their public libraries? Did they close some and use the money to make the others better?

Here's what I read today:
Thanks to Jackson County voters, who overwhelmingly passed Measure 15-6 in May 2000, work has begun on the Jackson County Libraries building project. New libraries have been built in Applegate, Central Point, Eagle Point, Gold Hill, Medford, Prospect, Ruch and Jacksonville while existing libraries have been extensively remodeled in Rogue River and Ashland. Construction is underway in Phoenix, Shady Cove, and Talent.

The $38.9 million bond measure is expanding or building new libraries in fourteen communities in Jackson County, Oregon. In a fifteenth community, Urban Renewal funds built a new library in White City.

Have things changed since then?

That is correct. On their website:

ALL 15 Jackson County Library branches WILL BE CLOSED as of Saturday, April 7, 2007, due to a lack of funding.

And they have a handy link: http://www.jcls.org/infoblog/ (broken link)


Again, I'd say your best bets are the larger, more literate valley cities...

[Gary Auxier]

Why not try something different, like east of the Cascades on the "brown" side of the state. No, it's not always brown, lots of beautiful, un-explored, un-discovered areas. You may be able to find a job as a school librarian, but it will probably include driving the school bus, and other responsibilities. The local color will give your spouse much material for his novels, and you might just enjoy becoming involved with, and an active part of the local community. Do not plan on getting rich, but piles of money are not necessary in many places here.
If you would enjoy living in an area where politicians hold part time jobs, serving their community, rather than their aspirations, if you would enjoy living in a community where our constitutional form of government still works, if you would enjoy living in an area where your neighbors are at your door offering assistance, even before you know you need help, please look into the eastern parts of Oregon outside of the Bend/Redmond areas as they are already too citified.
It may get hot, but the low humidity makes it much more comfortable than the mid-west, same with the cold.

[LoveJesus]

Oregon is beautiful, green, and a great state. BUT--it is really really hard to find a good job there. None of those advantages are good if you have no money to live a decent life. Don't go there until you have a job before you leave. Just my two cents.

[Raydeo]

Originally Posted by yakker

Yeah, some decisions can really make you nervous, and can make a big difference in the rest of your life!



Dave

"Do you have trouble making Decisions ? "

"Well, Yes and No..."

[CantWait2Bthere]

Can't you get both...I mean I knew lots of college kids who smoked weed...one of them was taking classes to become a pilot too. SCARY ;/

[movinonup]

Originally Posted by 4sarad

I have had my mind set on moving to Oregon for years, and my husband is just as excited. We will be able to move in June of 2008, as soon as I graduate with my Masters degree. My problem is that I work full time and go to school full time, and my husband will be graduating in May ('07) and starting a new job. This means we will have no time, money, or vacation time with which to figure out which town/city would be best for us. Neither of us have ever actually been to Oregon!

I won't move until I have a job lined up, but I'd like to narrow down my search radius to a section of Oregon that would suit us best. I hope some people here will have some advice! Here is what we're looking for:

I'm a librarian, so I'm looking for a community that values education and literacy. We have no children now, but will some day, so once again... education is important. I want to live somewhere where I can see mountains, but I don't have to drive on any. I love rainy days, so I don't mind a rainy section of the state and absolutely require lots of green grass and trees. We'll be renting for at least the first year or two, but once we can afford a house, we'd like to build our own... preferrably not in town. My husband is a novelist, so it really doesn't matter to him where we live in regards to job outlook. I'd prefer to live in a place with under 20,000 people or so. My husband and I don't go out that much except to enjoy some fine dining. We would like to get into hiking, biking, and kayaking more, though. I'm not sure what else would help here. I would prefer cooler summers than we have here in Ohio. I tend to get light-headed very quickly in heat.

Any advice you could give would be very greatly appreciated!

They are closing the librarys! The one is Medford is barely over five years old. There abouts anyway. It is beautiful too.

[esya]

small towns anywhere don't usually have big libraries....but Denver has been hiring librarians so you might check out Colorado as well (nothing like Oregon but midwesterners seem to think it's heaven).

[mitchere]

I suggest you look at towns along the Columbia River northwest of Portland. They sound like they fit your criteria pretty well. I grew up in St. Helens, OR which was named after Mt. St. Helens because it has a good view of the mountain. That will definitely takes care of the mountain view you wanted because on a clear, sunny day you can see Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Hood, and obviously Mt. St. Helens. St. Helens is also really green with lots of grass, trees, creeks, etc. Basically, if you plant it, it will grow, and even if you don't plant it, it will grow. It is also a small tight-knit community that is nice for raising children. (I was raised there and I thought it was great!) I have not looked lately, but the population of St. Helens is around 9,000 and it has a nice (athough small) library.

Some other towns along the Columbia River include Scappoose, Rainier, Clatskanie, Warren, Columbia City, and others. They are all small towns with less than 10,000 people. If you want to be close to Portland, Scappoose is a good option because it is only about 30 minutes from Portland. St. Helens is a little further away. Almost all of these towns have small community libraries. I doubt the pay is very high, but living in that area is pretty cheap compared to Portland. I know a ton of people who bought land in and around St. Helens and built their own houses. I even know a guy who will pour your foundation for a good price!

St. Helens is also only about 2 hours from the coast, so you can visit whenever you like, but it isn't nearly as cold and windy. I don't know if you've ever been to the Oregon coast, but it is really windy, rainy, and cold most of the year. It isn't really a fun place to live in my opinion, but if you just go inland a little more, the wheather is pretty mild year round. Good luck finding a place.