I know its been asked before... is this the right choice? (Bend: rental, homes)

[Krystle]

Originally Posted by bubbleberry

Also my wife asks if Bend is as green as the rest of Oregon... she fears it may be a dry,desert type terrain...she wants a nice garden !!!

Ah, see, that might be a deal breaker. I've heard you can't grow tomatoes in Bend because the growing season is so short.

[bubbleberry]

LisaLoLo, if you do not mind, could you tell me the zip codes for the areas you mentioned in eugene?

[bubbleberry]

Guys we keep coming back to Corvallis, so as well as info on Eugene, we were hoping someone could shine some light on Corvallis.

Its a small town, which is better for starting a business, betwean Salem & Eugene, which allows for growth....is it nice?

Brian

[LisaLooLoo]

To the south you have Creswell at 97426 and Cottage Grove at 97424. I'm a little biased to Cottage Grove, since that's where I live

We have good schools, with a brand new high school, a couple of small country schools with barely over 100 students, and a couple of in-town schools that do very well. There are coffee shops, etc. and a bunch of historic homes, some of which could use a good makeover. We also have a brand new hospital. That said, though, a good portion of the people that live in Cottage Grove commute to Eugene, 20 miles to the north so it does have somewhat of a bedroom community feel.

Creswell is 8 miles to the north of Cottage Grove, 12 miles south of Eugene. It's smaller, but from what I understand also has a good school system. There are less historic homes here, but I'm sure there are some good homes in need of a makeover. It too is somewhat of a bedroom community.

To the north of Eugene you have Coburg and Harrisburg. Coburg is known for antique shops, Harrisburg has a lot of agricultural focus as there are a lot of grass seed farmers around Harrisburg and points north.

To the west you have Veneta, OR. This is a nice community, probably smaller and with less services than some of the other outlying towns, and not on I-5 so commuting from there can be less convenient, though still nothing like SoCal.

I don't know much about Coburg, Harrisburg, or Veneta school systems, so I can't help you much there. As far as being able to walk to the nearest coffee shop, I'm thinking that Coburg and Cottage Grove are your best bets.

Hope this helps!

Oh, and you can definitely grow a good garden in any of these areas!

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by bubbleberry

my wife needs to wake up to blue skys more often than grey.

This is an important observation about mood issues that relate to light privation. Many areas in western Oregon will have some overcast in the morning that burns off by noon. In the minds of some, such days are "sunny". But if you are light sensitive, no amount of afternoon sunshine can compensate for low light levels first thing in the morning.
Realize that, unlike Ireland, in the U.S. you do have the option of living somewhere below the 35th parallel (commonly referred to as the "SAD line") where light privation issues are much reduced. I would look long and hard at locations farther south. Lack of personal productivity and vitality are an oppressive burden that no amount of positive livability in other realms can make up for.

[Oregonbeachlover]

Wake up to freshly brewed coffee and drink up.

[LisaLooLoo]

Originally Posted by Oregonbeachlover

Wake up to freshly brewed coffee and drink up.

Amen sister preach it!!

[bubbleberry]

Hey Guys

I thought I would give you an update.Myself & my wife have chatted long & hard about the various factors that make up any decision to move.While parts of Oregon may be cloudy, my wife grew up in a very green part of the country that has similar weather to Seattle, & feels that the weather there did little to alter her moods.

We currently live in an extremely sunny place, but it gets so sunny that the blinds have to be closed or the house turns into a furnace, which makes it nice outside, & dark inside....

We have talked with many psychologists, and psychiatrist's trying to avoid the inevitable, medication. Yesterday we had another of those talks, & it seems that a very low dose of meds may just give her the boost she needs to overcome the associated issues with depression... you do not want to do anything because you feel low & tired, so you have none of the interactions with people, with nature, that can have such a positive impact on you emotions.

Another issue for my wife was that when she was adopted she lived in an EXTREMELY isolated part of the country, & while she had various interactions with her parents friends, she has never really had the opportunity to develop any real friends, which is very important for emotional well being.

She has not made any decisions yet, but the feeling is that she take the medication
for a period of months at a very low dose, just enough to lift her head above water, so that she has the boost she needs to fight this thing.

We have decided that if we are to move our home has to fit tick all these boxes...

The house should not be to big, to much empty space is not good, something cosy, perhaps with a fireplace and 3 bedrooms.It does not have to be big, just big enough that we will not have to move if we have kids.

It has to have a garden,big enough that my wife can plant some fruit trees & some vegetables, while still being able to have fun in the back area.

It needs to be in a community of people, so not secluded, but perhaps in the middle of a row of similar properties....we want to get to know the neighbors, but do not want to be able to see what they are up to in their garden, & vice versa. It would be really nice if it was a place where you got to know the clerk at the grocery store, where you chatted to the man at the bakery...

It has to be within walking distance, perhaps a mile or so from nature. Dogs are such loving creatures, they are constant companions, & my wife has always wanted 1. They also require much exercise so we will be forced to get outside a couple of times a day and take it for long walks...we want those walks to be by a riverside or through a forest or park.

It has to close enough to a vibrant community that we can also walk there, we both love food, the arts, theater, comedy, an occasional beer etc.

It needs to be a town of no around 100 thousand people, or perhaps one with a smaller population of perhaps 50 thousand, but that is surrounded by similar small towns.I do not want to move to a small town and start creating enemy's by stealing all the competitions clients, its harder to start a business in a large town, there is more competition, higher costs, more traffic.

I have been reading about different parts of Oregon for at least 5 hours a day now, every day for the past week.And I still cannot make up my mind...

We did find a house we adore, but not where we want to live...The link will show you the house. Untitled Document

Salem would be perfect, but we just read this report...

Salem, OR, violent crime, on a scale from 1 (low crime) to 10, is 5. Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The US average is 3.
Salem, OR, property crime, on a scale from 1 (low) to 10, is 7. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. The US average is 3.

sO gUYS & gALS...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Where can we find the same house, close to nature, close to a community/city that has the potential to grow a business??

[Steve97415]

If it's Craftsman-style architecture you're after, Corvallis may be a good choice. It also has lots of parks, including the expansive MacDonald State Forest. As a university town it has many amenities and the general feel of a larger more cultured area. It is very safe and quiet. At the top of this page immediately under the title of the thread is a blue bar that begins with "my settings". The fifth operator on that bar is a search function. If you tick "show threads" and enter "Corvallis" you'll have a lot to read.

P.S. I suspect that the crime stats for South Salem where your dream house is situated would be entirely different (substantially lower) than for Salem proper. Crime reporting stats are a bit difficult to interpret. A community can have high stats either because crime is higher there or because law enforcement is more effective there. Where I live, budget cuts have reduced the city to a single full-time police patrol. Our crime stats have gone way down as a result, but only because fewer violators end up getting apprehended.

[kate_lyn]

Regarding this wistful comment: "Dogs are such loving creatures, they are constant companions, & my wife has always wanted 1. They also require much exercise so we will be forced to get outside a couple of times a day and take it for long walks...we want those walks to be by a riverside or through a forest or park."

We retired to Ashland some time ago, thinking it fulfilled all our criteria for a lovely place -- only to find that the town is full of dog-haters, many of them involved in city government. You cannot take your dog into ANY city park in Ashland (except one field that is really a fenced giant dog run). Oregon has a lot of wonderful attributes -- but it comes with rural roots. Dog-hating seems to derive from some of that -- dogs being dangerous to livestock (when they're not guarding and protecting the critters :-/ (can somebody please explain that one?). I strongly advise you to check with the city Chamber of Commerce about its local dog policies before you move to any town in Oregon. It is a big disappointment to have to make my 14-year old dog walk in the hot street, right next to a shady path in a green park. She is regarded as "unclean" here in Ashland, and if she sets a paw upon the holy grass, we could be fined $500! Have a care. And best of luck -- you'll find a good place!