Ashland neighborhoods (Aloha, Central Point: apartments, insurance, condos)

[adaptable]

My wife and I will be moving to Ashland in March 2009 from Pennsylvania. We have been researching Ashland for the last 1 1/2 years via the web and did visit the town in 2007. We are up-to-date on housing prices in the area and are looking to buy or build a house between 1400-1800 sq. ft. Whether the house is old or new is less important than its location.

We have very little information about the different neighborhoods of Ashland. Other than knowing some basic areas like "above the boulevard," Billings ranch, near SOU, Oak Knoll, the railroad district, etc., we would like to know what areas you consider nice and why. Also, it would be useful to know about areas to avoid. Our kids are grown, so schools are less important than they would be for a younger family.

While we were visiting Ashland, locals we spoke to said there really are no bad places to live in town. If that's accurate, it's great, but a little more detail would sure help. Any insights you can provide are most welcome. Thank you.

[Kathleenh54]

Anything closer to town and 'above the boulevard' is desirable in Ashland. You can't go wrong. I'm glad we didn't move to the 'other side of the I-5' as it's out of the loop somewhat. The Ok Knoll neighborhood is nice and quiet but on the other side of the 5. In some areas you can hear the freeway. If you're above SOU, make sure there aren't any too many homes rented out to college students. They can be noisy, surprise surprise.

[Aloha~Nui]

You say location is important to you - what specifically are you looking for? What is bad or good to you?

I'm on the hill "above the boulevard" and while I love it, I find driving in the winter undesirable. I also have given up any aspirations of being the environmental girl who bikes around town because getting back up my hill is near impossible and embarrassingly amusing to watch. I admire my "flatland" friends who are able to bike everywhere in ease. And they don't seem to have snow/ice on their streets when I do. Of course, those are more working class neighborhoods. The houses aren't as nice; people have less money. But everyone seems to know each other and is friendly.

I agree there aren't any bad areas; Ashland feels very safe to me and each pocket is interesting and with merit. As a general rule, though, I stay away from anything that has students or low-income apartments that aren't maintained, only because I notice more problems and noise.

One old-timer told me there was massive flooding 30 years ago and while they shouldn't have, they built many homes on the flood plain and this is a risk (and I think home insurance doesn't cover it). Then again, no floods in 30 years, so maybe you'd have to do more research on that to see what was what.

I too would not go too far out of town (even though it's all still called Ashland), but that's just my practicality and it really depends on your preferences. There are people up Dead Indian Memorial, people out on Rte 66 (the other side of I-5), and people up at Mt. A. It's a trek to get into town, and much harder in winter. Some people are not as happy as they thought, having moved to these places.

My own desire is that noone will buy any more of the McMansions on the north side of town. Why did anyone think Ashland wanted that? I hope the developers lose their shirts over that deal.

[albion]

Ashland has a great pub too, the Black Sheep it's the best english type pub in the US. Good food too.

[adaptable]

Thank you all for providing your local insight. After we visited Ashland in the summer 2007 there were several questions that came to mind. Answers to the following questions may help us identify area(s) of Ashland that we would like.

- Ideally we would like a location that is within reasonable walking distance (say 2 miles round trip) to a good food store. Does this mean we should be looking for a house within the city limits? The Black Sheep pub that albion mentions sounds great, but first things first!

- Are certain neighborhoods known for having a strong "community spirit" where neighbors are friendly and they keep their properties and the neighborhood in nice condition?

- Is there an elevation level in Ashland where streets above this level get more snow than streets below this elevation? Like most people we enjoy nice views, but the point that Aloha~Nui makes about snow/ice on the streets is a consideration.

- Many postings I've read, including comments to this post, identify "above the boulevard" areas as being the most desirable places to live in town. Are there areas "below the boulevard" that have similar neighborhood appeal even though the homes are not as expensive?

- We enjoy walking/hiking and have a 4 year old Labrador retriever who's everyones best friend. Houses that a located close to green spaces and hiking trails would be preferable.

- Also, we would not want to live on a busy street like Siskiyou Blvd., near an intersection that has considerable traffic or where I5 road noise is a problem.

Thanks, again, for your thoughts.

[Aloha~Nui]

Ok, one by one (if I know the answer).

I personally shop at the co-op at love it. It's a commitment not everyone is willing to make - it's much more expensive to not only be organic, but support living wages. Obviously I'm biased, but it's where I shop almost exclusively. But it's on First Street in the heart of town (yes, also walking distance to downtown, which has the Black Sheep). Safeway is up on Siskiyou, just slightly beyond downtown. In the south end of town (specifically, Ashland St, aka Rte 66), there is both Market of Choice and Shop N Kart. There's a good bet you can walk to get food from most places. I technically can walk from my hilly house to either the co-op or Safeway, but *cough* there is a laziness factor! We also have the farmer's market during warmer months at the Armory; I think that's on Wightman or something, and then in Lithia Park on Saturdays. I wouldn't worry too much about getting to food. If you like to walk for food, you obviously won't live in the country and most other areas are close-ish.

There are co-housing condos here - you'd have one shared wall. It is somewhere near the Armory on Fordyce. They have great community spirit and good shared meals from what I hear, but it's mostly families with younger children. Maybe not your thing? Not sure of other neighborhoods. There are some with less-kept properties, but we have no ghettos. Remember we're a tourist town, after all, so the town tries to put on a better face and is generally better kept than other cities. But, the more expensive the homes, the better kept they are, of course. There is an unkempt bright turquoise house at the north end of town which always baffles me, but you don't see much of that here.

The snow difference between hill and flat isn't a huge deal; I'm just afraid of driving on it so it's big to me. You're from PA - you're probably accustomed to snow?

Don't know much about hiking, except I know you can get there from Park St and Tolman Creek at the south end of town. Also, there's a great dog park at the north end of town at Nevada and Helman. In general, we have a leash law and at the store, you'd have to tie him up outside. But I see many people ignoring the leash law at parks, which I think is fine if your dog is not aggressive. And of course you pick up all his poop! The park on Homes St has two fenced in baseball fields - many people take their dogs there as an informal dog run.

I don't really think there's a ton of road noise. Occasionally there is a passing train, if you live close to that. And of course Siskiyou, and its intersection with Ashland St. Other than that, it's minimal compared to other places.

Sorry I haven't narrowed anything down for you, but I gave you street names on purpose. You can always map those out to get a feel. No logic behind this, but I keep having the feeling you are going to like the flatlands best, perhaps closer to the south end.

I'm also going to add that we have many ways to get involved with the community. Two volunteer opportunities are Neighborhood Harvest (fruit) and Food for People, both of which yield you free food, but they are more manned by the fringe/hippie element than mainstream people. Depends what you're looking for. I've also met a lot of nice people utilizing Ashland Freecycle.

Good luck.

[AbbieM]

I've been in Ashland for many years, and want to weigh in on neighborhoods. I've lived near the high school, above the boulevard, and, for the past six years, below the boulevard in Quiet Village.

I agree with other posters who say "above the blvd" is more difficult in snowy weather, and also more difficult if you like to walk or bike. I love living in Quiet Village. Some people might try to dissuade you, because there are many plain, uninteresting ranch houses here . . . but there are also many folks who have fixed up their houses with landscaping, pergolas, and so on, and there are plenty of trees. It's a very friendly neighborhood, close to the coop (and Minute Market), a 20-min walk from downtown, even closer to the dog park, and so on. I definitely suggest you check it out. I work from home, and see people walking up and down the street (upper Willow Street) all day long, often in groups. It's a very friendly place.

As for elevation, the weather reports will give you this information for every storm: snow above 2000 feet, below 2000, and so on. Again, I'd stay away from the hills.

For your lab, Quiet Village is not only adjacent to the dog park (a great place to meet new friends, btw), but it's also adjacent to the bike path that now goes from Ashland to Central Point!

As for I5 noise, my suggestion is that you stay below Main, but not too far below. Anything around Helman School will have everything you want, and be far enough away from the highway so you rarely (if ever) hear it.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[adaptable]

Based on the responses above and other Ashland postings I've read, it sounds like the food co-op gets a big thumbs up! This is good news because it helps narrow down the general area of town we should probably consider to be within reasonable walking distance of a quality food store.

I'm glad to read positive responses from both "hill" people and "flat-landers" and their reasons for liking the respective locations. I suspect selecting high-lands vs. low-lands could be a major decision point when considering where to live, but don't want to rule out either elevation at this point.

I also don't want to make hill vs. flat-land living a debate, so considering that both areas have many desirable qualities, it would be useful to hear other reasons why people like to live in the hills or in the lower elevations. Also, is there an in between elevation in the town (that is neither hill nor flat-land) or is Ashland generally segmented to living on or off the hill?

I've read numerous postings about an inversion effect during winter. How does this weather element impact high-land vs. low-land locations. Everyone's feedback is always much appreciated.

[backdrifter]

The town is so small that it really doesn't matter where you live, though like another poster said you would want to avoid areas around possible college houses. There are no bad areas of town... I consider it an upscale community. Average folks can't really afford to live there anymore.