Sadly, I must leave Oregon due lack of sunshine! (Eugene: living in, places)

[Lisa Knoop]

I was happy to hear two positive responses about living in Bend. We are moving there from dark, rainy, repressed Europe. Hearing about all those people leaving Portland was really scareing me. I also need sunshine to help get through sometimes difficult days. I also agree with the comments regarding southern Calif. (where we also had an option to live). The sameness and plasticness would not agree with me especially after living in Europe which is so culturally diverse, no one looks the same. Good luck to all the sun seekers and I hope our jump to Bend will not bring me to stand in your wet shoes in a few years....

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Lisa Knoop

I was happy to hear two positive responses about living in Bend. We are moving there from dark, rainy, repressed Europe. Hearing about all those people leaving Portland was really scareing me. I also need sunshine to help get through sometimes difficult days. I also agree with the comments regarding southern Calif. (where we also had an option to live). The sameness and plasticness would not agree with me especially after living in Europe which is so culturally diverse, no one looks the same. Good luck to all the sun seekers and I hope our jump to Bend will not bring me to stand in your wet shoes in a few years....

Not to rain on your shoes, here, but you are not going to find Bend (or, indeed, much of the Pacific Northwest) particularly "diverse," in population or culture. But, from Bend, you can make trips to Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada, not the Vancouver just across the river from Portland) or San Francisco and get your "diversity fix" for languages and culture.

Bend does have a lot more sunshine than the cities in the other side of the Cascade Mountains,and the climate will be novel for you - high desert sub-alpine is pretty unusual as climate zones go. The Pacific Northwest is considered a "xeric," Mediterranean-like climate, with most of the precipitation falling during certain months, and the months outside that are dry, with very little rain. Further south, the deserts and high deserts get summer monsoons - huge rain storms in July and August that cause flash floods - but that's very uncommon in Bend.

[tdekany]

Originally Posted by Lisa Knoop

I was happy to hear two positive responses about living in Bend. We are moving there from dark, rainy, repressed Europe. Hearing about all those people leaving Portland was really scareing me. I also need sunshine to help get through sometimes difficult days. I also agree with the comments regarding southern Calif. (where we also had an option to live). The sameness and plasticness would not agree with me especially after living in Europe which is so culturally diverse, no one looks the same. Good luck to all the sun seekers and I hope our jump to Bend will not bring me to stand in your wet shoes in a few years....

We were just in Bend - Very dry so you will have your sun.

The sameness - it is very white, lots of traffic, & as someone else said, there are alot of young people. (University)

What country are you coming from?

[Dingler]

When I attended Pacific University they use to call it frosty grave, because of the frozen gloom that was always over the town.

One guy started to keep track of the rain and told anyone who would listen that the sun had not come out for 47 days. He said he was near suicide and needed sun in the worst way. One day we heard it was sunny east of the mountains so a group of us drove over to The Dalles (in dry Eastern Oregon) and stood in the warm sun and soaked it in for the whole afternoon. We came back to campus and told everyone who would listen about our trek to the sun. It was another 12 days before we saw the sun again.

[tdekany]

Last week I was told that Bend gets 300 days of sunshine. The info came from their Visitor Center. Very easy to comfirm - just look at the lack of green grass.

Dingler, I am not sure how long ago you went there.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by LittleBlackShihTzu

Well..I've been here for 7 years and it finally got to me. This is by far the worst winter/spring I recall the past seven years. I used to tell visiting friends that I welcomed the rain because it kept Oregon from becoming California ...but I'm not laughing as much this season. But I am disappointed because if it wasn't for the darkness and damp, I'd likely stay. I have roots here. I'm happy in every other area. I LOVE it here when the sun is out. But, more than ever, I feel a distinct drop in energy and mood the moment I wake up to dreary skies. I don't recall it happening to me so easily as this year. I probably have that S.A.D. condition, I'm sure.

I spent a week in Austin visiting a friend in February. Austin weather was sunny and gorgeous and I felt a complete lift in mood and energy. When I returned to Portland, I went straight down again as I stepped into the chilly, dark air.

I LOVE this town. I love the people here. But the climate has become too much for me. I was telling a friend today that I feel like I've been cold and wet for 9 months....my house is wet....my car is wet....my bike is wet. Even my dog is wet. My dog has two rain coats, by the way...so we can have one dry one handy while the other one dries! I keep looking at my summer clothes and wonder if I'll ever wear them again! Oh...and did I mention what this weather does to one's appetite? Eating becomes an activity for sure!

I'm reading many posts about people leaving due to climate. I take some comfort in knowing I'm not alone...mainly because I thought maybe I just needed to buy a therapy light or try and get to Mexico every winter and deal with it. But the way things have been this season, I would have had to be gone all year! I literally cannot remember more than two days in a row of sun since last summer.

Sorry to vent, everyone, but well...as I'm typing this, I'm hearing the weather guy say we "might see a short break in the rain on Monday". And...well..today is Wednesday! Need I say more???

Oregon..I'll miss you!! (But not as much from November through June)!

I just did the same thing for the same reason. We checked out Phoenix, but it was too hot. Checked out San Diego, too expensive (too bad). Austin has a Vancouver wa feel to it for me (got to get used to the humidity). I love Lake Travis. The lightning storms kinda make me a little worried though. If you don't stay in austin, Colorado seems nice and sunny, and you get the raw beauty too.

[Lisa Knoop]

Hi, Yes I am mourning the loss of culture and diversity but looking forward to friendliness, service and familiarity. We have been in the Netherlands for 18 years so its time to start something new with all our little kiddies. Keeping positive till the move............LK

[Lady_Mustang]

Originally Posted by LittleBlackShihTzu

Well..I've been here for 7 years and it finally got to me. This is by far the worst winter/spring I recall the past seven years. I used to tell visiting friends that I welcomed the rain because it kept Oregon from becoming California ...but I'm not laughing as much this season. But I am disappointed because if it wasn't for the darkness and damp, I'd likely stay. I have roots here. I'm happy in every other area. I LOVE it here when the sun is out. But, more than ever, I feel a distinct drop in energy and mood the moment I wake up to dreary skies. I don't recall it happening to me so easily as this year. I probably have that S.A.D. condition, I'm sure.

I spent a week in Austin visiting a friend in February. Austin weather was sunny and gorgeous and I felt a complete lift in mood and energy. When I returned to Portland, I went straight down again as I stepped into the chilly, dark air.

I LOVE this town. I love the people here. But the climate has become too much for me. I was telling a friend today that I feel like I've been cold and wet for 9 months....my house is wet....my car is wet....my bike is wet. Even my dog is wet. My dog has two rain coats, by the way...so we can have one dry one handy while the other one dries! I keep looking at my summer clothes and wonder if I'll ever wear them again! Oh...and did I mention what this weather does to one's appetite? Eating becomes an activity for sure!

I'm reading many posts about people leaving due to climate. I take some comfort in knowing I'm not alone...mainly because I thought maybe I just needed to buy a therapy light or try and get to Mexico every winter and deal with it. But the way things have been this season, I would have had to be gone all year! I literally cannot remember more than two days in a row of sun since last summer.

Sorry to vent, everyone, but well...as I'm typing this, I'm hearing the weather guy say we "might see a short break in the rain on Monday". And...well..today is Wednesday! Need I say more???

Oregon..I'll miss you!! (But not as much from November through June)!

The East side is dry and desert.

[mom23sweetgirlies]

I'd switch you places in a heartbeat, I would absolutely love to be living in Oregon again. I'm stuck in rainy/windy southeast alaska where most days are gray, so it could be worse. BTW I grew up around Eugene.

[james203]

yrs ago i lived in the portland area for a yr.i damn near went nuts.from oct-may their was very little sunshine.i often had headaches & was moody.i like the rain but not everyday.i moved back to sunny,smoggy hot so.ca & im now considering moving to so.colo.