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Old 08-06-2009, 03:13 AM
 
Location: Mauriceville, Texas
39 posts, read 93,557 times
Reputation: 38

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I was just looking for information on cities in Oregon. My husband and I are seriously talking about moving within the next year, we currently live in Southeast Texas, and I HATE it here, but have toughed it out because this is his home town. I am from Las Vegas, and have also lived in Phoenix, and L.A. so for one the small town bothers me but everything else does as well, so I just want to move! Employment is not an issue for my husband because he works in refineries all over the U.S. and travels (lately he's been working mainly in Washington and California!). I am about to graduate with a Bachelors in Political Science (who knows what the qualifies me for lol)

Anyways my question is what is the best area to look into moving to? We have three kids ranging in age from 13 to 5 so schools are REALLY important to me (all of my kids are gifted and talented here so that kind of thing is important). Also I want to be near relatively close to a city but not in one, I was raised in cities so I prefer them, but I have been in this SMALL town for so long I don't think I could go back to the constant traffic struggles and hour long lines at the bank! Good extra ciriculars for kids? I keep my kids busy with tumbling, cheer, dance, music, and so on. Just really looking for some ideas! Also cost of living is a factor naturally, which I think is kind of a trade off, since home prices are cheap here, but I pay a lot for gas/car maintenance cause everything is 30 miles away!

Thanks for any info I can get! My standards aren't too high right now I am in a horrible air quality, 100% humidty @ 100 degrees all the time!, two movie theatres 35 miles away is all the entertainment there is (unless you count the janis joplin museum?!?), the ony beach is the gulf which is GROSS, and you don't see season change on account of there being almost nothing but pines here. Anyways sorry for my rambling I take a lot of words to say very little, like i said any information would help a bunch!
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Old 08-06-2009, 04:54 AM
 
Location: Oregon
1,035 posts, read 1,699,740 times
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There are still a lot of variables, like how small of a town you want to live in? There are towns like Sherwood that is pretty good but there can be a lot of traffic as people head into Portland. You could look a bit South into McMinnville which might be a good fit for you or head further south and check out Corvallis. Southern Oregon will have warmer temperatures. Do you want to be near the Mountains, Coast, Etc..
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Old 08-06-2009, 09:09 AM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,496 posts, read 40,198,114 times
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What is affordable for you? Oregon is more expensive than Texas.
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Old 08-06-2009, 02:42 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
2,514 posts, read 4,998,933 times
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You're accustomed to a lot of sun. The western part of Oregon has a LOT less sunshine than you're used to. Nine months of the year are predominantly gray with occasional "sun breaks" (my parents had never heard that phrase until they visited us here). You might find the climate around Bend, east of the Cascades, more familiar.
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Old 08-06-2009, 05:06 PM
 
Location: Mauriceville, Texas
39 posts, read 93,557 times
Reputation: 38
Okay to address some of these questions, I want to be in a small town, but near a city, a decent city, right now Beaumont is the closest city to me (I don't even count Orange cause there is nothing there but Walmart) Beaumont has the mall and 2 movie theatres :/ which concludes everything there is to do with your family on the weekend.

I understand Oregon is more expensive than Texas, but I do think it's a give and take type thing, I imagine there are reasons for it being more expensive, like people actually want to live there. Right now the house I live in cost us 300k which is a pretty high price for a house in this area, but it's a really big house. I do not want a house this big again (over 3k sq ft with 3 acres).

I was accustomed to a lot of sun (on account of being born and raised in Las Vegas), but for the past 7 years I have dealt with predominantly gray with occasional "sun breaks" and yes I have heard of the phrase because it's similar here! Only when it's not grey and gloomy and it's supposedly a nice day the sky is still really not blue on account of the air quality (another living expensive is loads of dr bills from my kids upper resp infections they get year round). There was a study done about not getting as sun burnt out here because the pollution acts as a shield from the sun, its crazy but it's true, so yeah I can deal with gray skies as long as when there is a sun break its bright and blue and pretty! Also we get hit with hurricanes every year and I am TIRED of evacuating (another cost of living here evacuation expenses!).

My dad is moving to Oregon soon, which is why I thought of moving there, and its not important to be right next to him cause now we are 17 hours away from each other so even if we were across the state from each other we'd be closer than now hehe.
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Old 08-07-2009, 09:47 AM
 
Location: WA
5,303 posts, read 7,588,007 times
Reputation: 8241
nerdygirly:

I grew up in Oregon and most of my family still lives there. However my wife's career brought us to Waco a few years ago. We contemplate moving back from time to time but haven't done it yet because we're both pretty satisfied with our current jobs and satisfied with our kids schools. That said, I do have quite a bit of perspective on contemplating relocation to Oregon. Some points to consider:

1. The only major airport in Oregon is PDX in Portland. If your husband is traveling for work you'll want to be within a reasonable distance to PDX...otherwise you'll be dealing with expensive commuter flights to small airports. So I would restrict your search to places within say 1.5 hours of Portland.

2. The southern Willamette Valley can be grim with respect to allergies and respiratory issues. So I'd forget about Eugene where I grew up if your kids have respiratory issues. That leaves towns in the outlying areas south of Portland. These are the towns I would suggest you consider:

Silverton. Pretty little town on the foothills of the cascades and about 20 minutes from Salem. It is maybe 1 to 1.5 hours from Portland. Schools are good. There is a local hospital and grocery stores and some nice new subdivisions. Very kid-friendly town. When I was visiting looking at jobs I saw lots of kids walking home from school. It's that sort of town. Don't know what you plan to do with your degree but it would be reasonable to commute to Salem for state jobs in the future.

McMinnville. Another smaller town that is southwest of Portland. Whereas Silverton is closer to the mountains, McMinnville is closer to the Ocean. But it is still in the Willamette Valley so the weather is good. Very pretty area. Lots of rolling hills with vinyards. Yamhill county is more or less the center of Oregon's wine region. McMinnville has a good small college - Linfield College but it is still small town.

Both Silverton and McMinnville are just far enough from Portland to eliminate most of the commuter types. But the airport is still easily accessible. So they are more towns on their own right. There are lots and lots of small towns that are closer to Portland that function more like bedroom communities. Newberg, Canby, Sandy, Estacada, Forest Grove, Molalla, are some that come to mind. But if you are looking for good schools in small towns somewhat near Portland I would start with the first two. Google will bring up a wealth of information.
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Old 08-22-2009, 05:25 PM
 
9 posts, read 31,534 times
Reputation: 11
Hi, do not move to Brookings, OR. They have a box mill that runs 24/7 & is very noisy & puts out lots of pollution. Albany has a papermill that pollutes the air & it smells awful. That said, google any large mills, etc, in the town you seek before moving there. We were looking at St. Helens - until we saw the post about the smell. Corvallis is a lovely college town. We enjoyed living there, had a child there, moved to Portland after college, where we lived for 4 yrs. I counted the days until we moved to Calif - I had a hard time with the grey, rainy days. Grants Pass was a favorite of mine. Relatives lived there 30 yrs & we visited often. In later yrs, the smog & air pollution from Medford prevented our visits. Stay away from the Rogue River - motor boat noise is deafening in the warmer months. There are flood zones in Salem you need to be aware of. I was born in Klamath Falls, still have relatives there. It's very cold in the winter & we couldn't wait to move away. The Bend/Redmond/Prineville are: cold, cold, cold. I went through elementry & Jr high in Bend. My brother was fire chief of Prineville. You need a greenhouse to grow vegetables there. As kids we liked living in that tri city area, my brother is still there, so it can't be too bad. Good luck with your search. I'm continuing mine, too.

Thanks, texasdriver, for the post about the Willamette Valley respiratory issues. We are looking to relocate one last time, also; & had our eye on McMinnville. I don't have allergies but my 2nd husb. does & would have a difficult time there. I also remember that children who lived in the Willamette Valley tended to have very poor teeth & dental problems due to the lack of minerals in the water. I'm not sure that's been addressed.
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Old 08-22-2009, 05:54 PM
 
Location: The beautiful Rogue Valley, Oregon
7,785 posts, read 18,738,436 times
Reputation: 10783
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunnyDelite View Post
You need a greenhouse to grow vegetables there. As kids we liked living in that tri city area, my brother is still there, so it can't be too bad. Good luck with your search. I'm continuing mine, too.
No, you don't. You need a green house to grow vegetables year-round and get a good start on the growing season. It's true we have snow in the winter and cool nights with the occasional surprise frost in June or September, but the growing season is around 120 days.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the east side of the Cascades to someone who had lived in Las Vegas and Gulf-coast Texas, unless they were looking for a serious 4 season climate, but it's not true to say that you can't grow vegetables or fruit here.

At this point of the year, we're pulling summer squashes, tomatoes, corn, hops, pole beans, swiss chard, peppers, onions, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, beets, potatoes. We also have strawberries, pears, wild plums, chokecherries, blueberries, apples, cherries earlier in the year and a well-protected cold-weather peach we have hopes for next year. We've got some melons that look promising, too,but those are still a few weeks out, along with the winter squashes. Pretty similar climate for the Bend/Prineville area.
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Old 08-23-2009, 12:10 PM
 
7,138 posts, read 14,594,673 times
Reputation: 2397
Quote:
Originally Posted by nerdygirly View Post
I was just looking for information on cities in Oregon. My husband and I are seriously talking about moving within the next year, we currently live in Southeast Texas, and I HATE it here, but have toughed it out because this is his home town. I am from Las Vegas, and have also lived in Phoenix, and L.A. so for one the small town bothers me but everything else does as well, so I just want to move! Employment is not an issue for my husband because he works in refineries all over the U.S. and travels (lately he's been working mainly in Washington and California!). I am about to graduate with a Bachelors in Political Science (who knows what the qualifies me for lol)

Anyways my question is what is the best area to look into moving to? We have three kids ranging in age from 13 to 5 so schools are REALLY important to me (all of my kids are gifted and talented here so that kind of thing is important). Also I want to be near relatively close to a city but not in one, I was raised in cities so I prefer them, but I have been in this SMALL town for so long I don't think I could go back to the constant traffic struggles and hour long lines at the bank! Good extra ciriculars for kids? I keep my kids busy with tumbling, cheer, dance, music, and so on. Just really looking for some ideas! Also cost of living is a factor naturally, which I think is kind of a trade off, since home prices are cheap here, but I pay a lot for gas/car maintenance cause everything is 30 miles away!

Thanks for any info I can get! My standards aren't too high right now I am in a horrible air quality, 100% humidty @ 100 degrees all the time!, two movie theatres 35 miles away is all the entertainment there is (unless you count the janis joplin museum?!?), the ony beach is the gulf which is GROSS, and you don't see season change on account of there being almost nothing but pines here. Anyways sorry for my rambling I take a lot of words to say very little, like i said any information would help a bunch!

I am a transplant from Texas. And agree, it was just too hot especially as I get older! And have family members here too. Also Texas has been invaded by illegals. They are here too, much not in such large numbers.

There are many smaller towns near Portland Metro area, as mentioned already on this thread. I live near Newberg, between Portland and Salem. Is a nice little place, friendly, homes not as expensive as Portland proper. Not sure about the schools here. There is bad traffic on 99W through the city, which makes it congested and noisy much of the time. I hear it is going to be diverted sometime in the future (?) Hope that is the case.

We had a few weeks of unusually hot weather here, reminded me of Texas, and was SO happy when it cooled off again. So that for me is the upside of being here, cooler weather. Will just have to deal with the gloomy and rainy months when they arrive. And try to remember the horrible heat of Texas in comparison! I lived in Corpus Christi for several years, so know well the heat and humidity of that area, like a furnace. I really appreciate the beauty of Oregon as well, beaches on one side, mountains on the other, high desert further east. I was in the Panhandle in Texas, where it is basically flat, brown, dusty, windy and NO trees. Even though Texas has its own beauty for sure. But am enjoying the green and the trees here immensely! If you want less rain and humidity, central and eastern Oregon are drier, and also much less populated.

Economy here is not good (never has been), not stable like Texas. Unemployment is high, 11-12%. So you need to have a job coming here, especially if you have a family. I am a professional, make good money, but took several months to find a really good position. One of my stipulations was not to have to drive into Portland and congested traffic every day. So now I don't, but instead is a pleasant country drive for 20 minutes in the opposite direction to get to work.

Best of luck for you and family.
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Old 08-27-2009, 08:08 PM
 
43 posts, read 210,243 times
Reputation: 41
Well if schools are important to you then I would NOT move to oregon.
There is no sales tax there,so if youbuy somthing for 10.99,you pay 10.99.
Cool huh,except when you realize that is literally milions not going into the TAX base.And believe you me it shows.In the roads ,the schools,housing etc.They would rather buy something for 10.99 than have good roads,schools or whatever in oregon.
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