considering a move to Oregon but where? (Portland, Eugene: real estate, renting)

[Briana1984]

hello everyone.
My fiancee and I are looking to move in the next few years to Oregon. We are looking at some small townish places because we both can't handle heavy traffic driving, but still close enough to a bigger city that we can get to. We honestly are thinking some place close to the Washington state-Oregon border as we live in Washington state right now. We have family and friends still here and if we can drive a few hours to visit that would be ok. We'd love to live in Oregon for the better weather (if we can find cooler summers and less snowy winters), plus just a new experience together. Also we can not afford a house at the time we will be moving. (pretty much ever) which is fine with both of us so we will be renting. If that helps with any suggestions. I've been looking at places like pendleton where we are going on our honeymoon. Is that a good town? Any help would be appreciated.

[Cephas40]

Originally Posted by Briana1984

hello everyone.
My fiancee and I are looking to move in the next few years to Oregon. We are looking at some small townish places because we both can't handle heavy traffic driving, but still close enough to a bigger city that we can get to. We honestly are thinking some place close to the Washington state-Oregon border as we live in Washington state right now. We have family and friends still here and if we can drive a few hours to visit that would be ok. We'd love to live in Oregon for the better weather (if we can find cooler summers and less snowy winters), plus just a new experience together. Also we can not afford a house at the time we will be moving. (pretty much ever) which is fine with both of us so we will be renting. If that helps with any suggestions. I've been looking at places like pendleton where we are going on our honeymoon. Is that a good town? Any help would be appreciated.

Personally, I like Pendleton though a lot of people claim it's cliquish. They have some wonderful older homes if you're into that kind of thing. Scenery wise I think La Grande is nicer plus it's a college town for cheap activities. Pendleton has a brand new hospital and their health care delivery should improve. That's part of the problem with eastern Oregon is finding quality health care. Specialists are few and far between. PCP's are a mixed bag. If you're on Medicare good luck finding a doctor. Hermiston has a large Hispanic population which some find troubling.......just saying, don't take it the wrong way. It's also the fastest growing town in eastern Oregon which isn't saying much, but they are building some affordable 3/2 houses in the $135K range. Hermiston's also the quickest for hitting the freeway to shop in the Tri-cities.

[the1heat4u]

If you want to be near a big city, but a smaller town feel look at places a hour outside of Portland.
North - you will be looking into Washington
East - The Dalles
West - Well not many decent options beyond Forrest Grove off 26.
South - Salem.

Other general SW area's that might interest you would be - Silverton, Turner, Stayton, McMinnville, Newberg, Dayton, Monmouth, Corvallis, Albany, Aurora, Hubbard, and then 2 hours south Eugene and surrounding areas.'

Portland hosts the worse traffic in all of Oregon, however.. it is a far cry from other metropolis. However, I would avoid Portland for work and living if you want to avoid longer commutes.

Personally I would stick to the valley. Portland being the biggest city, and most of our population is in the Valley. With many towns 15-30 min outside of those main cities.

Part of the nice part of the valley is the fact that it is roughly an hour drive to just about anything. As far as mountains, ocean, lakes, other cities, so on. Everything you want is an hour away. I am in Salem, and despite hating rain. I do love the fact that I can drive an hour and be somewhere completely different.

Salem is a decent sized city, without the big city feel. The traffic is not that bad. However, having to commute to and from portland in the past, and in portland. As well as having to commute across the Bay Bridge in SF, and commutes in SoCal. Oregon's "bad" commute is not that bad. However I have experienced much worse. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like it. But for the most part it is manageable.

Good Luck!

[BeaverState]

You might want to look along the Columbia River north of Portland - Scappoose, St. Helens, and Rainier. The commuter traffic on Hwy. 30 can get thick, but it's otherwise pretty quiet.

[pnwmdk]

Originally Posted by Briana1984

hello everyone.
My fiancee and I are looking to move in the next few years to Oregon. We are looking at some small townish places because we both can't handle heavy traffic driving, but still close enough to a bigger city that we can get to. We honestly are thinking some place close to the Washington state-Oregon border as we live in Washington state right now. We have family and friends still here and if we can drive a few hours to visit that would be ok. We'd love to live in Oregon for the better weather (if we can find cooler summers and less snowy winters), plus just a new experience together. Also we can not afford a house at the time we will be moving. (pretty much ever) which is fine with both of us so we will be renting. If that helps with any suggestions. I've been looking at places like pendleton where we are going on our honeymoon. Is that a good town? Any help would be appreciated.

Pendleton is known locally and colloquially as the armpit of Oregon. Being opposite end of the state from Portland area, it might be fitting, since the other anatomical "end" would be applied to the TriMet area.

No, seriously, I detested Pendleton, even though I lived nearby for decades, for reasons I can't quite quantify. Mostly to do with one way streets, being hot as Hades in the summer, and having no rational reason for where things are in town.

Where you would want to go, however, has a LOT more with what you want to do to earn a living. Pendleton, like almost every town in Eastern Oregon is a service community. They're all service communities to logging, ranching, farming, mining, retirees, or government institutions. Except for LaGrande, which is those things as well as having Eastern Oregon University.

There's an abundance of low-paying semi-skilled jobs (as there is in every rural service town), and a great oversupply of applicants for them. The real estate "boom and bust" cycle barely touched Eastern Oregon in any perceptible way, other than the stuff over 300K became harder to market, at least for a while.

You should decide what you want to do and then look for a job doing that, then move there.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Briana1984

hello everyone.
My fiancee and I are looking to move in the next few years to Oregon. We are looking at some small townish places because we both can't handle heavy traffic driving, but still close enough to a bigger city that we can get to. We honestly are thinking some place close to the Washington state-Oregon border as we live in Washington state right now. We have family and friends still here and if we can drive a few hours to visit that would be ok. We'd love to live in Oregon for the better weather (if we can find cooler summers and less snowy winters), plus just a new experience together. Also we can not afford a house at the time we will be moving. (pretty much ever) which is fine with both of us so we will be renting. If that helps with any suggestions. I've been looking at places like pendleton where we are going on our honeymoon. Is that a good town? Any help would be appreciated.

You didn't say where you will be working. That will be the deciding factor on which cities to choose from.

[SurfCityBro]

Originally Posted by the1heat4u

If you want to be near a big city, but a smaller town feel look at places a hour outside of Portland.
North - you will be looking into Washington
East - The Dalles
West - Well not many decent options beyond Forrest Grove off 26.
South - Salem.

Other general SW area's that might interest you would be - Silverton, Turner, Stayton, McMinnville, ....

I think we're alot like the OP (well, we don't get snow where we currently live on the east coast )

Anyone have any updated info on McMinnville? My family and I are thinking about relocating to this area from the east coast. I've got three active kids (all under 10, softball and soccer) so any info on schools and sports in McMinnville would be great... are the folks as laid back as many posts on C-D.com and a few other sites suggest? Real estate hard to come by in the 275k-350k range? (ideally looking for over an acre, 4BR... don't mind living outside the limits, obviously)?

Thanks!

[Steve Pickering]

Lots of properties under 350K It's not an expensive area by Oregon standards. Schools in McMinnville are as good as any in Oregon. For over an acre you will be outside the city.