Quaint Oregon (Portland, McMinnville, Astoria: transplants, spring break, motels)

[GoblinMan]

Hey, I'm looking for a 'quaint' Oregon town to possibly move to in the future. I have been looking at the forum for awhile, and found some helpful info, but still need to hone in on my personal interests. So I'll try to make it easy:

Would like:

Nice downtown or town center
Sunshine, though I realize this is the PNW so I'll reason on this
On the coast (not completely crucial though)
Laid back

Would NOT like:

Lots of wind
Conservative mindset
Meth heads
College town

That's about it for now...

[davefr]

Originally Posted by GoblinMan

Hey, I'm looking for a 'quaint' Oregon town to possibly move to in the future. I have been looking at the forum for awhile, and found some helpful info, but still need to hone in on my personal interests. So I'll try to make it easy:

Would like:

Nice downtown or town center
Sunshine, though I realize this is the PNW so I'll reason on this
On the coast (not completely crucial though)
Laid back

Would NOT like:

Lots of wind
Conservative mindset
Meth heads
College town

That's about it for now...

You won't find sun, coast, lack of wind and lack of meth heads here. You need to find another state.

[Silverfall]

A quaint town in the valley is Silverton, OR. Meets everything except lots of sun. Honestly the lush green surroundings tend to make the gray easier.

On the coast I think Bandon and Cannon Beach are quaint, but they are touristy.

[Rob Allen]

Maybe Depoe Bay would work... it's on the coast, with a nice downtown area and no college.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

In Oregon, the coast is the retirement belt. There is no real economy on the coast, so you need a pension built up from elsewhere to live here. Overcast skies. wind and conservative mindsets...often EXTREMELY conservative...are part and parcel of life on the coast. You need to look in southern California or the South Carolina to Florida belt for what you want. Some of your wants are completely inconsistent with others, though. In general, smaller towns tend to be conservative. The presence of a college or university is the one thing that tends to mitigate that. A 'quaint" town without a college is more likely to be just rednecksville.

[Oregonbeachlover]

Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea

In Oregon, the coast is the retirement belt. There is no real economy on the coast, so you need a pension built up from elsewhere to live here. Overcast skies. wind and conservative mindsets...often EXTREMELY conservative...are part and parcel of life on the coast. You need to look in southern California or the South Carolina to Florida belt for what you want. Some of your wants are completely inconsistent with others, though. In general, smaller towns tend to be conservative. The presence of a college or university is the one thing that tends to mitigate that. A 'quaint" town without a college is more likely to be just rednecksville.

Not necessarily. A lot of coastal homes in "quaint" coastal towns are owned by people from the valley, i.e., Portland, and they are not always "conservative". If I recall correctly, Lincoln County goes blue.

[GoblinMan]

Thanks for the replies so far. Bandon seems like a nice town that I had forgotten about...Depoe Bay seems nice too.

But yes, like I said I don't expect all of this to coincide with each other. I know there's no perfect place, and that the Oregon coast is filled with rain and usually wind.

[gobrien]

I think McMinnville has a cute downtown. I would just grocery shop there (not downtown) but I really liked it.

[texasdiver]

Yes to Silverton and McMinnville. They both meet your description except they are not on the coast.

Astoria and Newport would be two sizeable towns to check out on the coast. But as others have noted, there ain't much economy on the coast.

Bandon is absolutely tiny. My parents had a cabin there and we spent spring breaks and summers. One of the prettiest beaches in Oregon but it's pretty small for year-round living. There are 100 other small quaint beach towns all along the coast if what you are looking for is an assortment of vacation homes, gift shops, and seafood restaurants.

On the coast the older towns are mostly going to be fishing towns which means towns with an actual harbor. The fishing industry is mostly fading away now but the towns that have or had fishing fleets are going to be more interesting and diverse economically. If there is no harbor then all you really have is a wide spot in the road along the beach with vacation homes and motels.

[bman15470]

Silverton yes, Macville is much more conservative. Silver is getting filled up with CA transplants in the city proper which is part of why they voted in a TG mayor. Silverton has very low wind speeds compared to National averages but some what less sunshine (mostly during winter months) Mac is conservative ag area on the edge of conservative timber area but not to far from crazy lib Portland area.