The Good and The Bad of Ashland, OR (ticket, town)

[bluebird39]

Hmmm....

If you follow the coast from Portland, it'll take MUCH longer than 5 hours. The interstate is about 1-2 hours inland, and a "straight" shot. If you go to the coast, it'll take the better part of 2 days to drive from one end of Oregon to the other along the coast. It's well worth doing, but a long trip. I'm partial to Bandon Oregon, but it's a bit further South. But it's a nice town.

If you go South on I-5, Eugene is about half way, and it's a nice place too to visit. You could also head East into the Cascade mountains at Eugene and go over to the Diamond Lake/Crater Lake area, then circle around to Medford. IMO, that's an amazingly beautiful drive. Now I'm getting home sick!

[Pupfish]

We too plan to move to Ashland/Medford soon and are curious about the "inversion" that is widely discussed. My understanding is that Medford is below the inversion, but not Ashland. What about Talent / Phoenix?

If one were to live above the inversion, what percentage of days are cloudy between November and March?

[Inthesierras]

We spent some time in Ashland last fall. I was really surprised at the large homeless population. Is something drawing them there like free health services or shelters, etc?

[newt]

I live in the part of Ashland that begins to climb the nearby mountains--“above the boulevard,” as the locals say. There are times when I look down, and on top, of the fog in the valley below. I’ve also driven from Medford, through Phoenix and Talent, when they were all completely socked in, but when I got to Ashland, the sun was visible. I noticed this on a number of occasions. As far as actual percentage differences between Ashland, and the other towns, I couldn’t say.

As for the homeless, Ashland has a liberal mindset. A police officer told me that they aren’t allowed to do much about the homeless/drifters due to the city’s “bleeding heart” attitude. There’s also a local joke about the city’s “catch and release” program.

[ORexpat]

I've always thought that Ashland is quite cliqueish. It's an interesting place to visit, though.

[cacci24]

I hope I'm posting this right. It's my first time. We're thinking of relocating from Las Vegas to Oregon. We visited Portland a few years ago, and loved it, BUT given the climate we're used to with lots of sun we think the rain may be too depressing for us. We visited Eugene and liked it also, but are now on our way to Medford area next week. Unfortunately, we've only heard negative things about jobs in the Medford area that don't come close to the salary we're making now. Other option may be to have a residence in Vegas during winter months, and a residence in Oregon in the summer months. Is the rain and gloomy drab days frequent in the winter? We LOVE the Farmers Markets, beautiful green, flowers everywhere scenery. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If nothing else, I guess we're stuck in Vegas until we retire. Problem is where to we retire that has a mild climate, but still 4 seasons that I miss so much.

Thank you for any suggestions
Donna

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by cacci24

I hope I'm posting this right. It's my first time. We're thinking of relocating from Las Vegas to Oregon. We visited Portland a few years ago, and loved it, BUT given the climate we're used to with lots of sun we think the rain may be too depressing for us. We visited Eugene and liked it also, but are now on our way to Medford area next week. Unfortunately, we've only heard negative things about jobs in the Medford area that don't come close to the salary we're making now. Other option may be to have a residence in Vegas during winter months, and a residence in Oregon in the summer months. Is the rain and gloomy drab days frequent in the winter? We LOVE the Farmers Markets, beautiful green, flowers everywhere scenery. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If nothing else, I guess we're stuck in Vegas until we retire. Problem is where to we retire that has a mild climate, but still 4 seasons that I miss so much.

Thank you for any suggestions
Donna

If you think the climate of Las Vegas is nice, you should probably stay away from Oregon. Summertime in Las Vegas is a good approximation of an Oregonian's idea of hell. You go from and air conditioned home to an air conditioned car to an air conditioned office, and if you go outside at all, you laze around by the pool. The climate in Oregon is much friendlier to outdoor activities. Once you get over the idea that you will melt in the rain, almost every day has sun breaks, and even the dead of winter is mild and delightful. Pacific storms roll in and cover the sky with clouds for 2-3 days, followed by "cool, moist, unstable air," which means colder, partly cloudy, with periods of rain and sunshine. Rarely does it ever get cold enough to snow.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by ochoco

Ashland is not in the middle of nowhere. Medford to the north is approx. 80,000 souls; there's perhaps 50k to 60k in the greater Grants Pass area to the west; Ashland itself is 25k. You're looking at close to 200k, if not more, within 30 miles of Ashland. I wouldn't say it's in the middle of nowhere. It's also on busy I-5.
Oh, btw, I live in GP and very much enjoy the time I spend in Ashland.

Driving through your town of Grants Pass the other day, I'm once again reminded that I'd take it any day over any town in the area. It makes Medford look like a desert.

Ashland home values are through the roof.

What I like about Ashland, is the gardening and landscaping seen driving though town.

Way too liberal for me though. And apparently with a declining enrollment in the university.

I like Grants Pass, and Wilderville to the west - although Wilderville is a bit remote for my taste.

[Bobby Bottleservice]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

If you think the climate of Las Vegas is nice, you should probably stay away from Oregon. Summertime in Las Vegas is a good approximation of an Oregonian's idea of hell. You go from and air conditioned home to an air conditioned car to an air conditioned office, and if you go outside at all, you laze around by the pool. The climate in Oregon is much friendlier to outdoor activities. Once you get over the idea that you will melt in the rain, almost every day has sun breaks, and even the dead of winter is mild and delightful. Pacific storms roll in and cover the sky with clouds for 2-3 days, followed by "cool, moist, unstable air," which means colder, partly cloudy, with periods of rain and sunshine. Rarely does it ever get cold enough to snow.

About half of Oregon has a climate similar to Vegas. Bend in particular.

[Bobby Bottleservice]

Originally Posted by cacci24

I hope I'm posting this right. It's my first time. We're thinking of relocating from Las Vegas to Oregon. We visited Portland a few years ago, and loved it, BUT given the climate we're used to with lots of sun we think the rain may be too depressing for us. We visited Eugene and liked it also, but are now on our way to Medford area next week. Unfortunately, we've only heard negative things about jobs in the Medford area that don't come close to the salary we're making now. Other option may be to have a residence in Vegas during winter months, and a residence in Oregon in the summer months. Is the rain and gloomy drab days frequent in the winter? We LOVE the Farmers Markets, beautiful green, flowers everywhere scenery. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If nothing else, I guess we're stuck in Vegas until we retire. Problem is where to we retire that has a mild climate, but still 4 seasons that I miss so much.

Thank you for any suggestions
Donna

I like the idea of spending half the year in Vegas, and the other half in Oregon. I own a home in each state, and that's my goal (eventually.)

Ashland is VERY expensive, and I can't figure out what the appeal is. Although the weather is warmer than most of Oregon, there are tons of cities similar to Ashland that aren't as expensive. Grants Pass is an obvious one. Although Medford is close to Ashland, it doesn't have that 'small town' feel of places like Ashland or Grants Pass.

I've long argued that Portland is superior to Seattle because Portland offers just about everything that Seattle does, but it's a bit warmer and quite a bit more affordable. In the same vein, one could argue that Eugene is a bit similar in this respect; it is warmer and cheaper than Portland. But Eugene is still quite small, so it's easy to run out of things to do in Eugene. In Seattle or Portland, this is rarely a concern.

As far as jobs go, that really depends on what you do for a living.