moving to Oregon in a few weeks and dont know which city is the best (Portland: transplants)

[andreham84]

My husband got a job offer and we nned to relocate to Oregon within thenext few weeks. His boss told us to find a city that fits our lifestyle Asap but we're totally lost. We have a newborn so we're looking for:
-nice community enviroment
-low crime rate
-good schools
-close to popular national stores
-cheap but nice apartments/houses
-close to community colleges or/and state universities
- sunny and not humid weather with a mild winter time.
we are really excited about this new chapter in our lives and the fact that we are moving to the GREEN oREGON S EVEN BETTER, so we also woul like to live close to mother nature rathen than tall buildings and traffic jams
We will really apprecciate your help

[delta07]

Originally Posted by andreham84

My husband got a job offer and we nned to relocate to Oregon within thenext few weeks. His boss told us to find a city that fits our lifestyle Asap but we're totally lost. We have a newborn so we're looking for:
-nice community enviroment
-low crime rate
-good schools
-close to popular national stores
-cheap but nice apartments/houses
-close to community colleges or/and state universities
- sunny and not humid weather with a mild winter time.
we are really excited about this new chapter in our lives and the fact that we are moving to the GREEN oREGON S EVEN BETTER, so we also woul like to live close to mother nature rathen than tall buildings and traffic jams
We will really apprecciate your help

I think the only thing you will have trouble finding is sunny, at least in the winter. PNW summers are absolutely beautiful with the sun shining daily, but they are relatively short. Once fall moves in, the sky will be relatively overcast for months on end. There are sun breaks, but not bluebird skies. I imagine the further south you go (Medford), the better the weather will be in the winter, but hopefully someone with more experience in Oregon can confirm this. I'm on the eastern side of the Cascades, and while we have sunnier winters (not this one though, lol), they are not mild. You'll have to stay on the western side of the Cascades for that.

[aroseinrain]

Originally Posted by andreham84

My husband got a job offer and we nned to relocate to Oregon within thenext few weeks. His boss told us to find a city that fits our lifestyle Asap but we're totally lost. We have a newborn so we're looking for:
-nice community enviroment
-low crime rate
-good schools
-close to popular national stores
-cheap but nice apartments/houses
-close to community colleges or/and state universities
- sunny and not humid weather with a mild winter time.
we are really excited about this new chapter in our lives and the fact that we are moving to the GREEN oREGON S EVEN BETTER, so we also woul like to live close to mother nature rathen than tall buildings and traffic jams
We will really apprecciate your help

I just picked my hometown: Eugene.

Here's my reasoning:


"nice community environment", "low crime rate", "good schools" -- that's all going to be about the same everywhere you go in Oregon (Oregon has really high property crime but really low person crime BTW).

"close to popular national stores" -- I'm not a big fan of Salem, and I don't know anything about Medford (but haven't been too impressed just driving through) so that leaves Portland or Eugene, both of which have popular national stores.

"close to community colleges or... Universities" -- still sounds like Portland or Eugene.

"cheap nice apartments" -- cheap compared to what? Nice compared to what? I don't know where you are coming from and "cheap" and "nice" are relative.

"sunny and not humid weather with a mild winter time" -- You probably won't find that here, especially if this quote is true:

"we are really excited about this new chapter in our lives and the fact that we are moving to the GREEN oREGON S EVEN BETTER, so we also woul like to live close to mother nature rathen than tall buildings and traffic jams" -- the green will cost you. Portland and Eugene both tend to be quite moist and cloudy most of the year. That's how we keep it green! As soon as the drizzle stops everybody runs outside to take pictures - that's why it looks so gorgeous in pictures.

So finally, I was going to end up voting for Portland, but I would not recommend living in the city proper (IMO too many homeless kids for transplants to adjust to, and too hipster for young families) but a suburb would be lovely for you. Since suburb of Portland wasn't an option I just put Eugene - a nice, quiet, green town too small to be called a city, but still has the amenities you'd want.

[Silverfall]

Cheap and good schools don't go together.

Portland has many suburbs to choose from with varying degrees of affordability. Portland is the largest city, biggest nightlife, and big city amenities. Portland Community College has several branches around town and then there is Portland State University for public and many private universities there. I lived in Portland for 10 years and loved it there.

Salem is 150,000 people. If you choose here, the schools with the best test scores are down south. That's where I live. Cheap is relative and everything here is cheaper than Portland, but we might be more expensive from where you came from. It's a good family city, I think, but I wouldn't want to be a single or young couple here as I don't think there is enough of a nightlife for that. Salem is a slow paced city. I like that as a parent. If I have to drive 20 minutes to get my kids somewhere that is a really long drive. We have Chemeketa Community College in town. Western Oregon University is about a 20 minute drive from south Salem to Monmouth, OR and Willamette University is a really good private university in town.

Eugene is a big larger than Salem. It has a much more hippie vibe since it has University of Oregon there which is the largest university in Oregon, I think. It has a more youthful element than Salem as a result.

I haven't been to Medford, but I think it's about 1/2 the size of Salem and Eugene. So keep that in mind.

You are trying to compare vastly different cities. I think you would be better off telling people what kind of city culture you'd like. Do you like the hippie/alternative/"crunchy" kind of vibe. If so then definitely Portland, but more likely Eugene. Do you prefer a more conservative city? Then probably Salem.

I know you probably feel like you gave really good specifics, but I think the folks on the forum could help you more if you talked more about the kind of city atmosphere you'd like.