St. Helens or Astoria? (Portland, Beaverton: crime rates, find a job, movies)

[purplewaxhand]

My husband and I have lived in the Centralia/Chehalis for almost two years and for the past few months we have been thinking of moving either closer to the ocean, the other side of the state or somewhere out of state.

St. Helens and Astoria are my top two picks for Oregon.

St. Helens is near Sauvie Island, where we like to visit, and if we need to Portland is near enough for work.

Astoria we haven't been to, but I looked around the town on Street View and I love how it looks, which is why it is my second pick. According to my research, it only gets up to around mid 70s, which is perfect in my opinion.

My questions are: What is it like living in those two towns, which one has the better chances for employment, lower crime rates, if there is any drug use, can/bottle redemption or nearby, pet friendly (we have a cat and a dog) and if there is anything else we need to know about them.

[skiffrace]

As far as employment opportunities, they are very bad in Astoria and abysmal in Saint Helens.
A lot of people commute from Saint Helens to Portland. Commute to downtown Pdx is doable typically in under an hour, but no fun.
Not a lot of crime in either, except some drug-related.
Both are sleepy towns with their glory days long behind them.
If you are looking for the 'ocean experience' then definitely Astoria. Visually it is simply spectacular.
I would not move to either without a job, but overall, I'd put Astoria as a clear winner. Saint Helens is a small river town in the middle of nowhere, and with nothing in it.

[hamellr]

Astoria in a heart beat, but only if you can find a job or can live without one.

[kyled]

Astoria had a lot of classic movies filmed there (classic to me at least). I used to watch Goonies every day when I was a kid (quite literally there were summers where I watched it every day)...If I were inclined to move to a small town far from a city center I'd move to Astoria, as hamellr said, in a heartbeat.

[Scarletjubilee]

This is just a vote from St. Helens - I love this place. It's a cute little town - although the long-term residents do grumble about living here a bit.

There's always something going on, and if not, there's something within driving distance.

My husband drives to downtown Portland 5 or 6 days a week, and it takes 45 minutes. In the year and a half we've been here, there have been delays around 3 days. His coworkers who live in Beaverton and Hillsboro generally have twice the drive time. (It's a long drive, but it goes quickly because there's not much traffic.)

Astoria is adorable, but what I like about St Helens are the job opportunities in both Longview or Portland - Astoria might be harder to find employment.

[Oregon Trail]

St. Helens for sure ,,Astoria is always foggy most of the year with drizzle or rain ,,not to much snow though.. St Helens is up river enough that you can grow a garden that gets more sun than even Rainier which is 18 miles closer to Astoria ..

now ,getting back to your question about employment,, depends on what type of work you are thinking of as both cities have a lot in common ,,but Astoria has more boat,fishing ,type work,,as for pets,,Astoria is too pet friendly as they are all over the place when you drive the residential areas.

[AndyAMG]

St. Helens, amazing views of the cascades, and better weather.