Someone tell me about Oregon

[carlitasway]

Specificaly about the towns that border Califorinia. My ds has horrible allergies, especially with mold, and I was doing some research on mild climates with low humidity. All things pointed to California but dh says he never wants to move there. I was looking at some places last night and the weather and the towns close to the Cali border averaged about 30% humidity. So is it like that all year round?

Right now we live in San Antonio TX and the allergies are so bad here that if you never even had them before you develop them. My ds's ENT said he wanted to put him on a 4 year plan for immunity shots for mold! He's only 6! So I told dh that as soon as he graduates he needs to find a job in a place with low humidity, preferably a state where we won't melt.

[leezza]

Carla,

We live east of the SF Bay area....and I will tell you that with all the landscaping and crops grown here my sinus's get quite the workout..anyway a couple places that I notice that I can breath really well are:

Reno, Nevada

Denver, Colorado

Both are high elevation semi arrid desert and they both get hot but not as bad as where you live now I think.

You could also check out area's in Utah, (I hear good things about Salt Lake City, and a lot of large companies have moved there).

You might also look into New Mexico?

Good Luck,
leezza

PS. Don't forget to check school matters on any area that you are thinking about to check out the schools.

[fuzzybunny]

I live in Oregon and my Dad is down in Grants Pass, about an hour from the border.

It is very hot and dry generally in the summer, think high 90s or more, but the winter is rainy like the rest of Oregon. They also are more hilly than Willamette valley (Eugene, Salem, Portland) and so get more snow.

Also good to remember that they have scorpians, rattlesnacks, ticks, black widows and, I am not making this up, carnivorous butterflys, so if he doesn't like creepy crawlies its not the place for him. Also, there is tons and tons of poison oak. In the spring when the pollen is blowing about people who are very allergic can get rashes even if they never touch the stuff.

Its not a cheap place to live at all. All of the retiring Californians moved up there because land was cheap. Well it's still cheap by California standards but not for the people who grew up there. Housing prices are still climbing as far as I'm aware. I believe Kristy Alley has a house outside of Medford.
and I know someone who ran into Tom Cruise and John Travolta up towards Kalamath, just to give you an idea of the kind of prices I am talking about.

I checked listings for Wolf Creek, a very small town near my Dad's and the prices ranged from 159,000 for an old singlewide trailor on ten acres to 2.5 millon or 80 acres and a nice house. This is in an "unpopular" area. Ashland and any town that retains any sort of "charm" will be more expensive.

The culture is also divided. You will find a lot of very rich folk with big spreads and liberal ideas (the Californians) and then you will find very poor folk, many of whom live in a manner very similar to the Appalachians at the turn of last century.There are also tons of survivalists, people living without being on the grid, many with no running water and still using kerosene lamps and outhouses once you get into the hills.

Good to know that Oregon has no sales tax, but we do have a healthy income tax. Physician assisted suicide is legal here as well as medical marijauana. Our guns laws are also pretty restrictive and some counties and many companies have liberal same sex-partener benefits.

It is very beautiful but to be happy he will probably need to have a good old boy, hill folk attitude or else be at home with the California Shakespere festival crowd. There isn't much in between down south. To Oregonians in general I have noticed that things are very liberal in Portland, Salem and Eugene, but the rest of the state tends to be much more conservative. Eastern and Southern Oregon have even bounced around the idea of becoming their own state(s).

Christine

[acidcookie]

I live in Oregon and my Dad is down in Grants Pass, about an hour from the border.

I grew up in Grants Pass and also lived in Portland. They are two very distinct areas in terms of climate, critters, and the politics. But I can second what Christine said about southern Oregon. I would add though that I never remember having much of a problem with the creepy animals. Lived with plenty of garden snakes, but never saw a rattlesnake or a scorpion. Yes they do live there, but they're not invasive unless you're out east in the desert a bit more.

I LOVE Oregon if that adds anything. And as far as climate, moving to Pennsylvania is the worst thing my sinuses and skin have endured. I'd love my Oregon climate back. I do have to say my heart belongs to Portland. While southern Oregon is beautiful, I don't fit into most of the towns.

[acidcookie]

P.S. fuzzybunny, have I told you how CUTE your avatar is?!

[fuzzybunny]

LOL! Thanks! I love that little guy; he makes me smile everytime I see him

I love Oregon and Portland too. But I am sad to see so many people from California moving up here and bringing their strip malls and chain resturants with them... I have always loved that Portland has a small town local feel even though it is big. I also like the live and let live attitude. Makes for mellow folks. I just wish it hadn't gotten so expensive. A three bedroom house, nothing special, sold my street for $379,000. It was on the market less than 3 weeks. I make $20 bucks an hour and when I did the math discovered if I wanted to buy I would only be able to afford the most wretched hovel. My friends just paid $179,000 for a one bedroom with no driveway, old electrical work, asbestos tile and foundation problems and think they got a deal. It's getting crazy up here.

As to down south, I don't find the creepy crawlies too bad myself. My dad has seen rattlesnakes where he lives up in the mountains and a carnivorous butterfly tried to digest him once but that's about it. The ticks are the biggest problem to my mind, but some people feel more strongly about bugs and reptiles so I always mention it. My uncle Paul saw two mountain lion cubs and their mom this spring and every year my dad has an otter family in his creek. I once saw a beaver family and of course the deer and elk. I heard a bear in night once but didn't go and check it out.

The southern Oregon coast towns can be very nice too.

[momof42003]

I am in the Willamette Valley (Eugene to be exact), and my 14yr old has massive allergies. Mainly to do with being in the valley, and being grass allergies. Oregon is a great place to live, I don't know much about southern Oregon though. I do know that the Bandon/Coquille coast area is beatuiful, and my daughter has less problems when she is visiting her grandmother. Hope you can figure something out.

[Lori Biever-Launder]

I grew up in Ashland and can tell you it's SUPER expensive! So is Jacksonville and some parts of Medford. However, get off the beaten path and things are more reasonable.

Eastern Oregon is much more arid than west of the Cascade mountain range. Bend is very nice, but also super expensive.

You might look into Klamath Falls or Lakeview.