Which beach town should we move to? (Portland, Beaverton: employment, place to live)

[scarab24]

Hello,

My Gf and I have the opportunity to move to Oregon in the next year or two.

I would like to do my research now so that we can visit a couple places and see what we like best before we move.

My girlfriend loves the beach and my job requires us to live anywhere in the western US, so this is a necessity.

We are are in our mid-twenties and enjoy going out at night and meeting people our age.

We love the outdoors, and I am an avid golfer.

Outside of these metrics, we are really just looking for a fun beach town with a lot of young people.

Let me know where you guys think the best place to reside would be

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by scarab24

Outside of these metrics, we are really just looking for a fun beach town with a lot of young people.

Let me know where you guys think the best place to reside would be

California, maybe? Oregon "beach towns" are full of retirees. There is no such thing as a "fun beach town with plenty of young people" in Oregon.

[texasdiver]

Honestly, if you want a social life with other young people and want to golf then you should move to Bend and just take weekend trips to the beach.

That is what most young remote-work people your age are doing around here. And it is what my daughter has done even though she is an avid surfer. She tried Pacific City and gave up and now lives in Bend. She's a mid-20s remote work professional who can live anywhere also.

[ejisme]

I agree with the other two posters... the Coast likely isn't the best place to live in your demographic. Unless, you want to associate with young hippie types that are working to get high, pay the rent, hang out, etc. If that is your crowd then pick any town between Seaside and Yachats. You will also get lots of young people/couples making day and weekend trips to the beach. If you want to golf regularly then get good rain/wet play gear. Even if it's not actively raining the courses are often very wet. I wore rain pants a lot when I lived in the area.

If you like lots of sun and well groomed courses, then the Bend, Redmond, and Prineville triangle would be a good place to look. The Beach is just a few hours away. All three get more snow than the coast, but much, much less rain, fog and gloom. You also have many Portland suburbs to explore. Our remote working son and young family are planning to move from Denver to Hillsboro/Beaverton next summer.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The Oregon coast does not have "beach towns". The water is too cold to swim and the beach itself is cold and windy and more often than not, the people enjoying the beach are wearing coats.

The Oregon coast is good for ocean sports. A great place to fish and crab and clam, and if you are a good sailor and your boat is big enough, it is a fun place for boating. The beaches are wonderful for beach combing and driftwood collecting. Not for swimming, or sunbathing, or playing volley ball.

I really should find that bank ad that shows the couple on the Oregon beach trying to play frisbee and the frisbee flies away on the wind. If I knew where that was, I'd play it for everyone asking about moving to the Oregon coast.

[Silverfall]

Beach Towns are in California and the east coast.

I agree that you should visit Bend and forget about the coast in Oregon as a place to live. They are all smaller tourist towns or working towns. They don't have a "scene" for going out at night.

[Metlakatla]

They have bingo every Wednesday night at The Beachcomber in Florence. I think it starts at 7:30.

[NW Crow]

The "beach towns" (if you want to call them that) with the clear youngest average age are Astoria, Coos Bay and especially Tillamook. Virtually every place else has average age way above national average. Tillamook is slightly below national average on age, the other two just moderately above.

But of course the demographic distribution still will generally have mild to moderate numbers of 20 somethings, often in service jobs or family businesses.

[Metlakatla]

I wonder why Tillamook's average age is lower than the national. It smells and everything there, and it isn't even next to the ocean.

[NW Crow]

Employment at the cheese factories is probably part of it. And if the young people are having kids that has an even bigger impact on average age.

16% of population are 21-34..

Overall the rate of adults with kids is about 10% above national average. But twice as many of them are single with kids.

10% of the jobs are in manufactoring.