Oregon: Corvallis, Philomath, Albany, Eugene - good retirement areas?

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by NW4me

What impressed me was the Corvallis drivers stopping even when not required to by law.

Actually It can be dangerous. Oregon drivers violate the law many times/day in the quest to be "polite". "Polite" can cause accidents. Better to just follow the law.

For example, when some yahoo stops in mid traffic to "let me in" even when he/she has right of way, it creates an uncontrolled situation. I don't go because I may be the cause of the accident - if I moved into oncoming traffic despite not having tight of way. that is certainly the way the cops would review the scenario and I would not blame them.

Better to just learn the rules of the road and adhere to them.

[NW4me]

Originally Posted by BruceM

Once we got here we realized there was something this was going to be the place for us.
Here is a little piece I wrote years ago on this forum about our first days here:

Re the friendliness of Oregonians here is the story I like to tell about how we came to choose to purchase a home in Corvallis on our 2nd day visiting in town.
We were on a corner of 2nd St downtown and were discussing which direction we wanted to go. My wife pointed one way and I pointed another. I looked around and saw traffic stopped in all directions. I said to my wife that we needed to make up our minds as traffic was stopped waiting for us to enter the crosswalk! Mind you, we were on the sidewalk and not even in the crosswalk yet!
In Florida, where we were living at the time, drivers pretty much ignore crosswalks. It has the highest rate of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths per capita of any state in the US so this courtesy, whether state mandated or not, was quite a pleasant surprise to us.

We were so enthused by what we had seen so far that we decided to purchase a house right away even though we would not be ready to move for another couple of years.

I had a similar experience on my first visit to Corvallis a few years ago:

I'd flown into PDX, rented a car, and was driving around near Central Park looking for a parking space. I went past one, then started to back into it when an SUV swooped in from behind and took it. But then the driver of the SUV noticed my car and made a gesture like, "oh, were you going to park here?" I nodded, and she gave up the parking space. OMG!

[NBened]

Thanks, Bruce. You've been very helpful with the information and article you provided. Much appreciated. Now, it's onward march ....

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Actually It can be dangerous. Oregon drivers violate the law many times/day in the quest to be "polite". "Polite" can cause accidents. Better to just follow the law.

For example, when some yahoo stops in mid traffic to "let me in" even when he/she has right of way, it creates an uncontrolled situation. I don't go because I may be the cause of the accident - if I moved into oncoming traffic despite not having tight of way. that is certainly the way the cops would review the scenario and I would not blame them.

Better to just learn the rules of the road and adhere to them.

As irritated as I get by unnecessary yielding, I don't believe it's a violation of any law. Also I think you are creating more of a traffic hazard by refusing to go. That just creates a , no you go, no you go, no you go, situation, and delays everybody. If someone yields to you unnecessarily, just go.

[wolfdog]

Too many drivers don't actually know what right of way means. Or they put courtesy over law.
At a four-way stop, for instance, if driver A from the south, stops at the same moment as driver B, from the east, B is on the right of A(A is on B's left), so driver B has the right of way.

[rtg143]

Silverton is 10th and Philomath is 12th safest town in Oregon. https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-cities-oregon/

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

As irritated as I get by unnecessary yielding, I don't believe it's a violation of any law. Also I think you are creating more of a traffic hazard by refusing to go. That just creates a , no you go, no you go, no you go, situation, and delays everybody. If someone yields to you unnecessarily, just go.

Well technically it could be a violation if a cop believes unnecessary stop led to a dangerous situation. I tell you what though. If there is accident and my car looks to be in middle of intersection where I clearly did not have right of way - I am screwed.

Besides I am trying in my own little way to train the goofy Oregon driver to just follow the damn rules. ( I am sure I will be successful in this endeavor.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Well technically it could be a violation if a cop believes unnecessary stop led to a dangerous situation. I tell you what though. If there is accident and my car looks to be in middle of intersection where I clearly did not have right of way - I am screwed.

Besides I am trying in my own little way to train the goofy Oregon driver to just follow the damn rules. ( I am sure I will be successful in this endeavor.

Well, the cop would have to have a specific VC violation to write a ticket for. I have no idea what that would be. Also it would be extremely difficult to argue that a driver being unnecessarily polite is causing a dangerous situation. As far as the risk of an accident, that's the main reason I don't like to be forced into a situation like that, and don't appreciate it. But if it happens, I just proceed with extreme caution. Especially looking for other vehicles who may not yield. If not safe to do so, I would not move.

[NorthernFog]

Originally Posted by NBened

We've come to the realization that we may have to leave SoCal within the near future. We are in a fire-prone area that is overdue for a catastrophe, just having luckily missed an evacuation order by a thread a few weeks ago. Very, very scary situation that we want to avoid in the future. SoCal weather has changed a lot and it's become hotter for much longer time periods. We haven't had any measurable rain since last February. It's also gotten very expensive and now more so for us with the new tax laws coming into effect. Many people want to leave but can't because they'll be bankrupted by capital gains taxes. Sort of like being between a rock and a hard place. Home prices continue their climb through the roof with a serious housing shortage. Then there's the increased traffic, congestion and constant road rage. It can be hours to get places that used to take minutes. It's unfortunately not the beautiful and affordable California I witnessed for the first time a few decades ago.

As far as climate goes in Oregon, we don't want an inordinate amount of rain and wind - as in the kind that Brookings and the Oregon Coast get. We do know that a good nine months out of the year it's drizzly, rainy and foggy in much of Oregon. That's just the reality (and which makes it so beautiful and green) and we're willing to compromise on that - we just don't want 50+ inches of it. We're keeping track of temperatures and amounts of rain and snow in the areas we're interested in. We traveled to So. Oregon last year and liked Ashland, Jacksonville, parts of Medford, Talent, Phoenix, etc. In May of this year we're planning a trip to visit friends and look seriously at the Corvallis area. We like that it's a small college town, is outdoor-oriented with biking/hiking and lots of nature, and is near to Eugene for the oh-so-important medical care. We realize that no place is perfect; it's just a matter of what you can tolerate and what you can't. We also realize that once we leave California we can never come back. And that's why we're doing a lot of research and taking our time.

Anyone have any thoughts on the Corvallis area? Commentary will be much appreciated!

Where did you finally move to? Do you like/love it? I movedto Newberg, OR last JY. It's nice here but too conservative for me.