I think Corvallis is it for me. (Portland, Eugene: sales, new home)

[skitow]

Hi everyone. As Iv'e stated before, I am sick of the silicone valley area of CAL. Too many people for me. Reading all the posts I can find, I feel like Corvallis sounds great. I would love to hear from anyone who lives there, been through there etc. I've already checked around on housing costs. I am mainly interested in the yearly weather patterns. I know you can read the graphs but it's not the same as hearing from people who have or are living there. I'll take any morsel of input you can give me. My 59 year old bones need a new home. Thanks in advance, skitow.

[RodFarlee]

Originally Posted by skitow

...I am mainly interested in the yearly weather patterns. I know you can read the graphs but it's not the same as hearing from people who have or are living there.

Well, I'm a native, born and raised nearby (my dad went to OSU and stayed). First, I've got to say Corvallis is a great town to live in. The only downside is the long, rainy, overcast winters. This affects each person differently. I'm sure you've read about Seasonal Affective Disorder. I don't know if I ever had it, all I can say is that going over Santiam Pass in winter and breaking out into sunshine in Sisters was always a marvelous revelation to me as a child - I'd almost forgotten there was sun in the winter! And finally moving out of the Willamette Valley weather (to Idaho) was also wonderful. When retirement gave me the opportunity to move wherever I wanted, I briefly considered returning, but just couldn't face it again.

What we did may or may not be helpful to you, but here 'tis: we looked for those areas of the Northwest which had both mild temperatures (my wife's requirement) and were in rain shadows (mine). This rapidly narrowed our search to three areas: Hood River OR/White Salmon WA valleys, Applegate valley (Jacksonville to Grants Pass OR), and Dungeness valley (Sequim WA). We visited, bought a home, and a month later, had moved. These are each delightful areas to live in, but it must be said, none has the overall ambience of Corvallis. They do get sun in winter, though!

If in doubt, spend at least a couple weeks there this winter before deciding.

[skitow]

I REALY want to thankyou for the great info. You have completely changed my mind. I also like the sunshine. I was an avid water skier for 13 years and loved the water and sunshine. May I ask where you finally settled down? How is the snow situation wwhere you live? Don't care much for the white fluffy. I had my fill of it when I was living in Spkane WA. This reply is exactly what I was praying for. So again, may I ask where you are calling home? sorry for the lousy spelling. I just woke up. Thanks one last time. This is a GREAT!!!!
skitow

[Clear2land]

One thing you can do is spend part of your winter in the deserts of California and Arizona. Outside of Hawaii, there is no place in the country that has perfect weather. The best anyone can hope for is to flow with the seasons.

I met a serior couple who have a manufactured home in Gold Beach and a second home in Palm Springs. They were in their 80's and happy as a Lark! I had breakfast with them in Cottage Grove.

If you can afford to follow the Sun, any city in Oregon will work for you. Having said that, Southern Oregon has the best weather.

Dan

[RodFarlee]

Originally Posted by skitow

...I also like the sunshine. I was an avid water skier for 13 years and loved the water and sunshine. May I ask where you finally settled down? How is the snow situation wwhere you live? Don't care much for the white fluffy...

That's exactly what my wife said! (Myself, any place west of Denver was OK.) That, and her refusal to move to semi-desert or into California, is what narrowed our search so quickly.

The three areas I mentioned each have a dry microclimate (about 1/3 the rain of Corvallis) because they are in rain shadows. A typical winter day begins overcast, but over half the time, the sun breaks out in the early afternoon. They are each relatively rural areas with small towns, surrounded by a wealth of scenery and diverse outdoor recreational opportunities in national forest. Being at low elevation and west of the Cascades, they have mild climates with little snow that doesn't last long. However, they don't have the intellectual life of Corvallis, which is something not to be lightly dismissed. If your priorities are small town life, gardening and outdoor activities, then they should rank high on your list.

The Applegate valley is immediately south of the Rogue River valley, nestled against the northeast side of the Siskiyous Mts. This narrow valley begins west of Jacksonville OR, runs west and then north into Grant's Pass. It is cooler in summer than the Rogue valley (Medford), drier but greener because it's cooler, and gets less fog in winter. Ashland, Medford and Grant's Pass are nearby.

The Hood River valley begins at the town of Hood River in the Columbia gorge and climbs south, nestled against the north side of Mt Hood. The valley is filled with orchards. Across the Columbia River, White Salmon WA valley climbs north on the southeast slope of Mt Adams. White Salmon River is perhaps the most famed kayaking stream in the northwest. Both valleys offer a variety of microclimates, getting cooler, moister and more forested as you go up. They're about an hour east of Portland/Vancouver.

The Dungeness Valley is on the northeast side of the Olympic Mts, running down to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 1-1/2 hours west of Seattle. Many homes in the area have superb views of the San Juan Islands and Victoria BC, 30 miles and a 1 hour ferry ride north. We settled near Sequim.

There are many other areas to consider for sun, if you're willing to accept more snow: Chelan WA, Redmond OR, Enterprise OR, etc.

I can't say that one is better than another. These are small town/rural areas, not mid-size college towns like Corvallis or Eugene. A hopefully minor consideration is that Oregon has a progressive income tax, while Washington has a regressive sales tax; this can make a noticeable difference if your retirement income or expenditures are unusually high or low, but balances out for most mid-income people.

[skitow]

Originally Posted by RodFarlee

That's exactly what my wife said! (Myself, any place west of Denver was OK.) That, and her refusal to move to semi-desert or into California, is what narrowed our search so quickly.

The three areas I mentioned each have a dry microclimate (about 1/3 the rain of Corvallis) because they are in rain shadows. A typical winter day begins overcast, but over half the time, the sun breaks out in the early afternoon. They are each relatively rural areas with small towns, surrounded by a wealth of scenery and diverse outdoor recreational opportunities in national forest. Being at low elevation and west of the Cascades, they have mild climates with little snow that doesn't last long. However, they don't have the intellectual life of Corvallis, which is something not to be lightly dismissed. If your priorities are small town life, gardening and outdoor activities, then they should rank high on your list.

The Applegate valley is immediately south of the Rogue River valley, nestled against the northeast side of the Siskiyous Mts. This narrow valley begins west of Jacksonville OR, runs west and then north into Grant's Pass. It is cooler in summer than the Rogue valley (Medford), drier but greener because it's cooler, and gets less fog in winter. Ashland, Medford and Grant's Pass are nearby.

The Hood River valley begins at the town of Hood River in the Columbia gorge and climbs south, nestled against the north side of Mt Hood. The valley is filled with orchards. Across the Columbia River, White Salmon WA valley climbs north on the southeast slope of Mt Adams. White Salmon River is perhaps the most famed kayaking stream in the northwest. Both valleys offer a variety of microclimates, getting cooler, moister and more forested as you go up. They're about an hour east of Portland/Vancouver.

The Dungeness Valley is on the northeast side of the Olympic Mts, running down to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 1-1/2 hours west of Seattle. Many homes in the area have superb views of the San Juan Islands and Victoria BC, 30 miles and a 1 hour ferry ride north. We settled near Sequim.

There are many other areas to consider for sun, if you're willing to accept more snow: Chelan WA, Redmond OR, Enterprise OR, etc.

I can't say that one is better than another. These are small town/rural areas, not mid-size college towns like Corvallis or Eugene. A hopefully minor consideration is that Oregon has a progressive income tax, while Washington has a regressive sales tax; this can make a noticeable difference if your retirement income or expenditures are unusually high or low, but balances out for most mid-income people.

You should be a book writer with such a flare of the english language. Thanks for the wealth of info you have given me. Now I need to go buy a few maps and find these places you are speaking of. About the only city I've been in is Chelan WA. That's my home state. Thanks again, skitow

[sparklegal06]

Corvallis is a quaint little town with about 54,000 people during the school year (OSU) this includes the students of about 22,000. The weather is somewhat mild but does get cold here. In fact, we have snow today and continuing through the week. In milder winters; we get rain, rain, rain. So if you don't like the rain, well, don't move here. On the upside; the town is very well mapped out. You can get from one end to the other in about 15 or 20 minutes. Whether you are riding, biking, riding on public transportation (which is a very good system) walking or even driving! There are alot (and I mean alot of walking/biking trails)

[tiffela74]

ya, not to mention the Beavers just won the Civil War, again! GO BEAVS!!!
Tiff

[DavePautsch]

My family and I moved here in 2001 from Hawaii. It took a little while to get used to the changes but we have really come to love the Willamette Valley. I worked in Corvallis at OSU for the first 4 years although we actually live in Albany (it was much more affordable to buy a house here than in Benton County!).
The people here are incredibly friendly and warm. After years of living in major metropolitan areas it was such a change to have people actually talk to you in line at the grocery stores! The pace of life is significantly slower here than it was in either Oahu or San Diego...it drove us crazy at first that the mall actually closed on Sunday evenings at 6pm!
My children have thrived in the school system (they actually have Character Education as part of the curriculum! I thought that was great!)...

All in all I can't say enough good things about the area here.

Dave

[Steve97415]

I would generally agree that Corvallis is a great place to live. Whether or not it is a good fit for any particular person is another matter. If you have school-aged children, then the benefits of the 509J school system constitute much of the reason for living there. For those without kids at home, it's still a great community, but there may be fewer payoffs to offset the dreary winter weather.