Coos Bay/ North Bend, Oregon living. (Portland, Baker City: homes, neighborhoods, buying)

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by chahunt

Thanks for everyone's response. I'm considering relocating to this area for a job, in healthcare. I've visited once. I liked the town. I like the rain and the scenery, and need a change. A 30K metro doesn't seem terribly small. I am in my late twenties, are there many people around that age in Coos Bay Area to mingle with?

You probably won't find a whole lot who are late 20s, single professional types. You'll have your usual locals who grew up there and never left and are doing things like clerking at Wal-Mart, waiting tables, working construction, etc. You'll find some professional types working in government (Forest Service, Coast Guard, NOAA, etc.) and the local medical centers and schools. But a large percentage of those are going to be married and older as the amount of turnover in those jobs is pretty low. Honestly your social life is likely to be the people you work with, at least to start. And not many are likely to be 20-something singles.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Oh, I agree. It's amazing how many times you can drive down 101 and see sun on the inland side of the highway with fog on the seaward side. I would not want to own beachfront property. I'd rather let someone else own it and find an AirB&B when I want to visit the coast overnight. Which honestly is only when we have out of town guests. When it's just us we only do day trips.

But yes, the Oregon cost is mostly rugged enough that one can easily find property on high ground. There are probably a few exceptions like Rockaway Beach and Pacific City that are basically sitting in the tsunami zone. But most of the older and more established towns like Coos Bay occupy higher ground.

I think the most dangerously sited beach towns in the Pacific Northwest are Long Beach, Wesport and Ocean Shores WA across the bridge from Astoria. They are all on long low spits with only one road across bridges to escape.

Yet the population of the Oregon coast is twice as large as the population of the Washington coast. The numbers don’t lie and I believe Oregon is more vulnerable.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by chahunt

Can you not grow a garden properly due to the marine layer? Does that last into the summer too? (If near or one the coast). How far inland do you have to travel to get sunshine and the ability to grow a garden during the spring and summer? I mean, does the main part of town have these spots.

Well, there's that, and there's also the overly sandy soils and the salt spray closer to the beach. Shouldn't be a problem in Coos Bay/North Bend.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Yet the population of the Oregon coast is twice as large as the population of the Washington coast. The numbers don’t lie and I believe Oregon is more vulnerable.

Here is the Tsunami map for Westport WA. Where is the high ground and how to you get to it? Via one single 2-lane bridge that will be one of the first things to go in an actual Tsunami. And if you can get across the bridge, you're still on the road that runs along the edge of the bay to Aberdeen and doesn't actually gain elevation.



Here is the Tsunami Map for Coos Bay which is what we were talking about here. from just about any part of the city you only need to go a block or two up hill.



I know which city I'd rather be living in when the big one hits.

[pnwguy2]

Impressive maps but the stats don’t lie. There are many more at risk in Oregon.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Impressive maps but the stats don’t lie. There are many more at risk in Oregon.

We are talking about two different things.

Yes, there is probably much more total population in Oregon living in tsunami zones because there are 10x more coastal towns in Oregon. But most Oregon beach towns have ready tsunami evacuation routes. You basically go up hill.

The towns in SW WA are on long exposed spits with no good escape routes. So I would consider them to be much more dangerous places to live.

[pnwguy2]

Agreed but the larger population means more will be heading for higher ground. There have been issues of chaos in recent false alarms. I think this is a much bigger potential hazard in Oregon than Washington by total potential damage and deaths.

[WestGuest]

I like all those places -they are scenic and not too expensive. They are isolated and driving those slow roads to Central Washington gets old quickly. I ended up choosing Skamokawa WA for a summer home, right next to the Columbia River and Oregon. 1hr 20 min fro Portland

[Sir Illsa Moustache]

I was there just a few months back. It's really pretty and reminded me a lot of the CA central coast, around Morro Bay/Cambria. I'd love to live there...when I'm retired. There's not a lot going on there for younger people or those wanting a career. At least this was my observation.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by Oasis_finder

Wanting to gather people's views of living in this area of Oregon. Want to hear all about the good and the bad! The little things and the odd things! ...................

Woman arrested following fight over fish called Lucifer:
https://www.kezi.com/content/news/Sh...506889481.html

" the caller only received minor injuries," but what about Lucifer?? Was he badly injured? Was he killed? Doesn't anybody care about Lucifer? What's wrong with people?