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I am considering making the move up to Oregon, and would appreciate any advice you have. I currently have been staying with family in San Jose, California for a few months (where I grew up) but have also spent time living in Bellingham, Washington and Saint Paul, Minnesota. So I'm used to life in a bigger city, and accustomed to the crime rates/homeless situation in big places like the Twin Cities or the Bay Area. Of these past locations, I liked Bellingham the best (college town, population of approx. 90,000?). I know I want to stay on the West Coast but it's becoming apparent that Silicon Valley/Bay Area problems such as traffic, overpopulation, extremely high cost of living, as well as the California climate are not my cup of tea to put up with for the rest of my life. What's more, I feel like my values don't fit in with the high-tech and consumer culture down here-- it's clearly a culture of haves and have-nots for anyone not in tech, and too large of a Metro area (scared of the freeways, for example) for me to be happy in San Jose. I'm politically liberal, but personally live a more conservative lifestyle, and look for a region where there's a healthy mix of political persuasions, as well as a mix of rural and urban, and of socioeconomic classes. I don't need much in the way of material possessions, nightlife, or big real estate to be happy-- in fact the happiest I've been is when I had very little. What I look for most is the ability to build a strong sense of community wherever I land.
For the 3 years I lived in NW Washington I loved the rainy climate and outdoor opportunities, lower cost of living, etc. I'm someone who looks for a slower, quiet pace of life but with access to resources like movies, college sports games, healthcare, airport, I-5 freeway within reasonable driving distance. Is Salem, Oregon a solid candidate for this?
I am looking for a smaller region/city where I can settle for the long-term and get integrated into the community. I am a 22 year old, single guy who has a Bachelor's degree in the English Education field but not a teaching credential. I have some work experience in adult community education, working with English learners, program coordination and instructional support-- would be looking for a job in school districts, colleges/universities, public service, nonprofits, etc. but willing to work a service industry job and do volunteer work until I get acclimated to the region and find a more ideal career type position (ideal would be a salary of $35,000+ per year to start). I know there are universities (WOU, OSU) and community colleges (Linn-Benton, Chemeketa) in the area that I would love to work for, a large public school district, and the state government. I also know there is an education dropout crisis and accompanying funding crisis in Oregon schools-- educational equity is a cause I'm passionate about working towards in whatever capacity I can, even if it's just volunteering or an AmeriCorps position and not a full time job.
Some factors I'm looking for in the place I move: 1) medium sized citybut has smaller town communities located within 20 minutes or so, in case I wanted to keep working in the city but commute to work from living in a smaller town later down the line; 2) decent sized population of other young adults around my age (which is a main reason I'm hesitant to move to a very rural area, because of the aging/declining populations. Right now I'm single but want to date, eventually get married and have a family, and have a younger, middle-class community to get my family involved in). 3) Safe neighborhood to live in. 4) Job prospects in the field of Education/Government/Nonprofits/Public Service. 5) thriving Mainline Protestant church congregations, preferably the United Methodist Church, to get plugged in and find community. In some regions the Evangelical churches seem to have "taken over" at the expense of liturgical churches which is quite disappointing to me. 6) Outdoor activities, coast/mountains/camping within driving distance, nature nearby where I live.
Would moving to Salem, Oregon be a good fit for my above criteria, in your expert opinions? Which area of the city would you recommend for someone of my characteristics? How about the nearby cities in the mid-Willamette Valley like Albany, Independence/Monmouth, Corvallis? Or if you would recommend other medium sized cities in Oregon, Idaho or northern California for me to consider, which ones and why? I would consider moving back up to Washington but right now feel like the 9-10 hour driving distance between the mid-Willamette Valley down to San Jose, CA to visit family/friends is about the maximum distance I'm looking for. I do have a few extended family members in both Newport and Bend, Oregon.
I plan to visit the Salem area for at least a week in February to get a better feel for it; the last time I actually got off the freeway when going through Oregon was 2014. I have been debating whether to keep on trying to lock down a job before moving, or just commit to a region I really like and acclimate to it a bit before finding full-time work in my field. At 22 years old and single, renting a room in a house/apartment at a relatively low price point is the practical option for me.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
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try to avoid NE (lancaster dr), S.Salem (Commercial), WSalem (Bridge) because of traffic bottlenecks. Areas are acceptable with the eastside a bit rougher. Closest neighborhoods is WSalem, where you can catch a bus, near groceries, library, park & bridge across the Willamette.
Craigslist is your best bet for finding a shared place. Not difficult.
Salem is a little sleepy but pretty much what you are looking for. There is a large Hispanic migrant community in the schools so that would potentially work for your teaching interests. But finding teaching jobs in Oregon is tough. There are a LOT of out of work or underemployed teachers.
Eugene and Corvallis are college towns so will be even tougher to find teaching jobs, especially Eugene which has the teacher's college with UO.
Albany is a declining mill town with little to offer for a young single Calfornian. I'd avoid.
Honestly, get your OR teaching credentials and maybe a WA teaching licence too, and then find whatever teaching you can find in the Willamette Valley or one of the burbs surrounding Portland like Newberg, McMinneville, Oregon City, Canby, etc. Maybe expand the search to SW Washington up as far as Longview. Lots of options. Don't obsess about the town, follow the work. If you can work your way into a teaching job in either OR or WA you will be a lot better off in terms of salary and benefits than any sort of service industry or nonprofit type job. All the school districts in OR and WA use the same basic online job application system so once you get your first couple of applications finished (which is very tedious) you will have all the required documents and letters lined up and you can start pumping them out all over the area and hopefully get some interviews.
Generally, Salem meets your criteria and we have several United Methodist churches here. You would have to go and visit them to see if they were thriving or not as I'm not a member of those churches. We don't meet the college sports teams criteria but a lot of people travel to the Ducks and Beaver games in Corvallis and Eugene from here. The RAM is a popular bar/restaurant to hang out and watch the games if that is your thing.
Corvallis is one of the least churchy cities in Oregon so I'm not sure if they have the kind of church you want there. Salem has a larger church-going population here.
Albany doesn't have much of a youth vibe so I'm not sure about the young population there. Independence isn't really a youthful place, but Monmouth has students that attend WOU.
The Santiam Wilderness is close by as is Detroit Lake. Both of those areas have a lot of hiking options. The Jefferson Wilderness has good backpacking trails on it. For a quick jaunt, Silverfalls State Park is really close as well. There is no lack of access to Wilderness from any Oregon city.
If you don't use mj, you can get a bus driving job with the school or with the city.
Why would a young college grad with a teaching degree be aiming at a part-time bus driving job? Seems the first priority for a young 22 year old would be to start the career and then worry about the exact place to live later.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,075 posts, read 7,515,583 times
Reputation: 9798
You should look at the pay rate and supplemental benefits of bus drivers.
It is a fast way get a well paying gig, even on a parttime basis. From there he can leverage himself up and still use bus driving as a PT gig.
As a guy at 68, I was solisticed at a neighborhood fair by the local school district for a PT bus driving job.
Salem is a little sleepy but pretty much what you are looking for. There is a large Hispanic migrant community in the schools so that would potentially work for your teaching interests. But finding teaching jobs in Oregon is tough. There are a LOT of out of work or underemployed teachers.
Eugene and Corvallis are college towns so will be even tougher to find teaching jobs, especially Eugene which has the teacher's college with UO.
Albany is a declining mill town with little to offer for a young single Calfornian. I'd avoid.
Honestly, get your OR teaching credentials and maybe a WA teaching licence too, and then find whatever teaching you can find in the Willamette Valley or one of the burbs surrounding Portland like Newberg, McMinneville, Oregon City, Canby, etc. Maybe expand the search to SW Washington up as far as Longview. Lots of options. Don't obsess about the town, follow the work. If you can work your way into a teaching job in either OR or WA you will be a lot better off in terms of salary and benefits than any sort of service industry or nonprofit type job. All the school districts in OR and WA use the same basic online job application system so once you get your first couple of applications finished (which is very tedious) you will have all the required documents and letters lined up and you can start pumping them out all over the area and hopefully get some interviews.
Thanks for your input! That's funny, down where I live in California right now there seems to be a severe shortage of teachers, maybe we should conscript some of those underemployed Oregonian teachers to help out down here Yeah I've found over the last few years when I was working as an adult Computer Skills Instructor and more recently a teacher's assistant in elementary special ed (me being an introvert and a perfectionist) that I'm not so sure I want to pursue the route of public school classroom teaching after all-- you might call me a wimp but according to statistics 40 to 50% of new teachers quit within their first 5 years and it just seems risky to me to spend so much money on a teaching credential if I can already anticipate the burn-out! I wish K-12 teaching was a more sustainable job, but with all the increasing problems within education (teachers required to put in many unpaid hours, low parental involvement, technology addiction in young students leaving them with hardly any attention span, schools lacking proper disciplinary support systems) for me I just don't think it would be sustainable. I know the other sectors may be lower pay but that's a trade-off I'm willing to make, and hope I would eventually be able to find a promising opportunity. Whatever I decide to pursue I think it would be a good idea to first establish residency in Oregon so I can qualify for in-state tuition should I decide to go back for further education or a teaching credential later on in life.
Worked some things out and am planning to move up mid-February!
Generally, Salem meets your criteria and we have several United Methodist churches here. You would have to go and visit them to see if they were thriving or not as I'm not a member of those churches. We don't meet the college sports teams criteria but a lot of people travel to the Ducks and Beaver games in Corvallis and Eugene from here. The RAM is a popular bar/restaurant to hang out and watch the games if that is your thing.
Corvallis is one of the least churchy cities in Oregon so I'm not sure if they have the kind of church you want there. Salem has a larger church-going population here.
Albany doesn't have much of a youth vibe so I'm not sure about the young population there. Independence isn't really a youthful place, but Monmouth has students that attend WOU.
The Santiam Wilderness is close by as is Detroit Lake. Both of those areas have a lot of hiking options. The Jefferson Wilderness has good backpacking trails on it. For a quick jaunt, Silverfalls State Park is really close as well. There is no lack of access to Wilderness from any Oregon city.
Thank you for your observations, it's very helpful! Yeah I'm happy with driving to see the Beavers or even the Wolves, and I heard Salem has a minor-league baseball team as well. It's good to know about the wilderness opportunities nearby. In San Jose we do have wilderness around but IMO it's rendered pretty inaccessible because of the insane traffic that goes on around the clock and because of all the crazy drivers I avoid the freeway, and as a result feel sort of "stuck" in the city all the time. One of my reasons for leaving. It will be nice to be back in a place where a short drive can get you to a hiking trail.
Through a mutual connection, I found a possible room for rent in Buena Vista 7 miles southeast of Independence at a great rate. Is this a fairly central location in the region if I'm looking for jobs among all the cities? Of course the location would not be permanent, just to get me started and I don't mind driving longer distances through farmland.
How are people in Salem and surrounding communities, are they generally welcoming to someone who just moved there? Over the years I've witnessed the 'Seattle Freeze', 'Minnesota Nice,' and also whatever the snobbishness/competitiveness is that's been making its way into the Bay Area as of late! What is the overall political mood in the region?
You should look at the pay rate and supplemental benefits of bus drivers.
It is a fast way get a well paying gig, even on a parttime basis. From there he can leverage himself up and still use bus driving as a PT gig.
As a guy at 68, I was solisticed at a neighborhood fair by the local school district for a PT bus driving job.
Hmmm yeah that's the chicken-and-egg conundrum. I do want to leverage into a full-time career, but at the same time I know that Hiring Managers up in Oregon aren't going to take a job application seriously if they see it's coming from someone who still lives in California. I assume they'd want to interview and hire from the pool of people already living in the region, which is why I think I'll move up there first rather than just waiting around down in San Jose any longer and not really being able to begin building the quality of life I want to have. My older brother's been out of college since 2017 and he's been here in our parents' house ever since, trying to find a full-time graphic design job by applying to hundreds of jobs all over the country-- he gets some phone screen interviews and maybe re-locating is normal for the tech-type jobs, but for the field of work I'm in I feel like it would be better to get a foot-in-the-door with employers by being there in person and doing volunteer work, etc. Not appealing to me to stay stagnant in San Jose living with my parents and waiting around for years for one of the many positions I've already applied to to magically fall in my lap! My "side job of choice" and experience is dishwashing/bussing and I assume I could find an opening at a restaurant to bring in some income while continuing to search for jobs in my field and building up connections.
I've been back here in San Jose less than 5 months and feel like I've gotten more than enough of my fill of Bay Area life already My current plan is to resign from my para-educator job end of January and move up to Oregon near the beginning of February if all goes well.
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Yeah I've found over the last few years when I was working as an adult Computer Skills Instructor and more recently a teacher's assistant in elementary special ed (me being an introvert and a perfectionist) that I'm not so sure I want to pursue the route of public school classroom teaching after all-- you might call me a wimp but according to statistics 40 to 50% of new teachers quit within their first 5 years and it just seems risky to me to spend so much money on a teaching credential if I can already anticipate the burn-out! I wish K-12 teaching was a more sustainable job, but with all the increasing problems within education (teachers required to put in many unpaid hours, low parental involvement, technology addiction in young students leaving them with hardly any attention span, schools lacking proper disciplinary support systems) for me I just don't think it would be sustainable. I know the other sectors may be lower pay but that's a trade-off I'm willing to make, and hope I would eventually be able to find a promising opportunity. Whatever I decide to pursue I think it would be a good idea to first establish residency in Oregon so I can qualify for in-state tuition should I decide to go back for further education or a teaching credential later on in life. 
My current plan is to resign from my para-educator job end of January and move up to Oregon near the beginning of February if all goes well.
