There’s also no self-service gas in New Jersey.
Yes, it is more associated with Seattle than here(sadly). We get quite a bit of rain and overcast through the winter, but about April through October we get an unholy amount of sunlight.
Define not as progressive please. I really am wanting to move to an area more in line with my politics and I don’t want to move there only to discover that I’ve left one conservative bastion for another.
And I can handle blah and boring… it can’t be any worse than my hometown, which is full of nothing but banks, used car dealerships, and churches. Lots and lots and lots of churches. Like three on every corner. Because of that, o do anything at all, you’d have to drive 30 miles to Chattanooga, so I’m hardly coming from the most exciting place on Earth.
If nothing else… Salem is about the same size as Chattown so I can probably expect something similar, which is perfectly fine to me.
Thanks for your input.
Just make sure you pronounce it correctly. It never occurred to me before moving to the Midwest that some people might pronounce it as “or-e-GONE”, but that’s the prevailing pronunciation here. It makes me cringe every time. I actually had an argument about this with one of my coworkers. I’m not an Oregonian, but after living in one of its neighboring states for twenty-two years, I think I know how to say it correctly, ie, “OR-e-gun.”
Because of groups like the OCA(Oregon Citizen’s Alliance), a fundie anti-gay group headed by Lon Mabon, and the fact that Salem is the state capitol, Salem does have a less progressive vibe because of those who settle there to be able to protest quicker.
There is less openness from what I have seen, and people seem more isolated from each other.
Check out the Oregonian(http://www.oregonian.com) and the Corvallis Gazette Times(http://www.gtconnect.com) for information about the OCA, Mabon, and other bits of background information on Oregon.
Total and unabashed hijack…
I live in Corvallis and if any other dopers want to shoot me an e-mail or go grab a beer at McM’s or maybe a slice of pizza at Woodstocks you can reach me at:
I had no idea so many other dopers were in the area. Small world.
A couple of people have mentioned Corvallis housing prices, correctly, as being fairly high. Two points should be made in fairness: first, they’re fairly reasonable on a national scale, so if where you’re moving from has inflated housing prices (San Francisco/Silicon Valley, this means you), you may think you’ve reached housing nirvanna. Second, Oregon is tiny dots of population surrounded by wilderness or at least rural farming, and this is especially true in the Corvallis area. Go five minutes out of town and home prices drop precipitously. Don’t like rural? Albany is much cheaper, about ten minutes away, has a “blah” rating closer to Corvallis than Salem, and a population of 40K.
I agree that the motto for Salem should be: Salem: Blah Humbug, but I’m not sure we’ll get it by the Salemites.
TimeWinder is right… Corvallis housing prices are just higher than most places in the state, often on par with Portland.
Still, I love it here with all my heart, and I wouldn’t trade the eight years I’ve lived here for anything.
…and hence you can always tell us Oregonians when we drive to another state, pull up to a pump, and sit for a couple minutes before we think to get out of the car. The no-self-service thing was a full-employment initiative that’s now become tradition. Since we don’t (knowingly) pay more for “full service”, most people I know like it.
The weather takes some getting used to. May-October it almost ceases to rain altogether, we call it the “forest fire season.” The rest of the year it’s overcast most days, and rains on about half of them. But when we say “rain”, we really mean “mist or heavy mist” – rain where you’d have to turn your windshield wipers past intermittent is 3-4 times a year rare. Snow is a couple-of-times a decade experience, and when it happens the whole state shuts down, apparently just to amuse us transplanted midwesterners (they’ll close schools for a FORECAST of a quarter inch of snow.). Everything in the state flowers (lawns, flowerboxes, the trees, some of the people) about April 1. I actually heard someone tell me that they’d missed the “good planting time” – in February.
Temperatures are the great part, though. Daytime highs rarely get below 45 or so even in the dead of winter, summer highs are getting warmer, but days over 90 are still rare. When we bought a house, everyone told us air conditioning was optional, but most people seem to get it now, and lots of others are adding it. (Unlike some places in the country, A/C re-uses the existing heat ducts, so there’s no re-ducting to do.) We turn ours on mostly to keep the allergen down (did I mention the whole state flowers?); if you’re allergic to grass pollen, be aware that Oregon is the largest producer of grass seed in the world - there’s nothing stranger than fields growing grass. (And I mean the green, bladed stuff you make lawns out of…)
[QUOTE=TimeWinder]
…mostly to keep the allergen down (did I mention the whole state flowers?
[QUOTE]
Ha, Mr. Armadillo is in the midst of sniffle-hell from all the tree-sex floating around.
I know nothing about Salem or Corvallis, but Mr. Armadillo and I are recent transplants to Oregon, having moved to Eugene about six months ago.
I must say, I luurve it here. Would happily stay a very long while, as I love the weather, the hippies, the politics, the dog-friendly nature of the place, the absence of sales tax, and the fact that it costs me roughly a third to live here what it did in California.
Cons: took me five months to find a job. But when I did find one, it was the absolute perfect job for me, so I guess it worked out nicely.
~mixie
Look into Ashland also. It’s in the beautiful Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon. Awesome atmosphere, great weather, decent university. Perhaps the only place in Oregon more liberal than Portland and Eugene.
The one drawback is that, unlike the rest of the state, the city of Ashland does have a sales tax. But it more than makes up for that by having (so I’ve heard) more restaurants per capita than any other place in the entire country.
Native Oregonian here, fifth generation on mom’s side, Born in Corvallis. Grew up in Hood River. College in Salem (3 years) and Eugene (1 year, plus a year after graduation) and have lived 30 years in The Dalles. My daughter lives in Salem and a good friend in Eugene, and I visit both on a regular basis.
Eighty percent of the state’s population lives in the Eugene-to-Salem axis of the Wilamette Valley. If you like urban amenities, Eugene, Corvallis and Portland are your best bets. You will find a surprising proportion of trees, parks and greenbelts in these urban areas. There is also a serious commitment to land-use planning in the state. (And, to be fair, a sizeable chunk of property rights advocates who are solidly opposed to it.)
Salem, is, as others have referred to it, fairly dull. Its nightlife is next to nonexistant. It has only four radio stations for a city of 136,000 (according to the 2000 census). I used to think it was the high proportion of state bureaucrats attending to business in the state capitol that made it so dull, but it may also be the high proportion of retired people as well.
The Oregon coast is spectacular, if you can avoid the overdeveloped “20 Miracle Miles” between Lincoln City and Depoe Bay. South or north you will find less development and breathtaking scenery.
Speaking of scenery, let me throw in a plug for the eastern part of the state. Here in The Dalles, we sit at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge, one of the truly great natural wonders of the country. As my grandfather used to say, you can adjust the rainfall to suit your preferences. For roughly every mile west between The Dalles and Cascade Locks, add an inch of rainfall, from 9 inches at The Dalles to 65 inches at Cascade Locks. We sit on the Columbia River and can be skiing on Mt. Hood in one hour or visiting the Portland Symphony or the Oregon Ballet Theatre in 90 minutes. We are also on the edge of the high desert country, surrouned by cherry orchards and dryland wheat farming, with sagebrush country just outside that,
Oregon is a nice place to live if you like to pump your own gas and pay no sales tax. On the other hand, there’s a significant state income tax here. And while the state has a liberal reputation (the “initiative, referendum and reform” movement was born here, as well as the bottle bill) there is also a significant conservative population that has voted several times to roll back property taxes and throw more and more school support into the hands of the state at the expense of local choice.
Big players in the state are Nike, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel.
We also have a HUGE proportion of specialty microbreweries. The state is awash in good suds. Try some of the beers from Widmir, Terminal Gravity, Full Sale, Deschutes, McMinnamins, Rogue and others and you’ll never go back to bland national brews like Bdw**sr or Mllr or even C**rs. There’s also a decent wine industry, known especially for its killer pinot noirs.
And bookstores. Lots of bookstores, including the full city block that is Powell’s in downtown Portland. Literary folk get lots of props here.
If you like outdoor recreation, you’ve got it all — including year-round skiing on Mt. Hood (the U.S. Ski Team trains here in the summer months), world-class windsurfing in the Columbia River Gorge plus serious biking (mountain or touring), hiking, camping, fishing and hunting.
On the downside is the ghastly budget problems the state is facing. Last year, the state’s legislature, which meets every other year, was called back for five - count 'em!- five special sessions following the end of the regular session for the express purpose of balancing the state budget (required by the state constitution). The legislature, with a nearly equal division of Democrats and Republicans, was mired in partisan trench warfare reminiscent of World War I. They passed the buck to the voters with a tax increase measure that tanked earlier this year, and now serious cutbacks are looming for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1. State police, for example, which faced a round of cutbacks last year, will be reduced to staffing less than that of two decades ago, when there were far fewer people traveling the highways. The Oregon Plan, that visionary attempt to provide state-sponsored health care coverage for those who cannot afford health insurance, will drop coverage on thousands of families.
It ain’t all pretty, but it’s all heart. Come on it, we’d be glad for the Doper company. (Several times a year, we’ve had pleasant Doperfests in Portland, including at least one moderator who lives in the area.)
Okay, I have to stick up for Salem. I’ll concede on the nightlife, although Lefty’s is trying (getting good blues/jazz to town) and Boone’s has some interesting local bands play. We do have an excellent semi-pro theatre company out of Elsinore Theatre–a restored playhouse. Salem also has an art movie house and now a movie pub–cheap second run movies plus pizza, burritos and beer while you watch the movies.
Downtown is trying to revive itself, and for me the small downtown mall (with a Nordstroms, Meier & Frank (local Macy’s) and Mervyn’s plus several other typical mall stores) is a plus because I hate big malls. When I have to go to a big mall, Wilsonville outlet stores are 20 miles up the road and I can get to the Portland malls in 45 minutes. There is an excellent independent bookstore (Jackson’s) which often has local authors in for talks and book signings. May thru October we have a Farmer’s Market every Saturday. And the Salem Art Festival in July is a fantastic collection of art–painting, photography, pottery, glass, everything–some at excellent prices and you get to talk to the artist. It happens in Bush Park, a huge green space, with plenty of trees right in the middle of town. The homes around the park are mostly turn of the century to early 30’s–great architechture, lovely homes. The capitol itself, although apparently topped by a bowling trophy, is surronded by greenspace. Riverside Park, with a handcarved carousel, is another place for a good walk right off downtown.
Throughout the heart of Salem (mostly west of I-5), you will find neighborhoods filled with a rich diversity of homes, many tree-lined streets (many cared for by the City), a good number of parks. The housing prices, especially compared to Portland, are reasonable. I bought a small house in good condition for just over $100,000; a newly built house can easily be bought for under $200,000. You can find fixer-uppers dead cheap, or go for a restored old home, or a new mini-mansion for lots of money.
Also in downtown Salem is Willamette University, a private (and somewhat snooty) college with a wonderful art museum and some good public lectures. Its athletic teams play at Bush Park and I recently attended two very good baseball games. We also have a minor league (way minor–single A I believe) baseball team, the Volcanos, who play May through September in Keizer, an ajacent town.
I know a great sandwich shop, a fantastic pasta place, a good chop house, a relaxing coffeehouse, a fine seafood place and an ice cream parlour to die for. Fancy dining is not Salem’s style, but you can find good food.
What you want to avoid is the part of Salem east of I-5. This is mostly a long strip mall, fine for mundane tasks like getting your oil changed or grabbing a big Mac, but not the height of elegance.
And to top it off, I live in Salem, so it’s got to be a great place. I’m also thinking we have enough non-Portland dopers to have a Dopefest of our own (although Portland Dopers would be welcome). Maybe we should call it ValleyDope and aim for the Albany/Corvalis area.
And proud of it.
The thing about Salem, though, is that it’s much more ethnically diverse, and less segregated than most Oregon towns. And so convenient to the Oregon Gardens.