Where in OR?
 

My husband and I are planning way ahead for retirement (hey, I'm a financial planner - can't help it), and looking at OR (as well as WA and CA) as a possibility.

We love where we live now, but not the 60"+ of snow we get each year.

We'd like to find something comparable in feel - we live on the coast right now, in a beautiful historic seaport, voted one of the best 100 art towns of America. There's always some sort of festival going on here, and we like that community feel. The population is about 18K (we like this size - not too big, not too small), with lots of good restaurants, a live theatre, waterfrong park where free concerts are held, great boutiquey shops, good library, other nice towns surrounding, very little crime, and beautiful architecture. An average home here (3BR/2BA) sells for @500K.

We don't want to move to a place that's great with nothing else around it, and want to stay withing driving distance of the coast. We also would like to be close to town so we could walk as we do now to the center of things. We definitely want a place with a vibrant "downtown". Being very close to a good hospital is also key, as my husband has had some heart problems.

We get about 40" of rain here a year, but I think we would be crazed with constant drizzle and no sun.

Of course we plan to visit the areas on our list, but to help in planning, we'd like to know if we are in the ballpark with any of our "picks":

Corvallis
Milwaukee
St. Helens
Ashland
Grants Pass

Any insight anyone can provide would be much appreciated.

Hi wanderer,
The way you describe your current town makes me wonder why you want to leave. It sounds delightful. However, to answer your question, of the places you listed, the only ones that I would recommend are Ashland and Corvallis.
First, let's dismiss the others. I'm sure there are those that love each of them, but they don't meet your criteria. Milwaukie is just a suburb of Portland, and hardly qualifies in itself as a cultural or scenic center. St. Helen's is on the Columbia River with questionable weather and little to offer in itself. Once you get past river rafting, the same can be said of Grants Pass.
So let's turn to Corvallis and Ashland.
Both are college towns with all they have to offer. Corvallis is closer to the ocean (maybe an hour away while Ashland is more like three hours), but has much more rain and dampness. Corvallis is also closer to a major city (Portland) than Ashland. It could be said that Ashland is an oasis in the middle of nothing, which you said you wanted to avoid, although Jacksonville is nearby with its Britt Festival, offering a variely of music programs. On the other hand, Ashland, especialy given its size of only 20,000 people, has an incredible amount of culture and art. Not only is it home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but it has a lot of local theater, many art galleries, and music programs throughout the year. Gree band concerts are held weekly in the summer. It has its own hospital. It is surrounded by national forest lands that practically come to its doorsteps, plus has many parks. Good restaurants abound, as they undoubtedly do in Corvallis. I don't know the price of houses in Corvallis, but in Ashland a home like yours would run $400,000 to $600,000 depending on where in town it is located.
I think you should visit both towns to get a feel for what you prefer. Either would be a good choice, but for me Ashland won hands down. Good luck.

I'm fascinated at this town on the coast that gets 60 inches of snow a year. I've never heard of a place like that in the US -- usually there is little snow along the coast? Or have I just lived in Florida too long?

Anyway, I'm having a tough time picking any of those cities that sound like a decent trade off for where you live now.

Eugene is a possibility. Friends who live there say that it is only a couple of hours from the coast.

Yes, why *do* you want to move? The town you're in sounds lovely. Oh, the snow. Well, Oregon is a terrific place, but you also say, "we would be crazed with constant drizzle and no sun." In Oregon, we have a lot of overcast skies. It doesn't always rain--it just *looks* like it's going to. That said, Ashland sounds like it would suit you. Eugene is bigger, but far cozier than any suburb of Portland. Some of the locals in this metro area are getting really weary of the traffic. Any town in the Willamette Valley, the western half of Oregon, will be a nice day trip to the coast.

I agree with therenaissanceman that Corvallis and Ashland are probably your best bets. Ashland is located in the Rogue Valley which includes Jacksonville, Medford (the largest city), Central Point and several other smaller communities. Most of these communities are within 15-20 minutes of Ashland. The weather here is very nice. We do not get the rain like they do in the Willamette Valley or Portland. Winter can be cool but often we will have cool crisp days, with blue skies.

For the culture you want, Ashland would be great due to the things described by therenaissanceman. Medford (15 miles away) also has the Craterian Theater a performing arts theater with travelling Broadway productions, opera, symphonies, dance, etc.

You could definitely live near the center of things in Ashland, and there are many retirees who move to the Rogue Valley so we have excellent medical care at the hospital in Ashland as well as the two hospitals in Medford.

I would skip Milwaukee, Grants Pass and St, Helen's ffor the same reasons renaissanceman gave.

Thanks everyone. We struggle with a move, as we absolutely adore where we live. It is the smallest city in MA, called Newburyport. We are also @ 1/2 hr. from Boston.

But as we age, the weather wears on us. Sometimes the snow is from early Nov through March. Last winter we had many storms with over 3', and when you have morning meetings so have to get outside at 3am to shovel to be on the road at 6am, it is not fun. With wind chill, many days it was at 20 below.

We considered a second home, as we would love to just leave for the winter, but with a pet that is hard. Additionally, we would not be able to swing it financially.

Thanks for the insight. It's hard just reading about things.

One thing I forgot to mention.

We are skiers and would love to be within driving distance of a ski resort.

Right now we drive 4 hours to our place in VT, so that would be acceptable.

Is there skiing near either Ashland or Corvallis?

I suggest you take Milwaukee off your list and replace it with McMinnville. My in-laws live there and find it's just what they had wanted. FWIW, here are the other towns they lived in after retiring and why they left (be advised, my husband's parents moved around a LOT their entire lives):

Taos, NM: beautiful, small artists town. But too far from medical centers and it was too frustrating to get any repairmen or workers for anything.
Austin, TX: Lovely, lovely town. But just too hot in the summer.
Sequim, WA: Incredible climate, incredible scenery, not that expensive. But again, too far from medical centers (and also, they bought a property with too much land requiring too much upkeep).
Bellingham, WA: Pleasant, but kind of bland and the weather was much greyer than they wanted.
McMinnville: like a slow-learning Goldilocks, they finally pronounced this one just right. Nice community, easy drive from Portland or the coast, good medical care, not too expensive., etc.

Corvallis fits exactly what you describe!!! It's where my parents chose to retire (they had lived in both California and Connecticut). My sister & BIL live there as well. It is a very sweet town in a lovely area. I'd even think of it for myself, if I ever left the city (Seattle).

For skiing near Ashland there is Mt. Ashland. You could be up on the mountain skiing in about 30 minutes. It is a smaller skiing area not a big resort, but great for a quick day of skiing or great night skiing! Definitely a community feel.

Then there is Mt. Bachelor which is about 3 hours from Ashland. Much bigger ski area with more runs, lodges, etc. It is in Bend which is a wonderful place to vacation in winter or summer.

Corvallis is about 2 hours ( I think) from HooDoo Ski Area which is smaller, like Mt. Ashland but has recently had a lot of renovation including a brand new lodge. Corvallis is probably about 3 hours or so from Mt. Bachelor.

There is skiing only ten miles from Ashland on Mt. Ashland. It is not regarded as a great skiing site, but it seems to satisfy the locals. From Corvallis, the closest ski site would probably be Mt. Bachelor, near Bend. It is regarded as a finer ski site than Mt. Ashland, but is at least two to three hours away from Corvallis.

wanderer, I was almost sure you were describing Newburyport, particularly because of the arts comments, but that snow thing threw me. I was never aware that there was much snow at all there. Was that unusual last year, or do you really normally have that much snow?

Our daughter goes to school at SOU in Ashland. She spent the summer there last year (she's on an exchange in Australia now) and the heat really got to her (we live in NW Washington State). Although it is that famous "dry" heat, she still tired quickly of the 100+ days they often had in the summer.

For culture, you can't beat the Shakespeare Festival - it does draw hordes of visitors in the summer, significantly swelling the town's population. The university kids are mostly gone but that only takes about 5,000 out of the mix. For a small town like Ashland, the large Festival crowds sometimes feel overwhelming but they seem to handle it fairly well. Getting into restaurants pre-theatre is sometimes tricky!

Cost of living there is HIGH. Many college kids commute from Medford, Talent and the neighboring smaller towns. Doesn't sound like that is an issue for you though.

They are several hundred miles from larger cities such as Portland to the north and San Francisco to the south. That bothers my culturally-starved daughter at times (she is a theatre major) but driving to those cities, most of the year, isn't a problem. Sometimes the drive through the Siskiyous south is a problem and the southern Oregon passes to the north can be the same way. The road out to the coast via Grants Pass is a pretty one and drops you down into Crescent City - a few hours (?) from Ashland. The drive up to Crater Lake is gorgeous and about 2 hours from Ashland but not doable in the wintertime of course. Klamath Falls is to the east but that road can be dicey in the wintertime as well. Amtrak stops there with the Coast Starlight that can take you up to Seattle and down to LA.

I myself like Ashland quite a bit and will miss it when she graduates as we've really learned our way around and enjoy it quite a bit, but it is small and a little isolated and that isn't getting old for our daughter.

I do know that more and more retirees are discovering the place and building and buying there.

Sorry ... meant to say it IS getting old for her. Sheeesh.

ttt & good example of a travel thread...

Wow! Everyone has been really helpful.

Patrick - I asked DH this morning if I was off with the 60" snow thing, and he said No, that's a good winter. We have had many winters where we get 100"+. If not for that.... My husband says it we can't find something comparable we're staying put. Sonoma, CA is on our list, but we think we owe it to ourselves to look around, especially since we are not sure if our housing will keep pace with CA.

Corvallis and Ashland sound like possibilities. I should have mentioned we are interested in being near a bigger "city". I hadn't realize Ashland was so far from one.

Thanks again - great, very helpful comments. Just what I was looking for.

Of the places on your list, only in Ashland and Grants Pass would you not expect 40" of rain/drizzle and six+ months of gray skies. And of Ashland and Grants Pass, Ashland would be the clear choice. But it might be a little too cool for you in winter, and its funky, chicness might become tiresome. I honestly don't think there's a clear fit with your criteria in Oregon.

Would Port Townsend, WA work? How big is Mendocino, CA?

Port Townsend is great, but access to medical care is a problem on the OP. There is good general care, but you won't find a lot of top specialists there and the ones they do have are taking few new patients...they already have a full patient load.
Unfortunately, that is the Achilles heel for the OP as a retirement mecca. Another reason my in-laws like McMinnville so much...they have a good little medical center of their own and it's an easy drive to the big medical centers in Portland.
Housing is slightly cheaper there than in Corvallis and Eugene (actually a lot cheaper than Enear ugene's desirable university area and in the SW and SE hills) and there is definitely less traffic in McMinnville than in Eugene.

I will definitely check out McMinnville.

We would like a 4-season climate, or as close to it as we could get. If we had to exchange 6 months of snow for 6 months of rain/drizzle I'd rather to be honest have the rain. We get @ 42" of rain here but it is not constant gray and drizzle.

Yes, Port Townsend,WA is on the list. It seems very much like our home here, except perhaps much rainier weather. We are traveling in May to Mendocino, Nevada City and back again to Sonoma to spend some more time. I think Mendocino will be too remote and small for us, although looking forward to seeing it.

Don't dismiss Port Townsend for its weather wanderer. I was surprised to see that they only have about 20" of precipitation/year. I think that's because they're in the rain shadow of the Olympics.

Yes, it's true that Port Townsend and Sequim are in the rain shadow and many folks are figuring that out. It isn't all rain in the Pacific NW, you know (but don't tell anyone that ;)

When you look around Port Townsend, be careful about locations. PT does have pretty good weather (Sequim's is better but PT is a nicer town). Port Ludlow is good too, but Brinnon and Hadlock, although nearby, are much greyer (real estate is cheaper in those two communities than in PT or PL).
www.windermere.com and www.johnlscott.com are good sources for checking out the real estate inventory in OR and WA. www.ptleader.com is a good site for learning about community issues in the PT area. Especially the opinion/letters section.

Hi Wanderer,

I picked up on this message a bit late, but thought I'd throw my 2 cents in just in case you're still reviewing responses.

I have lived in Corvallis for the past 2 years, worked here for the past 10 years, and lived here 5 years prior to that while attending Oregon State University. My husband and I made a very foolish decision to build our first home in Lebanon (about 20 miles east of Corvallis) and regretted it the entire 7 years we were there - we really missed living in Corvallis even though we still worked there.

We absolutley love living in Corvallis because it has such a great community atmosphere. Our population is around 55,000 so it sounds larger than what you're perhaps looking for. However, I always wonder if that 55,000 includes the student population at Oregon State University because it never seems "crowded" in this city - it's pretty spread out area-wise.

Corvallis' infrastructure is very good and you'll find a lot of support from the community for things such as libraries (we have a stellar public library for such a small community), fire/police departments, etc. We have a few very popular festivals throughout the year including the Corvallis Fall Festival, Da Vinci Days, and the Red/White/Blues festival. There always seem to be various activities occurring either sponsored by the university and/or the city. I would say that the general population is middle of the road in terms of political views, although I think we're starting to get a more liberal atmosphere, which I personally appreciate.

There are three primary employers in Corvallis: the University, Hewlett-Packard, and Good Samaritan Hospital. We have a lot of small high-tech companies throughout the cities that are becoming pretty successful.

As far as a downtown area....I love our downtown especially since they recently remodeled the whole waterfront and there are nice walking paths, fountains, benches, restaurants, and shops. For such a small town I've been really impressed with the variety of quality of restaurants available.

I live in West Corvallis and we just drove to the coast this past weekend (Newport) and it took us 50 minutes from garage to Hiway 101 (the hiway that runs along the Oregon/California coastline). This is one of the reasons we have chosen to stay in Corvallis because of it's proximity to the coast (even though our favorite beach is further north).

We are 3 hours from Sunriver (about 2 hours 45 minutes from Bend), which are both close to Mt. Bachelor for skiing. Hoodoo is about 2 hours away and lot of folks go there for a quick day ski or even night skiing. We are also about 2.5 hours from Mt. Hood where there is also good skiing (relatively speaking).

Corvallis is ~40 minutes to Eugene (south) and Salem (north), ~1.5 hours from downtown Portland, and even closer to some of the shopping available at Washington Square (is this considered Tigard?) and the new Bridgeport Village in Tualatin. Overall, I feel the location of Corvallis is very good if you want a small community feel, but want to be close enough to the "big city" so that you can easily do daytrips, which we do often.

Most others have told you about the weather in Oregon, which is right on (lots of gray days, but absolutely beautiful summers). Corvallis tends to have milder winters (less rain and less snow when we actually get snow, which is rare) than the Portland area and we tend to be hotter during the summer by a few degrees than the Portland area as well – although nothing that is very significant. We definitely have all four seasons – fall being a particular favorite of mine in the Corvallis area since the trees are beautiful.

Housing in Corvallis is all over the place. I would say the average home price (for a 3BR/2BA) is about $2000-$250K for about an ~1,800-2,000 square foot home depending on lot size, views, etc. You mentioned the average home price in your area for a 3BR/2BA is $500K – in Corvallis you can get a lot of house for $500K. There are quite a few new housing communities in Corvallis, but a lot of established neighborhoods as well. Here is the url for realtor.com in the Willamette Valley area of Oregon – just select Corvallis and go from there to see what is currently being offered. http://www.realtor.com/willamette/nb...sp?poe=realtor

If you get an opportunity to visit I would suggest early fall, late spring or summer to see the “best” of Corvallis. However, if you want to see what these “gray” days are really all about then you may want to visit December-March. This last year we had a fantastic winter, hardly any rain and lots of sun, but that was atypical and we actually missed the rain.

Goodluck in your planning and feel free to ask additional questions about the Corvallis area and I’d be happy to chime in.

Cheers,
Tracey

Ashland *can* be quite hot in the summer. Having spent most of my life in northern Willamette Valley, I do favor our cooler climate, but wanderer may find the overcast skies off-putting. McMinnville? I hadn't thought of that (despite the fact that I attended college there many moons ago.) Heck, it's practically a suburb of Portland these days. Yamhill County has become a bedroom community for Portland. Newberg might be an idea, too. Both towns are close to Portland's medical facilities, skiing on Mt. Hood, and large shopping malls (yes, Washington Square is in Tigard, but easily accessible to anyone living in McMinnville.) Mac is an hour from downtown Portland.

Hi From Corvallis--

Oh my, Tracey,(thronphoenic) what a good, indepth job, you did; describing Corvallis. I must say, I agree with your every desription.

Wanderer-- we have lived in Corvallis for 30 years, raised our son here. When he grew up and then graduated from college, all he talked about was wanting to leave. But, guess what, as an adult he came back and is raising his family here.

We have had a Home Inspection business in corvallis for the last 21 years; therefore, we talk to people daily who are relocating her from literally all over the world. I'm a very curious person, so I ask them why they chose Corvallis. Many people are either retired; independantly wealthy or have businesses they can operate anywhere.
Everyone I ask say they spent months in research; their criteria was: Corvallis has a large Regional Hospital. Close to large city; Portland & major airport (1 & 1/2 hours). Close to the mountains/recreation (3 hours). Close to the most beautiful beach (1 hour). Active University (OSU). Active art community. Vital downtown; with fantastic community involvement. I can go on & on, but I think Tracey, hit the most important points. All I saying, is, that many, many people who could chose to live anywhere in the world (literally), have choosen to make Corvallis, Oregon, their home. Check it Out. Sandy in Oregon

Thanks everyone for all the info!

Looking forward to visiting Corvallis, Ashland and McMinnville.

Can anyone define "hot" when they say Ashland gets hot in the Summer? Is that 100 degrees with no humidity, or 85 and humid? Ideally, we'd like no higher than mid-80s and no humidity, although a short stretch of hot certainly wouldn't bother us.

I rarely remember it being humid in Ashland, unless a thunderstorm was rolling through. More often it was 100 and low humidity. I remember sitting in the Elizabethan theatre one July night at about 9 p.m. and it was still nearly 100 ...

Wanderer,
I live in Ashland and 100 degree days are rare. Maybe 3-5 a year. A few summers we haven't had any. 90 degree days are common, maybe 30 a year. It is rarely humid. We are about 5-8 degrees cooler than Medford on the average and people read Medford temperatures and think Ashland has the same. We are 500 feet higher and that makes a difference. It almost always cools off at nights.
I think you will find your major objection to Ashland is that it is not near a major city. If that's a must, choose somewhere else. In reading the California thread you posted, it sounds like you prefer Sonoma in any case.

Since you mention specifically retirements and that you are a financial planner, I'm sure you will carefully compare cost of living, taxes, property, differences between California, Oregon, Washington. Personally I like each of these 3 states but Corvallis (for example) would be much more affordable than Sonoma, no doubt.

Not being near a major city isn't a deal-breaker. We are only 30 miles from Boston now, but rarely go in.

It's hard to say what we will like. Sonoma, CA is high on our list right now only because we've visited it twice and like what it has to offer.

That being said, we've yet to visit OR or WA (our other two possibilities), and we may fall in love with Ashland or Port Townsend, or decide the trade-off of cost vs. better weather isn't worth it.

I really appreciate everyone's input here. It has helped us trememdously, and we look forward to visiting OR soon!

We are thinking of making a trip out to OR to visit Ashland, Corvallis and McMinnis.

We would be trading our timeshare, and choices are:

Depoe Bay
Newport
Rockaway Beach
Gleneden Beach
Seaside

Looks like Newport might be the most "central" to what we want to see?

Where would be fly in and out of?

If we stay in Newport, is driving to Ashland and back doable?

Two other location we can choose are Bend and Klamath Falls.

I really can't recommend staying in any of those locations as a way to visit Ashland, Corvallis and McMinnville. Are you assuming you can do daytrips from one of those locations?

I realize you are trying to use your timeshare, however, staying in Oregon is not very expensive and I am sure you can find reasonably priced hotels in each location.

Asuming you have about a week, I would suggest flying into Medford, renting a car and driving to Ashland (about 20 minutes) staying in Ashland for 2 nights, driving to Corvallis (about 3 hours) staying 2 nights, then driving to McMinnville (not sure, but probably about 3 hours or less), and staying there two nights. Than maybe the last night in Portland, to see our states big city - you will really enjoy it. Fly out of Portland. I suppose it will cost more to pick up car in one place and drop it off in another, but you don't want to backtrack.

Particularly, if you are visiting to consider moving to one of these locations, I suggest you actually stay in those locations. That is the only way to really get a feel for them.

The most centrally located are probably either Newport or maybe Bend (Bend being my personal favorite - heck if you stayed there, you might add it to your list of places to live!) However, I think driving from each of these for daytrips would just be too much.

Good luck, and enjoy our beautiful state!

Your description of where you live sounds like Ashland, (sometimes called SF's northernmost suburb) minus the snow, add some palm trees.
Bend is neat, but gets too much Snow. The coast can be pretty brutal in the winter. You need to google up the rogue valley and check out the Ashland Chamber Site: http://www.ashlandchamber.com...
Plenty of Culture courtesy of The University and Shakespeare, excellent medical care cuz of lots of retirees, easy access to skiing and the Ocean.
We're protected in the winter from most storms because we're surrounded by mountains.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=67111

Funny, isn't it? Here we are living in Seattle and contemplating the same sorts of questions, and on our list of places to look at through the eyes of "retirement" (I hate that word - "post-work?" "work-optional?") eyes is Portsmouth NH! Oh well...

Couple of factors. First, Ashland is, strictly IMO, an attractive town (some would use the British expression "twee") hampered by its location. Close enough to SF, and popular enough, to get put on people's lists of places they'd like to retire, but they visit like mad before, hence prices are high, tourist congestion from May-October very high, and where do you escape to for an urban fix? Medford? Portland is 4 hours if you drive like hell, SF 5. Between is valley scenery and right wing talk radio. (BTW that part of Oregon is called "Little Dixie" and there's a reason...)

Ashland is built largely on a hillside overlooking the southern end of the Rogue Valley. On the valley floor, and because heat rises, up the sides, it can be scorchingly hot - 100+ is quite common. It tends to be a dry heat, but it's quite unrelenting, and the breezes that occasionally make it through the coast mountains to the Willamette Valley don't in that part of Oregon.

Ashland is one of those places where one needs to spend some considerable time visiting (not as a theater-goer but as a prospective resident) to see if it's a good fit. We thought for years about it and decided that, for us, it wasn't.

Speaking as a one-time Beaver, I think Corvallis is a much nicer town than it was when I was there, but it is very much a college town, 2 hours from Portland but 1 from Eugene (which is big enough to offer its own cultural features). Not a bad place, but it's definitely western Oregon weather, i.e., rainy, grey, all that. But lots of trees and okay excursion destinations.

McMinnville also is appealing, closer to Portland, but the same weather.

A couple of other choices that, if you're doing the grand tour, might make it to your list...

Hood River, on the Columbia east of Portland. Very attractive town, close enough to Portland for excursions, amazing scenery. It has more weather variance than the valley (can get snow, wind, but also more warm days).

Olympia WA - Note, BTW, that Oregon has no sales tax but high-ish state income tax, WA has no income tax but 8%+ sales taxes. Olympia is a very attractive town - state capital, so lots of life during the session. Very nice housing choices, including waterfront or close-to-waterfront houses on south Puget Sound that might be close to affordable to you. Tacoma's around half an hour away, Seattle an hour. Skiing at several excellent areas is around an hour; sailing on the sound. The outer Pacific coast is an hour, the Olympic Peninsula beaches and rainforest 2 hours. Pretty ideal spot.

Sorry if this confuses the issue further...

Hi again Wanderer,
I'm glad that there are people like Gardyloo who didn't choose Ashland to retire to. For many like me it is perfect. Contrary to Gardyloo, we have VERY few 100 degree days, less than five a year, although we do have quite a few days in the 90s. In fact, the only season I sometimes dislike is winter, where we have a number of days with lows in the low 20s and a few that are even lower. But no place is best for everyone. The fact that our little town of 20,000 has as much culture as most big cities, a number of high quality restaurants, great hiking and parks, a university, and a great retirement program is just what my wife and I wanted. We don't need big city fixes too often anymore.
But to answeer your specific questions. Of the places you mentioned Newport is the most centrally located. You would fly into Portland and then rent a car for the 2+ hour trip to Newport. It is about an hour from Corvallis and McMinnville. However, it is a four hour drive to Ashland. Therefore, the advice to stay a couple of days in Ashland before or after Newport makes sense. Klamath Falls is closer to Ashland, but is hardly central to the rest of your itinerary. Have a great trip.

Thanks everyone. Very helpful...

Gardyloo -

1) Portsmouth, NH is a beautiful seaport town - very much like Newburyport, MA where I live, only a little bigger - same period and ambience though. If not for the snow...

2) Please elaborate about Corvallis being "very much a college town". We've read in various retirement guides that college towns are more "vibrant", but wonder if they are also more rowdy and crime-ridden.

Again, thanks all for the insight.

Very interesting thread. We can't figure out where we would like to retire, either. There isn't anywhere obviously "perfect" in the northwest. Places are either too crowded, too overcast, or too isolated. This is hardly California, with its perfect weather. (But not as crowded, either - and as a result) You have to like the fog....

Ashland is really pretty and is the only place on your list with a California-type climate. Yet it is very far from a big city and relatively expensive to fly to. That might not be a problem, as there is so much "culture" in Ashland. You have to decide if it's okay by you to be 5 hours from SF and Portland.

If you go east of the Cascades, where the sun shines, you have snow in the winter and are quite a distance from city life. Bend is probably the biggest place east of the Cascades that people are retiring to, as already mentioned.

I think, if we stay in the NW, we'll wind up in either Portland or Seattle. The big cities here have nice neighborhoods in them and are quite liveable. I get tempted by the Oregon coast, but it is very isolated.

You will have to let us know what you think as you travel about.

therenaissanceman - I meant no offense regarding Ashland. I tried to emphasize that my views are personal (well, actually shared by my wife) and that others have a different take on things. I should have clarified that it gets over 100 in Medford pretty often; you're right that by the time one is up the slopes in Ashland it can be a few degrees cooler. I have been in Ashland on a number of occasions (on the flats or out by the freeway) where it was 100+ (or at least various thermometers said it was.) Also I've been there in the winter when it felt like -100, but of course it wasn't.

Wanderer, re "college towns," I guess what I mean is that yes, they're vibrant. I don't think Corvallis is especially negatively influenced by OSU, but it's the center of the economy, lots of the retail sector is geared to the needs of a university community, likewise housing. There probably is a higher density of artistic and cultural resources and events than one would find in comparably-sized towns without a major university. So not negative.

Corvallis and Eugene used to be somewhat competitive towns, based on the rivalry between OSU (Corvallis) and the U of O (Eugene.) Eugene is now much bigger and more diversified than Corvallis, so aside from college rivalry that particular contest is pretty much over. The vibe used to be that because OSU was the agricultural university (originally, Oregon Agricultural College) while the U of O was the arts and sciences university, that Eugene was the more sophisticated of the two. I don't think anyone (above the age of 19) still feels that way.