Recently, people have asked me why are you here in Oregon?
A very good question – why am I here? Always had it in the back of my mind that this was a great place – reason being childhood friend’s son and his two younger sisters have lived here for years and love it. If you are from that family, let me say that you lived on the corner of Mahwah Road and Alcott Road. Before the mass exodus from Manhattan occurred my childhood home was a reminiscent of the western Oregon too!
Of course if you are an outdoor type it isn’t hard to see why Oregon is a great place to make your home. It appears that there are no polluted lakes, rivers or streams and lots of them are everywhere! One has anadromous trout (steel head), and salmon among many other species. The Cascades stay snow capped all year around; feed the trout streams and lakes; and these streams do not flood. Population is low in all but north western Oregon – then again if you need a Best Buy you can get over there for such things. A friend and is girl friend visited a couple of weeks ago; and, their comment was we’ll be back!
In short Oregon has beautiful coastal rain forests; central farming region; and a high desert/grazing country area where a 200 acre farm can still be bought for less than a fortune … well maybe a small fortune. This is the area where they say the real American West can still be found – cowboys and cowgirls wear their duds all year around as a matter of course not just at rodeos and state fairs. I guess the biggest reason I like this country is that I’m not really partial to the desert as in what I have seen of say the Phoenix area. And, as you know in the case of the high desert – the high desert isn’t really what one might call desert – translation you’ve got ponderosa pines and other flora that fill out the natural landscape. The Sisters area is a fantastically beautiful area in this respect. You’ve Cacades views (Three Sisters etc) and trout streams all in one location! The high desert town of Bend is right in the middle of this! Imagine my surprise as I drove through this nature’s wonderland to discover a Wild Oats; a Recreation Equipment International; and a Barnes and Noble (complete with Starbucks) all in one location! Talk about having your cake and eating it too!
Actually my current thinking is to opt for the south western coastal rain forest areas. You might get one snow per season and that is gone by noon so they say – I don’t know for sure but climate maps show 40 degrees F average winter January temperature. The reason for preferring the rain forest area – aside from the beauty and affordability is that one can run a green house year around for vegetable and fruit production. Place where I’m living for now has such a greenhouse. In addition to the usual vegetables they’ve got dwarf fruit trees – lemons and avocados among them. Aside from all of that according to EPA measurements the air quality in the Coos Bay area is about the best in the country. Whilst, checking out the daily east coast pollution levels shows that during the period mid July through November generalized quantitative air pollution levels – in many areas – get into the heavy moderate and in some areas into the hazardous levels! I just like breathing fresh air and Oregon has it in spades.
If you have a bunch of money, there is 17,000 acres of the most boring sand you ever viewed in south eastern Oregon that can be had for a mere one mil. or so.
