Questions for the Oregon Cathletes

pjlippert

pjlippert

Cathlete
Hello all,

So, I'm curious about Oregon. The areas, the culture, the weather (aside from the obvious I've read on the internet), the real estate, basically the good, great, bad and ugly.

We visited Oregon a few years ago but it was to visit friends so we saw a very small portion of your very beautiful state. They live in Lake Oswego, we went to the beach (don't recall which one), a very impressive waterfall, but we didn't really explore Portland or other areas.

Here's why I'm asking. I'm at my wits end with my darling boy's skin & health issues. It's gotten sooo much worse since we moved to parched Colorado six years ago. While I absolutely LOVE Colorado for it's beauty and Monument for the small town atmospher, Randy's eczema has spiraled and even after the National Jewish Children's hospital it takes soooooo much to keep up his skin regimine in a state with single digit humidity. My poor little guy is miserable far too many months out of the year.

The South is FAR to hot and humid for him (we visited NC and the combo of the extreme heat & humidity caused one of his worst flares :().

He's in 2nd grade and if we are going to make a move I want to do it sooner rather than later. I just want to find a location that is not extreme in climate. It would also be nice to find a community where we are closer to more active public places yet clean and safe as well.

Oregon keeps coming up on my radar.

Thanks so much for any and ALL advice.

Thanks!
Pam
 
I'm in Portland, moved here 11 years ago and I love it.

I live in NW Portland, almost Beaverton, and we're in the Beaverton School District, which has a better reputation than the Portland school district. I've been very happy with my daughter's experience in the public schools, although overall Oregon has serious funding problems with education and things are pretty bare bones. Very dedicated teachers and administrators, but serious budget problems.

Are you thinking of Portland or other areas, like Salem or Eugene? I'm mainly familiar with Portland. Because of your climate concerns, you want to stick to the western half of the state, because eastern OR is high desert and very dry.

It's a good time to buy a house right now in Portland, prices haven't really started climbing back yet, although I don't think they're dropping anymore.

The "bad and ugly" of Portland.... It's true that it rains a lot and the winters are dark and dreary, but I'm glad they're not freezing cold. The job market here has been dismal. Unemployment remains pretty high and jobs are hard to find, although this is improving.

Ask me any other questions, I'm sure there's lots I'm just not thinking of!
 
Hi Bobbie-B,

Thank you very much!:D I'm definately going to keep on checking out the areas you mentioned. If you think of anything else, please let me know!

Pam
 
hello, I dont technically live in Oregon :p but my husband works there and I shop there ( no sales tax:p). I live 15 minutes away in washington. I dont have kids. But I do here from some of my coworkers that camas wa. schools are some of the best in the state? House prices are great right now in vancouver wa and the area. The job market stinks. I'm so tired of the rain..... ugh go away already. But you can look up the weather on the computer. YOu can go to the beaches in about 2 hours and then head to the mountains and go skiing. Its a beautiful state with lots of parks and nature. just like everywhere has it places you wanna stay away from :)
 
Bobbi-B said:
I'm in Portland, moved here 11 years ago and I love it.

I live in NW Portland, almost Beaverton, and we're in the Beaverton School District, which has a better reputation than the Portland school district. I've been very happy with my daughter's experience in the public schools, although overall Oregon has serious funding problems with education and things are pretty bare bones. Very dedicated teachers and administrators, but serious budget problems.

Are you thinking of Portland or other areas, like Salem or Eugene? I'm mainly familiar with Portland. Because of your climate concerns, you want to stick to the western half of the state, because eastern OR is high desert and very dry.

It's a good time to buy a house right now in Portland, prices haven't really started climbing back yet, although I don't think they're dropping anymore.

The "bad and ugly" of Portland.... It's true that it rains a lot and the winters are dark and dreary, but I'm glad they're not freezing cold. The job market here has been dismal. Unemployment remains pretty high and jobs are hard to find, although this is improving.

Ask me any other questions, I'm sure there's lots I'm just not thinking of!
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[FONT=&quot]Hey Bobbi-B--You live exactly where I do. I bet we are neighbors! I have a 9th grader (daughter) & junior(son). at UO( go Ducks). How old is your daughter? You can PM me if you'd like. I'm in NW Portland, Beaverton SD, also!

Pam-
Lots of stuff to do here in Portland. Speaking of excema, mine is under control now, but, varies between controlled and bad. I think I am allergic to molds in the colder months(9 months out of the year), and the summer my excema is under control a bit more. They've got a great dermatology department at OHSU (it took me years going to different dermatologists to figure out this is the place to go). Although I go to the PA, she is works directly for some great Dermatologists. The famous one is Jon Hanifan. Here is the OHSU dermatology website http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/servi...-dermatology/doctorresults.cfm?specialty_id=8 Let me know if you want more info! BTW, I was at the SD RT when you were, but, I don't think we got a chance to talk(at least I don't remember). Do you remember me at all?[/FONT]
 
Yes, Bobbie-B is correct. You probably don't want to live in Central or Eastern Oregon. I can only visit Bend/ Bachelor area for very few days because it is so dry there, although I love Central Oregon.
 
Hi Mary,
Another Oregonian? :D

I've actually not met Dr. Hannifan, but, my Dad was treated by him(my Dad was under Kaiser, and he went out of plan to see him). The people I have met working in that program are great, though!

I currently see Kim Sanders, and she has very easy access to all the Doctors, who will come into her appointments with no notice! Pretty cool. I have met 2 of the other doctors who seem very competent. (Dr. Ehst and I can't remember the name of the other guy).

I sure do hate exzema!!!

The place to live to get rid of it, is San Diego. On the RT it completely cleared up (I could tell in 1 day). I came back to Portland and so did the exzema.
 
llp said:
[FONT=&quot]Hey Bobbi-B--You live exactly where I do. I bet we are neighbors! I have a 9th grader (daughter) & junior(son). at UO( go Ducks). How old is your daughter? You can PM me if you'd like. I'm in NW Portland, Beaverton SD, also!
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No way! I just pm'd you. :D
 
You all are wonderful for all of the info. I'm gonna check out the doctors you have recommended!

Thank you sooo much for the info and keep it comin'!

Pam
 
I was born in raised in Portland and graduated from a Portland Public High School (don't pay close attention to my grammer). Now I live about 1 hour outside of Portland in Washington (near Mt. St. Helens). I loved Portland and still do except the traffic. You do have to put up with the rain alot. I love that we dont have the extremes in weather. Although some people might consider the rain extreme. I love that we are near the mountains and near the ocean. So much to do. I think that its foots the bill for a beautiful active place to live. My daughter does have pretty bad sinus allergies for about 3 months in the spring her eyes swell shut (cottonwood trees). As for the education, I have three kids and they go to a public school in Castle Rock, Washington (small town). It's not a great school but it has taught me that I have to be an advocate for my children's education. Good luck making a decision. I think your awesome for considering a really big change like that. More power to you!

Sarah
 
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