Moving to Oregon?

My wife and I are looking to move from Southwest MN. The winter weather here stinks. Our average highs are MAYBE 10 degrees, lows below zero, lots of snow, and unrelenting wind!

We don't have many preferences, outside of a nice climate! I'd like little wind and little, if any, snow. Little, if any, fog, and, as I alluded to, warmer winters! Outside of climate, I know my wife would like to leave near a lake (we are early 30's BTW). And I'm a golfer, so I'd like access to some nice golf course(s).

We want an area with good schools for our future family. A nice community where we can feel safe letting the kids play outside with their new little friends. Also, a good economy, a good job market, etc.

Our ideal city would be around 7500-9000 people.

Does this town exist in Oregon?

Well if you take out the part about a good economy and a good job market, then yes. The job market is starting to look up and many employers are saying they plan on hiring for the year so the job market may get a lot better, of course that also depends on what you do for a living.  The economy is the same everywhere though, and hopefully it'll get better soon.

Other than that, Eastern Oregon gets VERY cold and more snow (has more unemployement as well). Central Oregon is beautiful but gets cold and snow (it's mostly mountains so that would explain that). Bend (central Oregon) is a great bigger city with some nice communities within a little drive time to the  city if you found a job there. Although, like I said more snow and colder winters. It does have some very nice golf courses!

Western Oregon (oops, sorry was in a conversation and put Washington instead. LOL) is beautiful, not so much snow if you don't live in the hilly sections. More cities/job opportunities. lots of nice lakes, close to the ocean, lots of outdoorsy things to do. Some very nice communities close to the cities that give you the "small town" feel.

I guess we want to see the 4 seasons, for sure. But the winters we do not want as cold as here in SW MN. That is the biggest thing. And summer-wise, we would like to not be as humid. I have looked up climates in several central Oregon towns, and they are mid 70's a none humid air (the US average is 44 and my town is about 50). My ONLY concern with Western Oregon is that it has to be pricier.

I'm a banker, although not sure I want to do it, and my wife is a legal assistant/paralegal.

We just want to escape the cold, and give our kids great opportunities that are tough to find here.

4 seasons is NO PROBLEM. LOL. We can do that.

Western Oregon can be pricier but it depends on where you go. Problem with Eastern Oregon is not to many nice/decent sized towns for employement. Some counties in Eastern Oregon have around 30+% unemployement right now.

What an you tell me about the city of Cottage Grove? It LOOKS amazing, on paper!

It is about 20 miles south of Eugene in Southwest Oregon.

I'll e-mail you. My mom grew up just north of there in Creswell. I grew up on the North side of Eugene in a little community (at the time 800+ population.). I'm dealing with a horrible migrain right now, kids are in bed, and that's were I'm heading. I'll put together some links and some general info (as well as my opinion on some nice area's you might check into) in the morning and e-mail them to you.

Katie

I'm in Eugene and my brother lives in Cottage Grove.  Not a lot of jobs around here, and it will get chilly in the winter, but you won't see too much snow.  An occasional dusting is about it.  We do get fog -- occasionally frozen fog -- but you shouldn't even need to own a snow shovel.  Cottage Grove is a very picturesque little town.  They decorate over the holidays in a big way and they've got some nice golf courses.  Slightly rural, but close enough to Eugene for more shopping options.  Cottage Grove has a very nice live theatre, a movie theatre, some good restaurants.  Nice community.

What defines chilly? It is (-9) here with a (-23) wind chill. Last night it was colder, obviously. We got 10" of snow so far this week, and yesterday was, more or less, a blizzard.

Cottage Grove is one of the cities we are considering. But we are more or less sold on McMinnville if we can find jobs.

 Chilly here is about 15-20 degrees.  Yep that's ABOVE zero.  Most often winter lows are right about freezing, but we do get some cold spells.  Cottage Grove is a bit higher elevation than Eugene, so you're more likely to see a dusting of snow there than here, but it usually just a dusting.

Thanks for the info.