I live in Portland, and last night I was downtown, catching a bus back to my house after going to a concert with my friend. I went into Carl's Jr. to take a leak, and of course the bathroom was for customer use only. Heck, I didn't want anything...I just wanted to tinkel. So I walked back outside, and there's a guy standing there...and he asked me if I have any money. He tells me he hitchiked up here from Ashland, and now he's outta cash. I gave him my last buck I had, and then we started talking...he told me about how Ashland is full of new-age people, stoners, hippys...and the people are really nice. As well as the busses are free, and you're really close to nature, since you can get out of town so quick. Anyone live in/spent time in Ashland? What do you think about it? I think I might have to check it out.
He just came up to check out Mt. St. Helens. He's going back once he gets enough money to make it back to Ashland.
hi to all - am considering move to ashland in mid june after a few years in europe. will need friends, work, place to live for a bit until i get established. i´m 50, talents in social work, music, writing, peacefulness. kinda burned out after some intense years. would welcome any advice. blessings, jesse
The Northwestern Forum in the personal forums may also be a good place to ask about Ashland...I too have heard good things about Ashland, but have never been there...I think there may be some folks in the Norhtwestern forum that live there, or go there a lot.
I don't know too much about Ashland except for their annual Shakespeare festival. It's supposed to be quite the event, not that I've been.
Yeah, I always hear about the Shakespear festival from people who have been there...I'd liek to check it out one of these days.
My friend, who goes to Southern Oregon University in Ashland, sent me pictures and it's absolutely beautiful down there! She also tells me that there are a lot of hippies down there.
Ashland's cool, just ridiculously expensive if you want to buy a house. A lot of people pass through in the summer or go back and forth between Ashland and Northern California. The cops don't bother people for panhandling. Lithia park borders a state park so people hike back there and camp at night. It's a very liberal city. The only problem is the occasional snobbery that happens anytime you have a town with a lot of rich people, but most of the people are cool. There are no major clubs or anything like that so some people call Ashland "isolated" but there are plenty of good bars within walking distance of each other.
Ahh Ashland... I spent a lot of time in the forests around there with my friends, it's an amazing place. The town is pretty cool too, but I prefer the natural world to any sort of city. I just don't like cars and buildings everywhere...
Ashland could be cool if it wasn't for all the yuppies. We lived right outside of Ashland in a much more rural area. It is a pretty town. But the snobbery definitely exists. And its getting less and less hippy friendly every day. My boyfriend got arrested for drumming at the park outside of "drumming hours" fucking ridiculous. The cops are total assholes in that town and it isn't very friendly to panhandling.... its been way over done there too and that's half the problem... hehe my boyfriend also got arrested flying a sign there while wearing a dressy suit. It's nice, there's a good food box there, its easy to get foodstamps, the recycling center has a free clothes box too. So we'd go into town everynow and then to hit up those places. The Armory usually attracts some good bands too. Umm.. so its a pretty hip town, but focused more on money/image than kyndness. You're much better finding somewhere out in the woods of oregon to live Lots of love out there
Im from Tn and where Im from its anything but hippie or liberal friendly! I have been interested in OR for sometime then the other day a friend told me certain amounts of cannibus is legal there. I was also told that OR was the first state to legalize it and that there are eight other states that are legal as well. Is there any truth to this? I love the south for the weather but I just can't take all the hypocris! its very who you know here. *LOVE*
MEDICAL marijuana had been legalized along the entire west coast, but you have to find a doctor who's willing to give you a prescription for that as well as finding a grower. I will say that weed is tolerated more around the west coast as opposed to other states. As steve Martin joked around, "I'd never smoke marijuana in california these days. You could get a ticket for that."
Definitely head west if you're looking for hippy friendly places... Oregon is definitely my first choice to live in after traveling all over the country. It's a balance of hippies, rednecks, and rich folk. All in all it's quite liberal, especially towns like Ashland, Eugene, and Portland. I just prefer living out in the woods and heading into town to stock up on food and run errands, or catch a band or something. Town was usually a once a month (if that) visit for me. I'm a bit of a hermit though. Well anyways, the west coast will blow your mind if you've been stuck in a close minded town your whole life and haven't been exposed to much. It's wonderful. Check out the whole west coast, beauty abounds. There's lots of kynd folks to be met~ definitely a high population of transients. The national forests are amazing, take advantage of them. We camped out for months in the forests of Southern Oregon. *Sigh* I miss it so much. I'm stuck in Pennsylvania again for a while....bleh... It's beautiful here too but everything seems so crowded compared to the west. Plus folks just aren't as friendly here. Marijuana is defnitely more frowned upon also. Medical marijuana is a wonderful achievement of the west too. We have friends who grow medical and raise some of the most beautiful plants. It's so cool to see them growing out in the yard with no fear of getting busted. Well yeah~~"head west"
Well, I just moved to southern Oregon from Cleveland, and I work at Mt. Ashland. It's hella chill, but the yuppie thing is totally true. The only catch is that these rich yuppies are the ones who spend lots of money on organic goods, so it's not all that bad. I've heard and seen much more good than bad in Ashland, and Lithia park is very cool. I also agree that the rural hills around that area are the way to go... it's where I live right now. The commute to the mountain for work is kinda far, so I end up crashing in Ashland all the time. I guess it's better for me because I don't have to live and pay rent there. -Mike
OMG i love ashland sooooo much! great downtown area with the cutest little shops, lithia park is huge. great fun. they also have the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which shows Shakespeare's plays, which is a lot of fun. the surrounding area is pretty, too. rolling hills covered in oaks. mild and sunny in the spring and fall, warmer in the summer, snows in the winter. only problem i know of is that its not exactly cheap to live there (as far as i know). i so wish i could move there. i recommend visiting it sometime, even if only for a day. fairly small, but very nice.
interesting little town. i lived there for a while back in the late 70s, when i was working at bear creek (harry and davids, jackson and perkins, which is closer to medford). this was after i left bed spring acres, before moving on to eugene and eventually portland, from which i came back to my own small town placer county in california. there was a little place that had stuffed mushrooms, zabalone and sparkling cider i used to stop at when i had the chainge. and of course there was the park surrounding and on up the canion from where all the shakspearian stuff went on. and some kind of a college, i forget the name of it. college libraries i always love when i'm welcome in them, which i usually am, or certainly was in those days, and last time i was anywhere near one, still was, and thus as far as i know, still am. got into a little situation with a landlord's daughter and a few other things there, but i think managed to still have my keyboard, paia modules and modular come appart drafting table when i left. or maybe not. i know i still had the drafting table with the arm type drafting 'machine'. i don't remember having the music stuff after that, so maybe that's where i ended up having to leave it. this was before we had computers you could buy ready to run. i mean little ones ordinary people could afford. mini's like dec systems and mainfraimes of course existed, but p.c.'s were only available as kits, without power supply components, which you paid hall trying to find, in those days the ones you needed for them. but anyway, ashland, neat little town. i liked it when i was there. bear creek was seasonal so i wasn't really able to stay. wouldn't have minded somehow staying if i could have, but i guess that was just not to be. come to think of it, i wouldn't mind living there now for that matter. (though the i-80(formerly u.s. 40)/(formerly souther pacific, now merged into u.p.) railroad corridor over donner summit in the northern sierras in california is my real home, and just up the road a peace from where i live now) =^^= .../\...
