I grew up in Medford which seems to be the biggest town in Oregon outside the Willamette Valley. I've been to all corners of the state including Malheur County which is in Mountain Time. I never spent a significant amount of time in the Willamette Valley until college. Then I moved back to the Rogue Valley and then moved to Portland to get a second degree. Until I actually lived in the Willamette Valley, I never realized why folks from out of state stereotyped Oregon as such a rainy day state. It only rings true in the Willamette valley and the coast. Most people don't even realize that this state is at least 45% desert. I like the city activity and easy conveniences and locality of living in a big city where everything I need I can walk to. But the outdoor recreation I'm used to, which involves backpacking up mountains and strenuous hiking. The Willamette valley doesn't have hardly any of those conveniences. The weather is pretty shitty most of the year. It rarely snows in western oregon and I was always jealous of those folks east of the Cascades who got all the snow in places like Klamath Falls, La Grande and Bend. I kinda wish to move back to Medford or perhaps Bend or someplace outside the Willamette Valley. Politically there's a huge divide between the Wilammette Valley and the rest of the state. Which is why there've been so many state seperatist movements in Oregon. The state of Jefferson gained the most traction before it was smacked down. What's your opinion on this issue?
I was thinking how I might have been weary of gray days, then I look to the extreme weather in the rest of the country and realize that the pacific northwest west of the cascades has the gentlest overall conditions in the country.
Bend is very nice but not as liberal as Ashland. I haven't seen anyone mention Bend on any forum for progressive politics. Bend is overrated since what they don't tell you about are the long, cloudy, dark winters and springs ... and snow sticks around ... whereas spring starts in February in Ashland ... when the grass starts to turn green on the hills. Although, Ashland, and Medford have fog, but if you live about the fog line east of Ashland on a farm, it can be sunny when the city is cloudy. Klamath Falls has even more sun but is very conservative. Ashland would not be part of the Jefferson movement because they're too liberal, whereas Medford would secede. So I'm not sure how that would work - the island of Ashland??? LOL LOL I support the movement since I favor individuals - including individual towns - to make their own choices. SE California recently says it wants to split off the rest of California, and Southern Arizona (the more liberal part) wants to split from the conservative northern two thirds of the state. Ashland, Medford, and Bend are not growing. Neither is any city in Oregon, and growth is required in order to keep unemployment low. Quality growth involves passive solar construction and permaculture (rainwater harvesting, etc), but the state doesn't require that in its building codes - despite the fact that they require everything else including making $80,000 if you own a piece of farmland !
I know kind of old post but, I have to disagree. Hillsboro seems to be growing at a pretty good rate. Cornelius, the town I live in seems to be growing very slowly but surely
