OFB 50 States Project: Oregon

In The OFB 50 States Project, you the readers spill the beans about your state: the good, the bad, and the delicious. And thus provide “forever place” seekers (like yours truly) a useful resource in their search. We’d love to hear about your state! To be a part of this project, click here to fill out the form!

The Facts

Low State Taxes Ranking:  35 Low Cost of Living Ranking:  38 State Economy Ranking:  37

Average Temperatures (Salem): Winter:  48° Spring:  61° Summer:  82° Fall:  64°

The Nickname

The Short of It

The state of Oregon is brought to you by the following awesome OFB readers:
1) Josh S.  //  2) Jillian  //  3) Eve M.  //  4) Robin

What food best represents Oregon?

• Organic tofu served from a street cart ¹
• PBJ ²
• Organic or homegrown ³
• Salmon ⁴

What song best represents Oregon?

• Thriftshop – Macklemore ¹
• Peaches – Presidents of the United States ²
• Christmas in the Northwest ³
• The Dream of the ’90s is Alive in Portland – Portlandia ⁴

How does OR refer to a carbonated beverage drink?

• We only drink microbrews here 🙂 ¹
• Beer ²
• Soda ³
• Pop ⁴ 

If you could take a friend to one place in OR, where would it be?

• A hike along the scenic Columbia Gorge ¹
• Food carts ²
• Newport ³
• The coast. No, the falls. No, the mountains. No, Crater Lake. Can’t choose one! ⁴

Crater Lake

The Long of It

Biggest misconception about Oregon?

• That everyone is either a hipster or a lumberjack, or a hipster lumberjack. (Crap, this might not be a misconception!) ¹
• That we all panhandle for money. That none of us wear regular jeans. i.e. Not skinny jeans.  ²
• That it’s all granola lovers,  or what used to be called hippies. True, there is a large portion of that specific population in each area — coast, cities, farmlands, mountains. But it’s also a tourist destination, it’s for retirees, it’s for young families, it’s for active and open-minded people of all ages. ³
• Rains all the time. ⁴

Best aspect about living in Oregon?

• The absolutely amazing 85 deg summer from July-Oct to enjoy the coast, mountains, and forests. Portland, specifically, is a big city with a small city feel, and provides easy access to all those outdoorsy adventures. This couples quite well with high tech and other industries like Intel, Nike, etc. ¹
• Gluten free, dairy free…we live by the option of having food that doesn’t have 8 of the most common allergies. Best food carts around and have bucketloads of good beer, wine and nice people. Oceans, mountains and fresh air. Bike lanes. ²
• Best is the ability to experience complete change of scenery in a 2 hour direction. I live in the center, in the Willamette Valley in a small town. I’m 90 minutes from Portland, an hour from the Coast, or two hours from the mountains. In between is anything from farmlands to wineries to major shopping malls to sleepy towns filled with antiques. ³
• It’s so beautiful and the nature opportunities are endless. And the weather is great. And in my area is very politically liberal. ⁴

Worst aspect about living in OR?

• The wet and dreary fall/winter/spring to enjoy the coast, mountains, and forests. Wait, this might be a positive! ¹
• People always asking for money. Not a whole lot of night life. Not much sun, lots of rain. Almost too liberal. ²
• Worst is the fact that it’s so pretty that my husband refuses to consider leaving! We have a wonderful home and yet no family lives close by. I would love to move to FL where my closest family is, but he is fearful that we would lose our peaceful and secluded sense of privacy. Other than that the worst thing would be the ongoing troubles with the state’s lack of funding for education, and the lack of jobs which would provide a living wage for young families, and the impact of the voters continually refusing to implement a state tax while whining about the resulting ever decreasing services (law enforcement, shelters, jail beds, and most other social services). ³
• State income tax is kind of high. But we don’t have sales tax, so… ⁴

Summarize your feelings about Oregon in five words.

• Keep Portland weird! ¹
• Tasty, beer friendly, gluten free ²
• Green, diverse, opinionated, liberal, conservative ³
• Wish I’d been born here! ⁴

Our Freaking Take

“Oregon is probably the prettiest state that we’ve never seen,” says Joanna. I’m not totally sure how that works, but after browsing through some Google images when I searched Oregon, Joanna’s spot on. Neither of us have been, but the Pacific Northwest has been on our radar for a while now. We’re also huge Portlandia fans, so if that show was even remotely close to life in the Beaver State, we’d have a pretty good time. The financial numbers don’t look so hot according to the rankings, and we’re pretty sure the overcast skies would mess with our sun-hungry bodies, but Oregon intrigues us. If it’s not the state of our future home, its definitely a near-future road trip destination.

How did these answers line up with your perception of Oregon? Have your thoughts on the state changed after reading this? Could you see it fitting your forever-place bill?