Greetings from a Californian who wants to escape...advice please!

[scobun]

Greetings fellow freedom loving shooters from deep behind enemy lines in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'M NOT ACTUALLY A CALIFORNIAN. I'm an Oregonian (Medford born) trapped in a socialist utopia, so please don't hate me as a Californian. I'm a free-stater trying to come home.

I am married and have a 3 year old and 1 year old son and we're looking to escape from the PRK. I could really use your advice. My brother lives in Vancouver but has no kids and knows very little about the area beyond what you'd expect a person with no kids to know. We are looking at relocating to the Vancouver area and need help from folks who live there. I need help with two things, finding the right city, and then help with knowing what I need to find in a piece of property if I'm going to shoot on it.

About us:

We're a live and let live family, but do not enjoy the in your face dictatorial progressive attitude of the bay area. I definitely don't want my kids to be politically indoctrinated by any school. I would like schools to offer excellent educational experiences that teach kids to think and reason for themselves. I am a big outdoorsman, who loves to fish, hunt, hike, etc. I'm big into competitive shooting. I would like to have the ability to shoot legally on my own property. My wife wouldn't agree to be more than 20 minutes from schools and some kind of small town. I am a teacher, so I can work anywhere there is a school.

We are considering Woodland, Camas and Hockinson in WA. We are thinking about McMinville and West Salem in Oregon. We would like to be within an hour of Vancouver/Portland.

Here are the priorities we have:

1) Schools for the kids. We want the best schools for our kids that will set them up to succeed in life. High expectations, safe environments and academic experiences are important.

2) Schools as a place to work for me. Obviously, pay, benefits and working conditions matter. I am credentialed to teach pretty much everything.

3) Community matters...parks, farmers market, places to eat, movie theaters, family activities to do within a 30 minute drive or so.

4) Crime...a safe neighborhood is a non negotiable.

5) Taxes/cost of living...lower the better, but I know taxes pay for schools so you have to find a happy medium.

6) If you know what the SF Bay Area is like, I'm looking for pretty much the opposite of that.

For my shooting related questions, how much property do I need to legally shoot? What regulations should I be aware of?

Lastly, and most importantly, is Washington/Oregon on the right track for gun owners, or is there at least hope? I gave money to defeat I-594 and was sad to see it pass, but the gun regulations are almost infinitely better than the hell hole that is California. Would I be making a mistake to move to the PNW? There will be a huge exodus of shooters from California over the next ten years, and OR, WA, NV, AZ, ID, and TX are going to be getting a whole bunch of pro gun voters. We are also open to considering ID and WY, but find the PNW would be less of a culture shock for us than rural Wyoming where Home Depot is 2 hours away at 70 mph.

Thanks for all your help.

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[GOG]

Try this site: http://www.city-data.com/

You can set all types of parameters for your search. It would be a good place to start.

Good luck with your search.

 

[Martini_Up]

Greetings fellow freedom loving shooters from deep behind enemy lines in the San Francisco Bay Area....

Lastly, and most importantly, is Washington/Oregon on the right track for gun owners, or is there at least hope?

Thanks for all your help.

Wrong track and no hope to change it.

Since the mid-80's when Californian's began moving to the PacWest in droves to take advantage of our low housing cost and high quality of life we continue to have an increasing housing cost and declining quality of life.

Schools? We pay one of the highest in nation and rank nowhere near highest for education quality. I understand why you would want to work here - work less, paid more.

Taxes? About 10 percent income. Property is about $25 per $1000 assessed value.

Traffic? Hahahaha! Good luck living in Vancouver and commuting to Portland area. And you'll still get the Oregon income taxes on top!!

Guns? We will look just like California in the near future.

My advice is to stay where you are and make a stand. Moving here will only delay dealing with what you're running from.

 

[scobun]

Wrong track and no hope to change it.

Since the mid-80's when Californian's began moving to the PacWest in droves to take advantage of our low housing cost and high quality of life we continue to have an increasing housing cost and declining quality of life.

Schools? We pay one of the highest in nation and rank nowhere near highest for education quality. I understand why you would want to work here - work less, paid more.

I make almost 90k a year plus benefits in California doing the same job I'll be doing up there. I'll make a little more than half than in WA. I will also work more days in WA...but the schools are better than California no matter which metric you wish to use to quantify performance. Facts, they hurt.

Taxes? About 10 percent income. Property is about $25 per $1000 assessed value.

Bwhahahahahaha. That is both wrong (Cowlitz averages around $12/1000, Clark around $14/1000) and still less than California taxes. I guess you didn't know this, but if you live in WA you pay no income tax and if you shop in OR, you pay no sales tax. We don't have that deal in CA.

Traffic? Hahahaha! Good luck living in Vancouver and commuting to Portland area. And you'll still get the Oregon income taxes on top!!

You need to actually read what I wrote and point to me where I said I'd like to live in Vancouver and work in Portland. I'll save you the time. I didn't say that. Also, Portland traffic might be as bad as the Bay Area, but it isn't worse, that I promise you.

Guns? We will look just like California in the near future.

Based on what? Honest question. I don't think you know what we have in California.

My advice is to stay where you are and make a stand. Moving here will only delay dealing with what you're running from.

Californian's can't make a stand here. It isn't realistic. Want to buy a standard AR-15? Banned. Want to buy a Glock 17Gen4? Banned. Ruger SR22? Banned? Any and every new handgun model made after 2012 and not "on roster? Banned. Want to shoot lead bullets on public land? Banned. Want to get a CCW? Can't. Want to buy a mag with more than 10 rounds? Banned. Would you like a .50 BMG? Banned. Suppressor? Banned. SBR? You're joking, right? Universal background checks, Assault weapons ban, 10 day waiting period, mandatory testing to purchase a firearm, safe handgun roster, mag bans, we have it all. These are all laws we currently have.

Next year they're going to ban possession of standard cap mags that were grandfathered and previously legal, require a background check on ammo purchases, and actively look to start confiscating guns and other things you shouldn't own. This will be done by ballot proposition and is sure to pass. THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL: CALIFORNIA DOESN'T WANT GUN OWNERS TO LIVE THERE. AT ALL.

If you thought a lot of them moved up there before, you had better be prepared, because it is going to get 10 times worse in the next decade. However, the people moving are going to be pro-gun, so hopefully that will help. Like it or not, they're coming in much larger numbers. You sound less than excited about that, but don't say I didn't warn you. It will happen. You can choose to welcome the pro-gun allies you have, or you can act to alienate them. One benefits you, and one doesn't.

 

[Garg]

You could always look as Idaho, or Montana.... I mean if you want real freedom, in the near future...

 

[ron]

I like the Couv. (AKA Vancouver). No state income tax, better
schools than PDX much lower property taxes than PDX. IMHO
I have lived here about 34 years. I like to be close enough to Portland to enjoy shooting at the area gun clubs. I live within
30 minutes of Douglas Ridge and Clark Rifles. Tri county is 45
minutes away. I shoot at all these clubs. I also enjoy being
close enough to Portland to go out to their diverse
restaurants and bars.

 

[Member 5605]

Avoid Portland, look into mid valley.

....maybe Yamhill, Linn, Marion etc counties. Can keep away from the sucking blowhole that is the Portland area while keeping that distance from Portland but away from the hellhole traffic and steering clear enough from Eugene to not smell their nasty patchouli oil.

 

[CoastRange57]

With you being from the Rouge Valley area, I would think that area would attract you. I worked down there on a weekly basis for many years, and really like the Medford, Eagle Point, Grants Pass areas. Great local economy and all the benefits of larger metro areas with a lot less of the problems. We were actively looking for property down there back in the 90's out in the Sams Valley area. And absolutely killer fishing and hunting.

Rural real estate is more affordable that around the Portland Metro area. I live about 38 miles west of Portland in a rural area, but still feel some of the impacts. I would also consider the Yamhill County areas around McMinnville.

My son just moved over to Bend, he likes it there, cost of living is ok, the attitude of the people is so much better than the liberal puke azzs in Portland. I worked over in Belgrade Montana for a year, pretty nice area.

I think that that Vancouver area is really just a clone of the Portland Metro area, which I despise. I make about 4 trips a year to Portland and that is enough.

 

[BBQ Guy]

I would just stay put where you are.
The californiafication of the west coast is almost complete.
Which sucks big time balls for a PNW native. We should have sold california back to mexico a long time ago, or just built a border wall around the state to keep it contained.

 

[CoastRange57]

P

I move from California to Salem in '93

Oh that was you in one of those U Hauls I saw. I was transiting from Medford to Portland about 3 to 6 times a month from about 92 to 97. I counted 23 U Hauls with CA plates towing cars on my 5 hours on I 5 from Medford on just one trip the day before Christmas Eve in 1993. This was a consistent count I saw every trip, never less than 11 for a solid 3 years.

 

[jbett98]

I guess nobody listened to governor McCall.
Being an Oregon native, I feel like a minority anymore.

 

[phatdoughnut]

Stevenson/Carson area sounds what you want

 

[CoastRange57]

I guess nobody listened to governor McCall.

3:26

 

[4Freedom]

Welcome to Califoregon. I had to get out of my home state before it turned into California North.. If an AWB passes in Oregon, it's time for every freedom loving resident of Oregon to move North and East and avoid paying the 10% state tax to a freedom-hating radical left wing state government. Most of the right-wing Californians I have known moved to Idaho and some to Montana. Idaho generally took the best of the Californians and Oregon and Washington received the worst of them.

 

[huthuthike]

I can tell you that McMinnville and West Salem don't really meet the "within 1 hour of Portland/Vancouver" requirement. From McMinnville, you have to take 2 lane 99w 20-30 minutes to I5 and 20-30 minutes North to portland or 45 minutes on 2 lane 47 through a couple small towns to Hillsboro and then West on 26 for 15-45 minutes. From West Salem, you can drive 20-30 minutes to go through McMinnville or 15-30 minutes across all of Salem to I5 and a solid 45-60 minutes to downtown Portland.
Any of these times can double (or more) if you get stuck in traffic from either city or rural causes.

I think that you are looking for what a lot of people want, at least 5 acres within an hour of Portland and within 20 minutes of a small town with lots to do, good schools, good job, low crime and low taxes. Not trying to crap on the thread here but good luck.

 

[Mikej]

Don't let 'em put you off scobun. An hour from downtown PDX/Vancouver can be about 15 miles the way people drive here, frequently! And I'm not talking just rush hour. Country living like McMinnville, Yamhill. SE like Mollala, Colton, SW...Dallas, Monmouth etc, have everything you need. Hell, you wanna come to town for a show? Book a room and make it a little "Get-Away" from paradise, if that's what you want. Let your brother come out to you, he could probably use the break!

The "City" used to be cool when I move here from Salt Lake City in '83. Now it sucks the life out of you here, emotionally and monetarily.

 

[dobeman]

Your profession - teaching - I suppose if you've survived teaching in CA, you are tough as nails and can teach anywhere. I'd check if schools hiring up here - union and all that. Me - I lived in Bay Area for three years 2000 - 2003 - I would escape if I were you. But.. plan on maybe moving again in the future. Lots of CA plates here - lot of your indoctrinated bretheren bringing their ideology with them - it's only a matter of time before OR and WA fall. My editorial comment: California seceded (without declaring it) from the union. When you take the constitution of the country you claim to be part of and use it as toilet paper and flush it - you've seceded from the union. NY and CT have as well. But I digress. Come on up to OR or WA but please, get your new car plates quickly. I cringe when I see California plates.

 

[rdb241]

And they are driving the land prices through the roof!

 

[erudne]

Oregon has the 3rd highest property taxes in the nation
look at Camas, Stevenson, White Salmon, WA
check-out Insitue (Drones) as an employer in White Salmon
Consider E. WA

 

[mjbskwim]

Not Idaho. It sucks ,I'll be moving to the ....Bad lands ,yeah,the bad lands of the Dakotas.
Perfect country for all youse folks in the California coast state
Yes I said state