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We live in the now s--t hole of NE Portland on an otherwise nice quiet street. BUT,,, A homicide 5 blocks from our house 2 weeks ago and a food truck guy 5 blocks away got picked up around january for a 2009 homicide...I'm retired LE and can't take the lawlessness anymore, So.....Going to look in the Redmond area in a couple weeks, not perfect, but want outta here!!!! It's affordable, compared to Bend and a fully functional medium sized city with good health care and hardly any rain, Still close to Portland for family visits...Funny thing is, our house will still command a great price....go figure....Tonight will be 35 straight nights of protests/rioting with no city hall support. Only a matter of time before a band of Aholes start branching out to the neighborhoods and it won't be pretty if they show up here. Oh, yes, I do have a couple??? firearms....My 2 cents..
 
I wish you great luck in you new location.

If it's remote enough thugs won't be there as they need free.......everything.

Distance is your friend and thugs enemy.
 
Update:

went down to Grants Pass this weekend for my birthday, and during the time I didn't spend laying by the hotel pool, I went looking for land bargains. No such thing.

But Grants Pass has a nice vibe to it... Loved hearing the gospel on the radio at the diner Sunday morning, tho I was a bit surprised.

One of the folks I chatted with, a native, said to go check out the town of Rogue River.... I didn't, but have you?
 
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Almost any place east of the Cascades. Southern Oregon. Even the valley or the coast might make sense in some places (small communities far from cities). In every case I would go with a large lot in a small town, but the town still large enough to support some needed business. I have lived in the sticks, and that is OK when times are good, but when there are roving gangs, you don't want to be out there alone.

Personally I've admired Fossil, Prineville, Klamath Falls, etc. The estate tax forces me to rule Oregon out though.
 
Small town life is a funny thing. You can grow up in a small town, move away, yet you are always welcomed back upon return. So long as you're not a felon. But to never have lived there before, different story.
We went to Yellowstone to escape the smoke. Took slow roads there, and part of the way back.
She wants out of Oregon. Moseyed through a few small towns, a few she really liked. I tried to explain to her the possible outcomes, moving to a small town. She couldn't understand being looked upon as an "outsider."
If you bring a thick wallet and buy property there, some will resent it. It's your right to do it; you can't help what people think.
And your right to shoot 'em if they take stink to your front door... :D:eek: J/K
 
Yup we are thinking about buy some land west of Springfield MO, awesome whitetail hunting, fishing super low cost of living, not so fond of the brown recluse but they are better then THE BLM HUMPS
I used to own a business in Branson, MO, which is a few miles south of Springfield. I was there for 5 years and was *IN* TWO tornadoes. Beware the weather around those parts.
 
My parents retired, sold their house and bought a custom RV and lived in it pretty much the rest of their lives.
They moved with the sun and warmth, never staying long in anyone place. No taxes, other then sales tax and they went from Alaska to Prince Edwards Island, then all the way down to the tip of Baja when it use to be safe.
Both lived to their mid nineties. Not for everyone, but worked for them.
 
She couldn't understand being looked upon as an "outsider."

I understand why she doesn't understand. Most people who've lived in cities and suburbs all their lives wouldn't be apt to understand. They are from places where moving around doesn't usually come with social consequences. Small town life is a way of its own; people in those communities have known each other all their lives, been in each other's business, etc. Outsiders bring their own ways. It's just different. And this is what is so puzzling to many well-heeled, socio-economic refugees who move from relatively monied places to small, rural communities. It just is.

There are some places where enough outsider retirees or economic refugees have gathered together in their own little enclave within an established rural setting. Banded together like that, they are somewhat insulated from the experience I've described.
 
Let's say you came out to Oregon 25-30 years ago, fleeing a socialist paradise back east. Now look; yeah, PDX is not so hip any more. What if the time were ripe to get outa dodge, and as my old mentor Uncle Remus advises, "stay out of crowds at all costs"?

If you were going to retire, and try to grab a little piece of land with a view, far, far away from Utopia (as it's defined today by our progressive betters), with less than $200k, where would you go? Assume you desire to stay in Oregon except for Multnomah county and the surroundings. Josephine County? Up the gorge? Coast?

Where would you NOT go, at any cost?
Since your desire is to stay in Oregon I would look at Klamath County. Lots of cheap property there. Fairly dry if you don't like the rain.
 
I understand why she doesn't understand. Most people who've lived in cities and suburbs all their lives wouldn't be apt to understand. They are from places where moving around doesn't usually come with social consequences. Small town life is a way of its own; people in those communities have known each other all their lives, been in each other's business, etc. Outsiders bring their own ways. It's just different. And this is what is so puzzling to many well-heeled, socio-economic refugees who move from relatively monied places to small, rural communities. It just is.

There are some places where enough outsider retirees or economic refugees have gathered together in their own little enclave within an established rural setting. Banded together like that, they are somewhat insulated from the experience I've described.

I remember way back in the late 90's, I was driving with my wife and kids from Iowa to Idaho in our 2 year old Nissan Pathfinder.

We were in Minnesota, along I-90, headed to the South Dakota border when we decided to stop for lunch. We pulled off into some small town a couple of miles from the interstate, looking for a diner. We found a place and sat down at a table near the window. We had probably a dozen people walk around our Pathfinder, inspecting it closely.

When we were done eating, we went to go get back in the rig and some older man and his wife came up and asked me what kind of vehicle it was. I told him it was a Nissan Pathfinder. He'd never seen one before. I suspect most people in that little town had probably never seen one. It was a little creepy, to be honest.

Some small towns are great, with more "traveled" citizens that are more open-minded towards things like Japanese vehicles and women with shorter hair. Others, not so much.

My mom's side of the family has lived on the same plot of land in Idaho since the early 1900's. Our original 300 acre ranch is now down to 3 acres and supports a couple of horses and a mule.The town has grown all around it. The wheat fields I used to go horseback riding in across the street is now a subdivision.

Every year starting in the 80's, some idiot will buy a house on the edge of our little pasture and go to the city and complain about the smell, or the flies, and try to force my parents to get rid of their remaining horses. Every single time, it is someone from California.

So I am well aware of what it's like to have city people move into the area and instantly start complaining and wanting to force their views on folks.

That's why when I bought my house a few years ago in a little town, I went to the neighbors I hadn't talked to before I bought the house and introduced myself. I let them know I was from the area originally, despite my Arizona plates on a fancy new car, and was not going to be a problem. I've had no issues with any of them.
 
My mom's side of the family has lived on the same plot of land in Idaho since the early 1900's. Our original 300 acre ranch is now down to 3 acres and supports a couple of horses and a mule.The town has grown all around it. The wheat fields I used to go horseback riding in across the street is now a subdivision.

Every year starting in the 80's, some idiot will buy a house on the edge of our little pasture and go to the city and complain about the smell, or the flies, and try to force my parents to get rid of their remaining horses. Every single time, it is someone from California.

Man the feels. This breaks my heart.
 
Since people are mentioning other states...

I've lived and traveled all over the USA; been to every state but Alaska. There are some great areas with friendly people. I'd consider Texas northeast of Dallas; areas like around Commerce, Sulphur Springs, etc. Inexpensive (not just houses, but everything), nice friendly people, relatively gun-friendly. The people are the most important part, and they're just nice neighborly folks in many of these areas. Lots of even more inexpensive places in some other areas, but the people aren't as nice.
 
Geographically, The Dalles is an hour east of bedlam. It is 15 minutes east of Hood River.

But kate the great's influence reaches even here.

Although we may not like it, currently we are playing COVID dress up, too.
 
I understand why she doesn't understand. Most people who've lived in cities and suburbs all their lives wouldn't be apt to understand. They are from places where moving around doesn't usually come with social consequences. Small town life is a way of its own; people in those communities have known each other all their lives, been in each other's business, etc. Outsiders bring their own ways. It's just different. And this is what is so puzzling to many well-heeled, socio-economic refugees who move from relatively monied places to small, rural communities. It just is.

There are some places where enough outsider retirees or economic refugees have gathered together in their own little enclave within an established rural setting. Banded together like that, they are somewhat insulated from the experience I've described.
When I first became an industrial technician I went to work in a steel mill, and later a power plant in a backwater Bay Area city. My co-workers considered me an outsider because my father and grandfather didn't work at the mill. Unbelievably, some of them had never been outside the state. They married girls they went to high school with. It was pretty much like being an inmate in a prison. Join a faction or have them ALL against you.
 

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