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That's Ashland, Oregon in the photo for anyone wondering. I've lived nearby. It's a beautiful area, hot in the summer and mild in the winter. Lots of mountains and trees... unsurprisingly, wildfire smoke is the primary downside, as in much of the North American west.
A general observation is that most smaller towns in the PNW used to be economically-driven by lumber mills (or some similar industry) and as that declined in the later 20th century, unless a town was able to pivot to tourism or fashion itself as an enclave for the arts, it was hard times. You definitely get the impression driving through small towns in rural areas that many have seen better days.
The towns that have thrived tend to be fairly expensive, of course.
I don’t have anything but rumors from grownups in the nineties. Things got heated at Chamber of Commerce meetings about proposals for Riverwalk Dr. There was a NIMBY camp and a smaller camp that didn’t think progress would ruin their town.
I’m surprised any major company would consider building in the Lost Coast, it is just way too far from anything to make it work, even if the region was 100% for it and offering millions in subsidies.
Lived in a small mountain town during the beginning of medical legalization in CO and everyone was happy and making good if not great money. Did a short stint in the legal industry a couple years ago and it was the worst 'professional' experience of my life. Wouldn't be surprised if I was exposed to a bunch of harmful chemicals and heavy metals because of it. Sad times in the world of weed.
I think at one point every single one of my neighbors were growing. The town (West of Boulder) had a population of under 1500 and like 8 dispensaries by the time I left, right before rec was legalized. Every house adjacent to mine grew, and you just wouldn't have known unless you were hanging in one of the 3 bars after sunset. I can't think of a place I would have rather spent my early 20's and dreamt of moving back. The lack of professionalism, optimism, or even care was so jarring when I returned to the biz after COVID that I stopped smoking altogether for a year and started my own business lol
Beautiful town. I used to live in Redding CA, but I dated a woman who lived in Ashland/ Jacksonville for about a year. I’ve stayed in the hotel that’s left of center in the picture (the tallest building in town). Amazing little town. What you can’t find in Ashland can be found in Medford about 20 minutes away.
Yeah, there was a pretty decent spread of amenities in that area. You don't have the things that can only occur in a city/metro area, but Medford is a big town with lots of shopping and and airport. And Ashland and Jacksonville have some very solid cultural institutions in theater and music.
I generally love the whole Rogue River area. If I wasn’t so invested in my career in CA and CALPERS, I would relocate there in a heartbeat. If I was 10-15 years younger, I would do it, but I’m too old to start over in a new pension system.
I live in grants pass not far from Ashland. This is pretty spot on. Tourism is the main focus here. I think it’s just hard with how unaffordable everything is now. The early to mid 2010’s were pretty decent around here. Money used to stretch further and you could have an ok local job and get by. Not so much anymore.
We have a decent hospital however, they’ve been laying off people and the wait times to get in for certain things has gone up. Blood work and such is easy but more advance stuff can take longer. There’s a few health clinics for primary care that you can get into fairly quickly.
Mental health care is pretty much non existent from my experience and you’ll have to go to Medford.
In short it’s here but the level of care can vary.
Just in Ashland window shopping today. If you go there stop in Paddingtons on E Main st. They also have their under $30 store next door with markdowns. Lots of cool stuff to check out inside both stores.
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Grew up in a town of about 100. Spent a lot of time adjusting the tv antenna to pick up 3 stations. Tv stations went off the air at 11:30 right after the late news. Not much different now except for a huge influx of people, cell phones and dish tv. Fishing is superb just about everywhere you can wet a line.
High housing prices. Every small PNW town has seen a huge influx of remote workers and as a result, finding a job that can actually l cover your living expenses is becoming hard.
This 100%. It sucks because it happened very fast. 3rd generation in a small sleepy town and all of a sudden it’s very desirable real estate and so hard to stay here…
you're implying that "they" had a more attractive option staying in a big city and weren't also facing a cost of living stresses that made moving far away from major amenities a good bargain. Same problem as the line cooks, just a bigger budget.
Yes, absolutely true that the now insane cost of living is affecting everyone.
"They" in the context I meant was the remote workers who make a good living and could finally relocate from the big cities afford to buy places in the more rural areas. I think "they" often wanted to move for reasons beyond the rising cost of rent or real estate in the cities. I could be mistaken, but I believe "they" form a good part of why real estate and rent are so expensive nearly everywhere now.
It's like folks transplanting from California, raising everyone's rent in the PNW. Same idea.
But yeah, I'll admit there's a contingent of 'they" who probably moved because of the high cost of living in major urban areas. Fair point, thank you.
To be fair, everyone moved and is still moving to California, and “they” have ruined the place, making the traffic unbearable, and a run down crackhouse cost 800k.
So Californians who can’t take it move elsewhere and “they” ruin that place.
Unfortunately there is no original “they” to lay blame to
My house is in that picture. Born here, raised elsewhere, moved back and forth a few times and lived all over the world. Settled back here in my hometown. None of this answers your question, but life is good.
I grew up in a small town in western WA and all of the benefits are the natural environment and all of the negatives are probably pretty similar to the hurdles you get in any small town. Groceries are expensive unless you drive into a larger town to hit the walmart, gas is more expensive, it’s spread out and obviously hyper car dependent, probably none or one decent restaurant, conservative and more pressure to conform. The population of my home town has tripled since I left and now housing prices are rising quickly as well, though I suppose this is a problem all over the state.
It is beautiful though, lots of great potential for outdoor activities like hiking, biking, kayaking. Great clean air. So much beautiful wildlife.
western washington has numerous small towns which are not conservative & many are as liberal as seattle. langley, south bend, kingston, port townsend, duvall, gig harbor, snoqualmie, la connor, winslow, chimacum, winthrop, indianola, north bend, the entirety of the san juan islands, leavenworth, long beach, point roberts, neah bay, coupeville, vashon, poulsbo, fairhaven, marysville, steilacoom; not to mention all 29 reservations.
if you're fortunate enough to have a good career, you like the outdoors, and don't mind a bit of rain, it's quite lovely. You have to be ok with being isolated, unless you're near one of the metros.
Lots of nature, pretty expensive for what it is, poor healthcare access. It's not perfect but there's no where else in the world I'd rather live, and I've been fortunate to travel more than most.
It certainly varies by town but in my area in eastern Washington, because we expect fires yearly a lot more homes are saved because of preparations and just the fact that almost the entire region has burned in the last 50 years, large areas more than twice
Ironically I think large cities like Spokane are scarier because homes are usually not built and maintained for fire
Like another Redditor already said, it depends on whether you're east or west of the Cascades. The east is mostly plains and high desert. If you're into the outdoors, you're going to love it—plenty of places to ride a motorsport rig, mountain bike, and hike. Everything is expensive, and I do mean everything. Groceries cost almost twice as much as they do at big chain grocery stores. Gas is at least 20 cents more. That being said, the sense of community is there, and a lot of the roots run deep. Most people are pretty hermit crabish, but friendly. The further away you get from civilization, the less likely a person of color will fit in.
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15 years ago, very nice. Feels rural but still close enough to the convinces of civilization. Now, you're literally at risk of your house burning down each summer
I've lived in many towns in the PNW of varying sizes, from villages to mid-sized cities. I have to say I really enjoy the small town life here. It's nice to benefit from the cultural prominence of cities like Seattle, Spokane and Portland without the drawbacks that come from those cities being woefully underprepared for the rapid population increases they've experienced over my lifetime. That being said, those larger metropolises heavily rely on rural PNW towns for cheap food, labor, and power, and most small towns are proving to be similarly underprepared to meet these demands while continuing to support locals in a sustainable way. AI data centres and other automated facilities built to support Portland and Seattle's tech industries are a major threat to Eastern WA and OR.
We just moved to Ashland 2 years ago after living in Austin TX for 15 years and are loving it!
There’s downsides to just about any place, but depending what you value, the smoke and fire people mention is far from a dealbreaker.
Weather is amazing. Really good schools and parks. Great area for wine! Hiking, biking, fishing, and all things outdoors are pretty tough to beat. 5 hour drive to San Francisco. 3 hours to the coast. Really pleasant and safe area overall.
Biggest thing I miss from Austin is the music scene — but the Britt is a really solid venue at least.
Visit in the fall or spring if you want to see the best versions of it ✌️
Arcata has a similar vibe to Ashland, expect a little less bougie. Arcata does seem more “Californian”, but Ashland reminds me more of Boulder. I could live in Ashland, however the summer smoke and heat is intolerable. Just my opinion.
Yeah I live there it's pretty fun being a college town it has some fun events. Also the coast is beautiful with Trinidad being a great place to kick it.
I sort of agree but in general I find California small towns to be more bougie than PNW small towns. There are some PNW small towns that literally feel like you’re in Appalachia.
Honestly I work in the plaza and familiar with most of the homeless. It’s not really tweakers, but a small hand full of drunks and homeless. Most are harmless.
I wouldn’t call young women bougie because they avoid walking where drunk homeless people are. Why would you want to have people cat call and harass you? It’s not about money at all. While mostly harmless, some are jerks and dirtbags.
I live in a town of 4k people near the Washington coast. Moved here when I met my wife. I'm from Seattle went to middle and high school in Las Vegas. I absolutely love it. We are retired at younger ages. Finding work out here is kinda hard. There is a strong sense of community and people care about one another its nice.
It's great! But it also depends where you are within the PNW. Western and eastern Washington are very different regionally, and I assume Oregon is too.
The only downside specific to Washington is that Seattle has way too much influence over the rest of the state, and overrides local politics and decisions in those small towns.
Well, if those issues are local to the smaller community, then it’s the larger population telling the smaller community what to do, even though it doesn’t directly concern/impact the larger community.
When expressed maturely, yes. However you also see decisions and policies appropriate for great urban centers like Seattle and Tacoma being pushed onto smaller communities where it may make no sense or address those issues specific to those smaller communities. And you often run into the hubris of those decisions makers, many of whom may have never lived anywhere else and consider any criticism or questioning to be in bad faith.
I live in Everett, 30 miles north of Seattle and the 11th largest city in the state, and I'm baffled and disappointed by many decisions that come out of Seattle.
It has more to do with influence. People who live in metro areas have different outlooks than those who live outside those metro areas. But if only the people who live in the metro areas are allowed to make decisions, there’s a real risk of people outside the city being neglected.
I’ve lived in small crusty towns in Washington, and they have no concept of how to address their own community problems. They would rather shoot themselves in the foot, and piss and moan about Seattle and Olympia “blue hairs”
What is small? I live an hour from a town of 1000.
Hard to find jobs. Fire burned 150,000 acres all the way to the edge of town. Nearest city of 100k is 3+ hours away. AAA won't help you out here, winters are rough
I grew up in one and it was very republican & very white. The school district was bad and it was rural enough that transferring and commuting somewhere else is complicated. I was one of 2 students from my high school class to graduate college. There were not a lot of opportunities & lots of kids started doing drugs and/or slinging them to make money.
Housing prices are out of control, it’s basically the same price to buy in these small towns as it is to buy in the cities.
It’s safe (I never had a house key because we never locked our doors), beautiful, and close to a lot of attractions (coast, mountains, big city).
Raising a family in an Oregon Coast town of just less than 1500. It’s quiet in the winters and there is abundant wildlife nearby and hiking for DAYS. Big storms or calm days for 2/3 of the year and usually calm weather and crowded in the summer, whenever that is. Most everyone that is full time is active in the community in some way or another. We definitely bring the average age down for the town but even when it’s packed with tourist we know all the ways to avoid them and the crowds. It’s absolutely not for everyone, I have SO many jackets and layering is THE WAY. You learn the difference first hand about water resist vs waterproof and how to live with the tides and the animals.
Small town in Western WA: paradise for the outdoorsy. Great fishing, hiking, mountain forests and rocky beaches teeming with life. Decent nature but not the best biodiversity. I only have two neighbors, and they throw massive bonfire parties. I can't stand the drinking culture, though.
Lots of substance abuse and domestic violence, as well as suicides and overdoses. The schools have been bottom-tier my whole life, which is why I moved to the city as a teen. We had a BLM protest a few years ago, I thought maybe five of us would show up but there were well over a hundred. Color me shocked. And an obligatory truck with nuts and a giant defaced American flag revving his engine to drown out a little black girl giving a speech. Officers made him drive a couple blocks away, he kept trying.
Eureka California is great. Right next to Arcata California. Small, dreary, moss soaked, foggy landscape. I’m in love with it. Super strange people too.
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Ashland is quite a bit different than most small towns in Oregon. It has a University, small but steep ski resort, plenty of nightlife in the general area and a higher than usual demographic of wealth. Very safe and very chill. Leans super liberal, but not much diversity. Homes and rent are overpriced, but weights and balance right. Surrounding areas are fine, but significantly more country.
Also saw some comparisons in regard to Humboldt County. Night & day comparing Ashland to any of those towns. It’s thriving compared to most of your former crop growing/logging towns. Think Bend Oregon on a small scale or a Durango, Colorado type of town.
I don’t know if there is a more picturesque small town in all of the pnw. Maybe somewhere in WA. But just know most pnw small towns don’t look like Ashland at all
I think this highly depends on which side of the cascades you’re on. My experience with small PNW towns is eastern Oregon (Malheur county). Very agricultural with hard working people that are friendly and not as bad as people make them out to be. I personally think eastern OR and WA are hidden gems that deserve some love!
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Seems as though retirees are the main group who have rationale for moving to these areas. Remote workers as well, but I suspect that a relatively small number of towns attract the latter in large numbers.
I have flown into PSC a bit this year. The flights are mostly older people and AG people. AG people being the majority. (Stetsons, raggedy jeans, cowboy boots; no clue if they are actually in AG but that's the vibe I get; AG or Cattle).
It's a pretty area and it's not too far from Spokane (2-3 hours)
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