posted on Nov, 1 2012 @ 06:13 PM
The Willamette Valley of Oregon may be close to perfect; it has smallish but vibrant cities, college towns (Eugene and Corvallis), rainy but not
overly cold winters, gorgeous blue sky not overly hot summers, an abundance of recreational opportunities and some of the best produce producing
regions close by of anywhere in the world. The major EQ faults run out to sea at the top of California and the volcanoes here are picturesque without
being active threats (and if the threat ramps up, there will be plenty of warning).
No history of hurricanes although the coast can get some impressive storms, no tornadoes, no blizzards unless you go up into the mountains at high
altitude, little flooding but the potential is there (so don't live near a creek or river) and wildfires are less frequent here than they are
further south into California because it's greener all summer, not so brown and dry.
I moved here to southern Oregon after 50+ years in Rochester, NY. The winter weather there was getting dicey with 'hurricanes with snow', frequent
ice storms that took out the power grid which is now held together with bubble gum and bailing wire, and if you lived through the winter, there was
thunderstorms, humidity and mosquitoes to enjoy during the summers. Housing costs were low but heating costs were high. I would never move back.