Get Real Estate Blog|Salem Oregon Homes|Relocation Guide

Boring.Ugly. Crime Ridden…on and on and on, people drone about their opinions of Salem Oregon.

Is this ugly to you?

I participate on an online forum and someone was asking about Portland, Salem and Corvallis.  He was really interested in Salem and wanted to know how walkable it was.  I felt like the lone ranger in talking about the core neighborhoods around town and felt the only real barrier was grocery shopping for those big items.  I was shot down by people that hadn’t lived in Salem in 15 years, but heck…they know what it is like here now.

Where is my rambling going?

Something nice happened.  As many negative posters as there were, the POSITIVE Salemites came out of the wood work and said they liked living here.  Yeah, Salemites.  This is a rare occurrence on a forum and I was so excited to have other people who enjoy the slow pace of Salem.   Now any of you that have read by ugly ducking to swan posts know that Salem isn’t this amazing cultural mecca or nightclub hotspot.  By that standard we are indeed dull.

Then I read this recent post about the 10 most dangerous cities.  I, of course, scrolled for our familiar Oregon cities and was nicely surprised because Salem had a lower crime rate than Eugene in 2009. QR Press created a list based on the FBI’s 2009 crime data.  I went to the raw data just to verify their data and this is how things stack up for Oregon cities with more than 50,000 residents.

Crimes committed per 100 residents for Oregon cities

• Eugene 12
• Portland 10.6
• Salem 8.8
• Medford 8.7
• Gresham 8.5
• Corvallis 6.9
• Bend 5.2
• Hillsboro 4.2
• Beaverton 3.8

When I looked at cities up and down the coast from Washington to California that were similar sized to Salem, they were generally between 6.0-6.5 crimes per 100 residents.  There is still work to be done in the city of Salem, but for the first time, to my knowledge, we had a lower crime rate than Eugene.  That, my friends, rocks.

If you are considering relocating to Salem Oregon get the real time scoop on crime stats at Crime Reports.

“I think Oregonians were subterranean dwellers in another life.”

The confused look on my face must have given it away, as she continued on…

“Well, you all live in that gray, rainy and gloomy state all year.  I mean I hear that you guys are so used to the rain you don’t even carry umbrellas!  That’s just wrong.  No one likes their hair all frizzy, looking like a drowned rat and all.  Only cave people can survive the gloom of Oregon.”

“Ah yes…the never ending cloud of gloom that hangs over Oregon 24/7/365.  Forget the Bermuda triangle, we are the Rainy Square.  Disappearing forever in the warm waters has nothing on looking like a wholly mammoth during the winter” I replied.

Granted there is some truth in that we don’t carry umbrellas here.  Those are for the tourists.  A good coat with a hood is what Oregonians generally use or we just go without.  Drowned rat or wholly mammoth, pick your disheveled animal and we’ll look like it during the winter months.   Everyone looks that way so that is the new normal.  Perfect hair means you never leave your home and that is a sure fire way to go crazy during the winter.  So how do we survive our gray winters here?

1) Coffee shops. Really I think there is a huge correlation between our obsession with coffee and our gray days of the PNW.  There is nothing like getting out of the house, grabbing some hot tea or coffee, and chatting with friends at a local cafe.  Even if you are new to the area and don’t know anyone in town.  Get out of the house and just go read a book at one of the local places.

2) Go hiking.  Yep, really.  Get some good waterproof boots and gear and hike some of the local trails near the waterfalls.  Waterfalls need water (I know a genius observation on my part), and in the winter and spring, when Oregon is at its grayest, the waterfalls are spectacular to see gushing. Go hike the waterfalls and be in awe.

3) Take an overnight trip to the coast and watch the storms come in.  The coast is notorious for high winds and rain and there is nothing like watching the coast get blasted and then walking on pristine beach the next morning.

4) Go all Gene Kelly. Get a really good pair of rubber boots and jump in some puddles.  You’ll be less embarrassed if you have young kids and it appears that you are just playing with your kids, but there is something totally innocent about stomping in a few puddles.  If you break out in song, more power to you.  Remember to ditch the umbrella though: those are for tourists.

5) When buying a house, look at natural light.   When relocating home buyers move here from a hot state, I’m always suggesting that they consider the natural light of a house.   They seem to be the most susceptible to SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), and having natural light in the house can minimize that.

6) Light some candles and relax.  No I’m not a firebug, but there is something insanely soothing about candelight.  Light some candles, take a hot bath and just relax to the sound of the rain outside.

7) No soup for you!  Thankfully the soup Nazi isn’t a real person, but Wild Pear and Amadeus in town make great soups.  Get out of the house and grab a cup of soup at one of the local restaurants.  If you are so inclined make some at home and get some fresh bread at Great Harvest or Cascade Baking Co to serve with it.

I’d go on and on about the things you can do, but I’m leaving that for the comments section.  Dear Oregon readers, please write in the comment section at least one thing you do during the winter to deal with the gray days.  This would be a nice cheat sheet for relocating home buyers to the Salem area about what to do and to ease their fears.

So…what do you do to deal with the Oregon gray days?

Carob.  Whole Wheat.  Carrot Juice. No McDonald’s.

Staples in my diet as a child.

I wasn’t allowed to eat at McDonald’s as a kid. I was convinced it was some bastion of great tasting food because all my friends ate there often and thought their food was great.   I’d whine and cry about not being able to go,  and somehow believed that my parents were torturing me for reasons unbeknownst to me.  Clearly the good parents took their kids to eat there but why did I get stuck with the bad parents?  I think I was around 10 when my dad caved and took me and my sisters there.

I thought it was some of the most vile food on the planet, right up there with mustard, Twinkies,  and Oscar Meyer hot dogs in my book.

What I know now, is that my parents were way ahead of the times.   They got as much organic produce as possible and limited our exposure to junk food.  I think I might have been in high school or college before I had Pringles.  I’ve eaten them once and on a side note, why do people like pop tarts?  Growing up in the mid-west in ag central (ie DeKalb Illinois) which has the research site for creating new seeds, the words organic and non-GMO weren’t exactly common.

Fast forward to our move to Oregon twenty years ago and fresh, local and organic/no spray were common place.  I have to say it is one of the things I love the most about Oregon is that I can get good, local produce constantly.  I know you are probably wondering what all my ramblings are about, but recently I was introduced to this insanely cool website and map that shows local organic farmers/ranchers that sell meat.  All grass fed with no antibiotics and steroids.  I thought it was the coolest thing and really wanted to share it with those of you out there that want to get good local organic meat.

For those of you considering a relocation to Salem Oregon, rest assured that local healthy food is abundant.  Bon Appetit!

View Oregon Farms & Ranches Listed on Eatwild.com C in a larger map