Anyone following me on twitter or facebook knows that I just picked 40 pounds of strawberries with my family.  Oregon strawberries are amazingly sweet and we freeze them for smoothies and top french toast with them, which are great for kids for breakfast.   I make a fresh strawberry pie as part of the deal for picking all those strawberries.  There is nothing more amazing than fresh strawberry pie, in my opinion.  I’ve included my recipe here for Oregon strawberry pie at the end of this post…for those of you that have asked for it.

BUT, the point in me talking about local strawberries, well local produce in general, is because I am a firm believer in trying to have your food source be as close to you as possible.  I think it is important for kids to see that food doesn’t come out of a box, but rather can be made. Kids need to learn this in order to start good eating habits, in my opinion.  It appears that there are many other Oregonians that strongly believe in good eating habits for our kids.

Truth for America’s Health came out with the annual study of obesity.  Oregon ranked 51st in the nation for obesity…meaning that we have the fewest number of kids that are obese in Oregon.  9.6% of our Oregon kids are obese.  Compare that with the number 1 obese state of Mississippi where 21.9% of kids are already obese.  Remember this isn’t about being overweight, but the medical definition for obesity which is pretty serious.  I just wanted to say great job to all the Oregon parents out there that make your kids eat broccoli and force them away from the TV to enjoy what Oregon has to offer.

So get out there.  Go pick some fresh fruit with your kids.  Go visit one of the local swimming holes over the summer, and keep our kids healthy. Fewest obese kids?   Let’s keep it that way. This is one ranking chart where Oregon wants to stay dead last.

For those of you that haven’t been berry picking we have tons of local places to go that have amazing fruit.   My tip…just go early in the morning before it gets too hot.    Here is my strawberry pie recipe for those of you that asked for it.

Melina’s Fresh Strawberry Pie

Crust

I use Emeril Lagasse’s shortbread pie crust, which I think is amazing.  If you need gluten free, then you need to buy Gluten Free Baking Classics which has a great pie crust recipe.

Shortbread Pie Crust:

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

In 1864, this photo was taken of the Cook Hotel located on the corner of High and State Streets…the SE corner of it, in fact.   The hotel changed owners a couple of times and was the Monroe Hotel before the Bligh’s purchased the building and land, razed it, and built Bligh’s Capital Theater.

Bligh’s Capital Theater became Warner Bros Capital Theater and most recently this corner of Salem has become a local gem…La Capitale Brasserie.  Owner David Rosales, opened La Cap (locals nickname for this place), just over a year ago.  Already it has a good reputation in town, and I personally agree with that reputation.

I think I have the only kid on the planet that hates french fries.  My son has NEVER liked them.  On a recent outing to La Cap, he couldn’t resist trying one, as we all raved about how good the pommes frites were.

Yep.  My 10 year old finally likes french fries. Not sure if that is a good thing or not, but whether you are here for the pommes frites, the sandwiches, the tomato soup, or the warm chocolate cake…chances are you will enjoy your meal at this new local restaurant.

This is a great addition to the Salem restaurant scene, and for parents rest assured that their grilled cheese is kid tested and approved so feel free to head over there knowing you can get something for your kids, while you have a more adult meal.

Did I mention the lemonade is fresh squeezed?

If you are considering moving to Salem Oregon, this is one restaurant you will want to check out.

La Capitale Brasserie is located at 508 State Street in the old Bligh Capital Theater building.  David even has the old sign up on the wall.

The old photos are from the Salem Public Libraries Historic Photos Collection.

“I’d like a house on a 1/2 an acre,” says the buyer on the phone. I have had this conversation with several people that want to relocate out to this area.   I often find myself explaining that in Oregon, all cities are required to have an urban growth boundary per state law. I seem to be talking about it a lot these days so might as well blog about it…

Urban growth boundaries define Oregon cities. Anyone who has relocated here from another part of the country know that our cities are compact and sometimes people feel claustrophobic here. Having a neighbor “towering” over their house is a big deal to many home buyers and there is a lot of arborvitae here in Oregon yards as people try to create more privacy.

What is an urban growth boundary?
In 1973 the Oregon legislature passed legislation that all Oregon cities will have an urban growth boundary. The boundary is a line created locally that defines where the growth will occur in a city. Once the line is drawn, development needs to occur in the boundary and not out of it.

What is the point?
In short it is an effort to prevent sprawl. Anyone who has been to Chicago or LA knows what sprawl looks like. The point of the UGB is to control where the growth occurs. This helps to preserve farmland, watersheds, and makes city services more compact.

What are the consequences?
With anything there are positive and negative consequences for anything. Here, we have small lots. I am constantly telling people that a 1/2 acre lot with a new construction home is a long shot. For people moving to Salem Oregon, this can be a big surprise and often people feel constrained here. Developers put as many homes as possible on the smallest lot possible since development is limited. In the boom, this was a problem as land prices skyrocketed out here. Now…we have around a 25 year inventory of lots. Plenty of home lots to go around.

A positive aspect is that areas that are starting to get run down tend to get revitalized faster as investors go in and starting fixing those areas. Since they are limited about where development can occur, areas tend to get redeveloped faster…I think anyway. One of the things that was glaring to me when I came out to Oregon 20 years ago was that the cities had bad areas, but nothing like the cities I had seen in Illinois. It seemed like in Illinois that developers would just buy some new farmland and create new rather than recycling the older parts of cities.

So, for those of you considering moving to the Salem Oregon area, keep in mind that we have UGB’s here that impact the size of our lots.  So if you want 1/2 acre, 1/4 acre…just know that large lots are typically with older homes out here.  If it’s any consolation, I think you’ll find that you are spending too much time hanging out at Silverfalls State Park or heading to the coast to worry about who is going to mow that large lot.

I like it when people that read my blog send me things.  I was alerted to this study by one of my current clients and thought I would share it with you.

What study you ask?  Well the folks at Gallup-Healthways created a Well-Being Index.  They interviewed a bazillion, okay not really a bazillion but 350,000+ Americans, during 2009.   You would think interviewing that many people would end the recession right there.  Talk about some serious work to get that done!  Anyway… back on track…In the survey they asked them about their jobs, finances, physical health, emotional state and communities.

Now you’d think with our high unemployment rate here in Oregon that we would bomb this survey on well-being.  I fully expected us to be at the bottom of the pack…but I was surprised.  Salem, OR (this is the whole metro area by the way), was ranked 48.  162 metros were part of the survey.  Pretty cool.  Apparently people are feeling content living here.  Boulder, CO was #1 and the Huntington-Ashland metro was ranked the last in this survey.  As a state, Oregon ranked 36th, which isn’t a huge surprise with our large unemployment numbers.  It’s hard to have positive emotional health when you are worried about losing your job.

I recently was talking with someone about their relocation to Salem Oregon. “It’s a slow city” was what I said trying to explain Salem.  I think there is something to be said for not being in the rat race of larger cities on a daily basis.  So maybe slower equals a bit more content?  It is an interesting study so head over and check it out.

I know you really want to know what state ranked #1 for well-being…Hawaii snagged that honor.

Everyone has their holiday traditions.   My family and I celebrate Christmas and so our traditions revolve around that holiday.  Our family tradition for this holiday actually starts in the summer. I know, kind of weird folks that we are, but here’s why.

The Christmas Cottage.

In Lincoln City on the south end of town, is this small little store called the Christmas Cottage.  My husband and I discovered it several years ago before we had children.  We started a tradition that whenever we went to Lincoln City or Newport over the summer, we would stop into the store and each pick out one new ornament for our Christmas tree that year.  When we were first married we had no ornaments but we have slowly over time amassed some really beautiful ones from this store.

A couple of years ago we felt our kids were old enough to start choosing ornaments as well, so now we make sure we take a trip to Lincoln city every summer and our last stop is this store.

What I appreciate as a parent is that many of the ornaments are inexpensive, which was nice when the kids were small and tended to break their ornaments. This year my son picked a stunning glass dragon as his choice, and I felt confident that he could handle it without breaking it.

Every year they have different ornaments which is good and bad. Our rule is just one ornament each and sometimes I have wanted to come back and get another of what I loved the previous year only to see a different artist in its place.

These photos are just a sample of some of the ornaments we have gotten at the store over the years.  From whimsical to beautiful, I guarantee this small little store on the Oregon coast will have an ornament that you’d love to have on your tree.

Next time you head to the coast, head over to this little gem of a store.  There is also an ice cream and chocolate store in the strip.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

I’m a fall person. I love cool weather and the change of the leaves. I can’t help but think of our fresh local apple cider. I constantly get asked by people considering relocating to the Salem Oregon area about the weather. Now I have talked about our snow...and the city’s one snow plow, but people considering moving here from the east coast typically want to know “do you have four seasons?”

Yep. We do. Granted we get rain in the winter instead of snow, but I think the shift from fall to winter happens here. I was out walking around this morning and just took a few shots of our Salem fall. Personally October in Oregon is one of my favorite times of year.

So rest assured…if you are looking to move here from a state where leaves change color…they do indeed change color here too.

I think one of the most difficult things about moving to a different area is trying to figure out what your income will get you there.  Can you afford to buy a house in Salem Oregon? Clearly real estate in Manhattan is just a tad bit more expensive than real estate in Salem Oregon.  I typically turn green when I hear about how much people will pay for a 600 sq foot condo in NY.  I don’t understand how people can live there.

People that relocate here come from all parts of the country. Some will be more expensive that Salem and some of you will think we are really expensive here.  So…how far will your money get you here, compared to where you are?

CNNMoney.com has this cool little cost of living calculator to help you try and compare your area to one where you are considering moving.  Now unfortunately, they don’t have Salem Oregon as one of the choices for Oregon…despite the fact that we are larger than Bend and the capital…but I digress.  So, I would use Eugene instead.  Eugene is a bit more expensive than Salem, but for basic comparison purposes, I think it is close enough.

You can enter in your current salary for your area, where you live know, and where you are thinking about living. It will tell you what kind of salary you would have there to have comparable expenses.  Since I’m originally from Illinois, I used a $50,000 salary in Rockford, Illinois compared to Eugene, Oregon.

The result…a comparable salary here to compensate for cost of living would be $61, 575.   Housing is a lot more expensive here in Oregon than in Illinois (Chicago excluded) because of our urban growth boundaries.  That is probably one of the biggest reasons folks seem to decide not to move here.  According to this quick calculation housing would cost 106% more here.

So if you are looking to relocate to Salem Oregon from another part of the country and aren’t sure how the cost of living differences, this is a neat and super quick comparison tool for you.

I was walking home with my kids from school the other day and my daughter looked up and saw the first oak leaves turning yellow on a tree on the street.  “It’s autumn,” she said.

I love fall because I think of warm potato soup with homemade french bread, apple muffins, and pear bread.  Fall is that perfect time when you get some cool weather, have a steaming cup of hot cider, and feel your body warm to the touch.  I have blogged about Bauman Farms which has the best family harvest festival in the area, in my opinion.  But we have another local farm that has great cider and produce as well (as well as a fall festival).

EZ Orchards is located on the corner of Hazelgreen and Cordon Roads.  It has great highway access (unlike Bauman Farms) and is my regular stop in the fall for my cider and produce fix.  I find it really easy to get to and the cider is delicious.

They also have a shortcake stand which puts out yummy treats and of course these guys crank out the cider donuts which they sell a ton of.   I know this blog is supposed to be about Salem Oregon home buying and selling real estate, but with the crisp air and first tastes of fall cider…I might have to put those posts on hold for a bit, while I enjoy our fabulous autumn.

For the past four years we have taken the kids to Bauman Farms.   I got the official count down from my kids…only 6 more days ’till it opens!  It typically opens Oct 1, but they are open starting this weekend (unbeknown to my kids)…

Every community has their special events and hidden gems. Pumpkin patch’s are nothing new, but you really have to attend the pumpkin patch at Bauman Farms to see something special.  I’m not going to lie to you…it isn’t cheap.  For a family of 4, it is $40.00 to enter this year.  I still think it is worth every penny. We go once because it is expensive and we stay all day.  We come home with happy and highly fatigued children, which is a dream state for most parents…I think.

The zip lines and jumping pillow are huge hits with my kids.  The irrigation tube slides are totally fun…I don’t care how “grown up” you are.  Last year they had a ship that was a maze that my kids went in numerous times.  Every year the Baumans create something new to keep us all entertained.  I thought they couldn’t beat the zip lines, until they added the jumping pillow.

If you are relocating to Salem Oregon from another part of the country and are wondering what to do or where to go in the fall…Bauman Farms is my favorite.