today we look at what you need to know about life in Oregon Oregon is one of the most interesting
states in the U.S it is arguably one of the most naturally beautiful states with a rich
history interesting people and it's home to one of the greatest cities the U.S had to offer but
now serves as a cautionary tale and yes I'm talking about Portland just in case you were
confused and thought I was talking about Scappoose Oregon was always one of the top 10 most moved to
States most years since a week after Lewis and Clark made their way back to St Louis somewhere
around 2018 they fell out of the top 10 and now sit in the mid-20s despite all their problems
people still find their way to the beaver State living in Oregon offers a unique experience due
to the diverse Landscapes climate culture and lifestyle right now we're going to look at
the 10 things you need to know before you bake that jump got it get it good let's take a look
number 10 the natural beauty like I was saying Oregon is one of the most beautiful States you
could find if you like being outdoors breathtaking Landscapes that include rugged Coastline forests
cascading waterfalls and Scenic mountains like Mount Hood the sisters and Crater Lake which is
really a lake in a mountain it's actually a lake that's in a volcano what's really
cool about Oregon wherever you are outdoor recreational activities like hiking camping
skiing fishing biking they're not too far away I live in the suburbs and I could be in some really
good hiking spots in about 20 minutes when I first moved up here I loved Portland and
that was one of the main reasons I moved here it was just such a unique City now the reason
I still love Oregon is the natural beauty now in the eastern part of Oregon you're not going
to find as much hiking and stuff like that you will find a lot of lakes streams and rivers you
just won't find the forests and the mountains like you will on the west side of the state
number nine the weather Oregon's climate varies significantly depending on the region Western
Oregon has a mild wet climate while Eastern Oregon experiences drier and more extreme
weather conditions including hot summers and cold Winters if you live in places like Eugene Salem
and Portland or even the coastal areas you're gonna get some snow it's never five feet of
snow anything like that it's not like Minnesota or Wisconsin you're guaranteed to get a couple
dustings every winter with the occasional serious snow blowing through every other year or so I
lived in the Portland metro area now well 13 years and we've probably had five different snowstorms
that basically shut down the city for the better part of a week the snow we get on our really bad
Winters are nothing compared to what Minnesota and Wisconsin do and they won't shut down for that
type of weather we're just not used to it we're not built for it when it gets really bad snow wise
and people get stuck they just push their cars to the side of the road or drive them if they
can and walk home then the news point out that and then the news like two or three days later kind of
explain hey the police are saying you need to go pick up your car if it's on the side of the road
they're Towing them day after tomorrow I still enjoy the snow I grew up in Southern California
never really had snow so it's still kind of a treat to me I know people from Buffalo and
Minnesota and Michigan just went oh it sucks what's the matter with you it's never a treat
number eight Portland ain't Oregon okay so this could be said for a lot of different cities in
the United States New York City is nothing like the rest of New York Philadelphia is not like the
rest of Pennsylvania Seattle Tacoma metro area is nothing like the rest of Washington this list can
go on but the poster child for this situation is Portland Oregon Portland is absolutely not
like the rest of Oregon it's actually so bad the people on Eastern Oregon now want to break off
from the state and move to Idaho or they want to move the they want to cut the state in half
basically it's never going to happen but it's something they keep talking about and they act
like it's going to happen as long as it keeps them happy you know the problem is Portland
has the most people so they have the most voting power and the people on the Eastern side of their
small town feel their underrepresented which they have a point but you know what you chose
to move out to a small town it's not like this is something new right Portland is the largest
city in Oregon and it's known for its Progressive environmentally conscious culture it's a hub for
Food Craft Beer coffee shops and a vibrant art scene in which you can't deny that got a lot of
podcasts I actually reached out to a podcast that they have that's about Portland for this
video and they never got back to me this is an interesting story so the podcast is called
City cast Portland OR citycast PDX PDX in case you don't know is the letters for the Portland
International Airport a lot of people just refer to Portland sometimes as PDX so I reached out to
one of the people that's involved with it they never got back to me so I went to check and see
why they didn't get back to me on Twitter and about two days after I sent that message Twitter
switched over to something where you have to pay the message back and forth unless you're already
friends with them they still had three days to return the message to me but still I'm not gonna
blame them completely I know I'm irritating and obnoxious but people usually don't pass
up free exposure for their podcast but yeah like I said Portland is not like the rest of Oregon
number seven there is no sales tax yes one significant advantage of living in
Oregon is that the state has no sales tax this can lead to considerable savings on purchases
compared to other states of course this has to be said even though we don't have a sales
tax and like Washington doesn't have a state income tax they get you other places Oregon's
state income tax is pretty high matter of fact most their taxes are pretty high Portland now
has a homeless tax yeah they're not taxing the homeless they're taxing you to help pay for the
homeless overall Oregon is ranked 31st when it comes to total tax burden that's in the middle
of the pack along with Utah Louisiana Texas Pennsylvania then Oregon 31 and of course a
little bit cheaper as Nevada Idaho Arizona North Carolina I know people will ask but
the most tax states are New York and Hawaii in Maine and the least tax states are Alaska
Delaware New Hampshire but Oregon isn't the worst and the no sales tax helps out with that
number six sustainable practices Oregon emphasizes sustainable living and green initiatives recycling
is widely practiced and renewable energy sources like wind and hydroelectric power are a big thing
here you also just can't cut down a tree in your front yard there's a lot of paperwork
involved in this we don't get as much sun as other states so hydroelectric power because
we've got a lot of rivers and windmills are really big on the Eastern side of Oregon major
cities like Portland have well-developed public transit systems including buses light rails and
street cars making it convenient to get around without a car less pollutants in the air less
fuel used sustainability though is a big part of Oregon's master plan and if you do move here
in the coming years I'm sure you're going to see even more Extreme Measures taken or sustainability
number five thriving wine and beer Industries this is a big part of life in all of Oregon not
just Portland OR Eugene OR Bend Oregon is home to a growing wine industry the
Willamette Valley region in particular is a popular destination for wine enthusiasts
remember when we used to call them Winos wine enthusiasts sounds so much nicer I'm
not a drug user I'm a chemical Enthusiast anyway Oregon is home to more than 200
breweries and brew pubs that produce a large variety of beer there are also 900 wineries
in Oregon you're talking about a state that has just over 4 million residents
number four employment opportunities despite all its problems Oregon has some jobs a lot
of different Industries with a lot of different opportunities technology Healthcare education
tourism Portland's Tech scene has been on the rise attracting professionals from across the
country Intel is expanding here you got Nike in the Portland metro area
OSU hospital they're here Providence Kaiser employs a lot of people here there are a lot
of different Industries with a lot of jobs in Oregon a majority of the jobs obviously
are going to be on the west side of the state because the east side of the state is you know
sparsely populated if you move to the band Portland Eugene Salem even down in Ashland
area you're going to be able to find a job chances are it's gonna be okay pay too now
it's Heyday was about seven years ago but it's still doing better than a lot of different states
number three real estate now there's a little bit of confusion on real estate here in Oregon
it used to be one of those states where you go when you wanted to buy some property and
you couldn't afford California that's not as much a thing as it used to be especially and
obviously around the major cities it's going to be more expensive but Portland is really crazy
expensive right now you go the Eastern side which you know I mean might end up being part of Idaho
but I doubt it it's gonna be a lot cheaper according to Zillow the average home value
in Oregon is 498 558 that's down almost four percent over the past year and goes to pending
in around nine days California it's still you're getting a break in Oregon but not as much of one
as you used to California right now the average California home value is 743 000 down about 4.4
percent over the past year and goes pending in around 12 days so organs definitely close the
gap just by eyeballing it when I first moved up here homes that I was looking at were about 250
000 this is back in 2010. a home in similar condition in the area where I grew up in
Southern California those homes were going for about 625 000. so Oregon is definitely
not a cheap alternative anymore if you want that and let's say you're coming from California or
New York or even Washington you want to look at places like New Mexico Texas Mississippi Alabama
Tennessee's a lot cheaper Oregon isn't really an option anymore it's just too damn expensive
number two education Oregon is home to several renowned universities including the University
of Oregon Oregon State University Lewis and Clark Pacific University Reed College Eastern Oregon
Southern Oregon George Fox University and Portland State University we also have the University of
Portland here also but for some reason people always seem to think that all Oregon has is the
University of Oregon the Ducks and the Beavers at Oregon State this is a state that puts an emphasis
on Higher Learning all states do to a degree but Oregon really it's it's a focus a little bit more
than I see in other states maybe not Massachusetts that's how Oregon is when it comes to the colleges
and universities when it comes to the K-12 it's a different story Oregon's education has a long
history dating back to the early 1800s the first Public School in Oregon was established in 1840
and the state's first compulsory attendance law was passed in 1872. in recent years
Oregon's education system has faced a number of challenges including declining enrollment
flat test scores and low funding just like a lot of other school districts and states and
their education system as a result the state's K-12 has ranked near the bottom on National
Education rankings so Oregon's a great state to come to for college and universities but
probably not the best to educate K to 12. all right before we get to number one don't forget
we have another Channel called on this day there's a link for that down below along with
our new Channel The Suite Life for Briggs both links are down below all right on to number one
and number one the Cascadia subduction zone I know that sounds like the beginning of an immature joke
about a girl named Cass but no it's not this is serious but I'm sure if your name's Cass and you
heard that joke you'd think it was pretty serious Oregon lies a along the Cascadia subduction zone
this is a tectonic plate boundary that could potentially lead to a significant earthquake
and tsunami event a serious tsunami that goes Inland for like miles it's important to be
prepared and informed about emergency procedures and evacuation routes now this is something in
previous years was kind of laughed off but more recently they've been getting a little serious
about it this plate boundary is located off the western coast of North America and stretches from
Northern California to British Columbia and Canada if this thing breaks or collides or fractures
whatever you want to call it it's going to cause some serious damage if you go to the Oregon coast
you'll see signs all around the coastal towns that say tsunami Zone the last major earthquake
along the Cascadia subduction zone occurred on January 26 1700. this event was estimated to have
had a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale and created a massive tsunami that affected coastal
areas as far away as Japan now they know what's happened before this isn't just like a one-off
that's why they predict the new ones coming soon this one has a serious potential to do a lot of
damage along the Oregon coast and Inland a good distance luckily a lot of different areas have
a coastal range so if there was a giant tsunami chances are it would come up the Columbia River
but wouldn't go over the hills and you know hit a lot of different areas at least we hope a lot
of people those end of the world type people they think this thing's just gonna wash out Oregon all
the way to Nevada and Idaho type thing who knows all right that's today's video hope you guys
enjoyed I hope you got some information of it now go out have a great day and be nice to each other