nice place to live?

Planning to relocate to Oregon at the end of March and am trying to find a smaller size town, with stuff to do, and a decent place to raise a kid (now 4 years old). I am and RN and have been offered a position at a hospital in McMinnville - but am unsure....

Obviously I can handle lousy weather (I%26#39;m moving from Wisconsin!)but how is the rain, really?

Also, my husband is a waiter, are there many decent restaurants?

Lots of questions...any help would be appreciated!

nice place to live?

I grew up in the Portland area but spent four years living in McMinnville while attending Linfield College.

Mac has certainly grown up since my college days, but it is still a very nice town with a strong sense of community. Several of the people I went to college with have made Mac their home, I think that says a lot about the kind of place it is. It%26#39;s small enough that you have that sense of community, but also large enough that you don%26#39;t feel like you%26#39;re living in a small town.

Mac is in a great location. You%26#39;re about one hour from the Portland Metro area and about an hour from the coast. The Yamhill Valley is also one of the state%26#39;s top wine producing regions so there are a lot of vineyards. It%26#39;s very scenic.

As far as ';decent restaurants'; I%26#39;m not so sure Mac has a lot of those, there are a few, but not like you%26#39;d find in a larger city, such as Portland.

And as for rain, I personally don%26#39;t think it rains in Oregon as much as people say. Yes it does rain alot, but there are just as many grey and cloudy days as rainy days. Although I have to admit since moving to Las Vegas I really miss rain. Never thought I%26#39;d say that but it%26#39;s true!

My husband grew up in Wisconsin and he now loves Oregon as much as I do. If we didn%26#39;t already have our retirement home in Lincoln City we%26#39;d move to Mac.

I hope this helps.

nice place to live?

If I had a job in McMinnville I would live there. There are several smaller towns nearby if you really want small, but Mac is relatively small. we have checked out retiring there, if my wife ever does, and it would be good place. but I do not need to repeat other poster who lived there.

Spirit Mountain Casino is 20 miles from Mac. Possible place for your husband to work. they have 2 or 3 restaurants. some of the several wineries nearby have restaurants, McMenamins has one in downtown mac but it is not full of fine restaurants.

There was an interesting news bit about real estate in McMinnville just a few days ago. We cannot post links here, but go to the KATU website and in the search box put in McMinnville and the article is dated 2/13.

We have a friend that lives there and absolutely loves it for raising their family. Another friend is a teacher there, and loves it as well.

Mtngirl,

They changed the rules - you can post the link now. Now it%26#39;s just advertising and soliciting that is the problem.

I%26#39;d still be careful when linking to hotels, though, or anything else that TA sells.

News articles are OK, they say (now).

Thanks J%26amp;S!

I also went to school at Linfield College and then lived there for a couple of years afterward. It definitely is a great town if you can handle the rain.

I would recommend living near the library in 5th - 12 street range. There are a number of nice older homes. The neighborhood is safe and people drive slow. The trees a large and mature. It simply feels like home. There is a big park next to the library.

There are a few restaurants, not very many high end one. I would recommend McMennamins, 3rd Street Pizza and Golden Valley Brewery. The college also employs a lot of people, which might also be a good place for your husband to work. If your husband likes catering he should go to the Community Center and talk to Lynnette. She runs a quality catering business.

Hope this all helps.

Hi! As you can probably see, I live in McMinnville. My husband and I have lived here for almost 7 years and love it. We%26#39;re actually a little sad that it%26#39;s growing so fast. But it%26#39;s a wonderful town-just about the right size. Still small town feel, but has enough stores for everyday shopping-groceries, a couple department stores. It%26#39;s pretty safe-I really can%26#39;t think of a dangerous area of town. We feel fairly safe going walking after dark, and the police patrol regularly. We know several families that have moved out of the Portland area to raise their kids here.

There are quite a few small restaurants-often family-owned, I think. Most aren%26#39;t chain restaurants, except for fast food. We like several of the restaurants in town (haven%26#39;t been to all of them). If your husband is looking for a larger really nice restaurant, not sure what there is, but with the relatively close proximity to Portland metro area, Salem, and other towns, there is probably something that would work.

The hospital has a good reputation and I know several people that work there. One of the main medical centers of doctor%26#39;s offices is right across the street.

About the rain, I personally don%26#39;t care for the rain, but it%26#39;s endurable, and worth it in the spring and summer when the area is beautiful, green, and lots of flowers, etc. because of it. Sometimes it feels like days on end with no sun, but then finally we%26#39;ll have a few days of sun. In the winter, it is overcast and drippy a lot. If you don%26#39;t like the rain/gray days, you can always visit another part of the state for a weekend-the other side of the Cascades is much less rainy. It actually gets gets pretty warm here in the summer-most of the people I know have air conditioners. We probably get around 5-10 days in the summer that are close to or just over 100 degrees, though most aren%26#39;t. A lot of peope escape to the beach (an hour away) on the really hot days.

Compared to Wisconsin, the weather in the winter probably will feel pretty mild temperature-wise. My husband%26#39;s on a business trip to Minnesota right now, and thinks it%26#39;s really, really cold there.

Hey Local Guy,

When were you at Linfield?

Tahiti

The original poster only had this one post, and it is over a year old, but I will just chime in on how much I like Mac...and I don%26#39;t live there, lol! But really, it is a great little town. I am down there a few times a week and love it. If we were not settled, I would love to live there.

Localguy--I saw your review for Wildwood. One of our favorite spots! That and Alf%26#39;s with Elvis, lol! I have Tahiti to thank for the Alf%26#39;s recommendation.