Beautiful, ideally located, but costly & insular
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9/16/2020
Moved here approx. 4 years ago from SW Michigan, but I've lived in 9 other cities & 5 other states. Salem is a very manageable sized city, with tons of parks, diverse restaurants, Saturday market, festivals, public transportation, etc., plus a beautiful capital building and (Willamette) university downtown. It's ideally located for access to the coast, mountains, Portland and Eugene, with beautiful trees, hills & mountain views. Weather is warm (70s-90s) & totally dry in the summer (but always cools off at night!), variable sun & rain in spring & fall, and rainy & cool (20s - 40s) in winter. Politically, it's liberal for the country, but conservative for Oregon. Financially, it's about 10th lowest for OR, but expensive nationally (avg. home is approx. 284K ).
Like many OR cities outside of Portland, there is an interesting cultural mix of long-timers & newcomers, that impacts business services, neighborhoods, workplaces, and politics. This shows as a certain lack of professionalism in business & government, occasional isolationism & defiance, and slowness to innovate. On the other hand, there are plenty of people trying to make a difference, esp. addressing homelessness and discrimination.
Overall, it is a beautiful place to live with plenty of friendly people, and access to gorgeous sites, if you can afford to live her.
Nelleke | Salem, OR