Reviews & Comments
Ashland, OR
Know the Pros & Cons in Advance -
12/15/2018If you already have a house in Ashland and are financially secure, it's undoubtedly an amazing place to live in many respects. I say this because it is beautiful, the culture is warm, the politics are environmentally progressive in many respects (glyphosphate and GMOs are moderately banned, the water isn't fluoridated, there is a huge movement to support pollinators populations, resistance to the Jordan Cove LNG, etc.) and the parks are stunning and well maintained. You can truly walk everywhere and you get to know your community for better and worse. It feels like home.
However, the high school - there is only one - leaves much to be desired. It looks very good on paper and we were highly optimistic, but it wasn't a particularly good school. It was an average state school except for the fact that, in the 2 years our son went there, there were 3 student deaths and 1 stabbing. This is especially alarming considering how small Ashland's population is.
Ashland is also known to be nice and is, consequentially, becoming very expensive. Having moved from San Francisco, I was shocked to discover that housing is even MORE competitive in this miniscule spot of land in the middle of nowhere. There is no industry to support the rental rates, but enough wealthy out of towners want vacation homes that it doesn't appear to matter.
Highly-paid non-medical jobs are scarce.
I love the Ashland community (when the smoke clears, it's beautiful), but it is a cultural oasis in a lowbrow environment riddled with meth due to its proximity to Medford (locally dubbed Methford) and Grants Pass. The seedy underbelly...and overbelly...of those areas doesn't often seep into Ashland, but it just means if you were thinking of driving to Medford to accommodate your commerce needs (i.e. you need a blank type 9 DVD tonight and Ashland literally doesn't sell those anywhere) bear in mind what you'll be driving in to.
I've made some of my best friends in that town and Ashland culture is mostly warm, friendly and laidback. That said, there are plenty of entitled aggressive "traveler" fashion hobos who fancy themselves charming, counterculture Jack Keroacs of the 21st century, littering, panhandling, chain smoking in public areas. They are mostly homeless by choice and feel that it is a superior choice to working for a living, and they are all over the PNW, but really crowd Ashland's sidewalks in the summer and heckle people, making a nuisance of themselves. Many of Ashland's residents protest attempts of the city to dislodge their hegemony feeling that it violates human rights. I suppose that is the trade off for living in what is mostly a liberal utopia.
Southern Oregon University is a terrible university. There isn't even enough time to explain all the reasons why that is true, but suffice it to say that the organization is corrupt, poorly run, and very student hostile. A truly draconian business. There are some caring and devoted teachers there, and there are a handful of exceptional faculty who are disadvantaged by the staff and institutional politics. The only good things that can be said for it are: the film and media program is exceptional & unparalleled for an affordable state school (as of this moment the only viable west coast alternatives are in CA and Vancouver, BC - these are no less costly than private art colleges); the business department is quite brilliant, and there are a few bright stars in the EMDA department (which is a groundbreaking program). Egos are huge and bureaucratic inefficiency is at an all-time high in all other parts of the organization.
The cost of living is simply untenable for average families on average salaries. Rentals are very competitive - we'd camp out on Craigslist and Zillow, refreshing 6 times a day for weeks and still encounter draconian property management firms (who manage nearly all of Ashland's properties and require income or savings equivalent to 3x the monthly rent per month - even to be considered). For the most part, they don't allow a pet (even a cat), and discriminate openly against students. Other individual landlords we encountered seemed literally psychotic (oh the stories!). There is just no economy to support the cost of living unless you're in medical or legal or some 6-figure salary range and have a job lined up. Most places want to may a max of $15/hour for skilled labor such as graphic design or construction. Office jobs average $12/hour. However, many places where a student could work still pay less than $10/hour.
You can potentially live in a house with many roommates. That is one options. But to what end? The options for career advancement or entrepreneurship are limited due to the tiny population.
Last, but not least, the wildfires literally make the air unbreathable at least once a year, usually for weeks, but sometimes months. It is unsafe to go outside without a mask for any length of time and visibility is sometimes no more than a block down the road due to haze.
There are a whole heap of negs, but I still really loved living here.
San Francisco, CA
re: More Doctors versus Quality of Care
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12/15/2018I absolutely agree. I'm sorry to learn that was not just my experience - my respiratory & autoimmune disorder began in SF (likely triggered by stress, poverty, overwork and construction pollution) and healthcare providers were patronizing, dismissive, inefficient and uninterested. On several. occasions I encountered abusive and demeaning medical staff and the system itself was inefficient and poorly run to begin with. At some hospitals, if you want your charts to take to another hospital, they charge you $15 merely to look up and email or print out your records in the computer by name. I have since moved to Seattle, have excellent doctors, and though my health deteriorated extensively in SF before I could get out, I am now being treated by responsible, intellectually thorough and dedicated professionals.