Category: Let's talk
Hello all. I am looking for anyone who lives in Oregon or has lived in Oregon or even just attended a college, guide dog school, etc, there. We are looking for somewhere else to live other than New York State for a few reasons. Home births are legal, but not at all popular in NYS and you have to jump through hoops to avoid being nailed by social services, to get your insurance to cover a home birth certified midwife and or doula and Oregon has much more liberal laws regarding laboring and delivering at home. Their laws also are much more supportive of homeschooling families and there is a huge and apparently very active homeschooling community that is state wide. I want to have my next baby at home and I want to home school all of my children. Pet skunks are also legal in Oregon according to my research and they are not at all legal in uptight NYS. I have always been interested in the option of owning a pet skunk and I can't even begin to explore that possibility, living where I do. I get terrible seasonal effective disorder that leaves me seriously depressed, apathetic, undermotivated and a total wreck during the harsh upstate winters. We looked into many states that have virtually no winter, like Florida and Texas, but my mother, who we would like to move with us once we do leave this state can not abide that hot and especially that humid of a climate year-round. That and most of the states that look nice and hot and snow free are highly prone to earthquakes, tornadoes, wild-fires and hurricanes. I've been told that the winters in Oregon are rainy as hell, but that the snow is minimal or nonexistent and that ice is not too much of a problem. That I can live with. Some have compared it to the weather in Seattle. I've been there and if it's similar I know I can live with that sort of climate and those weather patterns. Several people have indicated that some cities, especially Portland have wonderful public transportation, which is a must if I am going to remain the independent and active individual that I am when I am not reduced to a pathetic, lazy, sad lump during the snowy Rochester winters. I have had some knee/ankle related problems this past winter and I am becoming slightly paranoid of falling as my problems with that leg are getting more and more pronounced and I hate to stress about slippery slush, slick snow and the terrible black ice that is a constant in our winter season. If anyone can tell me anything about Oregon, especially, but not necessarily exclusively from their own experience, I would be very, very grateful. I'm interested in anything you can tell me, but especially: Is there a large attachment parenting community there? How about a large holistic community? That being Reiki practitioners, herbalists, chiropractors, yoga instructors, acupuncturists, accupressurests, massage therapists, etc. What is the Oregon State Commission for the Blind like? How are guide dogs received in this state as compared with other states? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me with this.
I can't answer most of those questions. But having talked to friends that've lived in Portland, its public transport is said to be one of the best. I was in the area when I went to GDB in Boring, because they do a lot of the training in Portland, and from what I saw it looked good. Hope that helps a tad.
Thanks, that does help a bit. Someone just told me that they have a nice light rail system. How is that? Did you get to try it and, if so, was it a good experience?
Well, you definitely have listed some interesting options. While all of your reasons seem valid, you might want to considder other issues such as: Property tax, I hear it is quite high crime rate, which is sort of high in Portland (of course, it would be in any larger city. I do hear that it snows quite often in the winters. My cousins live close to Portland, and they got stuck eating frozen pizzas and nachos for Thanksgiving one year because there was a blizzard outside. Have you checked into education or career options, as well as the cost of living? I'm not trying to disuade you, just pointing out a few other considderations you might want to think about.
I have a few acquaintances in Portland, they're not particularly in love with the city, they have to live there since they work for Intel.
My friend move to Austin when given a choice between working at Intel's centers in Austin or Portland. It is one of the rainiest cities in the U.S. There's still earth quake risk (although considerably less than in Ca) and there's some volcanic erruption risk (although it's really negligable on our time scale i.e. Or will bet devestated by a huge volcanic erruption, no question about it, but it'll be some time in the next 5000 years so the chances of it happening in our lifetime are small).
It's only 3 or 4 hour drive from Seattle so the weather is, indeed comprable.
I think places like Virginia, for instance, might also present a good option for reasonable winter weather and such, Richmond for instance. I'm happy in NC and definitely wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the U.S.
If I ran an insurance company I wouldn't want to cover home births either, I think they're irresponsible of the mother and if something went wrong I wouldn't want to be held accountable, but that's just my opinion.
I'm also curious how a blind parent intends to home school his/her children, what about drawing, hand writing, colors, recognizing pictures, using visual tricks to solve math problems, graphs etc.
Why would a parent deprive his/her child of the social interaction and maturity that comes with interacting with peers at schools and why would a parent think he/she is better at teaching the child than 10 or 20 or 30 people who get paid for it and specialize in their subjects, not to mention having all the necessary equipment and facilities, psychologists etc as back up to insure the child gets the education and treatment he/she needs. Of course there's different quality schools and of course things can go wrong, but if I hadn't gone to school and socialized I'm worried I never would've made friends. And I know, even if my parents are great and super dedicated, they could never have given me good enough education to get into a good university, so I guess those things are subject for an entirely different topic, I'm just curious how one can think home schooling can possibly have any benefits over the school system.
cheers
-B
I agree with the above post, the virginia and n.c. are nice. yes its hot, and there are storms but that can happen anywhere. I never would have left Carolina, and if I go back its to raleigh or Charlotte. Just my thoughts, good luck.