08-05-2012, 11:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by csgray
When we lived in the rainy Willamette valley there was a constant influx of people moving up from California. There were mixed feelings about that. They were selling their California homes for enough to buy an Oregon place free and clear, and it drove up real estate prices for 10 years at an average of 2% a month. But the stand offish attitude was more from the number of people who didn't make it through their second winter. Generally speaking, people waited until the new residents had made it through two Oregon winters, if they still wanted to stay by then people were willing to form attachments.
I do think there is a wave of Oahu retirees coming our way. Virtually every Oahu baby boomer I've met has moving to the Hilo side of the Big Island as their retirement plan. For them the cost of living will be much cheaper here, and a lot of those empty lots all over Puna are owned by people from Oahu just waiting to retire to build here. Those people probably won't churn over at the same rate as mainland immigrants, for many of them their families are here in the Islands, so the pull of aging parents and growing grand kids will be easier to ease.
Carol
You're spot on about the Californians coming to Oregon. (I lived in Oregon at the time) and we called it Californication and now that word is part of the vernacular. Oddly, it's what drove me to Alaska and then from there on to rural Hawaii.
Edited to add: I guess that means that they are right behind me. run....RUN!