Well, I hope we’re finally approaching the true end-game of our whole move. We now have our home listed with a new realtor (no longer going it alone as a “for sale by owner” scenario), so we’re hoping that a renewed effort (and a lower price) will attract a buyer. The market seems to be perking back up a little as well, which certainly can’t hurt anything.

Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions for places we should consider moving to. I assure you that we researched each and every one to an almost ridiculous degree. There are more amazing places to live than we ever knew, and we were delighted to learn about some areas with which we weren’t very familiar — funky little enclaves in Texas, Tennessee, New Mexico, etc.  I think we’ve hinted as to our inclinations before, but I can tell you that, after so many months of intense deliberation, we believe the best domestic home for Pure Jeevan is probably in Oregon.

I say “domestic” because, although Wendi and I would love to explore, say, the Mediterranean as a home base, KDcaT made it loud and clear that she wants to live in the States. And, I say “probably” in reference to Oregon because, well, you can never be 100% sure… All you can do is try your best. Frankly, we were all highly drawn to the cultural environment and “vibe” of Northern California. But, in the end, three factors seemed to be keeping us away:  (1) the prices, (2) the occasional presence of smoke from the legendary California wildfires, and (3) some more complicated, longer-term concerns we had about droughts and water issues (as growing our own food on a large scale is still an important consideration for us). 

In that seriously over-simplistic graphic atop this piece, I made sure to always include the words “for us” when describing our personal reasons for eliminating various regions from our considerations. In fact, the true reasons were usually much more complex than what is shown but, for brevity’s sake, I just stated a main reason.

So, the next step is to visit and tour Oregon (probably in early 2010). Since I’m still working at a corporate job, this will be something that Wendi and KDcaT will be doing. It’s probably not the best season to do this, of course, but it’s also a decent opportunity to see just how cold an Oregon winter really is. Who knows… maybe they’ll return home and say, “Oh no, it’s just too cold there!” 

Anyway, our current focus on Oregon has brought our attention to Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, Bend, and even to a few southern locations. Portland seems potentially pricey — and, frankly, according to some environmental reporting sites, is perhaps not too great of a leap from Pittsburgh in terms of regional air pollution statistics. We’ll have to see.  Anyway, that’s where we stand at the moment.

So, who currently lives in (or formerly lived, or has visited) any of these locations within Oregon? We’d love to hear your thoughts on pros/cons, etc. of these Oregonian cities!

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