THE OREGON TOWNS BLOG

WHAT IF... WEST SALEM WAS IT'S OWN CITY I am starting a starting a new section on my blog, it's what if Thursdays. Every week I will propose a theory on a place in Oregon and weigh the likelihood and ramifications. This week I will be discussing west Salem. I think that there is a slight possibility that it could become it's own city. It sits along the Willamette river and is technically a neighborhood in Salem, but it could be much more. It is located in Polk county whilst the rest of Salem is in Marion county. West Salem is mostly residential and some retail chains. It has the population to back up becoming a city. West Salem's population was 24,183 in 2012, and it is a considerable part of Salem's residential population.  If west Salem became it's own  city it would be the largest city in Polk county, and would probably become the county seat. It is an interesting question to ponder. Do you have anything you would like me to cover? Do you want me to cover

NEWPORT Newport, at the very center of the O regon coast. This city is cool special and important. There is nothing about Newport that makes the entire city amazing but there are some t hings that make it cool. It's like that grizzled old grandpa of yours who has sailed all his life and has a lot of stories to tell. It is a tourist center of the Oregon coast and has attractions like The Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Nye Beach shopping district. When you visit Newport you are overloaded with things to do. It's just kind of like that. But it's not perfect, it has problems, it has a substantial crime rate. But if you look past the problems of this city it really is great. The historic bay front is really great to just walk around from the various piers to undersea gardens, there are truly some great businesses.  Some would call Newport the heart and soul of the Oregon coast, I would call it the gut. Newport is tough and touristy dull and quirky. It is a perfect imbalance of

SILVERTON  Silverton is the gold standard for any town in Oregon, and it is easily accessible from the big cities. Word has been spread about how great Silverton is, but you have to visit to truly experience it's magnitude. It is the small town in Oregon that all others should be compared too. It is a winner in both categories. It is a  cute small town with great architecture and stunning natural views. But it is also a healthy and well functioning city with many amenities and scores high livability points in my book and is a destination for many people seeking to escape from urban life in the western part of the state. It sits along the 45th parallel and is on the edge of the Salem metro area. It is about an hour from Portland and ten minutes from Salem. As with many Willamette valley towns it is surrounded with countryside. When you first arrived in Silverton, you see many nice houses in a neighborhood or two, but once you get into downtown it is the real deal.  You witness f

  PARKDALE  Parkdale isn't a city, I am aware of that, yet it is so deserving of city hood. It is so isolated within the valley and the orchards. So isolated that it avoids view. It has a population of 311 and that is really small. It has a ton of businesses for that population. It has a market and a pub and a couple restaurants. It's amazing and Mt. Hood is huge in the distance.  When I first came to this place, I took the exit from the highway and the the car bounded on the small road and into the middle of a huge pear orchard that extended for miles. Our car rode down the hill through the orchards and into this intersection that has a stunning view of mount hood. We rode on, past a fire station and we were looking for the town and wondering where it was. Then finally the businesses started trickling in, first the fish house then the artie shops and the bike store and the gas station in the center of town. It's like a little spot of sunlight in the darkened valley. It

OREGON CITY(THE SUBURBS) Oregon city, is now emerging as more than just a boring suburb, it's emerging as a hip suburb, over the next month, I will be covering Oregon's biggest cities and centers of culture as well as some of Portland's suburbs. Oregon city is really cool. It is one of the most historic places in Oregon, being the first proper city in the state and the end of the Oregon trail. Over the past few decades it has been dismissed as just another suburb of Portland. It used to be a land of pioneers, but it was surrounded by urban development. It's downtown remains historic with many restaurants and interesting shops to go into. It was once the state's capital city, and this leads one to believe that it has declined as a city somewhat. That is not true at all, it has still maintained that historic feel of a gleaming western city. The city is home to Willamette falls, and the Oregon city municipal elevator, a 89-foot ride to get to the upper part of the c