Family Friendly

Which cities/towns do you feel are the most family oriented? What family attractions do you love in Oregon?

Family Friendly

The list is very long and may be even longer depending on your likes/dislikes, how long you might be staying and what time of year you plan to visit. If you could provide this informaion, it would be very helpful.

Den

Family Friendly

We are considering moving out west. Oregon is a state of interest. As far as family friendly is concerned, we are interested in an area that has good schools, safety, amenities, attractions within 45 mins., strong communities, the arts etc.

Hi again, our 3 kids were raised visiting the Oregon Coast and Astoria every summer of their childhood. Here are a few of the attractions that our family enjoyed over the years:

The Rogue River Hellgate Jetboat Excursions

The Wildlife Safari-Winston

The Oregon Coast Aquarium-Newport

The Sea Lion Caves-Florence

Cannon Beach-Haystack Rock, Ecola State Park

Fort Clatsop, Maritime Museum, Flavel House, Astor Column-Astoria

Seaside- the beach, prom, shops, Necanicum River, Seaside Aquarium

Fort Steven State Park-wreck of the Peter Iredale, miles of walking paths, Coffenbury Lake

These are just a few, if I think of more, I%26#39;ll add to your thread. Have fun with your research! :)

syrahgirl is not an Oregon resident.

I would suggest coming here for a visit, and getting some books and do research on schools and study what is important to you.

How do you raise a kid on the coast by visiting from Fresno Syrah?

There are many places that are family friendly here. I agree that a trip to come see for yourself would be the best thing. Have you ever visited Oregon? What made you decide on it?

Syrahgirl--You really need to visit more of our state next time. There are so many great areas.

Lisalala,

Of course, Portland is the hub of nearly everything in Oregon.....arts; amenities, etc, but it is a large city. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it%26#39;s just not what I find attractive about Oregon. There are, however, some bedroom communites that are very nice. Among my favorites are Sandy, Estacada and Newberg. All are within 30 min of downtown. Sandy and Estacada are both a little southeast of the metro area towards the Cascade mountains. The Sandy and Clackamas rivers are in these areas and really add to the ';country feel'; of the area. Newberg is a little southwest and is right at the beginning of the wine country of the Willamette Valley. A little further southwest is my second favorite town in Oregon (Nehalem and the surrounding area is my favorite), McMinnville. The central location and the beauty of the countryside are a couple of the reason I like ';Mac';.

Hopefully others will chime in with some recommendations. There are a lot of locals on these boards that are a wealth of information.

Den

Lisalala, for PDX family attractions, we like:

The Rose Gardens

Pittock Mansion

Classical Chinese Gardens

The Oregon Zoo- this is a great place to bring a family and spend the day. Bird shows, cool exhibits and good eats at the Oregon Zoo. Hope this helps! :) BTW, my daughter%26#39;s friend moved to Cleveland a couple of years ago. She was sad to leave her buddies and water polo teammates, but is enjoying it there now. :)

What sort of ';attractions'; do you have in mind? My family loves the outdoors (hiking, camping, skiing, etc) so we like Central Oregon (Bend). But the cost of living is pretty high, so not everyone would consider it ';family friendly';.

Lisalala,

A lot of out-of-staters really love Corvallis because it is a relatively small town but it also has a university, Oregon State U. If you don%26#39;t mind having a beaver as your town and university mascot. Corvallis has good schools but it is a pretty expensive place to live so while a lot of people are moving in, school age child population is down. Corvallis has some type of festival going on almost every month. The have a wonderful swimming pool (Osborn Aquatics) and their library is suited for young kids. Check out Albany as well. Albany is a little more ';blue collar'; but the schools are great. The school age population is also growing because affordable housing is growing. Both Albany and Corvallis have lots of parks. I am partial to these 2 cities because I live in Albany. If you are a shopaholic, I would suggest a city closer to Portland. I wouldn%26#39;t suggest the Oregon coast for raising kids unless they want to be marine biologists. Most move to the coast to retire.

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