Salem, Oregon

fiestapotatoess
9mo ago
🦉🦉🦉

Salem to me feels like a mid size city with a smaller town feel. It’s kind of sleepy and quiet, but I appreciate that part honestly. If I were looking for a more vibrant “city” type scene I’d probably recommend Portland or Eugene.

I think the food scene is decent for a city this size. Some great local spots and all the food truck pods were something new to me coming from the Midwest.

I’d say people generally keep to themselves. With that said, I have great neighbors and people are kind. We will grab each others deliveries when someone is out of town, sometimes they will offer fresh produce out of their garden, that sort of thing. YMMV

It may snow once or twice a winter and it will basically shut down the city. There are essentially no resources to deal with it. I don’t even own a shovel anymore.

As for the rain, yes. It’s gonna rain. If I remember correctly, the first January I lived out here it rained every single day of the month. It’s just very drizzly and gray during the winter months… but at least most things stay green. It’s not like the wasteland vibes you get elsewhere in the country where all the foliage dies off.

IMO, the best part about Salem is its location and proximity to outdoor activities. If I wasn’t out doing something outside most weekends I’d probably just save all the extra money it costs to live here and move back home. It’s a fantastic base camp. The mountains, coast, desert, the gorge, etc are all easy day trips for amazing adventures. The surrounding area is stunningly beautiful as well, filled with wineries and rolling hills. Even a walk in the neighborhood or a park feels like something out of a storybook sometimes. It’s gorgeous here nearly everywhere you look.

Gal_GaDont
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9mo ago
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Edited 9mo ago
I have lived ALL OVER the planet and just moved back “home” to Salem.

It’s a good city/town. It really is a beautiful city that’s on its way up in my opinion, coming out of a hard COVID.

There’s a lot of parks, creeks, cherry trees, and dispensaries.

Salem itself though is not in a very geographically exciting town. Instead, it’s one hour from everything lol.

Oregon Coast, Eugene, Casinos, Portland, PDX, Ducks, Blazers, Beavers, camping, snowboarding, lakes, desert, ATVs, backpacking, rock climbing…

All 45 minutes to one hour away. We’re in the middle of a pretty awesome circle, it’s just mostly families here.

It’s also one of the largest skateboarding meccas in the world. Not in Salem, near Salem.

I’m a veteran and it’s the state capital, there are services.

Nearly every single fast food chain is here, which I think is cool. Plus Costco, Walmart(s), Target and every other box store including so many fantastic second hand/thrift/antique stores.

InternalCandidate297
9mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

New to Oregon and Salem as of 18 months ago.

Food-wise, it’s not as exciting as Portland but we’ve found some really stellar restaurants, coffee, and cocktails.

As for making friends, I think that depends on you. My 23yo has more friends in 18 months here than they ever had growing up in Phoenix. I find people to be very friendly here.

Barely snows and when it does, it doesn’t stick around.

Less rainy than Seattle. Coming from the desert, we LOVE the rain. We feel like there’s a good balance of rainy, partly cloudy, and clear skies days.

Our neighbors are friendly but also mind their own business. I think it depends on the neighborhood. We’re near Willammette Uni.

Police here seem in effective. We just avoid.

Politically mixed, seems to lean liberal, definitely more “coexist” than we saw in Phoenix. My queer & neurodivergent kids feel very safe here.

The coast is like an hour & 15 minutes away, which we love! Frequent day trip!!!

drinkingwithmolotov
9mo ago
🦉🦉🦉

It's one of those cities where a lot of your experience will depend on which side of (insert landmark here) you are on. In our case it's not train tracks though, it's the 5 freeway. East of it, it's a bit grittier, with more visible homelessness, drug abuse, property crime, etc. It's no Portland, but you'll notice it. West of the freeway it has a more suburban vibe, it's more forested, and harder to find good Mexican food.

Culturally, it's pretty sleepy overall. People are nice and freindly in general, but also insular. To make friends, you have to really want to, and put in effort over time. City politics are, basically, picture someone opening their wallet and a moth flies out.It does rain every bit as much as you've heard. But we also have 4 distinct seasons, which is really nice.

A word about "beaches". These are not so-Cal beaches. When you take a trip to "the coast" as we call it, get ready for fog and cold wind, almost any time of year. Don't expect warm, sunny conditions on smooth sand. It's beautiful, but may not be what you'd expect.

A Few Pros & Cons Of Living in Salem, OR… // Relocating to Oregon