Today we’re going to be going over the top five pros and cons to living here in Roseburg, Oregon! These topics are the most common complaints and praises I hear from people who live in the Roseburg, Oregon area.
Pro #1 – Roseburg Oregon’s Mild Climate
Starting at Pro #1, Roseburg Oregon’s mild climate. Everybody loves Roseburg because of our mild weather patterns. In the winter, you’re looking at days in the high 50s. In the summers, you’re looking at an average around 80 degrees. It isn’t uncommon for us to get a heatwave for a week or two each year where we can experience temperatures in the triple digits during usually in late August. Or a week or two where our temperatures can hit freezing temperatures during the day, but that’s such a small portion that overall throughout the year Roseburg has favorable temperatures and weather.
I commonly get questions from people outside of the Roseburg Oregon area that ask about snow. Luckily, you’re not going to be shoveling driveways here in Roseburg, Oregon! Roseburg is located in the Umpqua Valley at about 500 foot elevation. Growing up here I always prayed for snow days, but unfortunately they just didn’t come. We may get a dusting of snow once or twice a year, but it’s almost always gone by noon. However, if you like the snow you’re only a short drive to the Umpqua National Forest, Diamond Lake Resort, and Lemolo Lake Resort where there’s always plenty of snow for winter fun! Because the temperatures can drop into the 30’s at night here in Roseburg, sometimes we’ll experience freezing rain. If you have an early morning commute, of course, that’s something to pay attention to, but luckily you’re not going to be shoveling any snow!
Con #1 – Oregon Rain
Now for the first con… As I’m sure many of you heard, Oregon does get a lot of rain, but Roseburg and the Douglas County area actually actually aren’t that bad. Roseburg Oregon gets 35 inches of rain per year on average, which compared to the national average of 38 inches per year, is actually less! Now, if you were to go even just an hour north of town to Eugene, Oregon, which is about 70 miles north of Roseburg, they average 47 inches a year. That’s a 12 inch difference in rainfall!
Pro #2 – Roseburg Oregon Is Beautiful
It’s pretty crazy to think that even the 70 miles north makes that much of a difference in the average rainfall. But all that Oregon rain brings us into Pro #2, which is that everything is beautiful and green! Not only here in Roseburg, but just Oregon as a whole. It’s always fun to bring clients from out-of-state and hearing, “Oh my gosh, Oregon is completely trees!” Which is 100% accurate. I’m born and raised here in Roseburg and I forget sometimes how lucky I am to live here in Oregon. The landscape here is truly beautiful.
Con #2 – Allergies
Believe it or not, all that green does bring us into our next con, which is the seasonal allergies. All growing up, I personally never had allergies. I had friends that had allergies and I never quite understood why they didn’t want to come and play outside during some spring months. It wasn’t actually until maybe five years ago or so I started to develop allergies myself. I guess that’s how allergies work. You can develop them later in life and it is not fun. So if you have allergies, you’ll know what I mean.
It’s kind of like having a cold. You’re constantly blowing your nose, sneezing, and feel kind of foggy. Your throat and eyes might itch. It’s certainly not fun, but luckily they make over-the-counter medications to make allergies bearable. You just take your pill each day and it makes it not that bad. For those of you like me that have seasonal allergies, it’s worth it to be surrounded by beautiful green landscape. Believe me.
Pro #3 – Calm, Cool, and Collected
The next benefit to living here in Roseburg Oregon is just how peaceful it is here. This has made Roseburg into more of a retirement community. A lot of the people that move to Roseburg Oregon are coming from the more populated areas in Oregon, Washington, California, who want to get away from the hustle and bustle and into a slower paced lifestyle. So if you’re looking for more of a rural feeling area, Roseburg might just be the right place for you.
Con #3 – I Don’t Know… What Do You Want To Do?
There is a hidden con to living in a retirement town, and that’s the fact Roseburg doesn’t offer much of a nightlife. I remember being a teenager and at 9 o’ clock at night and my friends suggesting, “Let’s go to Walmart!” for fun… Or for instance, if it’s Sunday night and you want to go out to dinner and it’s 7 or 8 o’clock at night. Well, good luck because there’s not a whole lot open around that time. Especially if you’re someone who is into dance clubs, live music, or that sort of thing. You’re not going to find as much of that around Roseburg area besides at the occasional event or small winery performance, but hey, maybe that keeps us out of trouble!
Pro #4 – Outdoor Recreation
While Roseburg Oregon may not have some of the entertainment of a big city, we have something much better here and that’s our outdoor recreation. From fishing, hiking, hunting, wineries, and golf courses, Roseburg’s mild climate mixed with the ruralness of our town, gives us so many fun things to do that you wouldn’t be able to do elsewhere.
The spring and fall run chinook and coho salmon and the summer and winter run steelhead give any fishermen a lot to look forward to. The legendary salmon and steelhead of the North Umpqua River will get you hooked! Not to mention floating, rafting, boating, and swimming, and just the beauty of the North Umpqua River. If you’re interested in hunting, there is plenty of BLM and public lands surrounding Roseburg and Douglas County area. So whether you’re hunting whitetail, blacktail deer, elk, cougar, bear, or turkey, there is plenty of opportunities for hunting here in the Roseburg area.
And for those of you that just enjoy being outdoors and enjoying the wildlife, we have plenty of hiking trails, waterfall hikes, and of course our golf courses and wineries, so that you have plenty of things to do to just get out and enjoy the outdoors!
Con #4 – Lack Of Shopping
While Roseburg does have some of the most beautiful outdoor experiences, what we do lack, the con, is our leisure shopping. We have still most of the big box stores that you’re used to as far as Lowe’s, Home Depot, Costco, Walmart Superstore, but what we lack is the leisure shopping. So if you’re looking for shopping centers, looking forward to your next shopping spree, or for instance, if I need a new suit, there isn’t a lot of opportunities in and around Roseburg. Luckily we’re only an hour drive from the next more metro area where you can get your shopping fix!
Pro #5 – Roseburg Oregon’s Central Location
Which brings me in to the next pro! Not only are we only an hour away from the more metro Eugene-Springfield area where you’re going to be able to have those sporting events, concerts, and the benefits of a more metro area. But we’re also only an hour drives away from ocean beaches, the Oregon Coast, and all that beauty that the Oregon Coast has to offer.
Being in Roseburg, we’re so well centrally located that you’re only an hour drive away from those events and fun weekend getaways. So you can go and enjoy a day a trip, and then come back to the comfort of Roseburg. Have your fun, and then escape from the big city traffic, come inland before the stormy Oregon Coast weather comes in, and come back home and enjoy the beauty of Roseburg.
Con #5 – The Clock’s Ticking
As you can see, there are so many reasons that people would want to move here to Roseburg. And because of that, more and more people are coming, which kind of leads us to our next con, which is the increase in the cost of living. With supply and demand of course our real estate prices are going up and our rental rates have gone up significantly over the last handful of years.
My theory is that more and more people are discovering the beauty of Oregon. With the fact that it’s so much less densely populated here, along with all the other pros that we’ve talked about today, of course it would make sense that people would want to move here. If we think about California ,and what’s happened there over the last handful of decades with their population growth and their price increase, I do think that Oregon will have a similar fate. Hopefully not in our lifetime, but it’s definitely trending that way.
If we think about Portland Oregon for instance, how much they’ve grown and how that’s just starting to trickle down the I-5 corridor to some of the other larger cities in Oregon like Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, and then even just right above the California border, in the the Medford-Ashland area. The population has continued to grow and of course their prices have gone up accordingly, and it only makes sense that Roseburg would be next. Our average sales price is still over $100,000 less than the state of Oregon as a whole and is still very affordable in comparison to many places on the West Coast. I don’t think we’re going to have a population explosion anytime in our near future, but the trends are definitely there and leading me to buying and holding properties in the Douglas County area in preparation for my own retirement as prices continue to rise.
So hurry up, get here while prices are affordable. It is my retirement plan to buy and hold as much property as possible in the Roseburg area because I know that we’ll see a similar growth trend here in the next few decades, which is going to make my retirement a heck of a lot better!
Thank you guys so much for watching the five pros and cons of living in Roseburg, Oregon! If you’re thinking about moving here or have any questions about Roseburg or the Douglas County area, shoot me a text give me a call! I love to hear from you guys! If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our blog and subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn all about what it’s like living here in Roseburg Oregon and the greater Umpqua Valley!
-Anthony Beckham
