10 Best cities in Oregon

Oregon is easily one of the most naturally beautiful, unique, diverse, and livable states in our country. It spurred the show “Portlandia”; it is the namesake of the best computer game ever, “Oregon Trail”; and the state motto is even beautiful: Alis volat propriis (she flies with her own wings).

So as a part of Movoto Real Estate’s ongoing series exploring some of the best places to live in America, state by state, we turned our analytical eyes toward Oregon. Here is our list of the 10 best cities in Oregon, ordered from amazing to simply excellent.

Bend
Sherwood
Beaverton
Milwaukie
Oregon City
Tigard
Portland
West Linn
Lake Oswego
Happy Valley

Where exactly is Bend and why is it sitting atop our list? What is Portland doing at No. 7? And how happy is Happy Valley? Keep reading, because we Sherwood like to tell you. The following paragraphs will explain how we got our list and will focus on the best parts of each city and just what makes them so special.
What Makes an Awesome City?

A lot of things make a city awesome, but in order to find these best cities in Oregon, we needed a list of measurable criteria across the board. So we came up with these eight:

Amenities
Cost of living (percent above or below state’s average)
Crime rate
Education
Median household income
Home value
Distance to closest 5-star rated hiking
Distance to closest ski resort

We started with a list of the 50 most populous cities in Oregon and ranked them from one to 50 in each of the criteria above, with one being the best. Then, we averaged the numbers for each city, gave them an overall Big Deal Score—the lower the number, the higher the city ranked.

Now that you know how we did it. Read on to find out just why each of our top 10 cities are so special and where they excelled.

http://www.movoto.com/blog/top-ten/the-10-best-cities-in-oregon/

 

I am shocked there are no Southern Oregon towns on there! (Actually i am a little surprised Ashland isn't)

 

Looks like a bunch of suburbs beat the beloved Portland

 

Very interesting. err it seems some questions that some might consider important were not asked

1. Closest World Class golf.

2 Nearness to beautiful beaches.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/2011-05/100-greatest-golf-courses

http://www.sunset.com/travel/outdoor-adventure/top-10-west-coast-beaches-00400000046825

and Don't forget the near by Kalmiopsis Wilderness, home to many native species unique to the area.

 

What a flawed list, but then so was the criteria

 

Really! I didn't know that. There was a day when Bend was the place, ummm about 40 years ago. Now Meth rules? Oh my god.

 

There needs to be a website where you put in your top 10 criteria. This one is kinda' random huh?

 

Milwaukie and Oregon City are both horrible towns.

 

No Bean town?

I mean, Woodburn?

I kid, I kid.

 

As is Beaverton, Tigard and Portland.

What a hopelessly crappy list.

 

Hood River should be #2

 

Cheap housing, decent hiking if you consider Estacada decent hiking, and closer to Mt. Hood than other suburbs. I actually think Gresham should be on this list, though, based on the criteria, and who wants to live in Gresham?

 

What about distance to a doughnut shop?

 

I work in Milwaukie often. No good hiking. Lots of drug activity and just an odd kind of people in that town. I'll be honest about Oregon City, I haven't spent much time there but have heard its a town full of rednecks and meth. I'd rather live in Bend, Hood River, Eugene and maybe even Pendleton.

 

Sandy should be #1, then.

 

I was agreeing with you. The criteria for this list is bogus, IMO. The best part of Milwaukie is it's near Oaks Park and Sellwood. Oregon City is a dump that has one area near downtown, and the other a few miles away in Beavercreek.