Buy Washington County Real Estate
What’s so great about Washington County Oregon? Well, for one thing, it is in the fertile Willamette Valley. One reason this valley is so fertile is because of the Missoula floods during the last glacier stage. At that time there was a glacier coming down into Montana, and there was an ice dam with a large lake behind it. When the ice dam broke, a huge flood came from Montana through Washington and Oregon creating the gorge in Oregon and taking all of the soil that it picked up there and depositing it in the Willamette Valley. Here in the Willamette Valley, we have a very thick deposit of soil on top of the bedrock. Great for farming!
Washington County itself does not have any large cities, with Portland being the nearest large city, and that is in another county. But it is within easy driving distance from anywhere in Washington County. The county itself is mostly made up of small communities with some midsize cities thrown in.
One of the small towns in Gaston Oregon. It is an old established town, which has never grown beyond the bounds of a small town. It is a small farming community and the type of community where everyone knows your name. The type of town where during the summer festival get together, everyone is your friend and neighbor.
Another small town in this county is North Plains, Oregon. North Plains itself is a small community, however, it is close to a larger city. This makes it an excellent town for commuting to the city for work and living in the country. It is only about a 20-minute drive from North Plains into Portland. North Plains has two claims to fame that I am aware of. One is the ballfields. Every weekend during the season, you are sure to find a baseball game going on at the fields in North Plains. Sports teams and schools will book them up far in advance. The other claim is their yearly garage sale. Around the first of May every year, the entire town brings out their has-beens and puts them in their yard, and sells them to the casual passerby. A lot of people in North Plains are backyard gardeners, so you can find a lot of plant deals at this sale.
King City is actually a small community, however, its proximity is so close to Tigard that you cannot tell where King city ends and Tigard begins. King city is and always has been a retirement community. It is chock full of small houses and older people. The lovely thing about buying a retirement home here is the fabulous access to public transportation. When you’re retired, you can do away with the expense and hassle of driving and owning your own car and use the public transportation system instead.
Washington County, Oregon, is also becoming quite the hot spot for winegrowers. They are slowly moving up from the south. And if you are into wine tasting, from anywhere in Washington County, it is just a short drive out to the quaint little town of Carlton Oregon. Carlton Oregon is not in Washington County, it is actually in Yamhill County, but it is the premier wine tasting center closest to Washington County. This tiny little burg of only 2000 people has about 30 wineries within its city limits. And if you come to do wine tasting, make sure to stop in at Cielo Blu and have some lunch. They serve up some great Italian food.
So, if you’re looking to buy real estate, you could do a lot worse than Washington County Oregon real estate. It can give you the best of both worlds. Country and farming, close to the city and shopping. As far as home prices go, I think they are reasonable, however, I live in the area. Depending on where you live now, you might think the prices are fantastic, or you may think they’re ridiculous. Any way you want to look at it, it’s a great location. Only about an hour away from the beach, and less than that to the city. And if you love the mountains, you can go east or west to get to them.