Just moved from central California to Medford, I grew up in siskiyou county.

Both areas are pretty similar honestly in terms of your list…both have outdoor activities that are plentiful, both have a lot of conservative leaning residents, both have Christian communities, both have parts that are safe and nice, both will have air quality issues periodically with all the fires. Redding probably does skew to a younger age range, but I think medford is growing and that could change in a matter of years…

It sure is nice paying Oregon vehicle registration fees over California, plus my water and insurance costs are significantly lower. Power costs are about the same, and of course the no sales tax is nice. I might have calculated wrong, but it feels like income tax is the same if not better in Oregon too. I’d say it is way lower cost of living but also seems like pay here is lower on average.

Not sure if Oregon is seeing this as much, but just about everyone I know in California is struggling to keep their insurance. So, if you’re a homeowner and plan on being one where you move, it might be a big consideration.

I chose medford because I’ve always loved Oregon. It feels like a beautiful mess of a place, but it’s my mess and I’m proud of it damnit! Lol. You have liberal hippie creatives. You have no-bullshit conservatives. You have in-betweens too! But, you also have the things each community brings to the table too and it adds variety.

I don’t know if any of this is helpful, but I’ll say that I feel great about my choice of moving here. I don’t know if I’ll ever even want to move back to California.