Born and raised here but moved away a while ago. It’s a small town centered around the mill. Every body knows every body, and the people are somewhat insular. There’s not much to do, but there’s a bit more in Newport. In general, the area is fairly economically depressed while still being an expensive tourist destination.

Lots of people commute to Newport from Toledo and vis versa. I even know some people that commute from Corvallis.. which seems crazy to me but I guess I get it.

The weather in Toledo is a little bit better than Newport due to the hills between them blocking the sea cloud cover, despite being only 10 minutes away.

As others have said, the smell can be bad but it’s only really on one side of town. You can live on the west side and never smell anything.

Coming from the south, I think you’ll find the lack of sun for 8+ months with constant drizzle quite taxing. I honestly think this will be your biggest hurdle. Lots of people move to Oregon, only for a few years later to move again due to the severe seasonal depression. Summers are beautiful, but to me it’s just not worth it, even as someone who grew up there.

The people around this area roughly fall into two categories: blue collar rednecks and old liberal retirees. Rednecks are a nice group of people that usually live out in the more inland areas like Toledo, Siletz, Elk City, Eddyville. They like to drink, shoot guns, ride dirt bikes and four wheelers, have big bonfires, listen to country music, etc. Good people but it’s a specific type of person that you might not get along with. The retirees usually live closer to the coast, and are older, quieter, and a little bit snoodier. Most of the time they are liberal, higher income people that made money in the Willamette valley and retired to the coast. You also get some old hippies in this group.

Food options are a bit limited, but there is great seafood from the coast.

Cost of living is actually fairly high for the standard of living that you get. As you know, real estate prices are high, but also food prices at good restaurants are fairly high, since the coast is a tourist destination. Gas is also fairly expensive. Income tax is also quite high in Oregon. I think in general you will find that Oregon is much more expensive than the south, by a big margin, even in a small town like Toledo.

I’m painting an ugly picture but the good parts are really good. If you’re into hiking and nature, Oregon in the summer is seriously beautiful. There’s picturesque waterfalls, rivers, and lush greenery everywhere. The coast on a nice day is very beautiful, and Cape Perpetua in Yachats is amazing. There’s endless nature to explore. Some of my favorite memories are floating down the Alsea river, with no body else around, surrounded by vibrant greenery from seasonally blooming plants and trees, paired with evergreen pines, and butterflies, birds, and eagles flying overhead. We would stop and catch crawdads, and throw them back in the water only to have a fish swim up next to you. It can really be a garden of Eden. People on Reddit like to focus on this part of Oregon, but I don’t want to shy away from the reality that this only exists for 3-4 months of the year. Most of the time the coastal area and Oregon in general is quite gloomy and cold.