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Excerpted by permission from:
THE ROARING 2000s, by Harry S. Dent, Jr.
Simon & Schuster, 1998
Ashland: A more Conservative,
Idyllic Lifestyle
One of the most all-around
attractive towns that I have seen, a town that offers both plenty of
recreational activities and world-class cultural attractions, is
Ashland, Oregon. It is both clean and safe. It has room to grow, yet
promises substantial real-estate appreciation. Further, since it is
well into its growth phase, it offers much lower downside risk for
investing in or relocating to this are, especially when compared to
the risk of a pioneering area.
Ashland offers a superlative quality of life
without congestion, excessive tourism, celebrity cachet, and
astronomical property prices of an Aspen, Jackson Hole, or Hilton
Head. The most unique attraction Ashland boasts is its year-round
Shakespeare festival, with three different theaters, including a
replica of the Globe theater, right in the middle of town. The
downtown area is about as charming as any you will find.
Old-fashioned specialty stores and shops offer everything from
crafts to jewelry to innovative home decorations to eclectic
clothing to books—even a collector’s comic-book store. You can walk
to any number of very good restaurants, and funky bistros and cafes.
Right on Main Street, there is a health-food store, an old-fashioned
ice cream shop, and even a fresh-squeezed-juice stand.
The local college in Ashland specializes in
the arts, which helps sustain the town’s cultural interest. There’s
a nice 9-hole golf course in Ashland, with a very good 18-hole golf
course 20 minutes away, in the nearby town of Medford. Ashland is
surrounded by mountains with plenty of trails for hiking and biking,
a good ski resort just south of town, and a series of Alpine lakes
just a half-hour’s drive to the West. There are a number of rivers
in all directions where you can enjoy kayaking and whitewater
rafting. Needless to say, Ashland scores a solid ten for its rich
array of recreational and cultural offerings.
Ashland is ideal for living at a slower pace,
where you can walk to the market or browse in a book store. The
weather is almost always cooperative. Summer days are near perfect:
warm and dry during the day, cooler but still comfortable at night.
And the winter weather, although cold, is much sunnier and dryer
than in many other parts of Oregon. With all of its attractions and
the temperate climate, Ashland has everything that most affluent
baby boomers and retirees want—without the multimillion-dollar home
prices, or the glitz and noise of a Planet Hollywood. You couldn’t
go wrong buying in or near this town!
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