January 2011

Shady Cove

January 15, 2011
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Side-by-side, Shady Cove in Southern Oregon has one of Oregon’s loveliest strips and one of its ugliest. The ugliest is Oregon 62, which cuts right through it and is the only business district in the town. It’s a mishmash of shops catering to tourists, a couple of restaurants and bars and some rafting companies. It’s [...]

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Depoe Bay, Oregon

January 14, 2011
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Travelers on the Oregon coast know Depoe Bay mostly for saltwater taffy and for the crowds of people haphazardly crossing Interstate 101. It actually has a deep culture with an abiding sense of voluntarism and a population deeply committed to the area. Of the 1,400 or so people live there, many are retirees who came [...]

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Longview, Washington

January 10, 2011

Longview, Wash. Longview, home of 36,000 people, is not, strictly speaking, small. Still, it has a small town feel that puts it in the company of places like Lakeview, Cottage Grove, and Enterprise.  And like these places, its history is rich, its culture distinctive, and it radiates civic pride.  Also, it is not much visited [...]

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Arlington, Oregon

January 6, 2011
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Speeding east on Interstate 84, 50 miles from The Dalles, Arlington slips past in a second, looking from the road like a town that washed down a gully. It’s got two places to eat, a bar, a service station, a grocery and a hardware store. There’s also a branch of Bank of Eastern Oregon, which [...]

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