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Oregon is a state full of many cities and towns. In this final blog post of ours, we will highlight just a few of the cities you can visit in Oregon and what they have to offer. These cities are Medford, Salem, Portland, Eugene, and of course Ashland. So come on and read this article to learn more about these lovely Oregon cities.
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The first city we are going to is Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1883, Medford is perhaps Southern Oregon’s most famous city. Having a population of 85,824 people according to the 2020 census. Medford is known for being a city that is surrounded by nature, there are various parks and trails around the city for you to visit. Downtown, Medford is full of fun things to do such as restaurants to visit, bars to drink at on weekend nights, there are even places like Astral Games where you can play board games and videos at. There is also the Craterian theater, which is one of the largest theaters for plays in Southern Oregon. For those interested in movies instead, there is also Tinseltown, a movie theater owned by Cinemark and is easily the best movie theater in all of Southern Oregon. We also have the rogue valley, a shopping mall that has been around for many years and despite the decline of American shopping malls, the rogue valley mall is still standing strong to this very day. Medford is a fun city that is worth visiting if you are ever in Southern Oregon.
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Our next stop is Ashland, Oregon. Having a population of 21,360 people according to the 2020 census. Ashland is by far, the smallest city we are highlighting today, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad or anything. Ashland, especially compared to Medford which is only a dozen or so miles away, is certainly a small town. But to Ashland’s benefit, there is this nice sense of community that the city has that none of the other cities mentioned in this article have. Ashland’s streets are much cleaner compared to say Medford’s streets and there is noticeably less crime that happens in Ashland compared to Medford. Ashland also has a lot fewer big businesses compared to Medford. While they are there for say grocery shopping with places like Safeway and Bi-Mart and some fast-food restaurants like Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Taco Bell. Small locally owned businesses are the lifeblood of Ashland, they are the only places you can find in downtown Ashland in fact. There are certainly more bars and restaurants that are locally owned in Ashland compared to Ashland and there are even a couple of locally owned grocery stores like the Ashland food co-op. Then there is the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the biggest theater for plays in all of Oregon. OSF is easily the most attractive destination for tourists coming to Southern Oregon to visit and has been a landmark of Ashland’s for decades.
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Next up is Eugene, Oregon. With a population of 176,654 people according to the 2020 census. Eugene is one of Oregon’s most famous cities, perhaps third only to Salem and Portland for Oregon’s biggest city. Best known for being home to the University of Oregon. Eugene is the definition of a college town. UofO is basically the center of the city and since it’s a college known for its sporting program, the city in turn ended up with lots of sporting events to go to especially for college football. Eugene is also sort of a mix of Ashland and Medford, you have an atmosphere that is kind of similar to Ashland, but you also have a lot of the big city elements compared to Medford. There are various local businesses including arcades which don’t even exist in Medford and Ashland. There are also plenty of big businesses in Eugene including two different shopping malls and even an Imax movie theater inside one of them. Eugene is a great place to just spend a weekend, relax and have fun there.
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For the penultimate stop, we have Salem, Oregon. According to the 2020 census, there are 175,535 people living in the city making Oregon’s second-largest city. Salem is the capital of Oregon and intern is perhaps the most important city in all of Oregon. The state’s capital is an area worth visiting, an area filled with artwork where you can sit beside some fountains and admire. You also have museums to visit such as the Hallie ford museum of art, the Deepwood museum, the Gilbert House Children’s Museum, and of course the OSH Art museum. Similar to Eugene and Ashland, Salem is also a university town, with lots of things geared towards students from a lively downtown area on weekend nights to various social scenes for students. For families and children, there are also some fun activities like the Salem Riverfront carousel and the Enchanted Forest Theme Park. Salem, Oregon all in all is a lovely town that is worth stopping by.
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Now our final stop is Portland, Oregon. Portland is the biggest city in all of Oregon containing over half of the population of the state. Portland is a massive city that is full of many things to do including lots of the same things as the city’s above. Visiting just downtown Portland gives you many things to do such as restaurants, bars, arcades, You also have various interesting one-of-a-kind locations to visit such as the Portland Japanese Garden, a park that heavily resembles the ones you would see in Japan. You also have the Lan Su Chinese Garden, which is also an Asia theme garden. Then there is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, something that is fun for kids and very knowledgeable for anyone who wants to learn more about science and technology. Portland is a massive city, that it would certainly take us way too long to go over, but it is a city worth visiting.
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Well, these five cities of Oregon all have various things going on. You have the small-town feel and the theater community of Ashland, the big city vibes of Salem and Portland, and the city’s in the middle like Medford and Eugene. Of course, those aren’t the only cities in Oregon, you do have cities like Roseberg, Bend, Oregon City, Beaverton, Springfield, and Corvallis. Oregon is a big place with lots of things to do and we hope you use not only this article but all of ours in order to find something to do here.