Why I chose to invest in Baker City, OR

Historic homes and buildings fill the town.

Baker City is 4.5 hours from Bend on a good day. Add a little snow and ice, or a hike and a slow lunch and its a solid 6. I do think its the prettiest drive in Oregon. The fastest way has no interstate and very little traffic. You pass fields and mountains, gorges, and rivers, historic barns, and always I see deer, antelope and turkeys. I’ve seen elk and a bobcat too!
Here is my list of why I decided to invest the proceeds of selling Cowgirl Cash into a little Cowgirl Cottage in Baker City, OR. Population 10,000.

Affordability. I had a budget and Baker City had the right house to fit the budget. You can buy a little house here for between $120,000 to $320,000. Most (actually all in this price range) need some work and updating, but most houses do when you buy an older home.
Charm. Baker City is filled with historic homes and buildings! The town is known for its Oregon Trail history, but it really boomed during the gold rush in 1861. By the 1890’s Baker City gained a reputation as “The Denver of Oregon” It was one of the most colorful towns in the Pacific Northwest, filled with miners, ranchers, cowboys, and sheepherders who mingled with gamblers and dance hall girls. The buildings remain and Grant money is available for restoration. The town changes slowly and gets better ever year as these buildings and home get restored.
Outdoor accessibility. Baker City is in a Valley surrounded by the Elkhorn mountains, the Blue Mountains, and the Wallowas. Rivers, streams, trails, skiing, wildlife. So much to explore and not a lot of people….
Art. It appears to be everywhere. On the streets, in the shops, on posters all over town offering ceramics classes, and camps. There is an active First Friday Artwork, a few galleries, and the Crossroads Carnegie Art Center is a gem of a restored historic building filled with classes and local art for sale that is fantastic!
Food. Good food and beer and wine and chocolate and coffee and Bakeries… My gauge for the quality of a small town is the local Bakery. A shop selling Costco muffins does not cut it. Baker City has Sweet Wife Baking and it is worth shouting about from the roof tops! There is also a food co-op filled with seasonal and local organic and unprocessed foods. Its a gem.
Easy to get around. It seems as though everything is close. The mountains rise up on all sides, but the town is in a flat valley and the streets “are wide enough to turn a wagon around in” Driving, walking and biking to most everything is available. I drove a U-Haul truck over and after unloading it, I was without a car for three days. I could get to a grocery store, coffee shop, swimming pool, brew pub, diner, and hardware store all by foot.
Anthony Lakes. This is the little ski resort 40 minutes away in the Elkhorns. It’s one lift and a nordic Center with beautiful groomed skate ski trails. The resort is open Thursday-Sunday and a lift ticket is $60. The day Marsh and I were there was Ski for the Health of it Day. The mountain is owned by the County, and on Fridays, for 8 weeks, the local kids are skiing! We rode the lift with 4th graders and high schoolers and a parent or two. These kids were having a blast and comfortable chatting with Marsh and I about the program, about their Community and about how much they loved skiing. We skied until noon and enjoyed powder all morning. It was cold and the snow was glorious. Think Utah snow…
YMCA: One day at my old shop, Cowgirl Cash: a woman came in who was checking Bend out as a possible place to move. She said she was looking for a town to live in with an indoor swimming pool to swim laps. That was her fitness activity of choice. She said it was harder than you think to find a swim center in a small town. Baker City has an indoor pool, and a strong youth swim team and community programs.
Farmers Market: I could have put this under the Food category, but a Farmers Market is more than that. The market is where you can buy directly from the Farmer and gather with your community who also chooses to eat healthy, local, unprocessed, nutrient rich food.
History: Baker City was the last major stop on the Oregon Trail before Pioneers headed over the mountains to the Willamette Valley. The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is an incredibly moving place to visit, filled with history and details about the journey from Missouri to Oregon between 1840-1880. Everywhere you turn in town is a nod to history. The mining, logging, ranching, and Cowboy past is everywhere, and forces you to slow down, breathe the fresh air of a small town, and just be. People smile and wave here, and the pace feels good.

Why I chose to invest in Baker City, OR

Super Powers and Fixers

Cowgirl Properties