Thats a great question. I am going to rely on my fellow Salem-anders to help answer this question. Minimum wage here is $14.20 right now. I don't see how that would allow for someone to buy a home and live here comfortably on 1 income. However, I'd love to hear others perspective on this topic.
@@SalemOR Florida will be calling. Hurricanes have made Florida uninhabitable. I am in Bend. Due to smoke, the valley is looking good. I still worry about the cloudy winters. How often do you have smoky days? Thanks.
@@willtwain1383 I grew up with my summers being in Black Butte- I understand your concerns well. Here in Salem we do get smokey summer days, however it's not as bad as Central Oregon. The smoke we get doesn't darken the sky as much as it will in Bend. Instead it creates a light haze and turn the sun orange. If it's really bad you can see ash on cars. In the 5 years I've lived here, I've only seen that happen once and it was because the fire was on the other side of Silver Falls State Park (about 1.5 hours away from Salem). While fires are a concern for all of Oregon, I know first hand that the culture around fire's is vastly difference in Central Oregon vs. the Willamette Valley. There is no escaping it, but Salem doesn't get as bad as Bend.
