Cannon Beach Zoom Town
Live Oregon

Oregon’s Top Five Zoom Towns

Oregon’s best places to live when you can work remotely from anywhere written by Cathy Carroll Reflect a moment on how you felt during a favorite Oregon getaway—gliding through fresh powder, hiking among fragrant pines, swimming in a lake reflecting a snow capped peak, paddling on liquid serenity or being rejuvenated by the salt-infused breeze of the Pacific. Remember wishing you didn’t have to leave, vacation over, back to work?  More than ever, work can be wherever you choose. To be certain, the global pandemic has few silver linings, but the shutdown of offices and the rise of remote work allows more choice in where to live. Across America, millions have begun working remotely since last spring, a trend that’s clearly taking hold in Oregon, too.   “Zoom Towns,” idyllic places where you can connect with workplaces virtually, have spurred migrations that appear to be doubling down on existing growth patterns,…

Northwest Wild Products owner Ron Neva pauses while searching for razor clams
Live Oregon

2020 in Photos

Some of our most inspired faves from our amazing photographers this year

Holiday Giveaway for Foodies!
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Holiday Giveaway for Foodies!

Enter for a chance to win our Foodie Package valued at more than $600! Included in our Foodie Package are items from our friends at: One Stripe ChaiSeaBearRevival TeaSalish Lodge & SpaAuthor Karista Bennett The Bitter HousewifeMary’s MixersGround Up (nut butters)Alchemist’s JamSalt BladeDurant (oils and spices)Oomph (spices)Felton & Mary’sMarshall’s Haute SauceHew (woodworking)Jacobsen Salt Co.Raising the Bar (bitters)Allsop Home & Garden

Desert Rain home
Oregon Architecture

Breaking New Ground

A Bend couple builds an extreme green dream home written byMelissa Dalton | photography by Ross Chandler Eight years ago, Tom Elliott and Barbara Scott took a fortuitous road trip. The couple was driving from Bend to Southern Utah to go backpacking when they heard an interesting broadcast on public radio. The program featured Seattle architect Jason McLennan discussing the creation of his new green building standards, called the Living Building Challenge (LBC). His challenge was for people to craft buildings as self-sustaining as plants. At the time, Elliott and Scott were planning their own “uber-green home” in Bend, but McLennan’s message inspired them to go further. “We just looked at each other and said, ‘That’s exactly what we want to do,’” Elliott said. The couple met in Montana, where Elliott was a sustainable cattle rancher and Scott was a school administrator. They bonded over a shared love of the outdoors…

Portland State University
Oregon Architecture

The Greening of Universities

Oregon universities combine high design and sustainability in three new builds written by Melissa Dalton OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY-CASCADES Tykeson Hall When Bora Architects designed the first academic building on Oregon State University’s new Cascades campus in Bend in 2014, the firm drew inspiration from an efficient, and uber-handy, object: the Swiss Army knife. Why? The footprint of the new building, Tykeson Hall, is relatively small–just 45,000 square feet–yet it would accommodate many academic and programming needs on the growing campus. (A dorm and dining hall were built simultaneously.) Requirements included classrooms of all sizes, from science labs to an eighty-person auditorium, a library and computer lab, student council space and administrative offices.  Equally important and ambitious is OSU’s goal to ensure future Cascades campus operations will be net-zero, meaning it produces as much energy as it consumes, balances water supply and demand, and eliminates landfill waste. Toward that end, Bora specified…

Oregon wine country, France
Explore Oregon

How to Travel Abroad without Leaving the PNW

Twelve places in the PNW that transport you to other cultures written by Kevin Max, illustrations by Allison Bye For those of us with wanderlust, the pandemic greatly curtailed our travel plans, confining us exclusively to local destinations, and only those where it is safe to go. Thankfully, the Pacific Northwest brings with it many amazing proxies for foreign travel. In this piece, we explore the regions, towns and venues throughout the Northwest that share some stunning similarities with their European, Scandinavian and Asian counterparts. If you can’t hop on a plane right now, jump in your car and satisfy your wanderlust while contributing to the local economy. Here are twelve places where you can travel abroad from your car. POULSBO – NORWAY The sons and daughters of Norway are alive and well in the tiny Norwegian town of Poulsbo on Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula. Known as Little Norway on the…

Oregon wasabi
Farm to Table, Live Oregon

Oregon Wasabi?

Oregon-grown wasabi is a versatile and spicy option for your cooking written by Sophia McDonald Sushi aficionados, take note: That spicy, lime green paste next to your dragon roll may be called wasabi, but chances are it isn’t the real thing. Most of the time, it’s a combination of horseradish, powdered mustard and green food coloring.  Wasabi is native to Japan, but you can buy it closer to home than you might think. Oregon Coast Wasabi in Tillamook County is one of only three commercial growers in the United States. Co-founder and CEO Jennifer Bloeser quite by accident stumbled onto the relative of the horseradish plant at an equestrian event. A fellow participant had brought some plants to the gathering and was giving them away. Bloeser’s neighbors in Southeast Portland were always sharing the bounty from their gardens with her, and she was looking for something to give back. Wasabi,…