What's in Oregon besides me and lots of good green? Well, the Silicon Forest for starters. It's west of Portland and features employers such as Intel and other tech companies. We do have some work in your industry here, I know. I can't be precise about that. We've lost a lot of jobs in the last year here, but so long as you have skills that pay the bills that shouldn't be an issue.
And while our school system is underfunded and they have been cutting days from calendars across the state, our schools do pretty well. Oregon has long had a reputation in the PacNW for being the better state for education; while Washington provides more $ for their schools, our system is viewed as more academically rigorous.
We also have a better social safety net than most states. Oregonians have access to the Oregon Health Plan, an insurance safety net. Children in the state are guaranteed insurance coverage via SCHIP and OHP.
What I love about this state is that I could (in theory, haven't tested it yet but I want to) go skiing in the morning and surfing in the afternoon, or vice-versa. If you're in Portland, it's only about 1.5 hours to Mt. Hood and about an hour to the coast. Portland is cool in that it is getting to be a bigger city, but in some ways it still feels like a small town. People out here are friendly and polite.
If you have any questions, I've lived here for 14 years now (6 in Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland, and 8 in Corvallis). And no, we're not all hippies, but we do like fleece, coffee, pinot noir, Chaco sandals, and bicycles. Oh, and FYI: there are more than a few small batch distilleries here too.