The City of Oakridge is a beautiful area, surrounded by the vast Willamette National Forest, where families and businesses live and grow, work and play, live and dream, in a safe and sustainable community. With 500 miles of trails surrounding the city, it truly is a mountain biking paradise. Oakridge is a scenic place to live, work, and play.
Oakridge is nestled in the foothills of the Western Cascade Mountains. Due to the elevation, (1,200-1,700 ft.) the weather is great, above the fog of the valley, and below the heavy snows. The city population is 3,765 (July 1, 2010).
With a council-manager form of government adopted in 1972, the City’s residents enjoy a strong supportive government. Oakridge is a full service city providing street, water, wastewater, and park utilities; police, fire, and ambulance services; library, economic development, planning/zoning, and administrative services. The city is funded by property taxes, franchise and other fees. Special projects are funded through grants and loans. Over the last 8 years, the City has received almost $11 million in grants and loans for such projects as a built out water system to putting a video camera into a police car. The City has an annual budget of over $7 million.
The citizens of the Oakridge area hold their history and culture close with events and productions all year around. A Pioneer Picnic celebrates the families of early pioneers that came through what would become Oakridge on their way to the Willamette Valley. The more than half a century old Tree Planting Festival serves as a reminder of Oakridge’s past as a timber town. In more modern productions, the Concerts in the Park hosts free concerts at the Siuslaw Bank Amphitheater in Greenwaters Park. The Zero Clearance Theater Company, an Oakridge-based community theater company, utilizes only local performers to stage both classic and original works. Nearby Eugene provides a diversity of options from its counter-culture history to the symphony, opera, and ballet. The University of Oregon, Hult Center for the Performing arts, and The Shedd Auditorium as well as many venues on the university campus are great places to experience art, music, and local culture.