I'm from Ashland, OR. It is a VERY unique town, here are some snippets from Wikipedia.com

Ashland is also remarkable for being very politically liberal. It gave the hypermajority of its vote to Democrat John F. Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election. This potentially makes it more Democratic than Portland, and more Democratic than any other city in Oregon and neighbouring Washington outside of Seattle, Washington, which cast 80.61% for Kerry compared to Ashland's 80.60%.

Ashland is well-known for its annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), which brings thousands of visitors to the city every year. The festival has grown from a summer outdoor festival in the 1930s to a season which stretches from February to October, incorporating Shakespeare and non-Shakespearean plays in repertory at three theaters. OSF sells more tickets to more performances of more plays than any other theater in the country. In a typical year, OSF sells more than 350,000 tickets and attracts about 100,000 tourists.

The National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, located in Ashland, is the world's only crime lab dedicated to wildlife, and serves law enforcement both within and outside the United States.


Lithia Park is a 100 acre (0.4 km²) park extending from the center of town ("The Plaza") up Ashland Creek to the foothills of Mount Ashland. It includes two ponds, a Japanese garden, tennis courts, two public greens, a bandshell (outdoor stage) and miles of hiking trails. The name Lithia comes from the natural mineral water in Ashland, Lithia water. Lithia water is famous for its strong mineral taste and slight effervescence, and the Lithia water fountains found on the town plaza are frequently tasted by unsuspecting tourists (often at the behest of residents or frequent visitors who use the fountains as a cheap, humorous Ashland initiation rite).[citation needed] As of October 2006, the fountains on the plaza are temporarily under construction due to vandalism and their allegedly curative water is available from an unmarked spigot nearby.[citation needed] Lithia water can be sampled from a fountain near the bandshell in Lithia Park as well.

The Ashland City Band is the oldest continuous city band in the United States, having formed as the Ashland Brass Band in 1876. John McLaren (Park Designer), designer of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, designed Lithia Park and included an octagonal gazebo-style bandstand which was used by the ACB until the bandshell was built in 1949.

The Bathroom Readers' Institute and Bathroom Readers' Press, who put out the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader books, are based in Ashland.



I live in a VERY VERY cool place.