Moving to Springfield area in a year... (Eugene: apartment, rent)

[ktausch]

Hi all, my husband and I are planning on moving to the Springfield area in a year from the coast. I was trying to find information on the schools in that area, as we will be having kids in the near future and we plan on going to school at one of the comm. colleges. We plan on renting an apartment for about 6 months to get our barrings and get familiar with the area then possibly rent a house outside of town or buy if we like the area a lot. I prefer the country to the city.
I would also like to know what areas we should avoid renting in due to crime rates and drug problems. We will not be relocating because of jobs so we will have to get those as well. We just want to get away from the coast. Our price range is under $1000 per month.
We want to start a family and are looking for a good place to do that with having the things we like to do close by, hunting, camping, hiking and more. My husband works in a mill now but is looking for something else like construction, maintenance or something else he may have to go back to school for and I have no idea what I want to do for a career.
We have been to that area before and liked it very much and have finally decided to take the plunge and get out of our small rainy town, I would just like more information about the area. Thanks in advance!

[texasdiver]

I wouldn't necessarily fixate on Springfield. The downtown areas and south hills areas of Eugene close to the UO are all going to be pricey due to the student market. But there are other areas around Eugene such as the North Eugene and Santa Clara area out River Road (where I grew up) that will be less expensive and more comparable to Springfield in terms of cost of living. Also the Bethel area. You have a long time to go before worrying about schools. I'm not saying to avoid Springfield. Just that Eugene is MUCH larger than the central area around downtown and the UO and has a lot of areas that might suit you just as well as Springfield. Check out the whole metro area. You may also want to consider distance to LCC if your husband is planning to go back to school, assuming he isn't thinking of UO.

[ktausch]

Very good points, thank you very much.