How About Silverton, Oregon? (Portland, Eugene: real estate, housing, rental)

[musicaldogs]

Has anyone lived in or near Silverton? Can you tell me about the prices of house rentals as well as house purchases? Is it as nice as it seems? The objective truth, please!

[Larry Caldwell]

I think every multiple listing in the USA is on the web now, so check ML listings for real estate prices. Silverton is a small town, so rentals will be limited. Silverton is a nice town, fairly close to Salem, and gateway to Silver Falls State Park, one of the most scenic and popular parks in the state.

[bobmulk]

Real estate is rather pricey in Silverton. For instance, in one of the newer subdivisions, a 1500 square foot house is around $265K. Silverton is becoming a boutique community with art galleries, shops, upscale restaurants, bistros, etc. Downtown is being totally revitalized so all the wonderful old buildings are being upgraded. There's some wonderful older neighborhood of grand homes. Silver Creek Falls and the Oregon Garden are nearby so Silverton is the gateway for both of them. A new, high end boutique hotel is being constructed by someone from California whose clientele is primarily Asians. This will give the community a more international feel and could very well jump-start yet more upscale development. The town has 9000 people and is growing fairly rapidly. Yet it's surrounded by farmland so it won't get too big. My supervisor lives there and she always comments that she never needs to leave because there's always so much to do--the Silverton Wine and Jazz Festival, Homer Davenport Days, Silverton Art Fair, etc. It's a magnificent little town.

[musicaldogs]

Thanks for your info!

[jennib69]

I'm from Chicago and although I yearn for the big city occasionally, I have never been sorry that life brought me to Silverton. Pricing depends on your timing and your luck. I got an amazing deal on my house ($250,000, 3BR, 1.5br,1910 Craftsman style house in beautiful neighborhood). There are great deals here if you are patient and/or willing to do a little work.
Also, I love raising my kids here. I work in Portland, but the commute is worth it. Hope you decide to join us!

[nanannie]

Hi jenni, what do you think of the school sytem there ?

[RockyMtnr]

A wee bit of a drug problem at the north end of town - same as most small towns - meth. They had a big bust just a couple weeks ago - netted 10 offenders.
We're about to move there, to the north end ... which, to the casual eye seems a little "down" compared to the rest of town and while our place is clean (for seniors) the properties next door are said to be full of the problem - can't recall the name right now, have only been there the one time for exploratory purposes. We will be right near the middle school. Great restaurant at that end - "The Home Place" I believe ... okay, not exactly great - but fairly cheap with home-style restaurant food. Roth's and Safeway looked like the only groceries but I eat mostly organic so, I'll be shopping in Salem or Gresham anyway - and where ever else I happen to find.
Absolutely everybody we tell that we're moving to Silverton has almost the same exact words to say, i.e., "Oh, that's such a neat town. You're going to love it there". Hope they're right, we're leaving the coast to do it.

[nanannie]

Rocky, please keep us posted. Hope its a smooth move for you-good luck.

[RockyMtnr]

Originally Posted by nanannie

Rocky, please keep us posted. Hope its a smooth move for you-good luck.

Thanks NaNanie; I plan to do what updating I can, minus time for adjustment and reapplication to our new jobs, housing, etc. I noticed on my requests for info (separate thread) that there didn't seem to be a lot of info out there other than the Falls, 14 mi. south and the Gardens, within a stone's throw.
Outside of that, a couple of "Bigfoot" stories, stories of the old semi-pro Silverton Red-Sox baseball team and info that the town used to be made up of the "millionaire-farmer" set ... which I am currently assuming might be the source of the older, quaint homes I'm seeing mentioned. Oh, and of course, Bobby the Wonder Dog. Good boy, Bobby!
I don't know which I will need to find first; a piano-tuner or some donated keyboards as, where we are going has two donated pianos but both are out of tune ... but standard pianos hurt my ears anymore and since I only use electrics these days ... would love to have a couple for the folks since the volume is controllable and one can even use headphones ... not to mention the capabilities for softening and layering the voicings.
Now if I can just time the rental of a U-Haul with or before the next major wind-storm ... ...

[jennib69]

My eldest just started kindergarten this year at Eugene Field, and so far the experience has been great! I have friends with children in high school who have been in Silverton their whole lives, and they have great things to say, too.
For the man moving to the North side of town, as far as organic groceries go, Roth's always has a decent supply of local, organic produce, and the newly rehabbed Safeway has a much better stock than it used to. I eat an organic, vegan diet, and only need to go into Salem occasionally for some more uncommon products.

Hope you all enjoy it here!

Jenni