Corvallis (OSU) or Eugene (UO)?

[Nell Plotts]

+1

I have heard that housing it tough to come by in Corvallis. Be prepared to commute.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

+1

I have heard that housing it tough to come by in Corvallis. Be prepared to commute.

Tough is not a good word. One of the lowest available rental cities in the USA.

[Minervah]

My friend owns a house in Albany. She teaches at OSU and commutes every day to Corvallis. She has been doing this for many years. I don't know what rentals are like in Albany but perhaps that is something the OP might consider if he chooses OSU.

Just came back to say that the section of Albany where she lives is very nice. I don't know Albany that well and I see where someone has stated that parts of it are not too nice so I guess the OP would want to know the good and bad parts if he were to consider it as a place to live. But it would be doable if he couldn't find a rental in Corvallis.

[JasonF]

It sounds like OSU is the more appropriate choice.

Corvallis is incredibly expensive. You'll be paying more than you should for everything from rent to gas to movie tickets. Commuting from Albany is an option you shouldn't rule out. Many people do it and Albany really isn't that bad. As Corvallis has become more and more overpriced and the housing market has gotten tighter and tighter, people have started heading to Albany.

I'm not sure what you consider "typical college town rentals." Where I did undergrad, a typical rental was a poorly maintained house with an overgrown lawn and broken beer bottles strewn all over the street. You won't really find that sort of thing in Corvallis.

Eugene also seems like there are more employment oppurtunities, at least as far as entry level, low paying, part-time type jobs go, which I would need while in school.

You will find very few job opportunities in Corvallis. That's not to say you won't be able to find anything, but it could take a while. The dearth of retail in Corvallis means there really aren't that many positions to fill. We have some grocery stores and restaurants and that's about it. Other college towns this size have multiple Wal Marts, Target, malls, tons of restaurants, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, etc. Thus, jobs are fairly easy to get. Corvallis doesn't have that. We travel to Albany/Salem/Eugene for that sort of thing.

There's little hope of the housing or jobs issues getting better anytime soon, either. New housing does get built, but not quickly enough to keep up with enrollment changes, and it seems most of the newer places are giant monstrosities that make the other overpriced rentals in Corvallis look like a bargain. Zoning rules mean that Corvallis will never have large retail, and that's certainly not going to change. At least one of our city councilmen thinks the solution to Corvallis's traffic problems (which don't actually exist, by the way) is to eliminate even more jobs.