best city in marion/polk county (Salem, Keizer: crime rates, houses, neighborhood)

[kenpak]

in june/08 i will start work at Salem Hospital and we are looking for a city to live. i would like to be within 15-20min at least from the hospital. i have 3 small children the oldest to start 1st grade.
1. most important factor is finding a city/town with great schools
2. would be nice to have some land too (5-10 acres)
I have considered south/west salem but was abit concerned of the higher crime rates as indicated on this website and not alot of land with the houses. We are not familiar with the area and was wondering if there might be an amazing small town that we dont know about. thanx.
ken

[little peg]

Originally Posted by kenpak

in june/08 i will start work at Salem Hospital and we are looking for a city to live. i would like to be within 15-20min at least from the hospital. i have 3 small children the oldest to start 1st grade.
1. most important factor is finding a city/town with great schools
2. would be nice to have some land too (5-10 acres)
I have considered south/west salem but was abit concerned of the higher crime rates as indicated on this website and not alot of land with the houses. We are not familiar with the area and was wondering if there might be an amazing small town that we dont know about. thanx.
ken

Wilsonville, many people live there but work in Salem, good schools, expensive housing, Woodburn, cheaper housing, bigger schools, look up Silverton, Mt. Angel, all are on I-5 straight shot to Salem, maybe a realtor will respond, Good luck

[Silverfall]

If you are looking for good schools in the Salem area you want to be in Sumpter, Lee, Pringle, Rosedale, or Schirle school districts. My son goes to Schirle (first grade) and his class is 23 kids. Gubser in Keizer is also excellent.

As for the 5-10 acres, you will need to have a lot of money to be within 15-20 minutes of the hospital AND get that. South and West Salem actually have some of the lowest crime rates in the areas. We get a lot of petty crimes in Oregon in general, but don't have a lot of major crime.

Salem Hospital is centrally located within the city, so you will pretty much have to be in Salem/Keizer to stay within your 20 minute guideline. Here is a link to information about each neighborhood put out by the Statesman Journal (broken link). Here is a link to the ODE for the school report cards, You will want to look at schools that consistently get strong to exceptional reports. Depending on your price requirements, you may be able to find something off of Liberty or Skyline. There are some homes with smaller acreage that are available.

Hope this helps!