Monmouth and Independence (Portland, Salem, Beaverton: apartment, to rent, houses)

[MimzyMusic]

Anyone familiar with Monmouth-Independence? Monmouth feels like a mini Corvallis and Independence like a mini Albany.

[Steve97415]

Monmouth - cute little college town. You'd probably be dependent on Corvallis and Salem for much of your entertainment and shopping, but it's well placed for a small town.

Independence - a lo mejor...si puede communicarse en español...

[Leap of Belief]

Monmouth is a town on the grow! The mayor and city council are working to bring Monmouth into a new place. The downtown is being revitalized with many of the buildings being rehab'd and the new street scape on Main Street is beautiful. Monmouth has a very educated population with over 37% of folks having a college degree which is an interesting stat. Additionally, it is a university town with about 5,000 attending. Culture is growing in Monmouth in bite size pieces. Great place to raise a family. I was there a few weeks ago and it was really amazing to see folks out walking their dogs at 11:30pm at night and girls fromt he college walking Main Street at the same time. The town is clean and the people were really friendly. Plus, it is in the heart of Oregon wine country, 1 hour from the beach and a quick commute to Salem. Just a few thoughts for you...

[Pdx guy]

Both towns are basically connected. The landscape is beautiful (heart of the Willamette Valley). Small and boring for some however. Independence has a large number of migrant workers (farmland, berries, hops, etc).

[suspiria_two]

sorry, but i'd like to revitalize this thread. i want an "insider's view", so to speak...

i'm interested in potentially attending the college there, and am NOT college-aged so most of the comments directed at young people will not apply. specifically, i don't care too much about the nightlife, but would like to know where the best place is to buy produce, necessities, hardware stores and such.

is it really true that there is no grocery store there? is it really true that one has to drive to salem for everything? and about driving--does one really have to drive everywhere, period? i understand that it is a mostly rural environment, but do hear that there is a bus that runs around that area. anyone familiar with it? is the area a mostly spread-out, suburban type feel or is there more of an old-town community center where the services are which gradually bleeds away to the farming country and wineries?

how hard is it to rent a decent place there, for two people and two cats? how are the utilities services? what about internet?

if my partner has to commute to Beaverton, will that be absolutely grueling? i know gas is outrageous, but he gets a kind of allowance with that from his work so it isn't as bad for him. but if he will literally spend hours on the road going nowhere, then it would be helpful to know that because i doubt he'd put up with it for too long, which might necessitate living elsewhere and me commuting. since i don't drive, how would one go about getting to Monmouth without a car a few days per week? impossible?

thanks in advance for any who take the time to respond!

[Dolphinswink]

I attended college at WOSC (now called WOSU) and living in Monmouth for about 3-4 years.

However, I haven't lived there since 83-87, so I'm sure a lot has changed.

Personally, I enjoyed the small town, Could walk everywhere. Lived in the dorms the first year and then an apartment for a year and then a two bedroom house with a landlord that accepted dogs. Rents obviously, back then, were much cheaper so I can't speak for how it is today.

Anyone that is currently living there, do you still have that cute little restaurant... I think it was called Country Kitchen or something? Awesome little cafe right on the same street as the college. I went there every morning for coffee and bran muffins and ate there on the weekends for breakfast. It looked like a house, and was converted downstairs to a cafe.

I loved the proxmity of Monmouth to Salem & Portland. Commuting to Beaverton would probably take about an hour each way, depending on how traffic has changed since the 80's.

I also loved how it wasn't more than an hour from the coast. Lincoln City/Newport area was pretty much a straight shot from the Monmouth area.

Thanks for reminding me of good memories

[dogiesfriend]

Beaverton is aways from Monmouth. If you do not drive expect a heafty cab bill or very sore legs and butt if you ride a bike. There is a Wal~Mart and a Safeway there. Not sure where you heard there weren't any grocery stores. Houses are in my opinion Expensive. $150,000 doesn't get you much nowadays. But I am sure if you really looked around and had a toolbelt, craftsman personna you could find a fixer-upper around 100,000 and make it a 200,000 quickly. I belive the hardware store is Home Depot.
my friends live there and she was working in Salem last year for the school district and has decided this year she isn't going to do the commute nor the expense for the gas. Even traded her car in for a better gas mileage one and still isn't satisfied with the commute. Don't blame her. I'm not a cummeter either. Monmouth is pretty country tho so there are several produce stands around. Good luck in your travels

Originally Posted by suspiria_two

sorry, but i'd like to revitalize this thread. i want an "insider's view", so to speak...

i'm interested in potentially attending the college there, and am NOT college-aged so most of the comments directed at young people will not apply. specifically, i don't care too much about the nightlife, but would like to know where the best place is to buy produce, necessities, hardware stores and such.

is it really true that there is no grocery store there? is it really true that one has to drive to salem for everything? and about driving--does one really have to drive everywhere, period? i understand that it is a mostly rural environment, but do hear that there is a bus that runs around that area. anyone familiar with it? is the area a mostly spread-out, suburban type feel or is there more of an old-town community center where the services are which gradually bleeds away to the farming country and wineries?

how hard is it to rent a decent place there, for two people and two cats? how are the utilities services? what about internet?

if my partner has to commute to Beaverton, will that be absolutely grueling? i know gas is outrageous, but he gets a kind of allowance with that from his work so it isn't as bad for him. but if he will literally spend hours on the road going nowhere, then it would be helpful to know that because i doubt he'd put up with it for too long, which might necessitate living elsewhere and me commuting. since i don't drive, how would one go about getting to Monmouth without a car a few days per week? impossible?

thanks in advance for any who take the time to respond!

[tablemtn]

There is no direct route from Monmouth/Independence to Salem, due to a chain of hills flanking Salem's southwest side. So, you either have to drive north on Hwy. 99W (from Monmouth) or Hwy. 51 (from Independence) to Hwy. 22, then head east through downtown Salem, which can be slow due to backups on the bridges across the Willamette River.

Or you could take a narrow, windy back road like Vitae Springs over the hills into the streets of south Salem.

[kimhamblin]

I know this is an older thread, but you might want to consider somewhere more north and west- like Yamhill, Carlton or Forest Grove instead. I's closer to the westside of Portland and has easier back roads to sneak through. The commute from Monmouth to Beaverton will be too much from down there.

[FXRS]

Oh my............

There is a Bi-Mart, Winco, Roth in Monmouth/Independence. You really don't have to go to Salem for the day to day needs. Only if you want to go shopping for the non-essentials.

There are actually three ways to Salem. One being 99W to Rickreall (the long way), 51 to 22 to bring you in on the west side and right downtown or to the Salem Parkway to head to Portland, or River Rd (which the wife and I drive everyday) to bring you in on the somewhat south side and easy access to the airport and east to Bend or I5.