Husband commuting to Eugene and I to Salem. where to live in between? (Portland: sales, home)

[Silverfall]

From McNary Field it would take about 7-10 minutes to get to Bud to Blossom so that is nice.

Dave P or other Albany folks will have to help you will the schools. North Albany is very nice and the schools get good ratings from the Oregon Department of Education. There are only a few bridges across the Willamette, so if you end up there, I would encourage you to take the back roads into Independence and come over the Independence bridge into south Salem. It should take you about 30 minutes or so that way to get to daycare down south.

As for Roth Built-the homes he has built in Salem are nice quality and he has a good reputation here. I haven't seen what he is building in Albany. https://ccbed.ccb.state.or.us/ccb_fr...p?regno=123159 is the link to the construction contractor's board about his record. It's pretty clean.

Not sure about the commute to Eugene from North Albany. Dave P could answer that better than me.

[samsmom98]

Thanks! especially for the link to the contractors board. 30mins commute seems ok, that's the minimum I do now in Albuquerque just to go 17 miles... when we finally get a chance to visit, we plan on trying out both commutes into Salem to see what works for us. Again I appreciate the help!

[DavePautsch]

Roth-built has a very solid reputation - they build a nice house and have a number of neighborhoods in the greater Albany area. (Spring Meadow / Hannah Estates / Tuscany Estates and Arroyo Ridge (the ones in N. Albany))

[DavePautsch]

N. Albany to Eugene isn't too bad - you have to get thru the town traffic to get to either 99 or I-5, but its not too bad. From South Albany its about 45 minutes (depending on where in Eugene)...mostly a pleasant drive, especially down 99.

You may also want to check out the Conser neighborhoods in Millersburg - just north of Albany. 1/4 acre home sites - good quality construction - easy access to I-5 both ways for the commute (Sweetwater North and Morningstar are the two neighborhoods currently under construction there). Roth is ALSO building in Millersburg as are H and R homes. Millersburg also has the advantage of low property taxes. While it doesn't have quite the same "prestige" as North Albany it really is an area with a rural feel to it. The elementary school will be the brand new Clover Ridge, and then North Albany Middle School and West Albany High.

[samsmom98]

That's great. thanks for the information. I will definitely check out the Millersburg neighborhoods. Do you know if Clover Ridge is brand new this year or do they have test scores available from last year? We will only be in OR for 4 yrs max, would the re-sale market be ok in Millersburg vs. Albany?

[EZA]

I live in Albany. Millersburg has a pulp mill near by so sometimes the smell gets into the neigborhoods in Millersburg. I cannot speak for the schools other than the Middle school and High School (South). Both are pretty good. I like living in Albany, have been here since 1990. I live near the freeway in Lexington Estates. I would avoid that area to buy a home, especially the houses closer to the freeway, they are poorly constructed.

[DavePautsch]

Ok...the "smell" issue again! - I worked in Millersburg for about 3 years and it is NOT smelly as a result of the mill. They spent millions in scrubbers and other devices to reduce the output...and the wind generally blows AWAY from the existing sub-divisions. In fact, I live in SW Albany and got that "smell" more often there (maybe 3 or 4 times a year when there was an inversion layer)...really something that is more hype than fact.

The Clover Ridge elementary school has been around for a while (check out the web site for GAPS at Greater Albany Public Schools 8J) - however there will be a new building for the school (I'm not sure off the top of my head which grades will be in the new building and which in the older one) in 2009-10 school year. You should be able to find out at that link.

Millersburg is actually growing quite a bit over the past 3 years. The most positive thing for re-sale down the road is the large home sites. 10,000 square feet is the minimum (0.25 acres). It used to be so in North Albany but they have backed off that in recent developments. Currently Millersburg and Tangent are the only locations where this lot minimum exists...thats a plus. Additionally, because of the mill (which pays the lion's share of the taxes) - Millersburg property taxes are the lowest in Linn County (I think it was 11.50 per thousand last year - compared with over 19 in Albany). That also will impact resale.

I would agree with EZA on Lexington Estates and its relationship to the freeway - as well as the high number of rental homes there. However, there are parts of it that are actually quite nice...and there were many different builders in that neighborhood - some have really bad reputations, but others were quite good so you have to do a little research. However, not ALL of them are poorly built (Glocar, Lydon, Roth and a few others are pretty solid builders).

[samsgson]

I've been gone from the area for a while so hesitated to respond at first. It looks like the smell in Albany may have been reduced but I don't see any comments on the dense fog on I-5 north of Albany in the winter. Unless the climate has changed a bunch it's a pretty dangerous place to be on the highway more than a few times in the winter. If I remember correctly, that band can stretch west across the Hwy 99W at Camp Adair.(sp?) It's been a while, like I say, but even if Camp Adair is gone I would suspect the dense fog band would still be there on occasion in the winter.
How about it current locals??

[Silverfall]

We live in south Salem and my hubby commutes every day to Corvallis. I don't think he has ever commented on the fog being so dense that it was dangerous and he has been commuting for 10 years.

Black ice...well that is an issue every year.

[samsmom98]

Thanks for all the input. Good to know about the road conditions. Although, coming from NM, the land of tomorrow, if they salt at all in the winter in OR it will be an improvement!

Thanks DavePautsch for the info on Millersburg. We are going to put that on our list to check out. I did look at Clover Ridge's test scores and they met all the requirements last year. so that's a plus. We are coming from a super nice neighborhood (in terms of the residents and HOA) in ABQ with no rentals and great neighbors, so we won't be looking at Lexington Estates.

Silverfall, you said that your husband commutes from South Salem to Corvallis... how long does that take? we are still considering Corvallis also.

As always, appreciate everyone's input!