Why not Canby ??? Help !!!

[bobmulk]

Raydeo: I graduated from Canby High School back in '77. As a matter of fact, I was just in Canby today. I have friends there and grew up in the area. Even now, I'm only about 25 miles away in Salem. I'm quite qualified to tell you about Canby.

You ask about a meth problem. I'm not aware of one in Canby, but yes, meth is everywhere nowadays. You cannot escape it.

Canby has fantastic schools. The residents have historically supported school bond measures for capital expenditures, technology and general support. Most of the schools are very new (within the last ten to twenty years).

Canby is probably conservative to middle of the road. I find it refreshing because you don't have the screaming liberals and the screaming conservatives. OK, both are everywhere like meth. But I would say it's a laissez-faire attitude in Canby. Although if you're a transvestite or radical homosexual, you will probably find yourself out of place.

Housing-wise, Canby has become quite pricey. This is because it is such a grand place to live. Good schools have attracted hundreds to thousands of professionals who want good schools for their kids. It is very accessible to Portland and not part of the polyglot of suburbs like Beaverton or Gresham. Because of this huge influx, the average home price is around $345K. Canby currently has around 15,000 people.

Canby is surrounded by beautiful farmland. This provides a buffer from the crush of people and commerce in Portland and the close-in suburbs. Nevertheless, you can get anywhere in the metro area within 45 minutes to an hour--unless it's rush hour!

Canby has a quaint downtown with locally-owned businesses. The chain fast food restaurants are there but you won't find anything like Applebee's or Red Robin. Same goes for the national chain stores. Cuisine is non-existent. However, all these amenities are within a twenty minute commute to Lake Oswego, Tigard or West Linn.

I'm not sure about tax rates. You can click onto Oregon.gov and play around until you find city tax info. Good luck and welcome to Oregon.

[heidinbend]

I grew up in wilsonville until about 11 years ago when I left home. canby is for sure growing but still a pretty quiet suburb. YES lots of Meth... At least there was when I lived there. But it is a nice area. Unfourntely most of the smaller towns/suburbs have meth probs in Oregon... Hubburd is pretty country too. GOOD LUCK!!

[chas1]

Canby has changed somewhat in the past 30 years. The Schools continue to be very good, despite the funding issues that seem to plague most cities. The public services, i.e. Telephone, Utilities, Police and Fire are very much State of the Art, however the Police Department could improve its public image.
The growth has been slow and steady over the years. It has had some affect on the infrastructure of the community. The roads need major work, there may be a fee to residents in the near future to accomplish this.
The City Governmant, headed up by a paid Administrator, Mayor,City Council, and various boards.
Overall Canby has lost some of its hometown rural feel over the years, but for the most part, is a very livable community. Not the yuppieville as some have mentioned, nor as Urban as Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Lake Oswego or Beaveton. Not as rural as nearby Communities. Kind of inbetween and leaning toward becoming more urban. For quite a while Canby was just another bedroom community, and is striving to get more Industry added to the Tax Rolls to diminish the burden on Homeowners (property taxes have nearly doubled in 30 years).
Some highlights of Canby include:
Art Association
Music Boosters
Canby Kids Inc. (non school sports)
General Canby Days Inc. (4th of July Celebration)
School Sports
County Fairgrounds(for Clackamas County)

You might visit cityofcanby.com, generalcanbydays.org,the chamber of commerce web site for Canby, OR for more information.

Good Luck!

[PNW]

I grew in Canby--but got married and moved to WA. Downtown Canby hasn't changed much, but Fred Meyer moved in on the edge of town awhile back. The town is definitely laid back, but a lot of nice new homes were built on the farm where I used to pick berries and beans as a kid! Loved the Clackamas Co. Fair in Canby, especially the rodeo, every August. The church on S. Ivy St that our family attended has been growing gangbusters lately!

[Stevpla]

I have worked in Canby for the last nine years. I like to say Canby is 10 miles from anywhere. 10 miles from Oregon City, 10 from Wilsonville and 10-15 from Woodburn. Hwy 99E runs through town and is the main thoroughfare which is lined with your standard fast food/strip mall layouts. Canby has a nice little downtown off of 99E with some eateries and shops. The main west coast rail line for Union Pacific runs right through town splitting the downtown from 99E. Lots of freight trains as well as Amtrak (doesn't stop though) go through.

Back in 2000 when we wanted to buy a house we wanted to buy in Canby, but found it was 10-20K more expensive the other areas nearby. The most common reason we heard was it was the Canby School district that was good so it pushed prices up. We eventually settled on Oregon City since we don't have kids and have to worry about good school districts.

The town continues to grow as a bedroom community for all the jobs on the west side and Portland. It still has a small town mentality even though they continue to push subdivisions out upon the farmland south of town. The town has established a few business parks to attract business, but they never make it easy as as our company found out a few years back while we tried to expand. All in all it's as good of place as any. Just far away from the crowds, but close enough to get to them if you like that sort of thing.