Liking Albany, Oregon (Salem, Umatilla, Unity: for sale, rental, job)

[four_stevens]

May Be Moving To Albany In The Next Couple Of Months With A Job Transfer. Any Particular Neighborhoods I Should Look At With Regards To School Quality? Probably Looking In The $220,000 Range.

[Sandy B]

Try 53rd street area it has some of the best schools. All of Albany schools are crowded though we are trying to pass a bond to get them improved. Good luck

[DavePautsch]

I live out in the neighborhood off 53rd...love it! Great for a family with a broad mix of people and houses. As the builders continued building, some of the lots got a bit smaller - but they just put in a very nice park.

The schools for this neighborhood are Liberty Elementary, Memorial Middle School, and West Albany High (GO Bulldogs!). My kids have thrived in these schools...and there is a high degree of parental involvement, and community support. As a matter of fact, today in Albany was the annual Eat and Run (actually last night and today)...the foundation raised almost $15,000 for special programs. That is a COMMUNITY based foundation, not the school district. It just goes to show the level of support the schools have from our community.

There are some nice older established neighborhoods too, one is within walking distance of the schools mentioned above (street names are: Lakewood, Lawnridge, Umatilla, Fir Oaks, and the cross streets are 27th and 29th I think). There is also a very nice older neighborhood in the South Albany area (Mountain View)...although I have no personal experience with the elementary and middle schools on that side of town.

There are over 450 homes on the market here; median sale price over the past 90 days was at $185,000; so the chances that you can find a nice home in a nice neighborhood at your $220K price point - pretty high I'd think. In the Spring Meadow/Brookfield area (off 53rd) you'd be looking at about 1400-1500 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, fenced yard, lot size about 0.13 acres. Most of the houses our here are 2000 and newer...still a few brand new construction for sale (there are MANY different builders out here - so check them out thoroughly because the quality can vary).

Hope that was helpful!
DaveP

[MimzyMusic]

I love Albany. It's a great Middle American city with a great high school (West not South) and it's pretty easy to get around. I wanted to go to Linn-Benton but there's only bus service to Salem so I have to settle with Chemeketa.

[Silverfall]

North Albany schools have a good reputation as well. It is more expensive so I'm not sure the price range you are looking for would work. I think generally speaking you want to look North and West.