Wilsonville or Canby??? (Portland, Salem, Silverton: apartment, rentals, houses)

[jablye]

Moving to Oregon in 2 weeks and trying to decide between these two communities. Anybody have any thoughts on which is "better"

We are looking for a town which has a real sense of community, but is also close to I-5 for easy access to Portland to the north and Salem to the south.

Safe neighborhoods, good schools, the basics (friendly people, close to grocery stores, local restaurants, fitness centers, clean and safe parks, etc.)

Also, we will be renting for now, so looking for a duplex or apartment. Which community might be better for this type of housing?

[jablye]

I guess there is always Silverton too. Didn't really think much about it, but that would be an okay location as well, and from what I hear it's a "small-town" kind of place.

[Silverfall]

Wilsonville is more suburbia-ish and Canby has a more rural feel to it. Both are nice but they are very different. I don't Silverton is a particularly good location to commute to Portland.

[jablye]

Thanks Silverfall! My impression, at least what I'm getting from online, is that Wilsonville is more of a mix of industrial/business and being a bit of a bedroom community. Canby looks like it could be "small-town Oregon", which coming from the Midwest may be more to our liking.

Just having a difficult time finding duplexes or houses for rent in Canby. Any suggestions?

I'll be out there this weekend, could you point me in a direction if I decide to check out Canby?

We have an apartment community (Sundial) in Wilsonville that we've been talking to, but kind of want to get away from the whole multi-unit apartment kind of lifestyle and more single-family type unit as we look to really settle down and put down some roots.

[Silverfall]

Honestly craigslist will probably be your best bet to find houses and duplexes for rent. Our rentals are scattered all over a bunch of different places so I would look at Craigslist and then The Oregonian for rentals.

[jablye]

Found a listing for a duplex on Montebello in Wilsonville. Can anybody tell me anything about that neighborhood, etc. Another person on here a while back told me to avoid anything on Montebello, but didn't say why.

[Lunar Delta]

Wilsonville is a lot prettier and more tasteful than Canby, with more stuff to do and a good business presence as well.

Canby kind of reminds me of some of the more rural towns back in GA, the kind of places I came to Oregon to get away from.