Relocating To OR. either Salem or Eugene? (Portland, Corvallis: sales, renting)

[inspiredmomof5]

My husband may be relocating for a sales rep position with his territory covering Salem, Eugene and southern Oregon. We are a large family with 5 kids, so schools and safety are of utmost importance. We have been online looking at housing and we have found the nicest homes to be in the Woodburn area. We will be renting to start. We need at least a 4 bdrm/2.5 bath home. We have only traveled through Oregon a few times. We currently live in Northern Idaho (Coeur d'Alene area). We love the small town feel but need the conveniences of a larger town, shopping (Target, Costco, malls, etc..), restaurants, etc. I will be looking for employment in the administrative/clerical field and I am not big on having to commute long distances. If anyone can help us out and advise us on the best places to be that would be very much apprecitated.

[malachai23]

Originally Posted by inspiredmomof5

My husband may be relocating for a sales rep position with his territory covering Salem, Eugene and southern Oregon. We are a large family with 5 kids, so schools and safety are of utmost importance. We have been online looking at housing and we have found the nicest homes to be in the Woodburn area. We will be renting to start. We need at least a 4 bdrm/2.5 bath home. We have only traveled through Oregon a few times. We currently live in Northern Idaho (Coeur d'Alene area). We love the small town feel but need the conveniences of a larger town, shopping (Target, Costco, malls, etc..), restaurants, etc. I will be looking for employment in the administrative/clerical field and I am not big on having to commute long distances. If anyone can help us out and advise us on the best places to be that would be very much apprecitated.

Hi there, and welcome in advance to Oregon! First off - I would consider reposting this in the general Oregon forum as opposed to the Portland specific forum. You will get more responses in the general Oregon forum. Secondly - here is a thread from a while back where I (and others) expressed our opinions about Woodburn. http://www.city-data.com/forum/orego...-woodburn.html
I would NOT recommend Woodburn AT ALL. As you can see a few others disagree with me. I would actually recommend Salem to you. You might want to search the Salem forums on here and consider getting in contact with Silverfall who posts about Salem, and other nearby cities. Salem would have everything you need (Target, Costco, malls, etc). It is maybe a little bigger than you are used to - but maybe it would work? Keizer is a satellite community of Salem, and it's a bit smaller. Maybe Keizer would work for you. Be advised that the job market (even admin/clerical) is not so great in Oregon right now. Hope all that helps!!

[ak.nessa]

Safest place to raise a family in that area would be Corvallis if you don't mind college students it's a safe town with great grocery stores, parks, plenty of restaurants and some places to shop. It's not a very long drive up to Albany where there is a larger shopping mall (15 mins north). And Corvallis is only about 30 mins south of Salem, and 45-50 mins north of Eugene. I-5 makes it easy to commute between the towns you mentioned. Eugene is pretty big and pretty urban, LOTS of hippies there, LOTS of culture! I think Salem is pretty ghetto and boring, and not the safest place to have kids. I'm sure there are nicer parts of town but I have been there many times and never felt as safe as I have felt in Corvallis. I lived in Corvallis for a few years and never heard about crime the way I heard about it happening in Salem and Eugene. Corvallis isn't THAT small, it's definitely a comfortable size, you can get everything you need in town.

Hope you like RAIN!!!

[malachai23]

Originally Posted by ak.nessa

Safest place to raise a family in that area would be Corvallis if you don't mind college students it's a safe town with great grocery stores, parks, plenty of restaurants and some places to shop. It's not a very long drive up to Albany where there is a larger shopping mall (15 mins north). And Corvallis is only about 30 mins south of Salem, and 45-50 mins north of Eugene. I-5 makes it easy to commute between the towns you mentioned. Eugene is pretty big and pretty urban, LOTS of hippies there, LOTS of culture! I think Salem is pretty ghetto and boring, and not the safest place to have kids. I'm sure there are nicer parts of town but I have been there many times and never felt as safe as I have felt in Corvallis. I lived in Corvallis for a few years and never heard about crime the way I heard about it happening in Salem and Eugene. Corvallis isn't THAT small, it's definitely a comfortable size, you can get everything you need in town.

Hope you like RAIN!!!

OP, if someone were to say that the entire city of Salem is "ghetto", I would say that is a ridiculous comment. In fact, it would sound eerily as ridiculous as a similar comment made that went something along the line of "stay out of Portland at night, it's dangerous!" LOL Sure, there are a few less than desirable areas in Salem, but the majority of the city is quite nice. The entire city of Keizer is nice. I should know, I grew up there. Crime is very minimal in most all Willamette Valley towns, including Salem. You can look up the stats online yourself for proof. Eugene is also a nice city, but I would not call it urban. I wouldn't call Salem urban either. The only true urban area in the entire state of Oregon is Portland. The rest of the state is full of smaller cities and towns, all with their own character of course. The college student/hippie mecca character was actually why I did not recommend Eugene or Corvallis to you. But if that is your "thing" then hey, my bad I have been to Coeur d'Alene (nice town, by the way!) and I was basing my recommendation on the culture you are currently used to, as well as your specific criteria. Salem probably seems boring to the teenagers and college kids on this board, but it is a fine place for adults to make a home and has a plethora of shopping (mutiple malls, and any big chain store you can think of), as well as lots of wonderful independent stores and restaurants. I would definitely consider Salem if I were you. I'm not saying it's perfect, but you would definitely have a better stab at landing a job in a bit of a larger city like Salem than you would in a tiny town like Corvallis.

[burnhams]

Originally Posted by ak.nessa

Safest place to raise a family in that area would be Corvallis if you don't mind college students it's a safe town with great grocery stores, parks, plenty of restaurants and some places to shop. It's not a very long drive up to Albany where there is a larger shopping mall (15 mins north). And Corvallis is only about 30 mins south of Salem, and 45-50 mins north of Eugene. I-5 makes it easy to commute between the towns you mentioned. Eugene is pretty big and pretty urban, LOTS of hippies there, LOTS of culture! I think Salem is pretty ghetto and boring, and not the safest place to have kids. I'm sure there are nicer parts of town but I have been there many times and never felt as safe as I have felt in Corvallis. I lived in Corvallis for a few years and never heard about crime the way I heard about it happening in Salem and Eugene. Corvallis isn't THAT small, it's definitely a comfortable size, you can get everything you need in town.

Hope you like RAIN!!!

Corvallis would be a great place to live for a family. It is a college town but it is very safe, I lived there for 6 years and loved it. I never felt unsafe anywhere I went. It is also close to Albany where you can find more of the big store chains like, Costco, Target, etc. The downtown are is very nice and lots of really good restaurants. There are parks everywhere for kids to play at. There a great feel of a community in Corvallis. Houses are more expensive in Corvallis but it is a great town!!

[Nell Plotts]

If your husband will be working Salem, Eugene and points south, Woodburn is not a good location - too far north. Corvallis would be MUCH better.

[ak.nessa]

I definitely was generalizing Salem. I have not driven around the more residential areas so I should watch my mouth! I suppose I refer to Eugene as urban because I am a big fan of small towns. The downtown is very large compared to the downtown I grew up with in Lake Oswego. I think Corvallis is a perfect size. I don't think it's TOO small, just small enough so it makes life easier, if you need to go to the grocery store you usually don't have to drive too far. Most people agree it's a very safe place. For me it was too big. Too many people! But I am the kind of person who wants to live out in the woods or desert miles from anywhere

[puerco]

What does 'ghetto' mean? Is that a suburban Lake Oswego term? I grew up in the racially diverse Irvington neighborhood in Portland. Is that 'Ghetto'?