Moving to Salem- Questions! (Portland, Woodburn: for sale, apartment, rentals)

[drumcondra]

Hello all, I am a female moving to Salem in August and have a few questions that I can hopefully get some feedback on. I’m moving from Texas and will be starting law school in August at Willamette. I visited Salem a few weeks ago and while I didn’t find it to be the most exciting place (I come from a bigger city), I see it as somewhere I can totally spend 3 years (most of which will be studying). Anyways, onto the inquiries…

1.) Where to live! I’ve read/heard that South Salem is the nicest, and that the West side has nice areas also. I will most likely be living with a roommate, and am hoping to get a 2 bed/2 bath apartment or house. Anyone have any tips or recommendations on neighborhoods or complexes? I’d be driving to Willamette everyday so I wouldn’t want it to be too far. Also, is traffic over the bridge going to and from West Salem really that bad? And are there any areas I would want to make sure to avoid?

2.) Tied into number one, but best places to shop for furniture, home appliances, décor, etc? I’m probably going to come up in June to do some house/apt scouting, and would like to get an idea of where to shop if I need to furnish my place.

3.) This might be a weird question, but are bugs a problem in Salem or Oregon? We have a ton of bug problems here in TX (Roaches, Scorpions, centipedes, spiders), and I really hate (phobic of) them. Will I have to worry so much about bugs in my home living here?

4.) Shopping! Where are the best clothing stores/malls?

5.) Any tips or things you think a newbie to the area should know?

I know this may seems all over the place but I’m just trying to get as much info about Salem as I can before moving up there, and these boards seem to offer a lot of great advice!

[Silverfall]

You know most of the Willamette law students seem to like to rent in the Bush Park/Fairmount neighborhood so that they can just walk to the campus. Parking on campus can be kind of a pain sometimes so if you avoid a car for it, that would be good.

Where you shop for furniture depends on what kind of funds you have. You can get cheap home appliances on Craigslist, but most rentals will include some of those. For cheap decor Real Deals is a great store as is Tuesday Morning. If money isn't an object then Ashley's has great furniture.

We have a lot of spiders out here and ants. You'll need to clean off the cobwebs every couple of months or so. I'm not phobic so I don't think they are a big deal.

We have two malls, Salem Center and Lancaster Mall. Salem Center has Macy's and Nordstroms. We also have the outlet/company stores in Woodburn which is a huge development. There are a couple hundred stores there. If you want trendier, then Meringue Boutique has some cute things.

Most people live in Oregon because they are outdoorsy kind of people. We're not very trendy or hip folks out here, tend to be more earthy. Austin proper is about 5 times larger than Salem. Obviously we won't have as much going on here as a result. If you are used to a great nightlife, which Austin has, then you'll have to learn how to do other things to fill your time. So what tips I can give you depends on what you like to do.

So what do you like to do?

[mamh]

Welcome to Salem, you'll like it here
On bugs, I'll ask around at the Master Gardeners desk and see how many people they have coming in with real bug trouble like you mentioned..I work the desk once in a while and have seen a few non-poisnous spiders and the common sugar ant that just causes a mess..
On places to shop, Win-co two stores one on South Lancaster and one south commercial..Roths all over town, locally owned both places really care about their customers..E-Z Orchards out on the corner of Cordon Rd and Hazel Green in north-east Salem, for fresh veggies..In june the cherry's will be in season, OH YUMMMMMMMY, the place is great for all fresh furit and veggies..The store staff are the best too.
Hope this helps..
Good luck with your move

[drumcondra]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

You know most of the Willamette law students seem to like to rent in the Bush Park/Fairmount neighborhood so that they can just walk to the campus. Parking on campus can be kind of a pain sometimes so if you avoid a car for it, that would be good.

Where you shop for furniture depends on what kind of funds you have. You can get cheap home appliances on Craigslist, but most rentals will include some of those. For cheap decor Real Deals is a great store as is Tuesday Morning. If money isn't an object then Ashley's has great furniture.

We have a lot of spiders out here and ants. You'll need to clean off the cobwebs every couple of months or so. I'm not phobic so I don't think they are a big deal.

We have two malls, Salem Center and Lancaster Mall. Salem Center has Macy's and Nordstroms. We also have the outlet/company stores in Woodburn which is a huge development. There are a couple hundred stores there. If you want trendier, then Meringue Boutique has some cute things.

Most people live in Oregon because they are outdoorsy kind of people. We're not very trendy or hip folks out here, tend to be more earthy. Austin proper is about 5 times larger than Salem. Obviously we won't have as much going on here as a result. If you are used to a great nightlife, which Austin has, then you'll have to learn how to do other things to fill your time. So what tips I can give you depends on what you like to do.

So what do you like to do?

Thanks SilverFall, you seem to be the go-to person on theses boards for Salem! A Macy's and a Nordstroms... what more do you need! I remember seeing the Woodburn outlets driving between Salem and Portland. Are the Bush Park/Fairmount neighborhoods safe? What part of town are they in?

Well Austin may be a bigger city but I think we are pretty down to earth here. I really like a mix of activities... I really enjoy outdoorsy stuff, especially any sort of hiking/jogging/walking trails. I love anything beach related, and do love the mountains even though I'm a terrible skier! I do like to eat out a lot though, and go out to bars/clubs every so often. I don't think I'll have much time for that next year but I do like the option.

Welcome to Salem, you'll like it here
On bugs, I'll ask around at the Master Gardeners desk and see how many people they have coming in with real bug trouble like you mentioned..I work the desk once in a while and have seen a few non-poisnous spiders and the common sugar ant that just causes a mess..
On places to shop, Win-co two stores one on South Lancaster and one south commercial..Roths all over town, locally owned both places really care about their customers..E-Z Orchards out on the corner of Cordon Rd and Hazel Green in north-east Salem, for fresh veggies..In june the cherry's will be in season, OH YUMMMMMMMY, the place is great for all fresh furit and veggies..The store staff are the best too.
Hope this helps..
Good luck with your move

Thanks Mamh! Spiders don't scare me as much (save for tarantulas!), I'm more concerned with roaches, centipedes, and scorpions.

[Silverfall]

Mamh and I are the only two Salem residents on the board I think.

Safe is a relative term. I personally feel safe in Bush Park and Fairmount Hills. I don't think they are high crime areas by any means. The governor's mansion is in Fairmount Hills and the president of Willamette lives there too. Bush Park and Fairmount are south central. That means they are in south Salem just south of the downtown. If you look at google maps, you'll see Bush Park. The neighborhood is just south of that. To the west of that neighborhood, across Liberty and Commercial, is Fairmount Hills.

[Larry Caldwell]

The State Pen is on east State Street. The families of all the convicts cluster in the cheap housing just south of there, which is locally known as Felony Flats. The area is just east of the Willamette campus. I wouldn't want to be a single woman anywhere east of 17th street, and the farther west you go the safer you will be. Bush Park and Fairmount are good choices.

I have known Willamette law students. It seemed to consume their lives. Find a good study group.

Oregon has a tradition of great coffee. You could get drive-through espresso in Salem before there was any such thing as a Starbucks. Don't be surprised to find coffee machines that grind the beans and make a cup of drip coffee while you wait. Be careful not to over-indulge.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

I wouldn't want to be a single woman anywhere east of 17th street, and the farther west you go the safer you will be. Bush Park and Fairmount are good choices.

Actually this isn't quite right. The Historic district, McRae Park, and Capital Park are all very nice areas. All of which are east of 17th. Kevin Mannix (who ran for gov), the DA for the state, and several of my clients live in those neighborhoods. The DA for the state in fact lives in Capital Park which is part of Richmond which is what felony flats is. There are some cute houses in there.

Now between 12th and 17th south of center isn't so hot, and east of 17th south of Bellevue gets dubious. Crime has dropped in Felony Flats about 20%. It is most definitely on the upswing.

What happened was several years ago they passed a law that required felons released from the penn to be returned to their home counties. What had happened up until that point was exactly what you mention in your post. They got out of prison and settled in Richmond. That is no longer the case because felons have to go back home. It was putting undue stress on the city of Salem to take care of the state's felons. That is no longer the case.