Native Eugenian, Interested in What It's Like to Live in Albany

[JackieLovesSun]

I have found people there super friendly when I am showing homes and chat with people all the time.

it really sounds like a nice area.

[truculentrelief]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

So I don't live in Albany, but I do sell old homes. What I suggest is just walk around the Monteith Historic District. I have found people there super friendly when I am showing homes and chat with people all the time. I was showing a home to a client and one neighbor invited her over for coffee if she wanted to ask about the city, as she was deciding between Albany and Salem.

Since you like older homes, I would chat with the older homeowners as I do think that the vibe of that area is different than the newer areas.

That is exactly what happened when I visited. I was walking around one of the historic districts and one person invited me in to look at the inside of their house (I was admiring one of their trees), I asked a lady working in her yard about her house and she went and got her wife who told me more about the place. They offered to lend me a bicycle. Another person invited me in for coffee when I asked if anything was open on Sunday in downtown Albany. I was absolutely floored by how trusting people were.

[truculentrelief]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

<snip>

Honestly you can probably find a quirky coffee shop, health food store, and farmer's market in pretty much any town in the US anymore. There was plenty of that in Waco TX in the Baptist heartland, where we lived for a decade. The real question is how much of a social and political minority do you actually want to be. Versus how much of your views and values do you want to see reflected in the community in which you live. I eventually got sick of seeing my community consistently make the wrong decisions about everything, and consistently elect people with whom I disagreed. My sanity, stress level, and mental health are all much improved now that I live back in a community that more closely represents my values. I can't imagine going through the pandemic and Trump years while still living back in central Texas.

(emphasis mine)

Sorry, I think I missed this addition to your post earlier. This is an important consideration. I feel I don't really fit in anywhere, but I know in Eugene I can pretty much be myself, and the local government, though ineffective, is mostly made up of people who reflect my values.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by truculentrelief

That is exactly what happened when I visited. I was walking around one of the historic districts and one person invited me in to look at the inside of their house (I was admiring one of their trees), I asked a lady working in her yard about her house and she went and got her wife who told me more about the place. They offered to lend me a bicycle. Another person invited me in for coffee when I asked if anything was open on Sunday in downtown Albany. I was absolutely floored by how trusting people were.

That is my experience in the historic district there over the years. I have not had that experience in other parts of Albany, but the historic district is a different group of people in my experience. Super gracious and welcoming.

[Metlakatla]

Silverfall is right. The Monteith district is far from representative of Albany as a whole.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

That is my experience in the historic district there over the years. I have not had that experience in other parts of Albany, but the historic district is a different group of people in my experience. Super gracious and welcoming.

I have relatives who live in the rural fringes of Albany, kind of between Albany and Lebanon. They are a bit scary and hostile, even to me and I'm related. Way too many guns and not enough common sense. So maybe my impressions of the place are a bit colored by that.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I have relatives who live in the rural fringes of Albany, kind of between Albany and Lebanon. They are a bit scary and hostile, even to me and I'm related. Way too many guns and not enough common sense. So maybe my impressions of the place are a bit colored by that.

No. I think that is an accurate depiction of the area. I think there are other cities that are more hostile than Albany, but it still has a strong right-wing bent there. I'm just in and out of neighborhoods all the time so I have will have a different impression of certain parts of Albany. Most cities have something redeeming about them.

The historic district just has this just warm and welcoming group of people. They have an annual (pre-Covid) Holiday Parlor tour in that neighborhood. The historic district is just a thing there. It is a really large district for such a small town, so there is a huge sense of pride in those old homes there.

[redguard57]

Albany is only a 45 minute drive from Eugene... seems like not that much of an imposition to just go spend some time there and check it out. My impression of Albany is that it's one of the more working class downscale towns in the Willamette Valley, and so the businesses and amenities there reflect that but the cost of housing also reflects that.

[pnwguy2]

Albany has always felt more blue collar than Eugene, not that there is anything wrong with that. It has a somewhat industrial feel but also closest city to I-5 in that small metro. I love the area directly to the west with the slow buildup to the Coastal range, but for the city itself not too interested. That said nearby college town Corvallis has much more vibrancy.