Considering Move to Corvallis - Rental Homes and Where to Live? (Springfield: apartments, house)

[dfmoving]

Hello -
My husband and I may be moving to the Corvallis area as he has been offered a position at OSU. The area sounds just lovely and I am wondering if anyone can shed some light about where to live in Corvallis or the surrounding area. Here is what we are looking for:

- New-er rental home (3 bed-room) - We are in our early 30-s, looking to start a family, but we are not ready to purchase a home yet.
- Close to OSU (no more than a 30-min drive, would prefer a 5-15 min drive). Husband is new faculty at OSU.
- Quiet, family-friendly neighborhood
- No more than 20 minutes from a shopping mall or say, a Target.

I appreciate any info that you are willing to share. Thanks!

[dfmoving]

Are parts of Albany about 20 minutes from OSU? Are there any areas in Albany that are worth looking at that might appeal to OSU faculty/staff members? Thank you for your help.

[Gary Irwin]

Hi There,
I have the honor of working with a lot of new OSU employees and staff. I have often taken folks on a driving tour of our area whether they are planning on renting or buying. There are areas such as North Albany that offer a good value for your dollar. It about 15 to 20 min from campus and is safe and clean

[Steve Pickering]

Albany can be a 45 minute drive to campus. Best bet though as you will find rentals are scarce as hens teeth in Corvallis.

[scottinpdx]

The rental market is real tight and fairly expensive in Corvallis. Granted I moved out of Corvallis almost 4 years ago, I pretty sure it is not any better. Best advise is to avoid at all cost, renting from Red Door Properites/Bula Enterprise/Kip Schoning, but I am not sure if they are around even anymore. Philomath is almost an extention of Corvallis nowaday so that might be a option.

Corvallis is a great place to live (if you can afford it). Great Community and has an amazing farmers market.

[Larry Caldwell]

The high rental rates for student housing reflect a 3 month vacancy in the summer. You may have to do some serious shopping, but landlords will be happy to rent to a year round tenant. Your rental rate will reflect that.

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

The high rental rates for student housing reflect a 3 month vacancy in the summer. You may have to do some serious shopping, but landlords will be happy to rent to a year round tenant. Your rental rate will reflect that.

I'm not convinced that's as true as you'd like to believe.

Yes, many people don't stay in Corvallis over the summer, but that does not mean they aren't paying rent. Leases still run for 12 months and the low availability means a student can't wait until September to find a place to live. If anything, having students gone for three months is a boon to landlords, who get to collect rent on empty apartments while having lower operating costs (water, routine repairs, etc).

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by dfmoving

Hello -
My husband and I may be moving to the Corvallis area as he has been offered a position at OSU. The area sounds just lovely and I am wondering if anyone can shed some light about where to live in Corvallis or the surrounding area. Here is what we are looking for:

- New-er rental home (3 bed-room) - We are in our early 30-s, looking to start a family, but we are not ready to purchase a home yet.
I'm sure you realize that one of the things that makes a community desirable to live in is a high index of owner-occupied homes. Corvallis is no exception, so finding a rental house could take some time and you may not get your druthers in terms of what you'd like.

- Close to OSU (no more than a 30-min drive, would prefer a 5-15 min drive). Husband is new faculty at OSU.
Gauging distance by driving time can be dicey as you can live quite close in but have a long commute due to separation by a river. One of the really, really big advantages of living in Corvallis is the ability to avoid automobile dependency. Remember that car-dependency is at the center of an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle. Corvallis has a great bikeway system and smart residents will want to live where they can take advantage of it. Your best prospects will be in the city of Corvallis itself. Philomath might also be a potential prospect. But to take full advantage of what Corvallis offers, you really have to live within the city limits.

- Quiet, family-friendly neighborhood.
That's virtually everything in town.

- No more than 20 minutes from a shopping mall or say, a Target.
Hmmm. If you like to patronize cheap, mass-merchandized, made-in-China emporiums, you'll be at a real disconnect with the culture of Corvallis. Most Corvallisites pride themselves on responsible consumerism. Local businesses tend to reflect that and so shopping malls are more common in blue-collar areas like Albany and Springfield. Corvallis has a real downtown and lots of upscale places like Trader Joes and Market of Choice. Don't worry. There's lots of shopping in Corvallis and you won't have to lower yourself to Costco or Target to be happy there.

I appreciate any info that you are willing to share. Thanks!

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