Corvallis, OR

[aigel]

Guys,

Any of you live in Corvallis or the area? I am interested to live in this area some time down the road and while I have read up on city-data.com and the web, I'd like to hear some first hand accounts of like minded individuals (we are quite a similar demographic here on PPOT). I think I'll make it a trip some time to see first hand.

I am interested in the general feel of the place, culture, weather, car activities, outdoors (including hunting / fishing / ocean), living in the country vs. living in town etc.

Thanks!

George

[M.D. Holloway]

been there a few times...one of the best kept secrets in the US! Very beautiful town...

[SiberianDVM]

Good place to be when the power goes out.

[sammyg2]

You should check out Baker City Oregon. The weather is much nicer

[pdxfj]

Corvallis is a nice area, but keep in mind it is a college town (Oregon State).

There is just about any kind of outdoor activity one could want to do. The coast is a short drive away. Central Oregon, Crater Lake, etc are also not too far. You're close to Portland and Eugene, so plenty of car things to do in both towns.

Weather. That is the kicker. If you're coming from S. California you have to realize this is the Pacific Northwest. Summers are fantastic, but you pay for it. It starts raining in October, and does not stop until about July. If it is not raining it's usually gray and you won't see the sun for days or weeks on end. A good friend moved up from S. California to Corvallis and I asked him why. He said he wanted a change of scenery and in my mind I didn't give him a year and he would move.

Almost 9 months to the day he packed up and left. Couldn't handle the weather. During that time some friends of ours visited from Australia during the winter. They came up to Portland and one question I got from them was "how do you live in this crap? Rain, gray and cold the entire time they were here.

Politically the area leans heavily one way. If you lean that direction, you'll do fine. Otherwise the atmosphere and tax happy mindset of the state will make you nuts.

If you're curious, visit the area in the summer and winter. I can't stress enough that the weather is the biggest factor in deciding to move here. Even if you think you're prepared for it, you're not.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

[aigel]

Yes, a high desert climate would be nice, but the reason I specifically ask about Corvallis is the need to be close to OSU.

G

[Norm K]

The Beavers notwithstanding, even this Duck has to acknowledge that Corn-valley is a fabulous little town. It's a little more than an hour from the coast and only a couple hours from the Cascades. And never mind that the Willamette Valley is beautiful in its own right. My father was the sports editor of the Gazette Times in the fifties, plus I spent a few years there myself before moving from the state. My sister's been there for about thirty years and adores it.

Get yourself a nine-weight fly rod, rig it with some heavy sinking line and head out for some amazing (once you get the hang of it) Winter Steelhead fishing on the Alsea. And lest we ignore the big daddy of the river, there's a fine Fall Chinook run, too. The Santiam's close by as well, and even the mighty Rogue is within a couple hours.

Oh, and buy some rain gear.

_

[aigel]

Originally Posted by pdxfj

Corvallis is a nice area, but keep in mind it is a college town (Oregon State).

There is just about any kind of outdoor activity one could want to do. The coast is a short drive away. Central Oregon, Crater Lake, etc are also not too far. You're close to Portland and Eugene, so plenty of car things to do in both towns.

Weather. That is the kicker. If you're coming from S. California you have to realize this is the Pacific Northwest. Summers are fantastic, but you pay for it. It starts raining in October, and does not stop until about July. If it is not raining it's usually gray and you won't see the sun for days or weeks on end. A good friend moved up from S. California to Corvallis and I asked him why. He said he wanted a change of scenery and in my mind I didn't give him a year and he would move.

Almost 9 months to the day he packed up and left. Couldn't handle the weather. During that time some friends of ours visited from Australia during the winter. They came up to Portland and one question I got from them was "how do you live in this crap? Rain, gray and cold the entire time they were here.

Politically the area leans heavily one way. If you lean that direction, you'll do fine. Otherwise the atmosphere and tax happy mindset of the state will make you nuts.

If you're curious, visit the area in the summer and winter. I can't stress enough that the weather is the biggest factor in deciding to move here. Even if you think you're prepared for it, you're not.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Thanks pdxfj - great input. When looking at homes online, I could not help but notice that none of them had any measurable sized patios. I do know why. The weather is a big concern indeed. I used to live in LA, now in the Bay Area, so working my way north. I can deal with the Bay Area winters fine, but the rains here are about 25% of the Corvallis area and they come in storms, not a 9 month long drizzle. Also, moving to the Corvallis area would be later in life, with more spare time, so it would be nice to actually be able to go outside and do things. If you work 5 days a week 10h/ day, weather isn't as important.

G

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by aigel

so it would be nice to actually be able to go outside and do things. G

Learn to do things in the rain - it ain't hard and sometimes even preferable.

_

[pwd72s]

Only 3-4 feet of rain per year...nothing to worry about.

[speeder]

I love to visit the PNW but the reason it's so darn beautiful, (besides the geography/topography), is because it gets so much rain. It's a rain forest.

[LWJ]

Corvallis is a lovely town. High income. Educated. It was one of the highest per-capita income cities in Oregon for a while. May still be. It doesn't have some of the redneck vibe of other small Oregon cities. I could live there. I prefer Eugene, which is 45 minutes south and is sort of a Berkley light.

Weather is mild. Yes. It rains. I just spent 4 days down the road in Sweet Home. A lovely summer climate. Corvallis is just across he coastal range from the coast and coast range has nice hiking.

Come check it out. I recommend November - February to get a taste of the nasty dark days. The rain is nothing. It is the dismal grey clouded days for months on end that drives people bonkers. Seasonal affective disorder is real here.

[Grog]

Horrible area, high crime & unemployment rates. Bad weather, large poisonous bugs and snakes. Sink holes, tornadoes, typhoons and drought, all at once. Most if not all Oregon, Washington area is this way. Best to stay in California. Save yourself! don't know how long I'll last.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Norm K

Learn to do things in the rain - it ain't hard and sometimes even preferable.

_

This. I went to college in Salem, similar climate. You get used to the rain, you don't get too much snow, though there was one year that an ice storm happened. Took us 25 hours to drive from Sacramento to Salem.

Lots of pretty country around Corvallis, great places for mountain biking, hiking.

[LakeCleElum]

Back in the '80's, my parents moved from WA to Oregon to be near my sister....What lured them was no sales tax and Cheep car registration fees....

What drove them back 8 years later was high income tax and high property tax...Rained a lot at both homes, so that wasn't a factor to them. For me, the rain and gray caused me to flee east of the Mountains to Lake Cle Elum area.....

[aigel]

Thanks guys for your valued input. A trip in the winter definitely is in order. I had done that before to NM and it turned me off that place - big time.

What do you think about living right in town? My preference would be to either be walking distance to downtown and have some smaller lot / house, or be on an acre plus, outside of town. I'm not interested in suburban setting (a small house/lot and still having to drive to town). Is close to downtown too crazy with students? Looks to me like much of the downtown area and area close to OSU is rented out to students. May be challenging if you aren't ready to party with them every night ...

George

[Charles Freeborn]

My wife and I are both CA natives. Me from the Bay Area, her from SoCal. We LOVE Oregon. Rain? Get a plane ticket to Hawaii for a week in February, good modern insulated clothing and rain gear and go do it. Summers more than make up for it. Corvallis is fun. College town, and still close enough to Portland when you need city fix. Prices are half of Portland.
Do visit in winter to make sure you know what you're in for, but come is summer too. Oh yeah, and get a Subaru....seriously.

[pwd72s]

Or a Prius with a Hillary sticker...

[Tobra]

For your outdoor activities, I have two words for you, Gore Tex

[tevake]

I've been enjoying this thread, as I am giving serious thought to settling up that way.
My travels thru the PNW last summer revealed many beautiful attractive areas.
The weather last summer could not have been more delightful. Tho I was looking forward to a little rain. After being in Az for a while now some rain sounds nice.

The reputation of the winter weather have not fallen on deaf ears. Tho I have lived for years in N shore Kauai, an area that gets much more rain volume than the many parts
Of the PNW. So its not the amount of rain that concerns me so much.
Also the temps near the coast can be quite mild. Was watching the temps thruout last winter, often it was warmer there than here in central Az. That was a bit surprising.

For me the idea of short days, of endless gray, no blue skies, no sunshine, relentless drizzle that concerns me. I guess good indoor projects is a plan.
In Kauai we get periods of hard pouring rain that can last a while, but then its punctuated with periods of beautiful clear weather.

I guess too much of anything can wear thin. Even the relentless sun of most of the year here in az. We are in the monsoon season now in Az and I'm loving the dynamic varied weather plus a little humidity is nice to feel.

I'm coming to the conclusion that spending more time up that way is the best way to feel it out for myself.
But I really do appreciate the insight shared here from folks living in the area.

Cheers Richard