Linn vs. Benton

Note: I thought I had published this a week ago, but it apparently saved as a draft instead. Hmph.

An article in the Gazette-Times today reported that the average home price in Corvallis has now topped $300,000. The housing market here has become absurd. We don't really have the economic base for homes that expensive, unlike say the Bay Area or the New York City sleeper communities. Despite having a decent income for a single mom, right around the median income for my household size, I couldn't afford to buy anything other than a manufactured home or small condo at this point. Thankfully, I actually prefer to rent right now. Nobody earning the median income in Corvallis could qualify for the typical mortgage, unless you find a shady subprime lender offering up an adjustable rate deal where you only pay interest for several years then faint when you see what the actual payments will be.

The article goes on to mention that Albany and other Linn County towns have become sleeper communities for Corvallis, as well as Salem and Eugene. At one point, someone says that a little bit of driving is worth it for the added quality of life. Sorry, but quality of life is precisely what keeps me in Corvallis, not in one of the surrounding towns. I like our green spaces, our downtown flower baskets, the sense of community and, yes, I like the tree-hugging, aging hippie liberalism. Besides, in a very literal sense, Albany stinks. Whether it is Wah Chang or the paper mill (a point of endless debate), that factory stench wafts into Albany and lingers. On hot days, it is unbearable. Albany is also very fond of concrete. Not all of Albany; North Albany isn't bad, and downtown Albany is worth visiting sometimes. But most of Albany is bleak.

As for other local communities, another article in the GT neatly demonstrated why I will always vastly prefer Corvallis. A couple in Lebanon decided to enter a contest for their dream wedding, and they won. Their wedding took place yesterday, on the theoretically lucky 07/07/07 (side note: happy birthday to my brother!), at Wal-Freaking-Mart. In a previous article about this couple, it was mentioned that the bride shops there every single day. The Wal-Mart cashier who married the couple, a retired pastor, said Jesus would approve. “I think it’s super,” he said, beaming. “I think if Christ were here on Earth, he’d be in the marketplace. This is the marketplace.”

I never pictured Jesus in a blue vest with a yellow happy face button before.