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.
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.
posted by Corvallist at
1:44 PM
13 Comments:
The city's Home Buyer Assistance Programs are helpful to some (including me). See also Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services.
By
Anonymous, at 4:38 PM
Anonymous.....I happen to dislike Corvallis Neighborhood Housing since they promised to reimburse me for a job I did on one of their properties, then never did. I don't know if the one you speak of is just the old Corvallis Neighborhood Housing renamed or some different outfit, hopefully a different outfit entirely.
Corvallist, you got it right about Albany--concrete worshipping town. Stay in Corvallis. Wish I could have. Now I feel so stuck over here and so alone and soooooo surrounded by concrete, industrial wastelands, Busch Lite nightly case drinkers and noisy huge vehicles of all sorts.
No hiking parks. No sense of community. Just like night and day difference. Wish I could come home.
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Anonymous, at 12:00 AM
Apparently everybody agrees with you, which is why they pay more for a house in Corvallis than Albany.
What is depressing is that this is becoming a town for people with money only, instead of just a cool place with reasonable rents, like it used to be, but live goes on..
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Christopher Farrell, at 5:19 PM
I'm a Corvallis resident, but I have to say I think the city does a less than spectacular job of keeping up the public spaces.
With all the money spent on Riverfront Park, you would think that they would weed and pull up dead plants at least once in a while. And several parking and median strips within the jurisdiction of the city (i.e. in South Corvallis along 3rd) are also not well kept.
While Albany may have a higher percentage of area in concrete, I think they do a superior job of taking care of their green spaces.
By
Anonymous, at 12:13 PM
Albany is much better. There parks are better kept and nicer too. Corvallis is soo... elitest.
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Anonymous, at 2:10 PM
The cost of housing relative to wage growth over the past six or seven years has been truly outrageous, and it can't be sustained. Keep your eyes on the Willamette Landing subdivision in Southtown -- to me, that's the real test of the Corvallis bubble. Once it pops, then I think we'll start to see a gradual, and needed, correction all around town.
A correction of roughly 30% would put us back on track to historical norms. It may take a few years, and it won't be pretty, but it will happen. Interest rates are back at rational levels and junk credit is getting cleaned up. Real estate everywhere is going to come back down to Earth and Corvallis isn't immune. So hang in there everyone and stay patient.
By
Unknown, at 9:41 AM
I have two things to say. First, Jesus in the marketplace?!?! Did that retired pastor/Wal-Mart clerk miss the part where Jesus turns over the tables in the marketplace and yells at the moneychangers?
Second, the housing market may correct soon, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of people are retiring to Corvallis from areas with higher property values. So even when the market corrects nationally, people with relatively larger amounts of equity in their homes in sprawl-o-land are still going to come here and spend big money on houses. My own personal jury is still out on this. Higher housing costs versus more high-end services (like restaurants) because the clientele to support them are here.
By
Anonymous, at 11:41 AM
Why should the working poor need to rely on programs to help them afford homes? Why isn't the system set up so they can save and afford homes on their own? It seems silly to me that something as basic as housing needs a government handout. Don't get me wrong, government's involvement in bettering people's lives is always great. But why should it be needed for affording a home? To me, that's sad.
Rent is the killer in my budget. I live in Corvallis. Recently, I looked at apartments and rental homes in the Linn and Benton area. I must admit the idea of moving to Albany made me uneasy and I couldn't put my finger on why. Perhaps I've grown too used to the "elitist" surroundings of Corvallis in my 20 years here. But I do love it. I just wish I could afford more housing for my money. Right now it seems that the only solution is to earn more money. Lots and lots and lots of it.
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Character_Matters, at 5:25 PM
To the anonymous person trying to leave weird, incomprehensible comments about journalism and some article from 12 years ago in Psychology Today, as well as cryptic insults to other commenters, please just stop. I'm not going to bother letting the comments through, and you're wasting my time. Come back when you have something relevant to say.
Thanks!
By
Corvallist, at 12:19 PM
Corallist should blog more because I love Corvallist and also need places to post stuff like this CIRCUS OF HORRORS!!!!!
By
Anonymous, at 9:02 PM
This is so right on and it begs some thought. Why do liberal nice college towns become places only yuppies can afford to live. Think Boulder, CO. Populations of people who dislike corporate rule and the rich should drive away the rich not bring them in. I think its because college towns are nice and draw in the money grubbers
I agree about Albany. I wanted Corvallis, I am STUCK in Albany. Albany BLOWS GOATS. I am afraid to go outside at times (and I am 300 lbs and 6,4). Some of the people are cool but I see a lot of two groups. 1) People hopped up on meth. 2) Inbred republican flag waving (literally this town is full of flags) bush lovin people.
It does stink. But what gets me is this is NO PLACE to raise a family. I lived on the coast and felt the same way about newport.
Corvallis has its problems but I dont worry about the ever so fun combination of shotguns and meth.
Albany is a small town GHETTO. I have lived in big citied and felt safer. I pass homeless people under a bridge every day
By
Spiritbear, at 9:03 PM
Hey Corvallist..my wife and I are new to the area and it was plain as day to us. (Thanks for your welcoming comment on wablee.com btw!) It was like night and day...democrats in corvallis, republicans in albany...nice cultural atmosphere in corvallis, concrete in albany...beavs in corvallis, for some reason I saw lots of ducks fans in albany...I think the main difference is we value culture over industry.
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Anonymous, at 7:51 PM
Night and Day. I've only lived here for a month or two, but I have already made up mind on Albany. Downtown is nice enough, but as soon as I venture a bit down Pacific or 20 it turns into warehouseville, crappy unkempt houses, and just plain ugliness. Sorry, Albany residents, but it just seems to have no personality.
Maybe to conclude my thoughts, I'll just ask a couple questions: Do you really choose to live in a place just because of price? Aren't there so many more important factors? Doesn't where you live define you somewhat?
By
Anonymous, at 10:59 AM
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