Corvallis, OR

[jet]

I'm an international student, coming to Oregon State University this Fall, and have never lived outside my country. Can anyone give me some advices when coming to OSU?

Thanks in advance!

[nandelle]

I am debating going to OSU...I was down there visiting, and I'll say it's a really pretty area! I liked the school quite a bit (more than I expected, to be honest).

I have heard that housing is pretty cheap off campus, so that's something to explore. It's a small town, but there seems to be a pretty active social scene. I've also heard that transit is pretty good, but it might not hurt to have a car, especially if you want to leave the Corvallis/Albany area.

i don't know much more about the school or Corvallis. I have, however, lived my whole life in the Pacific Northwest, and I will say that the rain isn't as bad as most people make it out to be. It'll be grey and drizzly from October through April, but it's not heavy rain, and the evergreen trees and our beautiful summer make up for it. If you like the outdoors, this is a great place to be!

[jet]

Thank you nandelle. I found a good introduction about Corvallis which my be useful:

http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/advantage/slideshow-corvallis/index.html

[nandelle]

Awesome!

Well I just got funded at OSU, so I made my decision! We should maybe meet up sometime while we're down there

[jet]

Awesome!

Well I just got funded at OSU, so I made my decision! We should maybe meet up sometime while we're down there

Congratulations! I found BeaverLodge, a great place to live in Corvallis. It is located only 2 blocks from OSU campus, and offers very cheap living expense (1200-1600$ per term, included everything: food, TV, Internet, etc.).

Hope to see you there.

http://beaverlodge.org/

[Vasanth K]

Hi,

This is Vasanth from India.

I would be joining Oregon State University in Fall 2010.

Going for MS in CS [softw Engg].

Seniors.. kindly suggest some good places to find accom off-campus.

We guys are looking for one near campus. Also any other useful info abt OSU or Sorvallis, that u would like to share across. Kindly let us know.

Thnx in advance.. Looking forward to make new friends !! :)

- Vasanth K

[metasyntactic]

I have heard that housing is pretty cheap off campus, so that's something to explore. It's a small town, but there seems to be a pretty active social scene. I've also heard that transit is pretty good, but it might not hurt to have a car, especially if you want to leave the Corvallis/Albany area.

The housing is pretty cheap compared to a large city. You could easily rent a nice place for $500/month. Transit in Corvallis is actually pretty terrible compared to larger cities in the Pacific Northwest. In particular, the frequency of service is very bad: many routes are only hourly. OSU students get free rides though and the transit is probably good for a city of its size. You really don't need a car in Corvallis, if you're not afraid of getting wet (not a big deal with rain pants and jacket). The city is so small that you can get from one corner to the other with a bicycle in 15-30 minutes.

Edited June 25, 2010 by metasyntactic

[duongnhn]

3 years in OSU, can answer any question related to Corvallis 

[Pegaesus]

Any inside scoop on Corvallis in terms of cost of living, nightlife and safety?

[gliaful]

You might find this site helpful: http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/oregon/corvallis

 

I grew up in Corvallis, but I've never been to New Jersey so I can't directly compare those.

Corvallis is a college town and the population was ~60,000 when I lived there (until 2001). It's about 1.5 hours from Portland and some people do live in Corvallis and commute. Salem is about 45 minutes away, and the coast (Newport) is about an hour away. Newport has the Oregon Coast Aquarium where Keiko (of Free Willy fame) once lived (was there when I lived there).

Blackberries grow everywhere and with great abundance, so you'll never starve.

Downtown is relatively small. The town is on a cool grid, with numbered streets running one direction and president-named streets (in chronological order) running perpendicular.

I can't comment on safety, but the link above has crime statistics relative to the national average.

 

EDIT: This link is even better: http://www.bestplaces.net/compare-cities/mahwah_township_nj/corvallis_or/costofliving

Same site, direct comparison of Mahwah, NJ and Corvallis, OR. Click around the different categories (link sends you to cost of living) to learn about the area.

Edited February 27, 2015 by pasteltomato

[jbrown71160]

If you have reliable transportation, consider living in one of the smaller towns surrounding Corvallis. It is significantly cheaper, and you don't have to be surrounded by undergrads. I was able to get a nice, new 2 bed/2 bath apartment in Lebanon for $895 a month. It's a twenty minute drive, which some people in Corvallis seem to think is VERY long; where I'm from, it'd take twice that long just to get to the other side of town.

 

There are several other towns about as far away: Monmouth, Independence, Philomath (actually much closer), Tangent, and so on. Monmouth is another college town (Western Oregon University), so there are plenty of accommodations for students.

 

There are plenty of bars in Corvallis, one or two dance clubs, and 7 breweries. 

[Pegaesus]

@ pasteltomato Thanks for your reply, I do love blackberries! lol From your description and my research online Corvallis looks like an awesome place to attend graduate school. I am looking forward to it

 

@jbrown71160 Thanks for your reply, I used to have to go to NYC which cud sometime take upwards of 2 hrs (rush hour) so 20 mins sounds like a breeze. That being said however, for a PhD program I would imagine having a place very close (walking distance) could be vital as you would probably get in and out of lab continuously over the course of the day. For ex: squeezing a gym session during the day or letting an experiment run for like half an hour. I would thus want to get something in Corvallis itself. How much would you say a small studio would cost on average in Corvallis? 

[shadowclaw]

I've been browsing apartments in the Corvallis area, and there definitely seem to be more pet-friendly apartments in the surrounding towns and at better rates. I may be attending OSU, so it will be myself, my husband, and our two cats moving across country. We currently have 2 cars, but they are both getting old and have high mileage. We are hoping to sell them over the summer and finance one brand new car or perhaps one that is only a year old.

So, ideally I would like to be able to walk, bike, or ride a bus to school, since my husband will probably need the car to get to work. I read on the OSU website that there is a bus route to Albany that is free for students. Does anyone know how frequent and reliable this route is?

Also, how is the job market around Corvallis for unskilled labor? My husband didn't go to college, but was a diesel mechanic in the Marines and works at a greenhouse right now doing a combination of cleaning, loading trucks, and checking the nutrient levels in the hydroponics system. I think ideally he'd enjoy something like what he does now.

[shadowclaw]

Looks like I will be attending OSU this fall! My funding info won't come until summer, so it's still a bit up in the air. I'm looking forward to it, though. I've heard so many great things about Corvallis and the PNW.

[ayim93]

Thank you for letting me know.   In Corvallis, was the overall environment?  I am used to small town life and Corvallis seems a pretty decent sized town.  Is it easy to get around by public transportation or is it wise to invest in a car?   

[Skyride Season]

I am mostly likely going to be moving to Corvallis in the fall (2017), and I'm pretty excited for it! I've never been to Oregon, but everyone says it's beautiful if you don't mind rain. 

I would really rather not have a car, so does that mean I'm stuck paying too much for rent? Corvallis is significantly more expensive than mid-Michigan...

[Sleam]

On 2/2/2017 at 0:57 PM, Skyride Season said:

I am mostly likely going to be moving to Corvallis in the fall (2017), and I'm pretty excited for it! I've never been to Oregon, but everyone says it's beautiful if you don't mind rain. 

I would really rather not have a car, so does that mean I'm stuck paying too much for rent? Corvallis is significantly more expensive than mid-Michigan...

HI, me too. This thread is pretty old but maybe we can wake it up again. I was in the area over summer, very friendly. I'll be looking for a 2 bed/ pet friendly home off campus. I'd like the quieter neighborhoods, Philomath had a great cafe, huge and open. Very nice. Lebanon I didn't get to see though. A short drive or bike ride would be ideal but it seemed like a very small town to get across. I've looked on Realtor.com as they have listings for rentals in the area so I'm starting to check out places online. Good luck for all of you (us?) moving there. 

S

[shadowclaw]

@Skyride Season and @Sleam

Oregon (and Corvallis) is a great place to live. It IS quite rainy in the winter, though! The upside is that there's rarely any snow on the valley floor (making getting around in winter easier) yet snow is a relatively short drive away. Summers are full of sunshine and are very rain-free (I think it rained twice last summer). The coast is about an hour away from Corvallis, forest hiking is just a few minutes away, and you can even get to the desert in about 3 hours.

Finding housing in town can be challenging at times. There are always lots of places for rent, but if you have any specific requirements (e.g., garage, pet-friendly, washer/dryer hookups), it can get expensive and difficult to get. I don't know what Michigan prices are like, but you can find 1 and 2 bedroom apartments (no pets) for $500-$600. Once you add pets to the equation, that price range changes to closer to $1000, although there are definitely pet-friendly apartments around $800, but they aren't always available. A solution to this is to live outside of Corvallis. Philomath is a good choice because there's regular bus service into Corvallis and it's right next door. All Corvallis Transit buses are free, by the way. The lowest prices I've seen are in Albany and Lebanon, but they are each about 10 miles from Corvallis. This wouldn't work well for you, Skyride, although there is a bus between Albany and Corvallis. However, it only runs until 6 pm and depending on where you are in Albany, you'll have to take an Albany bus to either the Amtrak station or community college to catch the bus to Corvallis (Albany buses are also free to OSU students). Sleam, this might be a good option for you if you're willing to drive. There are a number of pet-friendly 2 bedroom apartments in both Albany and Lebanon between $700-800, and you might be able to find cheaper ones if you search Craigslist daily. I live in Albany, and it takes me about 20 minutes to leave my apartment and get into a parking spot at OSU, so it's not a long drive at all. However, I'd also like to point out that Albany isn't nearly as nice as Corvallis, but it is next to I-5, which is great for trips to Portland and elsewhere.

Personally, I would use Craigslist to find an apartment over something like Realtor.com or Zillow. They mostly only give you the big apartment complexes (which are fine) and you miss out on the little guys who only have a few units. Something else about finding an apartment in this area... many landlords are wary of renting to someone not already living in this region. I came from the east coast, and was turned down by several people because they "felt uncomfortable renting to someone who currently lives so far away." I assume they were concerned that I wouldn't actually come. Also, one of the rental companies that manage a lot of the properties in Corvallis will not let you apply for an apartment until you've gone to see it first. That works if you come for a visit and can tour several apartments (or just show up and stay in a hotel until you find something).

[Sleam]

1 hour ago, shadowclaw said:

@Skyride Season and @Sleam

Oregon (and Corvallis) is a great place to live. It IS quite rainy in the winter, though! The upside is that there's rarely any snow on the valley floor (making getting around in winter easier) yet snow is a relatively short drive away. Summers are full of sunshine and are very rain-free (I think it rained twice last summer). The coast is about an hour away from Corvallis, forest hiking is just a few minutes away, and you can even get to the desert in about 3 hours.

Finding housing in town can be challenging at times. There are always lots of places for rent, but if you have any specific requirements (e.g., garage, pet-friendly, washer/dryer hookups), it can get expensive and difficult to get. I don't know what Michigan prices are like, but you can find 1 and 2 bedroom apartments (no pets) for $500-$600. Once you add pets to the equation, that price range changes to closer to $1000, although there are definitely pet-friendly apartments around $800, but they aren't always available. A solution to this is to live outside of Corvallis. Philomath is a good choice because there's regular bus service into Corvallis and it's right next door. All Corvallis Transit buses are free, by the way. The lowest prices I've seen are in Albany and Lebanon, but they are each about 10 miles from Corvallis. This wouldn't work well for you, Skyride, although there is a bus between Albany and Corvallis. However, it only runs until 6 pm and depending on where you are in Albany, you'll have to take an Albany bus to either the Amtrak station or community college to catch the bus to Corvallis (Albany buses are also free to OSU students). Sleam, this might be a good option for you if you're willing to drive. There are a number of pet-friendly 2 bedroom apartments in both Albany and Lebanon between $700-800, and you might be able to find cheaper ones if you search Craigslist daily. I live in Albany, and it takes me about 20 minutes to leave my apartment and get into a parking spot at OSU, so it's not a long drive at all. However, I'd also like to point out that Albany isn't nearly as nice as Corvallis, but it is next to I-5, which is great for trips to Portland and elsewhere.

Personally, I would use Craigslist to find an apartment over something like Realtor.com or Zillow. They mostly only give you the big apartment complexes (which are fine) and you miss out on the little guys who only have a few units. Something else about finding an apartment in this area... many landlords are wary of renting to someone not already living in this region. I came from the east coast, and was turned down by several people because they "felt uncomfortable renting to someone who currently lives so far away." I assume they were concerned that I wouldn't actually come. Also, one of the rental companies that manage a lot of the properties in Corvallis will not let you apply for an apartment until you've gone to see it first. That works if you come for a visit and can tour several apartments (or just show up and stay in a hotel until you find something).

Great advice, thanks. Depending on the results of course, if/ when I look for a place,  I plan on flying out to check it out. I was in the area last summer and loved it. Philimath would be great, and I have a motorcycle for commuting. Can't wait to find out. Limbo is killing me! 

S

[Skyride Season]

On 2/5/2017 at 0:17 PM, Sleam said:

HI, me too. This thread is pretty old but maybe we can wake it up again. I was in the area over summer, very friendly. I'll be looking for a 2 bed/ pet friendly home off campus. I'd like the quieter neighborhoods, Philomath had a great cafe, huge and open. Very nice. Lebanon I didn't get to see though. A short drive or bike ride would be ideal but it seemed like a very small town to get across. I've looked on Realtor.com as they have listings for rentals in the area so I'm starting to check out places online. Good luck for all of you (us?) moving there. 

S

Hey, thanks for helping revive this thread!

I keep looking online at rentals and striking out, in terms of pricing alone. I'm hoping that when I go for a visit, I can check places out in and around Corvallis. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Philomath, it is hard to get an impression from Google Earth alone! 

I would love to be able to commute by bike; I've heard Corvallis is a very bike-friendly city. 

[Skyride Season]

@shadowclaw

Thank you for all your advice, I appreciate your taking the time to share!

I'm glad to hear that there are places with smaller units, because what I've seen online is quite discouraging. Not only are they bigger (and thus probably noisier) places, but they're certainly not as nice as I'd hope they'd be for their price. I've hardly seen any one-bedrooms for less than $800.

 

[THS]

My advice: VISIT BEFORE YOU SIGN A LEASE.  Because housing only has like a 3% vacency rate in Corvallis renters get away with so much bs.  I just finished my MA here and loved the town- I would love to live here someday when I am completely done with school.  As a grad student, renter, however it was kind of a nightmare.  I would suggest Albany (much cheaper but you need to drive/possibly get a parking pass because they just put in a bunch of "2 hour" parking streets and are putting more in next year.  If not Albany South town (local free transit or bike to campus).  Also over by the more residential areas by Winco (I lived in this area for my time- cheaper because it is further from campus but beautiful hiking).  At any rate good luck!  Also check out the Corvallis Gazette Times if you want to know more about the town- it is the silly local paper and I think tells a lot about the character of the city.  When you get there Squirrels is the grad student bar (cash only) but great burgers and tots! (not literally, but the only bar I never ran into students when I was a GTA)  

Edited March 9, 2017 by montanem

[geologyninja13]

OSU gave me a generous funding offer, has a great geography program, and in short I'm probably going to end up there next fall. This thread has some helpful advice about housing, and I appreciate it! I would be hoping to bike to class/stores as much as possible, and so live in Corvallis proper.

Any advice for dealing with the rain? I have a rain jacket, rain pants, and a rain cover for my backpack, but would appreciate words of wisdom about how to not go crazy on account of lack of sunshine.

I've heard rumors that OSU is a party school for its undergrads, does that attitude spill out into the surrounding housing, and what's it like being a grad student? Will the students I'm T.A.ing actually give a damn?

I've got possibly a dumb question, and please don't judge me as a naive Tennessean lol. When I went to visit Corvallis I saw several billboards advertising marijuana. I know it can be a totally normal part of life, like my Friday evening beer(s), but I've also had some friends go overboard with it. Has anyone noticed if the pot culture around the school has a negative effect on students or the community, or is it a non-issue?
 

[shadowclaw]

@geologyninja13 As someone who spent their whole life in the northeast, the rain in the winter can be really annoying. This is my second winter here, and by most accounts, it's actually been exceptionally rainy and not normally this wet (however, the most recent reports on climate change for the region suggest that this is a trend that will continue in the future). I believe I saw the sun three times between October and February. The good news is that generally, it isn't a terrible downpour or anything like that, just soft gentle rain. I actually very rarely wear my waterproof jacket to school - if I wear it, it's typically because it's a bit chilly out rather than particularly wet (and it's a much warmer jacket than my hoodie). I actually spent my first winter wearing hoodies only - it wasn't a very cold winter and the sweatshirts were fine in the rain for going between buildings and whatnot. If I were biking to school, I would probably wear the waterproof jacket more often, though! I think your rain gear will more than protect you from the eternal wetness that is the winter. But to answer your actual question of how not to go crazy - you can actually check out some sort of sun lamp from the library to shine on yourself if you're feeling bad. Seriously. Another option is to take advantage of the occasionally sunny day (and days where it's just overcast) and get outside. The coast is a great place in winter. A bit windy, but beach combing is great (you can find some pretty awesome marine fossils, too) and there are lots of little places to visit in the different towns. The aquarium and the marine science center are only an hour away, and you can even go to a cheese factory if you don't mind a three hour drive. There's also snow recreation in the Cascades - plenty of snow parks and ski places if you like winter sports. 

I will add that the constant winter rain is perhaps an acceptable tradeoff for the amazingly dry summers (although maybe not so acceptable since water appropriation is a problem... I highly recommend taking FOR 562 if you'd like to learn about water laws in the west). Anyway, summers are beautiful and dry... which is awesome for all of the great outdoor activities available. Although if you were hoping to swim in the ocean, you may be disappointed. The coast is pretty cool during the summer (60s and 70s) and the water is frigid (not to mention a bit rougher than east coast waves). However, if you enjoy looking at the ocean and beach combing, then you're good to go. Also, there is surfing!

I can't really speak about party life in Corvallis since I live in Albany. I imagine that the closer to campus you are, the more likely you'll be to encounter the party attitude. Most of the grad students I know live a reasonable distance from campus and their apartments are pretty peaceful. Meanwhile, as I'm typing this in my apartment in Albany, my neighbors are partying with their windows open and I can hear it even though all of my windows are closed. My neighbors are actually all pretty chill, although the ones on the other side of my duplex are awake at weird hours of the night and make some strange noises. Anyway, I'm pretty happy being a grad student at OSU although sometimes I get very aggravated with my program head. Your experience will largely depend on the culture of your program and the personalities of the grad students you encounter most frequently, but you are of course not limited to spending all your time with other geography students! I TA science labs and for the most part, students do care about what they're learning and they respect their TA's. There are always exceptions, though, but I haven't had any major problems yet *knock on wood* I think students really appreciate it if you make it clear that you actually care about them and their performance in your class and put an effort into being a good TA. Also, if you have an interest in teaching in academia after grad school, I also highly recommend looking into the Graduate Certificate in College and University Teaching. It's an 18-credit certificate, which amounts to one course per term over two years, and it is very much worth it if you have an interest in teaching. It can be be done concurrently with your regular degree program. It has dramatically changed the way I viewed teaching and learning, and my students have definitely been a lot happier and seem to get more out their lab since I started applying the things I've learned so far. It's extremely rewarding to have students email you and talk to you after class to tell you that you're the best TA they've ever had and want to know what lab section you're teaching next term.

Last, about pot culture - I again don't know a lot about what goes on in Corvallis on the weekend, but I imagine it's like alcohol. The underage students get older ones to buy it for them, they go overboard at first, and eventually the novelty wears off by the time they're old enough to buy it themselves and they use it responsibly for the most part. I haven't heard any complaints about it, and to be honest, I'd rather be around a bunch of stoned undergrads than a bunch of drunk ones. Stoned people are usually much more pleasant  I'm pretty sure I've had some of my students show up to class a bit stoned, but they still did their work. I also know several grad students who smoke pretty much everyday because it helps them manage stress and anxiety and they do just fine. However, if you do chose to partake (there are lots of options for both smoking and eating), do remember that officially, grad students shouldn't be using it since the university receives federal money. In other words, don't broadcast it to the world.

 

 

[geologyninja13]

@shadowclaw, thanks so much for your thoughtful answer!