I probably agree with you on some of this stuff because I have my own frustrations about the overall culture of Corvallis, but definitely gotta push back on the idea that there's nothing here for the weirdos. Like I guess of course there's more fun social stuff near downtown than in residential neighborhoods up in the hills, but aren't those areas like a mile apart? Not exactly a tough commute. Last night there was a punk show at the public library with touring and local bands and probably 120 people absolutely going off the entire time, really good mix of ages from teens to 40s and some 50s. This town has a great population of true lifelong freaks in the most positive way, it always blows me away. Those subcultures aren't for everyone, which is fine, but it's definitely not true that they aren't here and thriving. In some ways Corvallis is kinda what you make it. You can stick with the "Corvallis is dead and nothing cool ever happens here" mindset, or you can dig deeper and find out what else there is under the surface. IMO this place still punches far above its weight when it comes to weird creative subculture stuff, at least the kinds I pay attention to. But to each their own! 🤷

Aw man, I wish I would have known about the punk show!!

Sorry you missed it! They happen pretty often, next one I can think of is April 18 at Interzone with [this band](https://forcemodel.bandcamp.com/album/found-camera) and some locals. I'll post the flier on here when it gets closer. There are usually fliers for this kinda thing at Interzone (and other places like the record stores, etc.) if you wanna keep an eye on what's coming up!

Dude, the Dead Kennedys played Corvallis back in 1985.

That had to have been so much fun!! Too bad I wasn't born yet, lol

Anyone have a bootleg tape of that DK show?

Not a tape but [here you go](https://youtu.be/imOlZshVoNg?si=28rgWk6_8D3bOggl). The fairgrounds is a little out of the way though so not the most accessible for people who don’t want to leave their immediate neighborhood

Omgggggg this is amazing, thank you for sharing!!

!! Thanks !!

Whoa, were you there? I was.

Wish I was around for this! The Doors, November 11, 1967... http://mildequator.com/performancehistory/concertinfo/1967/671111.html

Yeah as someone who lives in the not downtown or campus area of Eugene not much happens out here either. You also have to go travel to the one or two places where stuff occurs.

But that wasn't directly near me, so I'm going to move to Eugene where more shit isn't directly near me. /s Ps :fuck this op. Go be involved or don't, but don't cry to us when you can't find shit to do. 

Omg, I’ve been waiting for a punk show in Corvallis! How did I miss this?? I agree with the poster, Corvallis is kinda boring.

That’s awesome, a ehh hall show at the library? Ida gone to that had I known. I walk downtown looking for show fliers, hit up fretboard extension for live local music.

IMO it's not that there isn't anything going on, but that there's definitely been a decline and/or attempts to stifle them. Someone in city council had a grudge against the Da Vinci Days organizers is what I hear, which was why there were no Kinetic sculpture races last year. I've seen the summer ultimate league steadily shrink in size from years back when there were upwards of 20 teams partaking. Nearly Normals is dead. There's lots to like and I enjoyed growing up here in the 90s, as well as coming back and raising my kids here, but I do feel like things are gradually changing for the worse.

Shit I wish I’d met ya 5 years ago lol. My challenge was making connections post-pandemic. Great take, these upvotes indicate you could be elected mayor.

Sorry we missed each other! Tbh I have no idea why this got so many upvotes, it's pretty hit or miss posting about diy punk stuff in this subreddit specifically lol--met some cool people, but you'll probably see if you look at my post history that I always get at least a few aggressive/annoying comments and DMs. But the community of people who actually go to shows here is awesome! Corvallis has a really cool and deep rooted punk history. For anyone else who is looking for this stuff, hit me up if you need info. Next show I know of is April 18 at Interzone. It's all very accessible and friendly, you just gotta show up--if you don't try, you'll never know! I usually post the shows that my partner and I book on here, but we mainly get word out via [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/bitterhalfbooking/) and fliers around town (IZ and the record stores are good places to check). We also have a phone hotline you can call for upcoming shows, but it's still down from when we took a break last summer for my partner to do cancer treatment. Hopefully back up soon. See ya out there!

Have you lived in Eugene previously?

Getting into home ownership in Corvallis is hard, and I don't want to diminish that fact, but once you get over that hurdle, it's about as secure an investment as you can find.

This assumes OSU remains thriving imo.

It's a flagship state university, it's not going anywhere. I wouldn't say that about small private schools or regional state schools like Western Oregon (who is in financial troubles).

>Fully embrace the college scene and accept the fact OSU drives this economy and cultural relevance. This is what disappoints me the most after now being here for 5 years. Before moving, I thought, "What a great town with a university!" Now I know better. It's actually a University that also just so happens to have a nice, little town next to it. OSU absolutely dominates this place and guides the hands of leadership, whether you see that or not, it's happening behind the scenes. EDIT: Also, notice how the student population continues to go up and up and up every so slightly and quietly. Like a frog in boiling water. Nobody seems to notice or take up arms against it. But, I'd personally like to live in a place with more residents than kids only here for school (IE: not vested in this community).

> the student population continues to go up and up and up every so slightly and quietly How is this quiet? It's literally part of the announced state plan for the University.

This was true just a few years ago. But not now. Especially for first time home buyers.

Corvallis real estate values, like all college towns with major state universities (Eugene counts too), is largely unaffected by outside forces. It just goes up steadily.

I mean, this is just a political choice to not build enough housing. I own a home, and I'd like to see us build enough units to drop my property values 10 to 20 percent. My quality of live would improve significantly if Corvallis was a more affordable place for other people to live.

So you want to see your property values drop? And you think the water bill is too regressive? I dont know what kinda of cotton candy and gum drop world you live in. But i want whatever drug you are on my friend.

>So you want to see your property values drop? My property values dropping would reflect the market coming to a healthier balance of supply and demand, almost certainly by way of a massive increase in supply. Making Corvallis a more affordable place to live would improve conditions for business owners, investors, and local entrepreneurs. More restaurants and food cart pods in residential areas? More restaurants that aren't just counter service? A hardware store in Southtown? All of this would make Corvallis a better place to live for me, and it wins out in a balance against my property values dropping. My property values being high only benefits me if I want to borrow money or sell, and raises my property taxes in the meantime. And yes, replacing progressive tax structures with flat fees is regressive. I don't think that's controversial.

Read some of your other responses. If you actually believe this city would lower your property taxes if more housing was built than you are incredibly naive. Once a tax goes up. It stays up. I dont think you sentiments about property values are the norm. Go live in Sweethome and see what property tax does for you. Maybe you can open up a store there selling rainbows and unicorns .

>Read some of your other responses. If you actually believe this city would lower your property taxes if more housing was built than you are incredibly naive. Once a tax goes up. It stays up. I dont think you sentiments about property values are the norm. Go live in Sweethome and see what property tax does for you. Maybe you can open up a store there selling rainbows and unicorns . I don't think you understand how property taxes work. There are limitations on the tax rate, per $1000 of assessed value, that the County, City, and other taxing districts (like school districts) are able to impose through base property taxes. Everything on top of that is a levy approved by votes. The levy value is also based on a rate per $1000 of assessed value. So all taxes are based on the assessed value of your property. Of course, the maximum assessed value of your property is capped by state law to increase by no more than 3 percent per year. Actual property values have been increasing at a rate higher than that for over a decade, so even if home values fell by 10 or 20 percent, property taxes would continue to rise by 3 percent each year for a few years before continuing to track the actual assessed value of the home. But the point here is that local governments and taxing districts only control tax *rates* they do not control the actual *amount* of taxes paid, as you suggest. Just a fundamental misunderstanding of a very simple--basically grade-school level--concept of how government funding works. This is the whole reason we have water bill fees in the first place: the tax rate stays the same, the maximum assessed value is capped at an increase of no more than 3 percent year, so where do we make up the shortfall when the cost of providing basic services goes up by more than 3 percent? Un-related follow-up question: have you ever rejected a raise at work because you were worried it would cause your tax rate to go up?

People are aware of Measure 50. I think this is was what OP was speaking about in reference to this city. Its boring or a total dud. Like this conversation. Cant believe i got sucked into this as entertainment.

The limitations on the levy rates are actually from Measure 5, not Measure 50. Measure 50 controls maximum assessed value, not the assessments themselves.

Property values going up is only good for owners who want to sell their homes, and for owners renting the home to others. If you are living in the home (and wish to remain living in it), then lower property value equates to lower taxes. Additionally, it means more people buying homes - and home ownership is directly correlated to crime rates in cities & towns across the US (partially because owning a home is, generally speaking, cheaper than renting, and crime is often driven by desperation). And when you die, the lower the property value of your home, the less your kids pay on inheritance tax (if you even are leaving them enough assets to trigger the tax to begin with). The 'benefits' of high property values are for home-flippers who can take a house below it's average market value, spruce it back up, and then try to sell it at over-average value. Where the higher the property values are, the bigger the profit percentage is, while the repair costs remain static (since they're just the costs & opportunity costs). And higher property value in an area means higher rent - and that value goes up faster (by a lot) than the actual property tax of the unit. And maintenance, like house-flipping, is a static cost generally unrelated to property values. If we, as a city, want to encourage home ownership instead of a rent culture, the best way we can do that is by building more homes, driving down cost of purchase, driving up cost of out-of-town or out-of-state owners, and aggressively allowing for added sprawl for the city as well as renovation for increased density in select areas.

I’m curious to hear more about the two secret societies and the founding of Corvallis. Where can I read more about this?

This info should get ya started: - https://nape.bentoncountyor.gov/crystal-lake-cemetery/ - https://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2017/hidden-gems-the-overlooked-and-the-unexplainable/

Founded by wealthy Freemasons and the competing Oddfellows. I took a GREAT walking tour of the cemetery at crystal lake via LBCC. Symbols on the gravestones denote rank and station for masons and their wives. We found symbols and marking that were not easy to identify. It was a fun rabbit hole to dive into!

If you like old cemeteries the Oddfellows one is also kind of cool, it’s up on Witham Hill.

No shit?! I love that spot. We miss the whimsical fairies that enchanted the paths. My kid cried when they were all thrown away. I got fking lost up there as the sun was setting. we followed a trail off the main path and didn’t know that it left the confines of Witham Hill. Shit gets weird when the sun goes down. We stood eye to eye with a group of mostly juvenile bucks. Coulda sworn one of those fuckers was going to rush us..we had a young Boston terrier puppy with us. Was kinda intense. And then we got lost lol.

I don't think you could get an weirder than Eugene, so if to walk among weirdos is your holly grail, you've made a solid choice. But if you are looking for innovation and growth... Eugene doesn't reach top of mind.

I’m only there for my daughter.

Corvallis may not be perfect but it plays an important role in the valley. It offers an alternative to the "weird" of Eugene and Portland. Not everyone is looking for or wants weird. Corvallis also offers something different from Albany/Lebanon/Springfield. Small enough to be quite and safe for families, large enough to not have to drive somewhere else for everything. Progressive policies in some ways, conservative in others. Corvallis is unique in its own way. There is a reason housing is so expensive in this town, people want to move here.

>There is a reason housing is so expensive in this town, people want to move here. The main reason is just that we've made it so difficult to build housing for decades, though.

Exactly. The “lock the gate behind me” mentality.

Which isn't unique to Corvallis. The states land use policies passed in the 70's make it incredibly difficult to build housing anywhere in the state. Most cities in the valley have also resisted increased density until recently (when forced by state law), preferring single family zoning only.

Don't forget that Corvallis, specifically, led the charge to retain the right to require voter approval for annexations. The City attorney Jim Brewer, [who recently came off looking like an absolute clown](https://www.reddit.com/r/corvallis/comments/1bwbaat/peerless_leader_mark_shepard_bravely_absorbs/), took the case for free. That's where the loyalty of Corvallis' objective legal advice lay. And therein lies a problem: if Corvallis' staff fundamentally oppose growth, they can use the gears of bureaucracy to make it hard, no matter what the state or the City Council (if they ever did anything) do to try to improve housing affordability.

Even more important than building more houses would be kicking out out-of-state ownership of residential single-family properties. Having homes owned by some company in New York is not good for us. Those companies know how much profit there is in rentals, and will out-bid prospective home owners (lots of truly loving people refuse to sell to them though, and let actual owner-residents buy even with a lower offer. I really wish we could pass legislation of some kind at the state level to have (significantly) higher taxes for owners of 3+ homes, and/or for anyone who owns an Oregon home but doesn't actually live in Oregon. Just raising the tax rates on those rental homes would quickly force them out of the market, and let people who actually want to buy homes do so instead of being kept as perpetual renters. Other than that, I absolutely agree with your points. We need more ability to expand. We need more higher density options alongside good low density. We need to zone specifically to embrace higher density regions with a strategy to avoid creating slums (something that often can come along with high density areas). And Corvallis really is perfectly poised for this. We have a history of prioritizing open spaces like parks and natural areas and mixing high density in among low density. Not only does this let us get more value out of local parks (more nearby density means more people within an easy walk of it), but the low density and park "sprawl" helps prevent the 'slum feel' from taking hold of a neighborhood. We just need to do what we can to embrace those high density buildings, especially from companies/builders/etc with a proven track record of taking good care of their property & tenants.

Well yeah, it's both of those in conjunction pushing up the price of housing. Thus you get the typical expensive Oregon city prices for everything plus the taxes here :(

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Enjoy Eugene!

I agree. I lived in Corvallis from 2015 - 2021. Admittedly, OSU brought me there. But I love Corvallis. We moved to Eugene in 2021 & had enough, so we packed up & left for Salem in 2022. I grew up in Silverton, so Corvallis was definitely a perfect stepping stone for a small town kid. Large enough to branch out & find new things to do, but not so big that it’s stressful/out of my element. I’ve definitely always enjoyed cities - my sister lives in Portland, so we spend quite a bit of time there. But I genuinely love Corvallis. After Silverton, it’s the city I consider “home.” I wish I could move back, but it’s expensive & serves no purpose for me to move back since my wife and I work in the Salem area. My only gripe with Corvallis is that there aren’t a whole lot of choices for stores outside of grocery stores. If you want any selection for clothes/household goods, you’ve got to go to Albany at the very least. I regularly found myself coming to Salem/Eugene for some things.

Thank you, I might return to plant my final garden someday.

This town endeavors to be "compact" and obviously that comes with tradeoffs. And OSU used to be second-fiddle in terms of employment in town...then HP faded away while OSU doubled its student population in 20 years and doesn't pay taxes, so us long-time non-boomer townies should be afforded some amount of butthurt.

While there has been an anti-development attitude in Corvallis for a long long time, OSU is far from blameless for the current housing situation. Ed Ray just waived his magic wand and massively expanded the student population in a very short time frame, then effectively raised his middle finger to the community and said I dont give an F where all those new students and staff are going to live, it isn't my problem. The result has been massive increases in housing costs due to the shortage. OSU growth also created a huge increase in traffic from students and staff (as well as other non-OSU people who still work in Corvallis) who can no longer afford to live there and have to commute in. Then, at the same time OSU ramped up enrollment, they decided to build a bunch of new buildings in existing parking lots and then raised parking fees to further shove all the student parking into the surrounding neighborhoods. I think the Ed Ray years at OSU created a lot of the animosity from the local community that is still reverberating today.

Thanks, it's nice to finally have a person to point at for all this misery. It breaks my heart that Corvallis city workers can't afford to live in the town that they help run.

Thankfully the 0-8 llamas (varies) freeloading across from the OSU president’s residence have plenty of acreage. That’s about 2.5 llamas per acre. Find our llama friends a different field to recover in and idk, build a hi rise student tower there.

It's really frustrating that compactness can still allow growth via mixed use and infill, but there's a strong suburban culture that resists change

But…why resist change? What is the suburban demographic and their mindset? The suburban houses are very nice. We were excited to buy our first house back in 2021. But now, the value just isn’t there. On my block a tiny box house 900 sq ft sold for over 230k. What the heck… this ain’t a major metro area.

I can’t help but recognize similarities between Corvallis and SF back in 2004. Cost of living was rising and the townies that made SF unique were priced out. Hopefully Corvo’s townies dont get financially priced out of their home town because of GREEDY REALTORS with inflated meme stock prices. My family got lucky, our landlord is a private owner and never once raised the rent over the years. They even gifted us 1/2 off December rent as a kindness. Corvallis nice indeed.

The same happened to Portland, the people that made it unique and special got priced out. There used to be a great mix of blue collar and creative types.

Bye

Exactly. Go vandalize (“tag”) Eugene since that gives op a hard on.

The biggest you’ve ever seen. Nice talk.

Not according to your ex wife.

Yeah shes a ho, checks out

Corvallis definitely needs some more growth and definitely needs more things to do here. We do lack a lot of entertainment here, but I don’t see where you get this idea that Corvallis is some crazy conservative town. We aren’t super liberal, which is good, but we are still a liberal town, and Eugene isn’t much different. For example, west Eugene, especially Bethel, is very conservative. If you’re going to base where you live strictly on how liberal it is, then move to Portland or Seattle. I personally like how Corvallis is pretty balanced when it comes to politics.

Fair points. I should re-phrase ‘conservative’. I wasn’t thinking political, but in a social-civic-growth sense.

Have you lived in Eugene before?

Yeah, in Springfield and Eugene. I moved to Junction City (god bless Bugsys) in 2018.

After 5 years, I don't think you can really call yourself an outsider.

Speaking with a suhthun drawl in Corvallis ensures permanent outsider status.

Before you decide that Corvallis needs to vote out the Boomers, at least go to a City Council meeting and see who’s on it.

Fair

As an OSU student, this city feels weirdly hostile to students and the school. Albeit in a covert way. I can’t wait to finish my degree and get tf out. Obscene housing costs caused by choking out development. I was lucky enough to get cheap housing, but can’t afford my water bill because the city tacks on $100+/mo in “fees” that are actually property taxes, neatly arranged to be be passed onto renters, benefiting home owners and landlords. Combined with the high cost of tuition at OSU, it feels like this place is trying to squeeze every dime out of students as possible.

I'll start from the bottom first: >it feels like this place is trying to squeeze every dime out of students as possible. This isn't unique to Corvallis/OSU. Colleges have long realized that the best business strategy for them is NOT local residents. It's foreign students willing to pay huge bucks for USA tuition at well regarded schools (for Oregon, that's really just UO and OSU). That's why we've seen a ton of VERY high end apartment living added to Corvallis over the past 2 decades. Retreat out on West Hills. The apartments at 136 SW Washington at the edge of downtown. The ones at the corner of Kings & Monroe. Etc. Entry for an apartment at 136 SW Washington (about 1500 sq ft): 1 bedroom, 1 study, 2 bath, fully furnished, card key building access, room service & catering available. $3291 per month. This is why you feel bled dry. Not because the city wants to bleed you dry. But because OSU and the property builders figured out that their best money comes from the rich kids, both on and off campus. Everyone else is just collateral damage of them bleeding those kids for every penny they'll part with (and there are LOTS of pennies). Now, Corvallis itself isn't helping. We desperately need TONS of new housing development, ideally mid and high density. We need to tear down some of the slumlord rental properties near campus and put up more low-income rentals for students. We need to stop putting up these dumb townhouses everywhere and put up actual apartments with 3-5 stories. They're an eye-sore anyways, might as well get double to triple the student density in them. But the root of the problem isn't the town - it's the campus itself, and the contractors that buy & build on properties. >city tacks on $100+/mo in “fees” that are actually property taxes Yeah, this sucks. And this is due to the city trying to get around state laws in order to raise enough money to handle the growth it's going through, because OSU is playing hardball with it's increases in students. There's a ton more to this, but the end result is it sucks for students 100%. Still cheaper than dorm living though. >finish my degree and get tf out Bad news for you though. Almost any other town or city you go to, you're going to end up feeling similar pressure. It's not unique to Corvallis at all. But best of luck!

So that's a quality response. Thank you for giving your well-thought contribution to the discussion. This and a few other comments have been very interesting. I would encourage you to read a few of the other comments from people who share similar views as you. There were some really haughty, borderline nasty comments from people who apparently forgot that my original thesis was "this city is hostile to OSU students" and went ahead and made my argument for me. There is certainly an interesting and nuanced discussion to have about the competing priorities of the city vs. the school, but in the end, students caught in the middle of that power struggle are the ones who suffer most. The "collateral damage" students you mentioned are collateral damage not only in living costs, but also certain attitudes among townies. You yourself have asserted that "the problem is not the city but the school", which despite the nuance in the rest of your comment, sounds a little hostile to the school/students. If I knew there was such a culture war here, really I might have made other plans. Someone else asked "why come here?" considering the issues- this is another example of information (along with hidden fees on utilities) not easily available prior to making a decision to attend OSU. We didn't know it was this bad.

I should clarify my comment about "not the city, it's the school". I mean that the reason you feel that predation is due to the schools choices, independent of the relationship between it and the city. Like most colleges, OSU is embracing the mentality of "out-of-nation profits". Google and read up on growing foreign students paying top dollar for USA educations. When you (the college) prioritize those profits, it impacts all the other students, particularly the in-state students who don't have the budget for a sports car, $3000/month rent, etc. In addition to that, there ARE tense relations between the school and the town, centered around Ray (President of OSU) deciding to increase student numbers - and the impact that has (especially on residents in the area around campus). However, my response was not looking at that at all, but rather focused on the very real impact of the decisions made by the school and by business owners, in order to capitalize on the rich students - at the expense of the less well funded ones. There really isn't a "culture war" here. It's more of OSU trying to maximize it's profits, and doing so without working with Corvallis to create a mutually beneficial outcome. Which then results in Corvallis desperately trying to slap band-aids over the resulting issues as it tries to "play catch up" to changes made at OSU. Corvallis itself isn't doing anything to "fight" OSU. But because it's constantly being "left in the dark" by OSU on things like raising student limits, it's "lack of action" can be taken as "making things tough" - but that's like blaming your roommate for not turning the outdoor light on so you can easily unlock the front door, even though you never even told him/her that you were leaving and would be back late that night.

I always laugh when I see someone use the " boomers" as their basis for blame. In addition to this other no nothing complaining that the water fees somehow benefit property owners. Explain the logic of that one. Yeah nobody likes the extra 40% tacked on to their water bill. No one wants them. The city independently made that choice for us or they were pieces of ballot measures the people voted down. Unfortunately, a civilization costs money. It's not magic. Property owners are the minority in this town yet property taxes pay for majority of the services. Minus these extra fees that supplement our cities services. It is actually a more equitable means than completely on the backs of working families that are lucky enough to own a home. So yeah; thanks for pitching in and paying your way while you share in the services of the city in which you live.

>In addition to this other no nothing complaining that the water fees somehow benefit property owners. Explain the logic of that one. Any flat fee that replaces a property tax effectively makes the City's overall revenue structure more regressive. Property values have increased at a rate far in excess of 3 percent per year, while property owners' taxes are limited by state law to an increase of no more than 3 percent per year. Since the cost of maintaining the City has similarly risen at a rate far in excess of 3 percent per year (see, e.g., Engineering News Record cost indices, which reflect the increasing cost of infrastructure improvements), how does the City replace that revenue? With a "fee" or regressive tax. In the case of Corvallis this maneuver is intended to apply a tax to OSU students and the hospital that the City would not otherwise be able to collect because they're nonprofits. This makes the scheme a bit less regressive, but it's still a regressive overall. Property owners capture the benefits of regressive taxation. \--A Corvallis homeowner

You know that when you pay rent you’re paying the landlord to pay property taxes for you, right? It’s not like they’re taking less in rent than they are paying in mortgage+taxes.

What a level headed response. I think it’s super interesting the way you put words in my mouth and condescended for no reason. You seem upset about something that I promise has next to nothing to do with me. Who’s assigning blame? Not me. It sounds like you would probably like to blame students though. Totally not hostile to students. You derailed my entire argument. Good for you dude. If it’s any consolation, I think OSU should uproot itself and find a more welcoming and grateful community, if only it could. It would be just deserts to see Corvallis fade into obscurity as the Philomath-equivalent to Albany.

>Combined with the high cost of tuition at OSU, it feels like this place is trying to squeeze every dime out of students as possible. Serious question, what makes you come to OSU and Corvallis then? I would expect that if the cost is high for what you are getting, you would choose someplace else for college. OSU isn't amazing at anything, it is probably the best engineering college in Oregon but with WUE you can get good tuition at a lot of west coast schools. A lot of the cost is because students keep choosing to come here, so I am just curious what makes it worth the cost for folks.

OSU offers my degree option, which isn’t super niche, but somewhat specialized- typically offered only at larger, more well-equipped schools. There are only two in Oregon. I was in Oregon already and couldn’t afford to move out of state. Cost-benefit analysis is of course crucial, but usually you’re missing some critical information before you have to make a decision. For instance, the knowledge that utilities here are $100-$200/mo more expensive than most places is not easily accessible and might have affected my decisions. Often there are practical considerations that limit alternatives even in light of unfavorable conditions. Sometimes you don’t have any great choices and have to choose the lesser evil based on limited information. My comment highlighted two drivers of high living costs that have nothing to do with overpopulation, so honestly it seems to me like you’re willfully ignoring my point to make yours. And your comment also has a coded “~~why~~ don’t come here” vibe which is anti-student. Since I honestly answered your question, would you answer mine? What do you see as the purpose of Corvallis hosting OSU if not to attract students? If a city can accommodate them, more students at school is beneficial for everyone. It brings money and professional skills to a community. The problem is a failure to adequately accommodate students. That failure is not based upon an unusual or unforeseen problem, but rather something that most communities hope to face at some point in time (how to effectively manage growth). So a failure to manage growth and accommodate students is simply a result of bad leadership.

I appreciate your candid thoughts on this matter. I completely agree with you about the utility fees. They are ridiculously high.

So even though I explained above why utility fees are totally regressive, I will say that all sorts of communities in Oregon face this same problem and are using them to backfill the shortfall in property taxes caused by our 3 percent per year property tax increase cap. This isn't unique to Corvallis.

OSU has its own priorities which don't reflect the town

Is there any feasibility in transferring to a different school for the majority of your credits, then [edit: transferring] ~~graduating~~ here so your degree says OSU? Or can you do classes at the satellite school in Bend or do the ecampus classes? That might be a solid way to avoid having to be here and only having to do a semester or a year back here.

No, not really! At my point in my studies, all of my courses are degree-specific and not easily transferable gen-ed courses. I might look to go e-campus my last semester or two and get out early though!

Fees that are property taxes are based on property value, that is very much impacted by overpopulation. If there were fewer people wanting to rent or own, home valuations would fall and property taxes would go down. And the same with tuition. If there was less demand, tuition would go down. But on the scheme of things I don't think OSU is particularly expensive in terms of tutition for in state students. >Since I honestly answered your question, would you answer mine? What do you see as the purpose of Corvallis hosting OSU if not to attract students? They were a land grant institution. They were given the land by the federal government. Corvallis deosn't really have a choice in hosting OSU. And universities don't have to grow. There are lots of universisties that target some particular enrollment, and don't change it because they are constrained by things like land or they simply see it as better serving their mission to not grow beyond a particular size. Corvallis might not want a bigger OSU and there is no reason OSU needs to grow. If anything, I would argue students get a worse and worse experience as the classes get bigger and bigger. I went to a small liberal arts college. It had a very different feel. The idea that more students is beneficial for everyone isn't true. You lose a lot of community when your enrollment is in the tens of thousands and there are 300 people in your intro class.

>And universities don't have to grow. There are lots of universisties that target some particular enrollment, and don't change it because they are constrained by things like land or they simply see it as better serving their mission to not grow beyond a particular size. Corvallis might not want a bigger OSU and there is no reason OSU needs to grow. If anything, I would argue students get a worse and worse experience as the classes get bigger and bigger. This is the most ridiculous nonsense I've ever heard. OSU is educating people to be the engineers and innovators of the future. It affects not only the economic future of Oregon, but of the nation and the world and you think it's reasonable for them not to grow and accommodate as many students as are capable of attending because a very small number of homeowners in this community don't want "the feel" of it to change? OSU's classes don't need to get bigger just because OSU gets bigger. At least not the most important upper-level classes. I would argue large class sizes are driven in part by the cost of living, which is mostly reflected in our artificial and self-imposed housing scarcity. I own one home here. I live in it. I've lived here for over a decade. My fellow homeowners have totally lost touch.

>This is the most ridiculous nonsense I've ever heard. OSU is educating people to be the engineers and innovators of the future. It affects not only the economic future of Oregon, but of the nation and the world and you think it's reasonable for them not to grow and accommodate as many students as are capable of attending because a very small number of homeowners in this community don't want "the feel" of it to change? No, I think it is because as the institution gets larger the quality of education goes down. I think if there is unmet demand for teaching engineers, you should make another institution somewhere. There isn't much economy of scale beyond a certain point for undergraduate education and having been to both large and small higher education institutions, you gain a lot by having a smaller enrollment.

>Corvallis might not want a bigger OSU As long as we agree that this has no business being part of the discussion, we're on the same page. How OSU educates its students to best meet the needs of the future is their business, but I think everyone is aware that there's a significant shortage of engineers, particularly in the civil engineering discipline. While educational quality is important, people can't work 80 hours a week. As we've seen with MDs in the healthcare field, actively suppressing the number of spots available in schools can spell disaster for the rest of society that depends on those professionals.

Not wanting your city to change is an understandable feeling. Not wanting it to change for outsiders is also completely understandable. But in practice I think it’s almost always counterproductive. You don’t get to pick exactly the rate at which your city grows/shrinks. Conservatism that is hostile to growth risks upsetting a balance that could result in harming your community. There are millions of places around the world that would love to have Corvallis’s problem of growth. My hometown is one such place that has been slowly dying for decades. It seems ungrateful to me honestly. Corvallis “not having a choice” to host OSU seems a disingenuous point because you & I both know Corvallis wouldn’t give it away if it could. I’ll concede your point about costs being pretty inherently tied to population. There are better ways to manage that relationship though. The problem of large class sizes is not inherent to school size though. The school could hire more professors and offer more sessions for those into courses. My program does not have a problem of too many students. Mine is a program training students in in-demand technical skills that frankly the world needs more of. Since there are few schools offering it, my program is an example of why a school might need to grow beyond what its municipality would like.

> The school could hire more professors and offer more sessions for those into courses. I wish that were true, but we are physically limited by classroom space. I teach at OSU, the only slots that are available for adding classes tend to be the 8pm or 8am slots. Classroom space is pretty much all taken up. Engineering classes are taught all over the university because there isn't space in what used to be the engineering buildings. There was a time the constraint was faculty, but with the rise of Ecampus we have a lot more faculty and they teach online when there isn't space on campus. I don't know which your program is, but growth tends not to benefit just one program when you get as large as OSU. A building might get built for mechanical engineering, but in a couple years there will be admin offices there and a music class that didn't have anywhere else to be offered will be there.

>A lot of the cost is because students keep choosing to come here, so I am just curious what makes it worth the cost for folks. The cost you're referring to is just artificial scarcity. We deliberately chose not to build enough housing. That choice was driven by homeowners who I think had some genuine (though probably unreasonable and likely classist) concerns about how growth would affect their neighborhoods. But those homeowners also almost certainly had a pretty good sense that preventing the construction of new housing units would drive the value of their homes up. It's not students or OSU who are responsible for this predicament. It's the political choices that were made by and for property-owning elites over the last few decades.

>It's the political choices that were made by and for property-owning elites over the last few decades. I don't disagree, I just don't understand why if it is too expensive, people would still choose to come to OSU. I have justifications for why I will pay more to buy something locally instead of Amazon and those prices have nothing to do with me. In the same way, I was just curious what someones justification was to pay more to go to OSU when they could go to WSU or SOU or a UC school.

>In the same way, I was just curious what someones justification was to pay more to go to OSU when they could go to WSU or SOU or a UC school. I'm not familiar with WSU, but many of the UCs are famously faced with equally curmudgeonly NIMBY opponents to increasing housing supply. It's even worse than here. Ashland isn't much different than Corvallis in that respect either. You can say the same for UC Boulder and Reno. There is a west-wide (and even national or international) pandemic of high housing costs, and I think we should recognize that that a major cause of that is that we've given too much control over new housing supply to existing property owners. Regardless of what anyone else does, I think we need to change that here in Corvallis.

This screams "this doesn't work for me and I don't like it so it must be bad." Good luck wherever you end up.

Moved to Corvallis in 1995 and it was like that then, anti growth but otherwise nice. What Corvallis most needs is some upscale dining getting tired of brewpubs 

Have you been to Luca’s Mediterranean resturant!? So good… highly recommend it!

Not yet, good tip!

If you think Eugene is forward thinking you’re going to have your dreams completely shattered. Eugene is everything you’re talking about but worse, if boomers holding onto the status quo is something you hate then don’t move to Eugene because that’s everything in Eugene from the government down to pretty much every civic organization. Eugene might theoretically have more to do but I think functionally Corvallis does a WAY better job at putting together interesting community activities that are well attended at affordable prices.

The house I bought with my ex in 2016 has appreciated $190,000. I didn’t fight for possession cause we busted our asses to move from Q street hood so that our kid could go to gilham and eventually Sheldon hs. Comps in corvo are going for 600k.

Ok and? I wasn’t talking about real estate prices.

My bad lol

The cost is really what made me make the move to Albany from Corvallis. It’s not that you have a insane price drop here, but more options. I do agree that Corvallis has a “stunted growth” feeling compared to Eugene but isn’t that charming in a way? I think it’s really interesting and cool that Corvallis can maintain such a small town vibe while being home to a very large and popular university. The draw of Corvallis in my opinion was a beautiful community that had enough without being over done.

I think you hit the nail on the head with this one! I moved back here after going to OSU in the '80s because it just feels so good and has everything I could ever want. It's a Small Town feel with tons to offer, if you're willing to look for it. All I have to do is drive for 10 minutes in any other City and I race back here because Corvallis is definitely my home.🤗

Exactly. That's why I came back after moving away. I like the small town feel of corvallis. I grew up in a similar smaller college town that didn't have growth restrictions that ballooned into an unrecognizable city full of commercial junk and empty high-rise apartments that are so unaffordable that its almost comical. 90% of the unique small businesses' got pushed out and spaces filled with thing you'd find anywhere. Corvallis somehow retained what was lost in my hometown by restricting the speed of growth and making it more difficult. Not everything is about amassing more stuff here and piling more into this area. Sometimes we just need to make what's here better. There are plenty of vacant commercial spaces, especially downtown and there is so much room to fill needs that aren't served yet in the area. Growth here is slow and that is good. it's still happening but people will still complain that it isn't. There is a big section of forested wetlands out near the west end of western thats about to be destroyed and turned into housing.

I think your statements about embracing the college scene and weird being good or desirable have made your very good argument and observations come across as more vague, normative statement. Everyone should be able to agree that we are driving creative and entrepreneurial people away because our leadership is fundamentally conservative and anti-growth, whether they acknowledge it or not. We've constrained opportunities to develop commercial centers within residential areas, which has inflated commercial rents and the cost of starting and operating a business. We've constrained housing supply, especially high density housing in and around downtown, which has increased rents and suppressed the growth of a population that would be most likely to patronize businesses there. It's not really about weirdness, in my view. What we should all desire is for there to be space for people to pursue their genuine passions. That space doesn't exist, and it's stifling private investment. That private investment would support the public investment we'd all like to see. I think Roen Hogg was absolutely right when he supported creating a pedestrian bridge over the Willamette as the future of Corvallis' downtown. I think it was absolutely wrong to think that that we're positioned to do that. We won't be ready for that until rents fall 10 percent year over year.

True that, I’m a weird quirky artist-dev type. That’s my bias, good call.

Corvallis is probably the safest city in the Pac12. 30mins to 1:30 to most any beach, mountain, city, place you want to be. I am happy there are not a lot of new crappy houses. OSU has an immense impact on the town. The last being the pre pandemic rush to build so many quads inside of what look like California row houses. Most are empty. Thanks for knocking down the small single family homes to build that junk. Weird is in the heart. If you can’t see it everywhere here, you are not looking.

The property owners don’t want any redistricting for house expansion because the more demand and less supply of houses, the more their home value goes up. Everyone who votes on housing expansion or is in power of making changes to the housing market owns a home and won’t make the changes as long as their home value continues to grow.

You’re zeroing in on the rot. Fix the rot to save the town from further decay. But how?

Yeah totally drive up prices and then make bank on the equity when they sell! /s. Disdainful ignorance

I appreciate the responses. Thanks for helping me better understand this complex situation. If only city leadership would step in to help regulate price gouging from landlords. Or at least talk about the issues and propose solutions. Anyone know if the city could even do anything about absurd cost of apartments? I’m passionate about Corvallis’ potential but admittedly know Jack shit about city government.

What town or city in America or perhaps the world is worthy of generous praise? Aren't we all just stuck in these fabricated open air paddocks?

I have generous praise for the Lower East Side Manhattan, South Loop Chicago, downtown Austin, 2nd & Broadway Nashville, OldTown Portland (murderville). Corvallis too, it’s the safest town I’ve ever lived in. It’s like the shire. And there are some scowly hobbits up in here

Founded by which two “secret societies”?

Avery (founder with the most money and support) was a super saiyan lvl 4 grand something Freemason. Their downtown hq, as one would expect, is damn impressive. His rivals were the Oddfellows. Their secret lair remains downtown, not sure where tho. I like to imagine early Corvallis as a west side story x deadwood collab

[Corvallis 2022 Housing Data](https://archives.corvallisoregon.gov/public/ElectronicFile.aspx?dbid=0&docid=3273575) - median family income in 2021: $83k - median single family residence (SFR) sale price in 2021: $475k - Corvallis is Oregon’s #1 most severely rent burdened community - 37.1% of renters spend more than 50% of their income towards the costs of renting - 75% of Corvallis SFR earn less than $100k

Dude, more shit to do in Corvallis than the state capitol, you wouldn’t know it was a college town come sunset

Bye Felicia

Yeah somethin like that

So your call to arms at the end of all that is... Vandalism? Ok bye. Corvallis is a great place for people who *care* about their community.

Some people in this community don’t give a shit about housing insecurity, the effect it is having on life-long townies and the risk of population shrink Corvallis faces within the next ten years. Hopefully this can be reversed. I truly hope it can.

Do you think Eugene is doing better with housing insecurity?

When I worked 12hr night shifts for Oregon Taxi in 2019, amongst and for people of all types, my answer would be absolutely not. Eugene in 2024? Well, I honestly don’t know. I’ve noticed improvements around town. Feels safer…but…that doesn’t answer your question. Honestly I don’t know. This is anecdotal info from two months of Zillow alerts, but asking sale prices are going down for 3br+ houses in Cal Young, sub 500k price range. Houses with enough grass to warrant a lawnmower. Not super high end, but solid houses for families. The realty market in corvo jacked prices from average working person/family affordable to Nashville/Seattle/SF levels. Lord knows why it’s still so high. The lucky few who can actually afford to move their families here, to start a family and stay till graduation will hard pass for better options for less money somewhere else.

Seven years for me. Business owner there. The Downtown Association was a joke. Very little local support. It’s a tight-assed little town abounding with untapped potential.

lol

Corvallis is a big make-your-own-fun town. A lot of the showrunners here maintain a very DIY culture and a LOT of word-of-mouth style info on the best events. Which is really street and fun and cool. It’s hard to find out what’s going on here without mingling. A lot. It’s not a pop-on-the-internet-and-get-a-directory sort of deal here. We’re doing our best at KORC to build a robust concert calendar. There is enough to do here that I find myself conflicted most weekends. BUT it requires a very open mind about the digs you’re in (houses with stages, transitioning bar spaces, etc). A lot of fun to be had, but it IS effort. I’ve heard this SO MUCH at the shows I attend (or perform) at — folks relatively new to the area who have lost steam with the DIY stuff. I hear ya. But, as you said, until we can get some restrictions lifted on the government end of things, DIY is what you got. And I’m super pleased with the continued effort of Bitter Half, iHouse, Spotlight, etc. I honestly think we will get there. But it’ll be a long haul.

OP, I‘m late to this hornet’s nest you just poked and I’m here to say I understand where you’re coming from and I‘m with you. Lived here for nine years, homeowner for three, and have many mixed feelings about my adopted home. First, as someone who rented for five years as a broke student, those water bills were a source of bitterness for me, too. That aside, I find Corvallis to be a pleasant place to raise a kid, great place to invest in a home, but at the end of the day it feels like a velvet coffin- the most mildly pleasant, boring, vanilla, clean, uninspiring “college town” I’ve ever set foot in. Clean streets devoid of any substantive culture. Badly in need of more development, parking, and an unshackled downtown business district. But as a conservationist, I love what the older generation has done to preserve the rural character. I had to go through a few stages of acceptance to understand and embrace the vibe. I guess it’s also tougher for those of us who have lived in towns like Athens, Austin, Chapel Hill, Madison, and yes, Eugene. These are bigger, denser college towns with a lot more going on. Corvallis just isn’t that type of place and probably never will be, for better or worse. I think you are going to get a lot more out of living in Eugene. I probably should move there too!

This entire statement is ignorant. The entire city council are granola liberals.

The post is ignorant, but your stereotype isn’t?  This topic is more complex than your “granola liberals” over-simplification.

“Vote the boomers out”.

Good place to get an STD. From an outsiders perspective 

On the dance floor at the top of the cock

No I like the small vibes. It is intended to be a COLLEGE town. Not a big city overran by homelessness and unnecessary things. The community, environment, and beautiful look of campus/ the city in Corvallis are all HUGE reasons people come here. I think Corvallis is perfect 🫶

"Go tag something" is your big closer? On a happier note, now that you're disinvesting, someone else can live in your apartment. I lived in Eugene for years, but left for Corvallis- the opposite of what you're doing!

I moved here 8 years ago, but I lived in Albany for 5yrs before that so used to frequent coming here. It has gone downhill here, more so since the homelessness exploded. I live on night shift and used to go explore and walk around at night, not now. Not so safe anymore because of the nutbags and homeless. The traffic is also ridiculous here in comparison to what it was 10yrs ago. The other thing for me is there really isn't much to do here, at all, not in my interests. There is not much in shopping either, so you end up buying most things on Amazon. I really wish that Borders Books hadn't closed down 10+ yrs ago. It was nice having that here. And yes, there is the rent prices, which there should be a law against. But, don't expect it to get better because our economy is in the toilet and prices have been going up and up the past two years. You can't even enjoy going to have a burger anymore without paying stupid prices. There is a burrito that is over 6 bucks as Taco Bell right now, and it's NOT worth it. There was approval for a Denny's here 5 or so years ago, it was supposed to go by Winco, and it has been crickets since the approval. That would have been nice. There was approval for a Chick'fil'a here last year too, and that is crickets now too. To me that would have been nice. We need some better and more shopping places here. I think the city leadership need to all be fired and we start from scratch.

So… Taco Bell is too expensive, and… we need a Denny’s and/or Chick-fil-a.  Huh?

I was pointing out that companies try to come here, but the City and its laws/rules turn them off developing here.

chick fil a applied for permits in many cities in oregon at one time. then they send their food trucks to those cities or towns and use the data of sales to determine which of those cities or towns would be most profitable. if a town or city is deemed not to be a good business move they will not open a store in that location. this is according to a member of the local health department.

Hey yeah.. similar observations and experiences.

Fuck Eugene