Tell me about Lebanon, OR

[phathui5]

Our family is considering a move to (or near) Lebanon, Oregon for my midwifery education. We have four children, who are homeschooled.

Please tell me anything you know about the Lebanon area.

[lalaloretta]

Well, I moved from Portland/Troutadle area June to Lebanon because my husband took a job down here. Linn County has a high unemployment rate but I will say that the schools are great. My son is going into 2nd grade and has severe seperation anxiety disorder and the school was GREAT at helping us. GREAT, at the school he came from they called DHS and kicked him out. Not helpful at all. It's a pretty quiet town, not much goes on. May there is the Strawberry fest, July Pirates take over the town, August the town is Hawaiian for the Hawaiian days. All in all it's a pretty nice place to live. It's different from a big town but it's a lot of fun too. There is Foster Lake about 30 minutes from here for great camping and fishing and in the fall great hunting if your family is in to that. Hope that helps.

[olliesmommy]

We've been in Lebanon for 6+ years and it's been a pretty nice place to live, we are big city transplants & we have enjoyed living here so much that we don't ever want to have to move anywhere much larger than Lebanon.

It's was a timber/mill town & is somewhat conservative but we have found it to be very welcoming and folks seem to have a "live & let live" atitude for the most part. The community was hit really hard in the 1980's when timber harvest declined, but has been working hard to pull itself up by the bootstraps  

It's a small town, there are several large grocery stores, a small health food store, a walmart, pharmacies, a decent hospital & some mediocre places to eat & a downtown that is trying pretty darned hard to revitalize! Summer brings a nice little farmer's market & several community events. Corvallis & Eugene are about 50 min away & Portland is just over an hour & all three have amazing amenities & you can get a "city fix" fairly easily. The coast is just over an hour away, so are the mountains (great skiing, snowboarding, hiking, camping, etc).

We have a new freestanding Midwifery birthing center in town (that may be who you are connected with!) that we would LOVE to see continue to grow & prosper! A satellite branch of an Osteopathic College has just recently accepted it's first clas of students too.

The cost of housing is pretty inexpensive compared to larger towns nearby, you can buy a decent place for about $175k or rent a 3 bedroom house for around $800-$1,000/mo depending on location/size, etc. There are a couple of agencies to NOT rent from, if you want their info please feel free to PM me & I can give you more info. There are also some areas of Lebanon that are not the best areas to raise a family, you can always check the police stats for a neighbourhood for crime rates.

You'll find a handful of crunchy mamas & papas roaming the area, this is a link to a corvallis group, but i have found a couple of other lebanon area friends through this site: http://corvallisparents.ning.com/  The Community College has a "Live & Learn" class each quarter & can be a good resource for meeting other mamas as well.  

There is a small homeschool community, I see posts & events for them sometimes. I have to disagree with the PP that the schools are great, there has been a great deal of chaos & politics over the past several that have negatively affected the school system in Lebanon, but if you Homseshcool you'll do just fine. There is a Charter school in Lebanon that is prety decent, but it too has been affected by the district politics, but not to the degree that the rest of the schools & district has been.

I hope this is the kin of info you're looking for. Feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions or if there's any other info you're looking for. I'd be happy to try to help!

[phathui5]

We have a new freestanding Midwifery birthing center in town (that may be who you are connected with!) that we would LOVE to see continue to grow & prosper!

That's who I'm waiting to hear back from!!!

[olliesmommy]

That's with Debbie Cowart, she is amazing & is doing something really important for this Community. She wasn't our MW for our son's birth, but she was very helpful after he was born. Please feel free to PM me if you do end up moving this way. We have just heard that we'll be transferring with my partner's work & won't be in the area much longer, but I would be more than happy to share info if you need more! Good luck & I hope things go wonderfully for you & your family!

[phathui5]

I've talked to Debbie on the phone several times now and am waiting to hear back from her office. I'm glad to hear that you had a good experience with her.