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Renting an Apartment in Corvallis
What You Should Know
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, USA. Originally called
Marysville, (after early settler Mary Lloyd), the legislative assembly changed
the city's name to Corvallis in 1853, from the Latin phrase cor vallis, meaning
"heart of the valley." Corvallis was incorporated as a city in 1857. It is the
county seat of Benton CountyGR6 and the principal city of the 'Corvallis, Oregon
Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Benton County.
As of July 1, 2006, the city has an estimated population of 53,900.
Its daily newspaper, The Corvallis Gazette-Times has a weekday circulation of
11,524 and a Sunday circulation of 12,021.
The campus of Oregon State University, which is the major local employer, is
located near the edge of the main downtown area. Another large employer is
Hewlett-Packard, whose printer cartridge manufacturing and prototyping facility
is located in the northeast area of town.
Corvallis is admired for its tree-lined streets and numerous parks, its historic
courthouse, its popular public library, storefronts, homes, and other
structures, its traditional downtown with small shops and restaurants, and its
Riverfront Commemorative Park, which runs along the Willamette River, on the
eastern edge of downtown. Designated a "Bike-Friendly City," Corvallis has many
miles of bike paths, trails, and roadside bicycle lanes. The 577 acre (2.34 km˛)
Oregon State University campus complements the city with its abundance of trees
and handsome buildings. The university also brings a wealth of educational,
research, and cultural resources to the community, as well as major college
sports events.
Corvallis was the inspiration for "Cascadia" in the Bernard Malamud story, "A
New Life."
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 49,322 people, 19,630 households, and
9,972 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,400.2/km˛
(3,625.6/mi˛). There were 20,909 housing units at an average density of
593.6/km˛ (1,537.0/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was 86.03% White, 1.16%
Black or African American, 0.76% Native American, 6.42% Asian, 0.29% Pacific
Islander, 2.52% from other races, and 2.82% from two or more races. 5.72% of the
population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 19,630 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 40.8% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 49.2% were non-families. 31.5% of all
households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average
family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 28.4%
from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there
were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,236, and the median income
for a family was $53,208. Males had a median income of $40,770 versus $29,390
for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,317. About 9.7% of
families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including
15.2% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.
Geography
Corvallis is located at 44°34′15″N, 123°16′34″W (44.570780, -123.275998)GR1, at
an elevation of 235 feet. Situated midway in the Willamette Valley, Corvallis is
about 85 miles south of Portland, 30 miles south of the state capital, Salem,
ten miles west of Albany and the I-5 highway, and 44 miles north of Eugene /
Springfield. By car, the travel time is about an hour and a half from Portland,
and 45 minutes from Eugene/Springfield, taking I-5. Highway 99W, a secondary
north-south route, also runs through Corvallis.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.7
km˛ (13.8 mi˛). 35.2 km˛ (13.6 mi˛) of it is land and 0.4 km˛ (0.2 mi˛) of it is
water. The total area is 1.23% water.
Public education
Elementary schools
Adams, Franklin (K-8), Garfield, Hoover, Jefferson, Lincoln (K-8), Mountain
View, Wilson
Middle schools
Cheldelin, Linus Pauling
High schools
* Corvallis High School
* Crescent Valley High School
Famous people & groups
* Amadan, Irish music band
* Brad Badger, NFL player
* Brad Bird, animator, writer, and director (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant)
* Chris Botti, jazz trumpet musician
* Meredith Brooks, singer, songwriter, and producer
* Randy Couture, mixed martial artist and UFC Hall of Fame member
* Kevin Gregg, MLB player
* Eyvind Kang, violinist and composer
* Jon Krakauer, author and mountaineer
* Wayne Krantz, guitarist
* Deane Ogden, film composer
* Linus Pauling, 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and 1962 Nobel Peace Prize
recipient (Graduated from Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State
University)
* Harold Reynolds, former MLB player and former ESPN broadcaster
* Mike Riley, former NFL head coach (San Diego Chargers), currently the Oregon
State Beavers head football coach
* Robb Thomas, former NFL player
* Sara Jean Underwood, Playboy model
* Carl Wieman, 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics recipient for creation of the
Bose-Einstein Condensate
* The W's, 1990s swing revival band
* Mike Zandofsky, former NFL player
Points of interest
* Peavy Arboretum
* Marys Peak
Transportation
Amtrak thruway bus service and Greyhound stop at the Greyhound station in
downtown Corvallis. The station ID on both systems is CVI.
Rankings and recognition
* A study done by the University of Southern California ranked Corvallis' Oregon
State University as the "Safest Pac-10 Campus" (1994).[3]
* A study done by Vegan Magazine ranked Corvallis as "One of the 13 best towns
to be a vegetarian" (1995).[4]
* An article in Parade magazine rated Corvallis as "One of the 10 best cities in
which to live" (1996).[4]
* Offspring Magazine listed the Corvallis School District as one of the top
public school systems in the country (2000). [4]
* A study done by Hennen's American Public Library Ratings ranked the
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library as one of the top ten libraries in the
country based on population size (2002). [5]
* USA Today ranked Corvallis fourth in the nation for the highest number of
patents issued by city (2002). [6]
* BizDemographics ranked Corvallis 7th out of about 500 cities in the nation for
best places to do business (2002). [4]
* The Bicycle Transportation Alliance ranked Corvallis as Oregon's most
bicycle-friendly city (2002). [4]
* The Orange County Register picked Corvallis' Oregon State University as the
"Best Pac-10 Campus" (2002). [4]
* The National Arbor Day Foundation awarded Corvallis a Tree City USA Award in
2002. [6] They also awarded Corvallis the Tree City USA Growth Award in 2003.
[7]
* Bike USA listed Corvallis as the 9th most bicycle-friendly city in the nation.
[6]
* The League of American Bicyclists gave Corvallis a gold "Bicycle-Friendly
Community" designation in May 2003, one of only four such cities in the nation
as of 2006. [8]
* Frommer's Travel Guides, Cities Ranked & Rated ranks Corvallis as the 10th
best city of any size in the United States and Canada. [9]
* The February 2004 issue of the Harvard Business Review ranks Corvallis as the
15th most creative city in the nation. [10]
* Bike at Work listed Corvallis as the 9th best city in the nation "As a car
free community" (2005). [6]
* Men's Journal ranked Corvallis as "The 8th best place in the nation to live"
in 2003. [10] In April 2005, they moved Corvallis up one place to 7th. [4]
* Expansion Management selected Corvallis as a "Five-Star Knowledge Worker
Metro", the highest rating achievable (2005). [11]
* A survey by the National Science Foundation found Corvallis ranks second in
the nation for the number of scientists as a percentage of total employment
(12.7 percent) as of 2006. [12]
* Corvallis was the first city on the West Coast and only the third city in the
nation to receive the "Green Power Community" designation by the EPA (2006).
[13]
* In 2006, the Morgan Quitno Awards ranked Corvallis as the 20th safest city (of
344) in the 13th Annual America's Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities publication
for metropolitan areas of its size.[14]
Sister cities
Corvallis has two sister cities,as designated by Sister Cities International:
* Flag of Ethiopia Gondar, Ethiopia
* Flag of Ukraine Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Trivia
* Highest education rate per capita of any city in the state
* Benton County, of which Corvallis makes up the majority of the population, has
the lowest church attendance per capita of any county in the nation (25%
attendance) [16]
* In legendary film director Billy Wilder's 1944 film noir classic Double
Indemnity, the character of Mr. Jackson, played by Porter Hall, is from Medford,
Oregon, but mentions Corvallis in this line to Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray):
"It's the name! There's a family of Neffs in Corvallis!" Walter Neff replies,
"No relation", to which Mr. Jackson says, "Let me see, this man's an automobile
dealer in Corvallis. A very reputable man too I'm told."
* Corvallis plays a major role in S. M. Stirling's "Emberverse" series. It's one
of the few cities to come through the Change with many survivors, and with some
sort of governing infrastructure remaining from the old world.