SperlingViews - Independence, Oregon

For a town of ~9k people the amenities are good; this is also helped by state college Western Oregon University in the neighboring city of Monmouth(all within a 3-mile bubble). There is an Residential Airpark, a waterfront park (which hosts many events in the summer months and a great fourth of July event), there are 10+ restaurants in Independence, a 8(?)-Room movie theater, a bowling alley, good school district, and good grocery shopping (Roths/Winco). Nearby amenities are Sushi/Bi-mart/Fast Food/University(Plays/Football, etc) in Monmouth(~10 mins), Safeway/Wal-mart in Dallas (~12 miles away), Oregon State University (~30-40 mins), the Pentacle Theatre/Lots of Restaurants in West Salem (~15 Mins), Salem Center Mall in Salem (~20-30 mins), 1 1/2 hours from the Beach, 1 1/2 Hours from Portland International Airport. I really like Independence, it has all the necessary creature comforts such as a movie theater, restaurants, and decent "living" stores (grocery/home stores), everything else is within a short drive... from living in a big city I know it took me about 25-30 minutes with in-city traffic and parking to make it to the mall anyways.[read more...]

Independence is a small town with a friendly feel. Great place to live if you want to get away from the fast pace of a big city. After living here for eight years the novely of the slow pace is wearing off. A bit too slow. Although the city boasts a cinema, that's about it. If you crave restaurants or entertainment you have to drive to Portland about seventy miles away. As evil as it sounds to say, the large non-english speaking Hispanic population is not a plus. Enough probably said about that.[read more...]