Institutions are scary
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10/15/2007
I go to Willamette University - We are surrounded by institutions. There is a high-level psychiatric ward and a prison within a few miles of campus. There is another prison another 15 minutes away. On top of that, "half-way" housing is right next to campus, which means all the people who get out of these places move right next door. I'm not sure why there are so many prisons / institutions in Salem, near downtown, but it makes for a lot of homeless / sketchy folks walking around.
On top of this, Salem has a bad meth problem, which only adds to the sketchies. Unless you're looking for cheap housing + smallish city, or going to college (great college, btw), staying away from Salem for now is a good idea. I think in 10-20 years we'll see Salem get nice, but not for a while. Move to Olympia if you want the same-sized city feel with a safer / newer city.
Jaered | Salem, OR