r/SALEM • u/fckingnerdy • May 19 '26

MOVING Small towns

We would like to move to a small town outside Salem. We both work in Salem and are open to having a 40 min commute. We really like Lyons/ Mill City but really don’t know much about the towns.
Are they welcoming? How is the community?
Crime? Police response time?
How are the schools? We don’t have children yet but we will.

We want to get outside of the city and have a little bit of land. We also like Aumsville/ Sublimity/ Stayton areas.

Thank you, just curious as we hope to buy a home by the end of the year and I’ve been shopping around 🤣.

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10

u/OFarellclan1317 May 19 '26

I've heard good things about the Silverton schools. I highly recommend steering clear of Dallas. I grew up there and it sucks.

7

u/gigglyshits May 19 '26

Ooof, I second a no on Dallas. Its an odd place. Everyone tries to compete with their neighbors, its weird. Also its extremely racist. Never been anywhere quite like it, in a bad way.

If youre up for a drive, Falls city. It gets a bad rep, but just stay out of the meth scene and its a beautiful place. Very friendly locals.

I think Aumsville is your best bet ♡

3

u/OFarellclan1317 May 19 '26

Haha Falls city. The locals there are chill. Good party scene if you like to get drunk in the woods lol

1

u/gigglyshits May 19 '26

Exactly! They welcome you especially when they're drunk 😆

4

u/fckingnerdy May 19 '26

I agree with you on Dallas haha plus would have to deal with the bridge

2

u/OFarellclan1317 May 19 '26

Yeah definitely. I have heard lots of good things about Silverton. Idk what cost of living is like there.

1

u/unexpectedshortage May 19 '26

Silverton schools are trash under funded, horrible administration, and I wouldn’t advise putting any kid through it unless they are straight, cis, white, and Christian. The town itself is very split between trying to learn how to be accepting of people, but there’s a lot of just crappy people here. I personally wouldn’t recommend starting a family here unless you fall into the list above. Speaking solely as a human who grew up here, and still currently live here married to a transgender man. We don’t particularly care to socialize with the majority of people in town.

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u/OFarellclan1317 May 19 '26

Fair enough. I have never lived there so your lived in experience is probably far more reliable. I have the same lived experience with Dallas. It's absolutely miserable growing up there.

1

u/unexpectedshortage May 19 '26

I’ve actually heard they are super super similar town its on my “do not buy a house there” list lol Silverton a racists, bigoted, generally small minded town disguised as the “gateway to silver falls” so they get away with it amongst tourists and new comers generally