Centrally located in the verdant Willamette Valley, Dallas hosts the popular Dallas Summerfest featuring food, local vendors, arts and crafts, town breakfasts, a car show and parade, drawing people from miles around.
Twenty minutes west of Salem and an hour southwest of Portland, the area that would become Dallas, Oregon was founded in 1840, nearly twenty years before Oregon achieved statehood
Centrally located in the verdant Willamette Valley, Dallas hosts the popular Dallas Summerfest featuring food, local vendors, arts and crafts, town breakfasts, a car show and parade, drawing people from miles around.
Twenty minutes west of Salem and an hour southwest of Portland, the area that would become Dallas, Oregon was founded in 1840, nearly twenty years before Oregon achieved statehood. As one might expect for a western frontier city with a lot of trees at its disposal, Dallas claims a lot of railroad and logging history. These days, Dallas's emerging industry is less about paper and more about glass the kind into which you pour wine from the wineries springing up in the area. With parks, natural beauty, and an easy commute into job centers in Salem and even Portland Dallas is a great place to call home.
Dallas offers everything you'd expect from Oregon and reinforces the state's position as the trendiest migration destination in the country. Farms, microbreweries, wineries, county fairs, an honest to goodness Drive-In theater, and wildlife abound here. If you want to move to Oregon, the generally mild climate means there's no bad time of year to come though things will be a bit rainier from late autumn through early spring. There is a pretty large student population in Salem thanks to Willamette University, however their moving timelines shouldn't substantially effect your search for rental apartments in Dallas.
Of course, preparation is key. In addition to having with you at all times your regular bag of renters' docs (proof of income, credit report, references, the all-important deposit check), spend some time getting to know the city and your neighborhood options there. Nothing beats a walk around town to get oriented and maybe meet your potential neighbors. Here are some general areas in Dallas for you to consider. Know that the city itself is only about five square miles. There are, of course, options outside of the city limits that you may want to consider as well.
City Center: The center of town is arranged mostly along Kings Valley Highway. You'll find dining and shopping options here. You'll have your choice of apartment complexes here as well as residential, detached home communities a few blocks further out from center.
Ballston: North of central Dallas (and outside city limits) this area is perfect for those who need more open space and fewer neighbors. Encompassing the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, the Ballston area is also home to Dallas' burgeoning wine industry with wineries like Van Duzer Vineyards and Left Coast Cellars. Expect to find a house rental but far fewer premier apartments in this neck of the (literal) woods (and plains).
Rickreall: Tiny Rickreall we're talking five streets and a post office small gets you closer to Salem, but further from the bulk of housing options. If you really want your privacy and you don't mind driving to get to pretty much anything you'd need, this is the place to search.
Kings Valley: The southern half of Dallas, this area, much like the city's center, will give you easy access to local amenities and a variety of typical suburban housing options one- and two-bedroom apartments, rental condos, etc.
The city center, as you'd predict, is where you'll find most of the action. Hong Kong Restaurant, Washington Street Steakhouse & Pub, and Ixtapa Mexican Restaurant are popular with the locals. Caffeine-up at Dutch Brothers there is that mermaid option in town, but trust us, try this West Coast coffee institution and you may find yourself a convert.
Most of the shopping in the center of town is of the cute, small, boutique variety including Grandma's Attic Sewing Emporium and Plain & Fancy Gifts. There's a long big box store in the northeast area, but for major shopping trips, you'll want your car to take a trip into Salem which has everything you'd expect to find in a major city.
This is Oregon, so expect the locals to expect you to embrace the great outdoors. The Basket Slough National Wildlife Refuge provides, well, what its name implies: protection for the native wetlands and biomes that have been otherwise largely overtaken by farming and cities. The Refuge provides a window to the past and what the Willamette Valley looked like to its first settlers in the early 1800s. You can neither fish nor hunt in the Refuge (that would sort of defeat the purpose), but you can enjoy a hike and the many interpretive and educational signs at trailheads so you know what you're looking at and why it is important. Bring your camera and maybe you'll become the next National Geographic star.
Not outdoorsy? That's okay. There's indoor entertainment as well. The Fox Theater and the Motor-Vu Drive-In are there to serve you. Of course, Salem is such a short drive away it would be fair to claim some of their amenities as yours as well. Catch Capitol City Theater for some live improv comedy or hit up the Salem Cinema for the art house movies that will keep you ahead of your friends on your independent movie trivia. Our choice for movies, though, is Cinebarre Salem where they serve beer, wine, and pub fare with the latest flicks.
While you're in Salem, marvel at the rolling, lovely Willamette River which runs through town and gives this region its name. You'll be in love with Oregon in no time and glad you made the move.
