Spring Break
Valley Girl
Erin Miller
Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Diversions
You might think that every Birkenstock-wearing, chai-drinking, Country Fair-going hippy in this green little valley avoids Oregon State University like we avoid paying taxes and washing our dreadlocks. You may not even know what the Country Fair is all about. You may have even voted for Bush not once, but twice. I forgive you. Really.
And now I need your help, because there are lots of us here on campus who are trying to find the Corvallis that's on all those national lists. You know what I mean: "Most Creative City," "Most Livable City," "Most Bike-Friendly Town," "Highest Library Card Use Per Capita." Yeah. They're talking about here, and they're describing us.
You should know that I love it here already, and I don't need you to sign a petition or come join my hookah circle. I just need a simple answer: Where should I look for this mythical, list-worthy Corvallis?
The Eugene Weekly ran a story last September that juxtaposed the downtown of thriving, creative, Corvallis to that of bleak, stuck-in-a-rut Eugene. I most especially love the downtown, with its lack of empty storefronts. In Eugene, that southern city known for anarchists adorned with hemp and amazing organic coffee, our downtown boasts two city block-size holes that are rapidly filling with rainwater. Our sophisticated dining options include the sleaziest Taco Time you've ever encountered (which happens to be oddly placed in the middle of our city center) and a variety of food cart vendors selling German sausages.
Corvallis, by contrast, has a blossoming downtown where the fabulous concept of free parking has been stunning native Eugenians for years. You have American Dream, Morning Glory, that really expensive shoe place and enough cycling stores to supply the Tour de France .
But I can't help but compare my two addresses with nostalgia in my heart. Whenever one of my friends suggests an outing, I have to have a Eugene analog to comfort me. You have Darkside Cinema, we have the Bijou. First Alternative becomes Sundance Natural Foods. The gelato place by the Dream may as well be called Perugino to me.
And now I need your help, because there are lots of us here on campus who are trying to find the Corvallis that's on all those national lists. You know what I mean: "Most Creative City," "Most Livable City," "Most Bike-Friendly Town," "Highest Library Card Use Per Capita." Yeah. They're talking about here, and they're describing us.
You should know that I love it here already, and I don't need you to sign a petition or come join my hookah circle. I just need a simple answer: Where should I look for this mythical, list-worthy Corvallis?
The Eugene Weekly ran a story last September that juxtaposed the downtown of thriving, creative, Corvallis to that of bleak, stuck-in-a-rut Eugene. I most especially love the downtown, with its lack of empty storefronts. In Eugene, that southern city known for anarchists adorned with hemp and amazing organic coffee, our downtown boasts two city block-size holes that are rapidly filling with rainwater. Our sophisticated dining options include the sleaziest Taco Time you've ever encountered (which happens to be oddly placed in the middle of our city center) and a variety of food cart vendors selling German sausages.
Corvallis, by contrast, has a blossoming downtown where the fabulous concept of free parking has been stunning native Eugenians for years. You have American Dream, Morning Glory, that really expensive shoe place and enough cycling stores to supply the Tour de France .
But I can't help but compare my two addresses with nostalgia in my heart. Whenever one of my friends suggests an outing, I have to have a Eugene analog to comfort me. You have Darkside Cinema, we have the Bijou. First Alternative becomes Sundance Natural Foods. The gelato place by the Dream may as well be called Perugino to me.
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