Not too many people are aware of this, including many of the residents who live here, but Cottage Grove, Oregon, was the setting for the final scene in Animal House. Remember the big parade at the end where John Belushi swings across the pavement on a torn street banner dressed like a pirate? Yeah. That happened here.
Cottage Grove is a town of about 9,700 people at the extreme southern tip of Oregon's Willamette Valley (pronounced Will-AM-it) right off Interstate 5 about 20 miles south of Eugene, which is the home of the University of Oregon and the second largest population center in the state. Cottage Grove looks like a town straight out of an old postcard photo, having both classic looking Americana charm and sort of an implied quaint old-town sepia tone, complete with large mural advertisements painted on the sides of buildings on Main Street. That's right, this place has a for-real Main Street you can walk and shop. The town also is surrounded by some of the most beautiful countryside you'll ever see -- small waterfalls cascading over stone cliff faces, covered bridges, farmland with large rolls of hay, rusted out tractors and long, rolling hills that burst with color come autumn. You could get lost here with a camera. Good choice for a place to live.
Moving to Cottage Grove
One good piece of advice for moving anywhere in the Willamette Valley is to hire a local moving company and with Cottage Grove you're in luck because it's close to Eugene, which is full of strapping young college students ready to haul your belongings for a nominal fee. The reason for the movers though, besides making it easier on your back, is that it rains here (drizzles, mostly) almost nine months out of the year. Why not hire someone else to get wet while doing the heavy lifting? Remember, on lease-signing day you'll need to have your driver's license, state ID or passport, social security number, a list of prior rental references and proof that you can pay for the place -- a pay stub should suffice. While you have all of your identification together you might as well head over to the DMV because in Oregon you have one month to register your vehicle, get new license plates and a new driver's license, otherwise you're driving illegally.
Cottage Grove Neighborhoods
Cottage Grove is pretty spread out for such a small town. The city limits cover an area just 3.8 square miles, but what locals consider to be Cottage Grove is much larger than that.
Creswell: This is in fact another town about 10 minutes away on Interstate 5, but Oregonians consider this the Cottage Grove / Creswell region. In fact, originally the town was called Creswell. You'll find a good mix of rental houses in Creswell, from a one-bedroom apartment to multi-family housing, townhouses for rent, condos ... you name it. There are some cool little cottages available, too, at great prices if you keep your eyes peeled. A favorite neighborhood haunt here is the Round Up Tavern, and when you're hungry try Los Cabos Mexican or My Boys Pizza.
Saginaw: Saginaw has its own role in the fight over Cottage Grove's name back in the early 1860s. This area, once considered Cottage Grove proper during said fight because the post office moved here from Creswell, is about five minutes north up I-5 from Cottage Grove. The unincorporated area called Saginaw is a tiny bedroom community and a difficult place to find apartments for rent, but there are individual homes for rent here. Saginaw pretty much has zilch when it comes to even grocery shopping; you're not going to find any restaurants or taverns here, or any kind of shopping for that matter. For essentials you'll need to head south to ...
Cottage Grove: The north side of town near North Regional Park has a good mix of rental homes, including apartments for rent, single-family homes, duplexes and small-ish apartment complex called the Village Green Resort. The area around Main Street has a lot of older rental houses, as well as some cool apartments on the second floor above existing businesses in old downtown buildings. Some of the latter are huge, with hardwood floors and quirky designs. However, if you want to live in a house and have a yard, it's very affordable here. The east side of town, near (you guessed it) East Regional Park is pretty spread out with a lot of older, individual homes on large lots, duplexes and the occasional guest house for rent. The west side of town also has a lot of individual homes for rent, a few duplexes and very few smaller apartment rentals. When you feel like getting outside there are several parks in Cottage Grove, including Riverside Park, Trailhead Park, Coiner Park and Gateway Park. When you're ready to head indoors stop by the Great Western Pub for an ice-cold beverage.
Latham: This is really the south side of Cottage Grove. There's a large cluster of duplexes for rent here, as well as older homes, but not much in the way of apartments or townhouses for rent. Still, it's Cottage Grove, meaning there are good deals on rental homes just about anywhere you look. There isn't any shopping or places to go out to eat in this neighborhood, but you're just down the road from downtown Cottage Grove.
Living in Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove has a ton of little boutiques to shop in, but this place is a known antiquing destination. People come from as far north as Portland to shop here for stored-away treasures in at least a dozen shops. For large-scale entertainment options you'll have to head up I-5 to Eugene because national acts stop in that college town on their way through Oregon. When it comes to eating out there are many heavenly food choices in town. At some point you are more than likely to find yourself at Buster's Main Street Cafe for breakfast, a Cottage Grove institution. It's good advice to try the biscuits and gravy at least once in your life. Before or after breakfast make sure to grab a cup of coffee at Rally Coffee Roasters, which roasts and brews its own joe. Axe and Fiddle Pub and Grub is another downtown location the locals adore. This Irish- (or is it Scottish?) themed place is a good choice to go with friends to order a pint and play a round of darts.
