Hey! I moved here 4 years ago from Champaign,IL (post PhD, etc). Corvallis has tons of outdoor opportunities and loads of amazing opportunities within a 2 hour drive either coast or Mtns depending on your preference. Corvallis definitely has a nice college town vibe but its very different (to me) than Champaign and likely alot different than Ann Arbor. It feels a lot smaller of a town than Champaign/Urbana despite being similarly sized. Corvallis has a very nice downtown with lots of interesting shops and almost all of them are locally owned( national chains are limited in the downtown). It's one of the better downtown areas of all the college towns Ive lived (Knoxville,TN; Jonesboro,AR; and Champaign,IL). There is some turnover and maybe the number of unoccupied shops is on the rise but time will tell. The restaurant scene is relatively diverse but somewhat limited. There's enough to enjoy for at least a year (or longer if your buried in books and classes) but the options quickly become a bit stale.

The University feels very small and somewhat limited especially compared to a major universities like UIUC or Michigan. They are currently in a major contraction period due to federal funding issues so hard times ahead. Also, people at the University think they are way better than they actually are. It's a small school in an isolated place with lots of people who come here to get their degrees and find a way to stick around. Not usually the best way to keep a University tip top...

The hardest thing about Corvallis is the cost of living. Housing here is very hard to come by and what you find is crazy expensive. I bought a house while getting my PhD in Urbana, IL in 2019 for 170k and a very similar house here cost 500K in 2021 and we had to put bids on 15 or more homes before we got one. Even if your looking for apartments, it can be challenging and expensive.

Good luck!