The Whiteaker - any thoughts? (Eugene: crimes, neighborhood, camping)

[Haley James]

Originally Posted by stuckinseattle

lol crime in Eugene. COME ON.

There's a reason why so many people mention crime in their posts on Eugene.

[dj006]

Originally Posted by Haley James

There's a reason why so many people mention crime in their posts on Eugene.

Doesn't it usually depend on what area you live in? That and an even if there is more crime than average, more of it seems to be non-violent crime, ie: theft or burglary

[Haley James]

Originally Posted by dj006

Doesn't it usually depend on what area you live in? That and an even if there is more crime than average, more of it seems to be non-violent crime, ie: theft or burglary

In my experience it's everywhere. It may be more concentrated in some areas than others but Eugene is small; it's easy to get around by bicycle or foot. It doesn't take long to get to different parts of the city.

I don't know the official stats but yes I'd agree with you that more of the crime here is non-violent with one caveat; I don't care. There is enough of it here that at times I've felt those with the greatest potential to commit crimes make up a significant part of the population.

I was also surprised at the amount and type of violent crimes that are commited here as well. For example in the 4 years I've been in Eugene there's been 3 homeless people beaten to death in the parks.

Drugs and meth use here are rampant, and it follows that crime here is high.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by B97701

And both Redmond and the Redmond Ridge PUD (planned unit development, which will expand) are always tearing up the streets, too, as is Bellevue!

I didn't see them tearing up perfectly good streets to redo the streets to exactly as they were before in Redmond RIdge like we see in Eugene and Springfield... but we did see a terrible amount of clearcutting of forests there which was depressing and creating flood problems for the lower lying surrounding areas. Developers evidently didn't stop to think about how much water all those trees are able to suck up and hold... without the trees, all that water has to go somewhere... hence - more flooding problems.

[GeorgiaTransplant]

Originally Posted by kapetrich

Because internationally speaking, the OSU has a better rep than UofO? HA! Give me a break.

As a person speaking non-internationally, but from the other coast....let me tell you: most people from the other side of your own country don't even know these two school are different, let alone that one is better than the other.

After living here for a year now, I realize both are fine schools for different reasons, but Oregon has a long way to go in terms of higher education name recognition.

Originally Posted by loloroj

Given that I'm from this coast, it's apparent you have no idea what you're talking about....

Given that I'm not only from the West Coast, I'm from Corvallis and I am an alumni of OSU...yes, they do.

I have lived on the east coast for awhile now. I say 'I graduated Oregon State' and the average response is 'Oh, so you're a Duck?' There is absolutely no comprehension east of the Mississippi that there are two large schools in Oregon, much less that they are that close to each other or what the differences are. Of the two, U of O is better recognized. Mostly football I think.

[kapetrich]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTransplant

Given that I'm not only from the West Coast, I'm from Corvallis and I am an alumni of OSU...yes, they do.

I have lived on the east coast for awhile now. I say 'I graduated Oregon State' and the average response is 'Oh, so you're a Duck?' There is absolutely no comprehension east of the Mississippi that there are two large schools in Oregon, much less that they are that close to each other or what the differences are. Of the two, U of O is better recognized. Mostly football I think.

Exactly.

And you're right, football recognition is definitely helping UofO, but it's still pretty hit or miss unless your run across the diehard college football fan.

I've seen big name college sports put schools on the map, though. Not only giving the school a buzz, but actually having the wins trickle positively into academics.
It happened in my home State. University of Maryland was a so-so/laughed at State school, until we won a NCAA basketball title in 2001 (along with other factors, obviously). All of a sudden it became MUCH harder to get into and their academic credentials shot up along side the win. This isn't to say UMD is amazing or anything, but it is certainly better known now than it was during the 70's-90's.

[stuckinseattle]

It's a college town, there's some bike theft, and there is some interhobo violence, ok, but the biggest danger you face in Eugene is that someone is going to cause an accident by failing to signal.

[Haley James]

Originally Posted by stuckinseattle

It's a college town, there's some bike theft, and there is some interhobo violence, ok, but the biggest danger you face in Eugene is that someone is going to cause an accident by failing to signal.

As someone living and working in the area I disagree. A current article...


Two armed robberies join series of heists in Eugene this month


In addition the men convicted of murder/manslaughter in two of the cases of(interhobo violence using your terminology)were not homeless. The third I have yet to look up.

Judge finds men guilty of murdering homeless man in Skinner Butte Park | Local & Regional News for Eugene, Springfield Oregon | Eugene News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KVAL CBS 13


http://special.registerguard.com/csp...1-41/story.csp

[orgonebox]

All things being relative, Eugene is pretty low in serious violent crime. There were four homicides last year. FOUR. Seven the year before. Here's a link to last year's crime stats per 100,000 population: http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_370198_0_0_18/icapar5.pdf (broken link) I've lived in rural areas that had considerably more murders and violent crime with less than a tenth of Eugene's population, and I've also lived in similarly sized and larger urban areas that had far more violent crime.

That said, I don't think crime should be tolerated in any form - one rape, one murder, one case of domestic abuse is one too many, but I don't live with the fantasy there's a perfectly behaved society anywhere; rather, merely those that do a better job of covering it up. Property crime is one of opportunity, and thieves are lazy. If you value your things above all else, don't make it easy for thieves and they'll look for someone dumber than you as a target. Record serial numbers on bikes and electronics and report the theft. Yes, there's lots of meth and prescription opiate abuse, but welcome to unemployed depressed stressed self-medicating America. It's everywhere, but Eugene seems low-key on that front compared to other places as well.

[Haley James]

Originally Posted by orgonebox

All things being relative, Eugene is pretty low in serious violent crime.

Certainly, however painting the picture that violent crime doesn't occur in Eugene is misleading.

Originally Posted by stuckinseattle

It's a college town, there's some bike theft, and there is some interhobo violence, ok, but the biggest danger you face in Eugene is that someone is going to cause an accident by failing to signal.

Originally Posted by orgonebox

Yes, there's lots of meth and prescription opiate abuse, but welcome to unemployed depressed stressed self-medicating America. It's everywhere, but Eugene seems low-key on that front compared to other places as well.

It may seem low-key to you; it doesn't to me. Given many of the people I encounter on a daily basis the following article was no big surprise.

Area drugs pose potent problems | Main News | The Register-Guard | Eugene, Oregon