In search of Eugene Oregon (Portland, Springfield: crime, house, employment)

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by redcrown

Look at Beaverton/Tanasbourne. I really enjoy it here. Its nestled in a valley, but you have the west hills, and the hills going to newberg. Once you get past the city, BAM! country driving, which I love. rolling hills and vineyards, winerys... Lots of produce, summer berry picking everywhere. Eugene's agriculture is cows, and grass. yay. Beaverton is pretty close to the beach, and only 10 miles to the city. Beaverton in general is really well manicured as well, which I appreciate. Very clean city. Beaverton is quite NEW also...not a lot of history (you can go downtown for that) but that also means wide streets, and with the amount of traffic, that becomes important. Beaverton also has PARKING LOTS!!!! what a concept!!

I lived in Beaverton for 5 years and there is much about that area that I miss after leaving there. I agree with what was already said about Beaverton, and I also have to add that the light rail line makes the area a very easy commute to downtown Portland. The Beaverton area is a drastic improvement over my current location of the Minnesota Twin Cities and the Land of 10,000 Idiots.

[DBNN]

Originally Posted by Lavon Sailor

I spent 5 years in Eugene working at the Hynix plant. It is very beautiful there, I learned to scuba, it was only 1 hour to the ocean. We had good skiing 1 hour to the east, and it was always fun to take in a Ducks or Emeralds (minor league baseball) game. On the negative side, it seemed like spring took forever to arrive, summers were too short (but they were beautiful) and gas was always higher than any where else in the country. Houses were expensive, but it worked out to my advantage because I made a good profit on the one I bought and then sold after 5 years. Fern Ridge Lake is nice from April till October, then the Corps of Engineers drain it. One final thing, there are drive-thru coffee shops are all over town, and they are great. I really miss them here in Texas.

Hey what years did you work at Hynix? I worked there for three years.
I was a security Guard. Worked at the front administration desk, sub fab and the delivery gate.

[Momzilla]

We have moved our sights to Eugene as well - anywhere really in Oregon at this point where my husband can find a job. He is a massage therapist - and I am unsure how well it will work.. we still have a couple of months to get the details sorted...

But I have been researching, and it looks like a sure bet. Good luck in your exodus from Las Vegas! I feel ya!

~Peace~

[OREGONRAIN]

I will make it short and right to the point. Eugene is a nice place in many ways, just the right size withouth that big city feel, and the miles and miles of traffic that comes with large metro areas. The downsize is jobs, no place is any good for anyone if they have no job. I don't know what kind of work you need, or the amount of income you need in life, but that is not an area for alot of job prospects, and there isnt much you can do about that. The reason you will see allergy information about the area, is definitely because for some with allergys, the serverity of them, is a hugh health risk in this Willamette Valley area. I would see about getting a job there before you packed up and left your current area.

[bob sagget]

Hello,
I'm a newly added freshman at the University of Oregon. If any one could advise me of some apartments which allow for some musical tendencies. I would be deeply thankful if any one can help me.........

[Des_Demona]

Hi All - I've been off the boards for a while and it's because I was getting my move to Eugene all squared away. I've lived here a month now and I'm loving it! Both me and my partner found jobs right away no problem but the pay is less of course than it was in CA. It doesn't really matter though because cost of living is SO much less in Oregon that you can really live on 9 or 10 bucks an hour. I thought we would have all kinds of problems finding work but we didn't at all. Finding housing was less easy but we worked that out too.

We both have allergies and although it's not May yet we haven't had any problems here. It has been sunny most days (some rain, not much) and beautiful. Everything is green and flowering and people are outside in the parks riding bikes, skateboarding etc.

Liberal... yes it is liberal. It's not as overbearingly liberal as I thought it would be though. The Saturday Market is definitely hippie-ville and my favorite place to go! I've gone every weekend and try to spend my money on local produce and art to support the local artists. I love how you can be a successful artist or craftsperson here. It's got a great vibe because the people are doing (working) with what they love to do so they are happy. The kids look happy and healthy unlike in California... there are a lot of street kids/homeless adults that I've noticed mostly hang out on Broadway on the weekends but I've never been bothered. One kid asked me if he could borrow a pen once... not really a huge deal lol. People make a big deal about homeless population but I come from a place with 90,000 homeless people in one city so it definitely is tame here.

Property crime is high here and you'll see and hear that from everyone everywhere. Little stupid stuff like someone breaking your car window to steal some quarters out of your console but leaving the stereo. Seems like a lot of drug motivated petty theft which definitely sucks. The way to avoid this is to get a good anit-theft device for your car and to lock everything up (especially bikes). I've noticed a LOT of people commute on bikes here and they will have two locks on their bikes to ensure parts of it aren't stolen so clearly bike theft is an issue. But I'd take petty theft any day over murders and other violent crimes so I'm pretty happy with it.

To the previous poster whose looking for places that allow for "musical tendencies" where I'm living right now is a place called Chase Village apartments and it's a primarily college apartment place where the kids party pretty much every day and it's ALWAYS loud, cars, house stereos... to me it's a freaking nightmare which is why I'm moving out of here, but I'm sure to the kids who like to party and have their music loud it's heaven. I need to find someone to take over the lease on this place actually and the neighbors next door party and play loud music all the time so they could never complain if you were doing the same. If you are interested, send me an email desdemona_acdg @ yahoo.com (no spaces). The apartments are right by Autzen Stadium and the school. An easy walk or bike ride to the university.

Back on the subject of Eugene tho... it's a GREAT place to get healthy and start new fitness and eating habits and be more environmentally conscious. Coming from California you have to work really hard to be environmentally aware and here they make it easy with recycling bins everywhere and organic food in every store and outdoor activities all the time. There's a lot to do here although the nightlife is definitely lagging. Bars and clubs exist here... but are really lame.. for lack of better word. Most people have raging house parties instead.

People in Oregon are MUCH more friendly and inviting and nice than people in California. If you have car trouble, you better believe there will be people to stop to help you. I witnessed an accident on 7th the other day and all these people pulled over and stopped to go help the people... you would never see that in SoCal (at least I never have). Instead people in CA would complain about the hold up. People are much more relaxed and slow-moving here which is a wonderful change of pace for me. It's much less stressful to not be in a rush all the time. I thought the "illegal to pump your own gas" thing would bug me but it's actually quite nice to have it done for me! Plus I almost NEVER have to fill up here. A tank of gas lasts forever here because everything is so close and most things you can walk or ride a bike to. In California I would fill up at least 3 times a week. Here, maybe once every two weeks! I've saved so much money since I moved here.

My favorite casual or semi-casual places to eat are: McMenamins (I like North Bank and the 19th St. Cafe ones best), Cozmic Pizza, and The Glenwood (very inexpensive but large portions). If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. I've only lived here a month so I'm still learning!

Areas to avoid living but are probably cheapest: Downtown, Whiteaker, and Bethel areas. The rich live in the Southwest hills of Eugene (and the houses only cost about $180,000 right now for a nice 3 bedroom). It's definitely wise to avoid Springfield altogether. There are tons of little pockets in every neighborhood that can be either a great place or a bad place to live so you have to choose carefully. For the most part though, you can't really go wrong in Eugene. It's beautiful in most areas and safe too. The Whiteaker area is where you'll find a lot of hippies, drugs, funky looking houses with cool or crazy paint jobs, the hostels, lots of "junk" in the yards etc. I have some friends who live there that definitely fit that mold but love living there so if that's your scene... the Bethel area seems to be a more "racially diverse" area and highly neglected houses and yards. The University area is lively and crowded with a lot of students and it's usually noisy and did I mention the parties? There are tons of great spots for quiet living too. Eugene is like a big city without the big city feel. It has everything you could possibly want (except Inn N Out) in a tiny radius but doesn't feel like it does. It's gorgeous and friendly and still has that small town feel. I run into all kinds of people over and over again here. People are really friendly and helpful with directions too.

Oh and have your own washer and dryer because the landromats out here are super creepy and half the machines don't work. For info on stuff to do you can check out the Eugene Weekly or Craigslist.org and get info from there. Oh and Alton Baker Park is a great place to go and feed ducks. The ducks are HUGE here! I saw a little girl chased by one and it was really funny. Don't mess with the ducks!

[bye bye cali]

Hey Des Demona,
Loved your positive post and thanks for the heads up on the ducks! Wonder what makes them so huge?...Maybe all that liquid sunshine!

[frenzied]

Des Demona - glad you are liking it here! I have lived here for 13 years. Although I disagree on finding a 3 bedroom for $180,000. I think realistically it is more in the $230,000 range. And that is more in the Danebo area, you won't find prices like that in the south hills unless you are looking at a condo.

Some good dining ideas. The food at The Vintage on Lincoln is REALLY good. Cut restauraunt in an old house run by two girls. Very good food, good selection, very clean and friendly staff.
For a yummy breakfast, Try Studio One Cafe on 19th and Agate - by the University.

For good desserts- try Sweet Life, and Cafe Xenon. As far as nicer restaurants go, I like Ambrosia downtown, as well as Mekala's on Franklin for Thai Cuisine, or Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine on Pearl.

I like how laid back it is here as well. People in general really do not care what you are wearing, what brands or style. So in that way it is very casual.

The ducks at Alton Baker are very aggressive because they KNOW. They have been trained because they get fed tons every day by lots of people for years and years.

I agree on the property crime a bit high. My spouse has had his car window smashed 2 times and they just grab random stuff out of it. Avoid the areas up by the Ridgeline trail - at least parking your car there, a lot of thefts happen there.

There are tons of parks here and lots of trails, so plenty of time to get out an explore.

It does have some diversity and because of all the trees, I don't think your really get an idea of how big it is until you go up to Skinner Butte Park and look at the view.

[Eugguy]

Originally Posted by Des_Demona

My favorite casual or semi-casual places to eat are: McMenamins (I like North Bank and the 19th St. Cafe ones best), Cozmic Pizza, and The Glenwood (very inexpensive but large portions). If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. I've only lived here a month so I'm still learning!

Have you been to Ring of Fire? It's not as casual as the places you mentioned, but it's very friendly and the food is awesome. It's probably my favorite. I'm from L.A. and I moved here 4 years ago. I'm 21. I really like Eugene and it's wonderfully nice people, but I do love L.A. a whole bunch more! Where in California did you live?

[Des_Demona]

As to the 3 bedroom house for $180,000, I really did find at least two for that price that were REALLY nice in the South-west hills of Eugene as that was the only place I was looking. It's here if you look locally, the Internet listings make the prices much higher because they know the people looking on the Internet are going to cash in their equity elsewhere and bring in more money than those that might be here looking locally so I've seen some very affordable housing just by driving by and picking up fliers out front.

I have not been to Ring of Fire and I'll try ALL the places you guys mentioned thanks for the info! I'm from Ventura County in California so about 25-45 miles north of LA but I worked in LA at UCLA. Eugene is just so different from California. The people for the most part are very unique in Eugene whereas people in California are all kind of the same. I always hated how clone-like California was but after being here for a while I have to say it's a tad unnerving how "different" everyone is... I'm super liberal w/ dreads and all but some of the stuff I've seen has even shocked me and I didn't think that was possible! Just sightseeing you won't see any of that, but getting to know the people... that's a whole different story.

I'm sure it's because of the season and all but so far it has been sunny and beautiful most days consistently. I've been out skating or biking practically everyday but I am sure I'll have my fill of "liquid sunshine" in the fall and winter. It's just gorgeous out here. The roads are REALLY confusing when you first come here too with 6 different numbers for highways (okay exaggeration) but seriously... all the roundabouts and one way streets? It's SO confusing! I'm pretty sure whoever designed the roads for this place were tripping on something. It's taken me a month to just barely get the hang of things but it's slowly starting to make sense. It's really frustrating at first though. Oh and what the people say is true here... it'll take you 15 minutes to get anywhere no matter how close it is because of all the long traffic lights, bike traffic, pedestrians crossing at non-crosswalks and the slow speed limits. It will be the same amount of time riding your bike as it is driving. I think they planned it that way... confusing and hard to drive so more people would use alternative transportation haha.

I had a fun day at Saturday Market today and hung out at a drum circle on the front steps of city hall. I ran into a bunch of people I knew all along the way who all invited me to go somewhere so I've been out all day and night. It's really a cool place but like anything, you've got to get used to it. I guess being from such a big area like LA you aren't quite used to things being this small town, but it's definitely a nice change of pace.

Oh and I'm coaching the Emerald City Rollergirls too! It's Eugene's first and only roller derby league. If you're in Eugene you should definitely check out one of our events. Good times.