Newbie asks about Eugene, OR employment (house, school district, college)

[Yaeneth]

Hi there! I'm from Salinas, CA a very violent city, and my husband and I are wanting to move to Eugene, OR and finally be able to afford a house and have a different lifestyle.
I currently am employed by the school district here. My husband is in sales. How are the jobs there? Is it easy to find work?
I visited Eugene last month and I was blown away by it's beauty. My husband and I would love to start a family there.
I am a Filipino woman (Pacific Islander) and my husband is Caucasion. Will there be any wierd tensions there because of our relationship?

Thanks!

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by Yaeneth

Hi there! I'm from Salinas, CA

X3 or norteño? (sorry, that probably isn't very funny to someone from there, but it's a stereotype that a lot of people have about Salinas...especially since those gangs attempted to get established in Oregon, too. It is a sad plight that everyone should try and understand...and make sure it never takes hold in the area where they live. How can the very core of human society just rot out like that? Can't blame you for wanting to move.

Originally Posted by Yaeneth

I am a Filipino woman (Pacific Islander) and my husband is Caucasion. Will there be any wierd tensions there because of our relationship?

Wierd tensions? In Eugene? Look, you could be married to a transgendered chimpanzee and no one in Eugene would think anything of it. Eugene is relatively diverse, but more importantly, ethnic identity is scarcely noticed (especially since so many of the natives look like they were just rescued from a desert island anyway). Most people in Eugene wouldn't even think of you as an "interracial" couple or a "mixed" marriage (to use some outdated terms you probably won't hear there). I think there is an unwritten code of conduct in Eugene about "minding your own business" that keeps such things below the threshold of perception.

By the way, if you like Asian food, one of Oregon's best Asian groceries (Sunrise Asian Food Market) is in Eugene on W. 29th Ave. They have Filipino foods other than the same old pancit noodles you find everywhere. I always stop in there to get litchi ice cream in the summer. Yum!

[Yaeneth]

Thanks so much for your reply! I recently visited Eugene and found it to be so beautiful and clean. The people there were friendly and I did get that vibe of "minding one's own business" there. I guess that I just wanted to know about that stuff because race relations in Salinas are getting kind of screwed up.

Anyway, thank you again!

[WorkinStiff]

My sister who's white & her Phillipino husband moved here from LA several years ago....They love it...Your ethnicity will be an asset in landing a job here as minorities are in short supply. Eugene is a liberal place and there are quotas to fill.....My brother in law still jokes about the companies who fought over him all the harder when they discovered he was a minority......
That said, jobs are still generally tough here...Lots of underemployed college grads here reluctant to leave for the same reasons you find it so attractive..They come for college and never leave.....Eugene has a great & expanding bus system...Many drivers have college degrees & get by on 30 to 45K a year.....In the past 4 or so yrs the price of housing has skyrocketed although it has leveled off and even slightly declined in the last 6mos.......