Eugene Oregon Questions (Portland, Springfield, Veneta: appointed, condo, lawyers)

[Althea]

Hello!

I am thinking about moving back to the NW and although I have lived in Eugene in the past, it has been a VERY long time since I've been there.

I currently live in the foothills outside of Boulder, CO and think the time might be right to sell here and relocate.

Questions:

1. Where in Eugene can I find a place that is desirable for under $250K? My Realtor suggests I check out Veneta, but I will be starting a business in Eugene and would like to live closer than Veneta. Can someone speak to neighborhoods or regions of Eugene that I may want to check out? I know my budget isn't very high but it's important that I try to hit it to make this work.

2. Can someone give me the low down on high schools? My daughter is currently a sophmore and will have two more years left before she graduates. She is a theater kid and I am wondering if there is a school around with a strong performing arts program.

3. Sailing. I have been in the mountains so long and I am really wanting to get back to the water and sail. I was looking at going back to Bellingham, but Eugene appeals to me more and when I fond Fern Ridge, I thought I would really enjoy sailing there. Can anyone speak to the activities that happen there?

Thanks for any additional info you care to provide!

[oregonwoodsmoke]

It might be possible to find a house for under $250,000 in Springfield. Maybe.

You won't be getting a house for that price in any desirable area.

I know that there is a lake in Eugene that is large enough for boating. It's not huge, though, and with a sailboat you'd be tacking nonstop. Eugene is day trip distance to the coast, but the Pacific is a bit rough for a small trailer-able sailboat. I don't recommend it unless you are an expert. Winchester Bay would be a further drive, but that is suitable for sailing.

There are days on the Pacific when the bar is safe to cross and the water looks like glass. So if you could drop everything at 5 seconds notice and rush to the coast, you could sail on the ocean. But to schedule a day off and hope that the sea is in a good mood, you'd be disappointed often.

[Hawk J]

Howdy Althea

The link below states that Fern Ridge is a pretty good lake to sail on.

Five Favorite Sailing Spots In Oregon | Travel Oregon

I've only been to Fern Ridge once when i bought my 16' Alumacraft 'Lunker' boat. I caught & released two fair sized bass. It was a beautiful day...

There are some members of OFF (oregonfishingforum) who live in Eugene & around it. There are some good, friendly folks on board...

Oregon Fishing Forum

Best of luck to you finding your place.

[bler144]

Fern Ridge is nice.

I'm puzzled why your Realtor is suggesting Veneta, unless one of your requirements is acreage (not mentioned in the OP). Perhaps they think you want to be right on Fern Ridge?

You can certainly get a decent house in the Churchill high area for that price.

[texasdiver]

I grew up in Eugene and sailed a lot on Fern Ridge back in the day. I crewed on a friend's Thistle and did a lot of wind surfing. Fern Ridge is one of the best sailing lakes in the northwest because the area around it is flat. It is an artificial lake formed by a dam on the Long Tom River so different from most of the other glacially formed lakes in the Northwest that are surrounded by mountains. So the winds on Fern Ridge are consistent and reliable without mountains around to block and deflect them. So you get reliable prevailing winds. There are various dinghy fleets and a yacht club with people who have smaller trailing sailboats that they take up to the San Juans when they want to cruise. So if you like to sail you'll have plenty of people who are looking for help crewing their boats.

As for schools. South Eugene is the most academic high school in the Eugene area and probably the most artistic in terms of the arts. It draws from the wealthier area in the south hills of Eugene as well as the area around the U of O so it is full of professors kids and the kids of the wealthy doctors and lawyers who live in the south hills. Sheldon HS is the largest school in the newer north side of town where there are more new subdivisions. It is more typically suburban and the athletic powerhouse in the area that wins the football championships. Churchill HS is in the south end of Eugene and somewhat similar to Sheldon but not as big. A mix of fairly nice and more modest areas. North Eugene and Willamette high schools are to the northwest and west sides of town and generally draw from a more mixed area socioeconomically speaking. I went to North Eugene. They are more average schools that don't have the high academic achievers that congregate at South Eugene. Springfield and Thurston are the two schools in Springfield. They are pretty equivalent to North Eugene and Willamette in that they are fairly generic suburban schools, not bad, but not real high achieving either. The rest of the schools in the area are much smaller rural schools in the outlying towns. There are small towns on all sides of Eugene that have tiny little high schools. If you have an eclectic theater kid you are probably better off living within the Eugene school district where there will be more diversity and artistic options than in one of the small rural schools where there won't be much at all. Don't move to Venita if you want your kid to attend an artistic theater-oriented HS. I think Venita feeds into the Elmira HS which is less than 500 students so will have fairly limited offerings. The top school for theater kids would probably be South Eugene but it will also be the most expensive part of Eugene to live in.

[Bees46]

I don't know much about it, but there is a performing arts-centered high school in Springfield.

[pnwguy2]

<250K in Eugene is not going to buy you much in a stand alone home, but you could probably find a nice condo under that.

A 1-BR condo will be 100K-150K, and add another 25K for each additional bedroom. Still a bargain compared to central Portland.

[Althea]

Thank you to all who replied. I am still doing research and trying to find a time to come out for a visit.

The thought of living near a place where I can lake sail sounds appealing. I lived on Orcas Island for some time, and had a mono hull, but am not interested in going back up there. Currently live in a small mountain town in Colorado and have been missing the water, lakes and oceans alike, so there is a lot about Eugene that is appealing.

I appreciate all the input about schools as well.