Far West Neighborhood (Eugene: rental, condo, crime)

[missvalley]

Hi

My husband and I are moving to Eugene and are interesyed in a house in the Far West neighborhood- between 18th and 24th in the streets with president names (ex-grant, arthur, hayes, etc). can someone give me an idea of what this neighborhood is like, sense of community, safety, etc?

thanks, missy

[antsy22]

I am thinking of moving to Oregon in the near future and went up there in 2005 and bought a property in the far west neighborhood. I haven't lived there, so really have no personal experience to share, but thought I would pass along what I was told and have learned from a distance.
It is an up and coming neighborhood. Not the best, but not the worst. It is a convenient area close to down town. In the last year the Westmoreland student housing, which is north of W. 18th and runs along Arthur St. up to about 14th was purchased by a developer and they are turning some the of the 400 units they bought into condo's, and duplexes and fourplexes for resale. This will hopefully be a good thing, as homeowners will take good care of there investments.

The downtown area will slowly be going thru revitalization with Whole Foods Market and other projects and may become a more desirable destination. This will then hopefully boost the property values in the Far West area. I liked it because it is far enough away from a lot of the industrial areas and large highways. There are a lot of parks nearby and it seemed to be a nice residential area. The south west hills area seems to be very desirable-but again, more expensive, but this is just adjacent to the Far west area. The Friendly area is also more pricey, but also adjacent.

I think for the price it is nicer than the area farther north of downtown -- danebo, trainsong, bethel. I can just say that I invested there, so hope I made a good choice. I bought a duplex and should add that even with a vacancy in the middle of winter it was rented in 2 weeks. I had a vacancy this summer and had many many applicants and it was rented immediately, before it was even vacated which I feel is a good sign of a desirable area. If anyone has anything to add about this neighborhood, I would be interested in finding out more about it myself.
Thanks for asking the question - I hope more people from Eugene will reply.

[antsy22]

I forgot to add then the city of Eugene's website - World's Greatest City of the Arts & Outdoors - has alot of information on crime statistics in the different neighborhoods. There is also a great arial map feature available- go to maps and when you zoom in, the map becomes arial photographs, which maybe helpful.

[Thai]

Can't resist saying that my dad grew up in a beautiful big white house on 10th St that my great grandpa had built in 1917 (I think). It's still beautiful and still white. Grandma sold the family home on 10th when Dad and my aunt went off to college in the late thirties, and bought a little house on Tyler St. where my brother and I spent many summer visits playing under the big apple tree in the back yard. I think it's a rental now, but it's still there, too, last time we drove by a couple years back. What I wouldn't give to have either of those homes now that we are in a position to move back to Oregon! Seems the area is pretty well kept and as one writer said, it should appreciate well in the coming years. Thanks for the memories of the "president's streets" neighborhood.