Eugene vs. Lake Oswego/West Linn (Portland, Beaverton: property taxes, income, jobs)

[hyetech]

Anyone have any thoughts on the similarities/differences of these two areas? We're interested in a few of the regular topics:
1. Schools (elementary/high school)
2. People/lifestyle (relaxed or city feel? liberal or conservative? posh or down-to-earth? that type of thing)
3. Economy and Jobs (tech jobs specifically)
4. Beauty/Nature (trees, water activities, etc)
5. Taxes (property taxes, local taxes, etc)
6. Culture (arts, sports, activities for kids, etc)

We've been to Lake Oswego and West Linn for a day, but haven't visited Eugene yet. How different are those two areas?

Thanks.

[Lee151]

Lake Oswego and West Linn are the highest income towns in the state. Lake Oswego is the most "posh" town in Oregon.

There are tech companies in Hillsboro, Beaverton and Wilsonville all could be commuted from LO or WL.

Eugene is stereotyped as being hippie/granola. Probably because The Grateful Dead played there for years. It is a college town too. Much smaller than the Portland area. I do not know about tech companies there.

[jm21]

Ummm...like night and day? Lake Oswego is an upscale suburb of Portland...some beautiful areas, expensive shops to match the expensive houses. Mostly well-to-do (I would assume conservative, though I don't know many people in the area...I see an awful lot of housewives though which indicates conservative to me) folks living there.

Eugene is a hippy college town.

they're about as different of places as you can get in OR.

[elcapitan]

Just in case you are new to this board, take anything that jm21 says with a grain of salt. I would consider all three cities desirable. The people are well educated relative to other areas of Oregon. I think Symantec is in Eugene. Lake Oswego is somewhat upscale, but even Eugene has its upscale areas. All three towns have a good mixture of families, yuppies, granolas, conservatives, liberals, and anything in between. Anymore, the only hippies in Eugene are definitely starting to age. The town is starting to get a different feel to it. It really just depends on how close you need/want to be to Portland. Eugene is more of a college town that is big on college football/basketball. All three areas are great safe places to raise a family.

[nm85]

I lived in West Linn & really loved it, every one is right though, Eugene & West Linn are very different but both are great w/ cool people in both areas. West Linn is close to downtown Portland which is a plus for things to do, but I would imagine Eugene has a much more affordable housing market although I had children in the West Linn school dist & thought it was wonderful, Eugene has more free thinkers & is somewhat hipper & funkier... West Linn has great grocery stores!

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by Lee151

Eugene is stereotyped as being hippie/granola. Probably because The Grateful Dead played there for years.

And also because it was, for many years, associated with Ken Kesey:
http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/01...regon-usa.html
http://www.key-z.com/

[angelbug]

Could someone give me some info on Eugene neighborhoods? I've been thinking of early retirement in Portland because I have friends and relatives there, but the housing prices in the areas I like are a bit high. I am a mid-50s single woman, liberal/progressive/green, very active in outdoors activities like hiking and biking, and don't like cookie-cutter housing developments. The areas of Portland that I like are Hawthorne/Belmont, Sellwood, etc. So basically what I would be interested in finding is an older, funky but fairly well-kept, walkable/bikeable neighborhood with some craftsman-style homes, cafes, small shops, bookstores, etc. What areas should I look at? I would rather be right in town than in a suburb. I'm planning to make a visit in the spring to scout it out. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[sharonaly]

Sounds like you would like the South Eugene Area, College Hill, or close-in West Eugene. That is where most liberal folks who can afford to gravitate towards.

College Hill is a small area just west of Willamette with lovely 20's-50's homes. People live here for the location and character of the homes.

South Eugene is everything south of Campus. Student areas thin out as you go further South. Mostly built in the 50s, with 60s and 70s as you get up in the hills. People live here for the community feeling. Very comfortable, liberal, politically aware and active. I know people who WILL NOT live anywhere else.

West Eugene (meaning from Willamette to about Monroe) has older, Craftsman Bungalow homes, from 1910s to 1940s. Can be a little iffier neighborhood but is as close as you can get to downtown. If you could mix SE feel with West Eugene homes you would come close to Hawthorne. I used to live at 34th and Hawthorne. Love those old houses!

Other areas worth looking at are River Road and Ferry Street Bridge. I am also 50, liberal and green and I live in RR, which is less expensive, blue collar but liberal (these are broad generalizations, of course) and FSB is more expensive and thought of as more white collar and conservative.

[angelbug]

Thanks so much for those suggestions! I had somehow gathered from my reading that College Hill would be a good fit, and I'll check those other areas when I visit. Sounds like CH, South Eugene, and close in West Eugene would be just what I'm looking for, if I found something in the right location in one of those areas.