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Old 03-25-2015, 02:15 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,539 posts, read 40,313,582 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bler144 View Post
Lol, I had not. That's funny.

I agree Eugene is a good fit in lots of ways, but if they're really looking for big shiny attractions like Six Flags, I think Eugene is worse in that regard. Nice YMCA? Great parks/pools? Sure. Decent but not world-class shopping? Sure. But if you want an amusement park you'd driving 45 min up to the Salem area for EnchFor.

If you want "big city" offerings on any regular basis you're driving 2 hours each way to Portland. But you're probably right that the smaller towns might really be too small.
Well that's why people live in Salem. Centrally located.
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Old 03-25-2015, 08:41 PM
 
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Thanks for all the help everyone. We are for sure not big city people. Before moving to Phoenix (we hate it) we lived in Tacoma and its surrounding area for 12 years and I would hardly call Tacoma big city. In my mind, its probably pretty on par with what we will be expecting in Eugene. Accept maybe Eugene is closer to the beach and I saw some rock waterslides I am interested in. To be honest, the consideration for the Portland area was more about being 1hr closer to Washington more than anything else (we plan to take day trips to Tacoma to visit old friends, perhaps go to Northwest Trek or the old 6 flags that's now called wild waves. I figure we did day trips from Tacoma to the Portland Zoo, so all is fair). If we move to Eugene, we would probably rarely visit Portland and 7 times out of 10 it would be for the zoo or to drive past it.

We did have amusement parks on our list, but they were not a deciding factor, just something that we thought might be fun to have around. My wife and I never grew up with them around in having them seemed like a bonus. So when it comes down to it though, we are not looking for an over abundance of high end shopping or glitz and glamour. Give me an outdoor store, a Kayak, and some Mountain bikes and we are pretty set. Well that and we found out there are a few good board game groups in the area and if there is one indoor thing we love, its the board gaming hobby. I am sad that there probably isnt a drive in and will be more said if there isn't an AMC that has converted to recliners, but I will live and I can get both of those things visiting Tacoma.

That said, we are for sure not small town people either (unless you mean 80k plus). Well unless those small towns run together like the Fircrest, University Place, and Lakewood do in the Tacoma area. So I think when it comes to the amenities and compromising on house price, the Eugene area is probably the best fit (We would love Bend. It was our first choice. But until we pay of student loans, it will sit as a distant dream). Yes housing is more expensive, but we have lived in the NW and are used to it. Plus are worry about housing is a timer that will expire in a few years anyway.

So comparing crime, population, outdoor stuff we love, and our unexpected longing to return to the PNW....I think Eugene will be a good fit and on the bright side we have family there. You know you miss something when the first thing out of your mouths on a freak weather day in AZ has to do with how nice it is that it is overcast, there is a chill in the air, and wait, the air, it actually has that fresh rain smell from the PNW......it was a telling day for us lol ...San Antonio seemed interesting but its probably not where we belong and if your curious why we do not just move back to Washington state.....I have family in California and if we moved any further north, I would rarely see them. So its a compromise on our part. Thank you all again for the advice. We have about a year before the move and we need to get our house sold, but we are excited to realize we have made up our mind.
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Old 03-26-2015, 09:16 AM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,539 posts, read 40,313,582 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhinosaur09 View Post

I am sad that there probably isnt a drive in and will be more said if there isn't an AMC that has converted to recliners, but I will live and I can get both of those things visiting Tacoma.
Dallas Oregon still has a drive-in. You could take your kiddo to the small aquatic park there, and do a movie afterward. Obviously, it is only open during the summer.
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Old 03-26-2015, 12:21 PM
 
4,059 posts, read 5,601,995 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhinosaur09 View Post
Accept maybe Eugene is closer to the beach and I saw some rock waterslides I am interested in. To be honest, the consideration for the Portland area was more about being 1hr closer to Washington more than anything else (we plan to take day trips to Tacoma to visit old friends...
Keep in mind "beach" in Oregon is a relative term. Good for walking on, viable for boating, not at all a place to do much swimming sans wet suit. But I'd wager you know that. But others not from the PNW may not.

Also, you're underestimating the time differential a bit unless you do some serious speeding- just from Eugene to Wilsonville (the southern tip of the metro) is 90 minutes going 5ish over the speed limit.

But I'm glad you are happy with your decision, and it should work just fine!
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Old 03-26-2015, 03:45 PM
 
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Thanks Bler. Not sure about the time thing. I know from Tacoma to Portland its 2.5 hours if you don't stop and that's going the speed limit, well usually 5 over. We have made the drive a few times before to go to the Zoo. As for the time from Eugene to Portland or Tacoma rather. I was using the Google directions time estimate, which is estimated by the correct speed limit. It has never been wrong for me in the past, but who knows. Looking at it again, we are both right. It takes 1.5 hours to get to where you say, that's goggles estimate as well, but the total trip to Tacoma is only 4hrs , which is what I estimated from using google and prior experience.

As for the beaches, your right. that said, they are better than Washington's beaches lol. We also really liked Newport beach when we went, but its a little further away. Typically a beach day for us is on a cold rainy day that most people would would never even want to go to the beach. Mainly because we mostly go because our Golden/Husky mix loves to run on the beach on days like that. He is super well trained in off leash commands, but its always more fun if he doesn't have to be on his best behavior and can just run.

@Silver Its a little far away, but then again we travelled 40 mins to the Rodeo Drive-in when we lived in Washington. Whats another 45 mins...heh, we will see May just need a projector of my own lol.
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Old 03-26-2015, 04:55 PM
 
4,059 posts, read 5,601,995 times
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4 hours Eugene to Tacoma is theoretically possible - you'd just have to time your run around to avoid when things bottle up in both the Portland and Seattle metros. And the I-5 bridge in particular bottles up a lot now, and diverting via 205, while at least "less" congested adds miles and time to the run, esp. since 205 has a posted 55 speed limit for much of that add'l length.
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Old 03-26-2015, 08:02 PM
 
11 posts, read 11,073 times
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On the bright side, Tacoma is south of Seattle, so no need to hit its metro at all, thankfully! In reality there is no place with traffic on the Washington side until you hit Olympia, but I have never really thought their traffic was anything big in my experiance. Looks like the 205 would add about 10 minutes. I guess its one of those things we will need to see how it works and plan around it. I only have experience coming from the opposite direction after all. Thank you for the info!
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