Relocating from Atlanta to Oregon (Portland, Eugene: for sale, rental market, crime)

[thulerack]

After 10 years, I've had my fill of Atlanta. I'm tired of the traffic, the noise (especially those annoying, intrusive "bass cars"), the hassles of living in a poorly run city (water main breaks, pot holes, unreliable mass transit), and the pervading spector of fundamental Christianity (I'm a recovering Baptist, by the way). Is there a better life for me in Oregon? I'm 41, single, gay, and a nurse by profession. Specifically, I'd like to know what the cities are like (I'm looking at Eugene or Corvallis based on my ****.com survey), what the people are like, and what housing is like (rent vs buying). Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thulerack

[freedom]

Southern Oregon is very family oriented, conservative, and we have hundreds of churches. The largest churches were baptist, now they have converted to non-denom.
There are a few gays around but they are very low-key. I think there are some olders posts that mention Eugene, and Portland being more or less, gay friendly.

good luck

freedom

[Deserter]

I'm sure that you could be very comfortable in Eugene. During the brief time I was there, there was a small Gay Pride Festival in Alton Baker Park. The crowd at the Saturday Market also looked to be a tolerant bunch who were accepting of any alternate lifestyle. It seems like an open-minded city to me.

[bikingjay]

I've lived in Eugene now for 2 1/2 years and depending on the day that you ask me I either love it or hate it.
Things to love about it
1. Great summers (80-85 degrees and no rain)
2. Great access to locally grown produce
3. Perfect place to live if you love the outdoors. Some of the best road and mountain biking in the world. You are an hour from the coast (west) and an hour from the mountains (east)
4. Small town easy to get around. Great bike paths and lanes. I usually ride my bike to work
5. Good music scene but the music does tend to be jam/hippie rock if that is your thing.
6. For the size town a good selection of restaurants and variety of cuisine.
7. Great beer
Things to hate to about it
1. Winters suck. It starts raining in October and doesn't stop until April/May
2. Attitude of intitlement held by many in this town. They hate government but want all the service that government provides and they feel they should not have to pay for them.
3. Housing. Overpriced crappy rental market. This is a college town full of slum lords. Houses for sale tend to be high as well as you have lots of retired folks moving up from CA
4. Property crime is huge hear due to transiant/homeless population
5. In effective city government. Lots of talking but little action. People can not seem to agree in this town everyone has an opinion and their opinion is always right. There is no middle ground.

You said you were a nurse. Springfield the neighboring town is building a huge new hospital. Eugene is also suppose to get a new hospital they just can't decide where to build it. See comments above on people agreeing with each other.
As for being gay friendly, Eugene is very liberal but outside the city and in Springfield it get much more conservative (think Jonesboro, GA). I am not gay but have several close friends who are gay. Their biggest complaint is lack of gay bar/nighlife
Hope this helps.

[Twinkletoes]

I am also interested in leaving Atlanta's traffic, pollution, and unbearable summers for cleaner air and cooler temps in Oregon.

I love the shopping options in Atlanta, and housing here is inexpensive. (Nice 4-bedroom house for 200k). How are these two things in Corvallis? I think I could do without the shopping and just order things on the Internet. But what kind of house can I get for 200k in Corvallis?

[lvsnow]

I'd skip Corvallis if i were you, it's only a college town, very small not a lot to offer. i have many friends who went OSU pretty conservative.
I'd check out Eugene before Corvallis.
There aren't many places in Oregon where you will find a house that big for 200k.
Being a nurse you can work almost anywhere
Check out Eugene,maybe Ashland these 2 towns are very accepting of everyone when i was there which was 4 years ago, little spendier but now is the time to buy and there are some cool towns outside of Portland. once again just my opinion