Do i need to visit Eugene ? (Salem: rental car, rental, hotel)

[joe_obody999]

Okay i am all but ready to move to Eugene (need to sell/rent my duplex home first), I want out of the midwest before next winter, i have had it with the midwest/snow/ice. I have researched Eugene extensively, it all looks good. The ONLY reason I am wondering if I need to visit Eugene is to be sure I am not deathly allergic to the rumored intense allergens (grass, mold)-- but if I do not really need to visit Eugene I would prefer to save that travel money ($2000+) and apply it to a move ($5000+). So the question of this posting is do you all think i need to visit Eugene in advance of a move, do I need to first be sure I am not deathly allergic to Eugene, are the allergens of the Eugene area really as bad as some say? Or should I gamble and just decide to move to Eugene without a pre-visit to be sure I will not be horribly allergic to allergens in the area?

I had my blood tested for allergies to the most common allergens. Bottom line is I am negative for most, and very low (1 on a scale of 0-6) for three allergens. These are the ten allergens that make up 95% of the allergens people have allergies and hay fever to, and the grasses listed here are found all over the USA including Oregon but NOT in Minnesota (where I live).

Allergen IU/mL Class Allergic Response
-------------------------------------
Timothy Grass < 0.35 0 Negative
Bermuda Grass < 0.35 0 Negative
Cedar < 0.35 0 Negative
Ragweed < 0.35 0 Negative
Alternaria (Mold) < 0.35 0 Negative
Milk < 0.35 0 Negative
Egg White 0.53 1 Very Low
Wheat 0.44 1 Very Low
Cat < 0.35 0 Negative
Household Mite 0.45 1 Very Low

[massanu]

Why do you thinkg that visiting Eugene will cost you 2000$ ?

[joe_obody999]

Originally Posted by massanu

Why do you thinkg that visiting Eugene will cost you 2000$ ?

I have added up the costs-- airfare, hotel 7 days, rental car, gas, eating out, cost of a few activities, taxes on all that, airport parking of my car, etc. $2000 is very likely.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by joe_obody999

I have added up the costs-- airfare, hotel 7 days, rental car, gas, eating out, cost of a few activities, taxes on all that, airport parking of my car, etc. $2000 is very likely.

Sounds about right.

[else]

If you do not have allergies, you will have them in a few years. Your resistance wears down. I don't know how to avoid it, other than take goooood care of yourself, have a very healthy diet and exercise and lifestyle.. I had to get out of Eugene because it rained waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much for me. The Willamette Valley in General is tough.. rain, fog.. not much sun as I remember. I preferred east OR...

[mamh]

The summers are the best, warm,high 80's gets us all complaining wishing it would cool off a bit.
Evenings with little wind , may be a shower, always at state fair week in Salem..It just a nice place to
be in the summer, the winters and fall aren't bad either..
A visit to Eugene just to bum around, talk to people ect would help answer a lot of questions you might
have and get hand on what is going at the time of the year you come..
The fresh fruit in the summer will really clinch the move because its the best..
Good luck with your move

[joe_obody999]

Thank you. Yeah i think i need a visit, talk to locals in a Wandering Goat coffee shop.
If I were allergic to some of the grasses, I suppose I could go through an allergist and get shots over the course of a three years, desensitize; my preliminary blood tests give me encouragement that I might not be allergic; plus, I grew up as a child in Iowa, southern MN, where there were many grasses and grass pollens.

Originally Posted by mamh

The summers are the best, warm,high 80's gets us all complaining wishing it would cool off a bit.
Evenings with little wind , may be a shower, always at state fair week in Salem..It just a nice place to
be in the summer, the winters and fall aren't bad either..
A visit to Eugene just to bum around, talk to people ect would help answer a lot of questions you might
have and get hand on what is going at the time of the year you come..
The fresh fruit in the summer will really clinch the move because its the best..
Good luck with your move

[zitsky]

Eugene is a nice place but yes, you really need to visit first.

[joe_obody999]

Originally Posted by zitsky

Eugene is a nice place but yes, you really need to visit first.

I am thinking I would like to visit Eugene during the peak grass allergy season, to face the beast head on and learn if it has a hold over me or not. That is a great unknown that I am concerned about, as I would not want to move half way across the USA only to find I was incapacitated by grass pollen. I think I read somewhere that mid to late May would be that time???

I am optimistic-- I grew up in central Iowa and also southern Minnesota, plenty of grasses that I frolicked and hunted in; and much of my adult life has been in northern MN with plenty of pine tree pollens, and some molds. Just that I heard about the half million acres of grass seed farmed in the Willamette Valley so all that pollen would not be normal, I need to find out.

Mid May?

Curious-- to anybody-- what percent of Eugenians would you say have serious allergies to grass pollen? And how long does the grass pollen allergy season last-- a few weeks? a few months? I guess one could burrow in and run some industrial grade HEPA filters until those pollens run their course.

[zitsky]

I found the summer grass burning to be a bigger problem when I lived there from 2006-2008. But I understand that they don't do that anymore.