Eugene bad rep?? (Salem, Springfield: middle-class, to rent, university)

[blendin]

Originally Posted by bler144

Curious which college towns you'd be comparing to. It's certainly not 'idyllic college town', but the mix of poverty and affluence reminds me of several other college towns particularly in the midwest like South Bend or Oberlin, or parts of the northeast like Providence, etc.

Most of the college towns I have been to were in the west Boulder, Ft Collins, Santa Cruz, Ashland, Provo. In these places you just do not see the amount of wacky street folks and trash as you do in Eugene.

Besides maybe Berkley and Santa Cruz which attracts a lot of homeless and street people. But in general most college town try to keep the campus very tity and looking good for the parents that spend money to have their kids there.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by blendin

But in general most college town try to keep the campus very tity and looking good for the parents that spend money to have their kids there.

I'm sure at least half the student body is interested in tity, and certainly many of the parents.

No question the iconic college town is the ideal, but traveling the country there are lots of exceptions. Particularly for larger town/metros (Eug/Spr is about 350k pop.), college money by itself isn't enough to carry the whole town, or at least wasn't historically.

That certainly has changed some and could change more - the UO's enrollment has grown by 10,000 over a period where the metro population has only grown about 30,000. In 2000 student body was about 4.5% relative to metro pop - now it's up to about 7.5%. If you look only at Eugene (even though the UO sits just a mile or two from the Spr. border), it was about 12% in 2000 and 17% now.

By comparison, UCSC is about 25%. Students (not to mention staff and faculty) are just a much larger component of the city/area's economy.

[Fiddlehead]

For some reason, Eugene has proven attractive to the transient, druggie, dirt bag element. Most of the people are great, I am sure, but the sleazeballs seem to make a bee line to Eugene from the whole country. Compare it to Corvallis, which is clean, classy (and admittedly boring). I don't think I would want to raise a kid in Eugene, but perhaps I am overreacting to the superficial impression I have gained from many visits.

[Metlakatla]

I guess it depends on which part of town you spent time in on your many visits.

[blendin]

Originally Posted by bler144

I'm sure at least half the student body is interested in tity, and certainly many of the parents.

No question the iconic college town is the ideal, but traveling the country there are lots of exceptions. Particularly for larger town/metros (Eug/Spr is about 350k pop.), college money by itself isn't enough to carry the whole town, or at least wasn't historically.

That certainly has changed some and could change more - the UO's enrollment has grown by 10,000 over a period where the metro population has only grown about 30,000. In 2000 student body was about 4.5% relative to metro pop - now it's up to about 7.5%. If you look only at Eugene (even though the UO sits just a mile or two from the Spr. border), it was about 12% in 2000 and 17% now.

By comparison, UCSC is about 25%. Students (not to mention staff and faculty) are just a much larger component of the city/area's economy.

I do agree that the percentage of college money is a big factor. I also think there is other factors for the campus itself. I have noticed that many campuses in larger towns have a buffer zone between the campus and the gritty parts of the city.

Eugene has basically no buffer area there is the campus then there is downtown, so one block from campus you have street people shooting dope and smoking meth in any hidden nook they can find. Berkeley is the same way but worse, one block from campus is filthy.

Downtown Santa Cruz has there share of street trash but UCSC has a decent buffer zone of high end residential neighborhoods before the campus.

I think Eugene has a few other factors that also attract more then normal undesirables. It is along a major travel route and one of the only places for a good ways where wandering street trash can find amenities like begging, soup kitchens, drugs being sold on the streets, etc.
Much of the west coast street trash wander up and down the coast, rip too many people off, get hassled by the police, escaping bad weather, ... and wander to the next town. Eugene is along the route just like Santa Cruz, Frisco, Arcata,

Eugene is also one of the larger cities around some very economically depressed smaller towns so it probably attracts many of the small town meth heads looking for a change or trying to hustle a few bucks.

[Sizzle-Chest]

I dunno bler, that sounds more like Eugene 20 years ago, when you couldn't walk down 13th without getting hit up to buy drugs and downtown was crawling with junkies. The area still has it's issues, but it continues to get better and safer.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by blendin

... ...

Eugene is also one of the larger cities around some very economically depressed smaller towns so it probably attracts many of the small town meth heads looking for a change or trying to hustle a few bucks.

Eugene has it's own population of meth addicts, they don't need to import them. You won't see the street freaks in the smaller towns because the police move them along. It is a liberal city thing that keeps the street trash resident to Eugene and Cities like Portland.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by JackLonsdale

Oh please. Both of you. Enough of this homeless-bashing. Haggard, you sound like some kind of paranoid soccer-mom, avoiding eye contact with the beggars at various intersections when you're idling in your SUV. Have a heart for these people.

Actually Jack, I work and volunteer on my days off with a nonprofit in Eugene who help the homeless and low-income and other people struggling in our community who are trying to start their lives over again or improve their lives.

I also volunteer in the public schools and help homeless students and their families.

I'm also part of an organization which retrieves unused food and fruit and veggie scraps and places these resources with with community gardens (for compost) and Food for Lane County (to help feed the community).

And lastly, my kids don't play soccer and I don't drive an SUV. We ride our bikes.

Maybe you should try the a little less bashing thing yourself?

When I speak negatively of homeless populations, I'm talking about the ones which break into my house and my neighbors houses to use our computers and bathrooms (true story), jump into our path and push my kid off his bike on the bike trail (true story), steal from mailboxes on my street (true story), poop and pee in our front and back yards (true story), and leave liquor bottles in our backyards (true story), among other issues. And supposedly I live in a nice neighborhood (Ferry Street Bridge/Harlow Neighborhood). Our realtor told us when we bought this home that it was the nicest area in Eugene. If this is the nicest area in Eugene, I'd hate to see what the worst area is like.

Hubby also experiences encounters with the area homeless as they steal metals from equipment he is responsible for. He and his team have noticed a huge increase in this type of theft since the Occupy drama. They've also routinely found more damage to structures in failed attempts to retrieve metals from the equipment. They used to have those types of things happen every couple of months, now it is a common weekly occurrence. They have these people on camera, and often they will sleep there and do drugs during the night, then move on early in the morning... leaving their trash and needles and aluminum foil and other debris littering the ground when they leave.

[Bar-L]

Gotta say.....OPINIONS are somewhat helpful to many, and YES we all have them, but we all must realize that they are just "OPINIONS".
Now I won't get into how I use all having an "Opinion" with clients I help as a way to handle opinions we don't like or agree with as a tool for defusing a volatile situation, especially with family. Bottom line is we "all" have one, and some have such a Big Opinion that they'll never need to buy bulk T.P. at Costco! :-)
Good way to allow others to have their own Opinion, yet allow you to have a smile.

We are currently looking at moving to Eugene from our home above Glide. Sure we enjoy the quiet, River views, acreage, etc.... Here are several reasons why we are looking at Eugene:

1) It is NOT Roseburg (closest bigger city to Glide)
2) It is NOT Roseburg.
3) Public transportation (non-existent most areas in Douglas County)
4) Access to excellent Medical care and facilities. (99.9% of my past clients who are Nurses/Physicians won't recommend or get care at the "only" hospital, ESPECIALLY if they work or worked there)
5) Bookstores (Roseburg has a good used book store)
6) Dining (Roseburg Taco Bell is Always busy with cars lined up. Never see anyone willing to actually get out of their cars to Walk inside)
7) No "Good Ole Boy 1 way of thinking"
8)-????? Too many to list.....

Sure my list long, but having lived in many Countries below the USA border, California, and traveling Asia, Europe, etc..has given us insight some don't even realize exist. Mexico was good years ago, but even friends born there won't return.

So bottom line is we all still have Opinions which is why this Forum is so good. Allow others to express theirs as they all offer a learning opportunity!

[ubruni]

In many ways Eugene is kind of a perfect town...if you have a job that will keep you there. But it seems to turn on people - one day they'll snap out of it and just need to get out. It's kind of mysterious.

We spent about a year there in 2013 in a cute little cottage with a huge garden and great neighbors, within walking distance of campus. It's very dreamlike in the summer - we'd drive in the countryside, pick strawberries at a farm, eat dinner in the neighborhood orchard with other families in the alley, and shop at the farmer's market. It was just a gorgeous setting.

The downtown area really was rundown until 2013. Since then a lot of restaurants have popped up and it's not a bad place to be. The hippy population is less strung-out and more "Merry Prankster". We joke that they're more land pirates than anything else. Overall, an eclectic downtown area with some things to do and an interesting culture.

Springfield is your run-down strip mall town, but we do most of our shopping there at the Costco and Winco.

Housing is relatively expensive, unless you live in the less desirable neighborhoods. It seems most of the people we knew who had decent lifestyles, were either doctors or attorneys. Just not much else there as far as work goes.

Later on in the year the job didn't work out, and I snapped out of the reverie. Fell out of love with Eugene quickly and just needed to get out. Still don't understand why it was so sudden. Maybe it's the winters that do it to you.