So what happened to Eugene? (Portland, Lake Oswego: best city, how much, home)

[Steve Pickering]

Eugene is no different down town or laid out than any other 1880's town become a city of size. Most of the development was in the 1940's.

[melody daniels]

I am a native of Oregon, and I had to leave the state, as did my other siblings, and go to California to make a living.Oregon never had any jobs except for the lumber business. This is what happened to Eugene: it has a liberal progressive government, encouraged people from San Francisco, New York City, "progressive" . Los Angeles.people who fled California, came here, brought all their problems of California with them.

When I came back to retire, seemed like I was retiring in Berkeley pr San Francisco. the local government,progressive.we got the construction of the EMX, it has no funds now to run. the drug situation, we now have practically legal marijuana –drug stores,& all drugs..MUCH crime.

all the homeless been encouraged to come here. campout, use the mission, everywhere business and industry has moved away.the middle class has moved out of the state ,Eugene and County. there are no large industries or businesses here .the lumber industry no longer has jobs here. the University of Oregon is dominant and rich, only takes rich students from other countries and states. The native kids don't have money .

the liberal progressive govt. is strong, but we have corrupt politicians running everything. the County is broke, no money for schools, the state is broke, selling off public forest land and wilderness,, to private lumber companies.the traffic is horrible in Eugene, the air is smog and gasoline, the real estate market is flat; nobody can sell . Not even mansions.Which ever govt, runs this, blame them( also the state government.). everybody I used to know here, families have all moved other states to work because there are not jobs here . The only work here is low pay. the only population here is all the rich up at the top, and the rest of them are poor .

we have old people retired, on fixed incomes. no middle class here anymore to pay taxes; no middle class,upper middle-class jobs .Only poor people, retired poor people,old people, homeless people,people who live off government ,the state. your taxpaying public.the very wealthy people escape their taxes, the usual ways. business and industry is discouraged .NO MONEY RESOURCE IS HERE. NO MIDDLE CLASS.Cost of living is high. nice little town is ruined.

Originally Posted by kapetrich

This post really sums up my view well.

I wasn't alive back in the 70's, but when I visited Eugene for the first time 4 years ago I got this impression. It seems like a city that was progressive and cutting edge back in the day and continues to ride that mantra, but in the current decade it feels dated or even 'normal'.

It reminded me of Berkley. Both Eugene and Berkley have these stereotypes as amazingly progressive towns, but neither came close to that expectation. It felt like they both WERE culturally progressive spots that reached a tipping point and have since become quite normal as many places in this region have caught up and true progressive epicenters of culture they are no longer.

Thanks for helping me sum up my thoughts on Eugene. I couldn't wrap my head around it till now.

This isn't to say Eugene isn't an interesting town. Culture changes and places become more and/or less significant depending. They were very significant, but our culture has moved past the cliche as many of their progressive ideas were co-oped.

Other places that are a bit of a shell of what they once 'were' as epicenters of culture, in my travels: Camden, London. Greenwich Village, Manhatten (many places in Manhatten). Venice Beach, CA. The Height, SF (many places in SF, actually)......culture changes and moves. No harm, no foul.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by melody daniels

I am a native of Oregon, and I had to leave the state, as did my other siblings, and go to California to make a living.Oregon never had any jobs except for the lumber business. This is what happened to Eugene: it has a liberal progressive government, encouraged people from San Francisco, New York City, "progressive" . Los Angeles.people who fled California, came here, brought all their problems of California with them.

When I came back to retire, seemed like I was retiring in Berkeley pr San Francisco. the local government,progressive.we got the construction of the EMX, it has no funds now to run. the drug situation, we now have practically legal marijuana –drug stores,& all drugs..MUCH crime.

all the homeless been encouraged to come here. campout, use the mission, everywhere business and industry has moved away.the middle class has moved out of the state ,Eugene and County. there are no large industries or businesses here .the lumber industry no longer has jobs here. the University of Oregon is dominant and rich, only takes rich students from other countries and states. The native kids don't have money .

the liberal progressive govt. is strong, but we have corrupt politicians running everything. the County is broke, no money for schools, the state is broke, selling off public forest land and wilderness,, to private lumber companies.the traffic is horrible in Eugene, the air is smog and gasoline, the real estate market is flat; nobody can sell . Not even mansions.Which ever govt, runs this, blame them( also the state government.). everybody I used to know here, families have all moved other states to work because there are not jobs here . The only work here is low pay. the only population here is all the rich up at the top, and the rest of them are poor .

we have old people retired, on fixed incomes. no middle class here anymore to pay taxes; no middle class,upper middle-class jobs .Only poor people, retired poor people,old people, homeless people,people who live off government ,the state. your taxpaying public.the very wealthy people escape their taxes, the usual ways. business and industry is discouraged .NO MONEY RESOURCE IS HERE. NO MIDDLE CLASS.Cost of living is high. nice little town is ruined.

I have to agree with part of this, but some of it is a pretty broad brush to paint with. For one, there is plenty of money in Eugene. And Eugene's middle class is huge.

[V8 Vega]

Los Angeles has all the same problems Melody listed. We import poverty through our sanctuary city laws and we manufacture poverty by forcing our poor to compete with with newly arrived immigrants who are even poorer.
Sadly poverty is just about the only thing left that is manufactured in Los Angeles.
I'd like to move back to Oregon and have read all that sounded of interest to me on the Oregon forum and Oregon is just as bad off as Calif, because of liberal policies, maybe worse.
Our progressive goverment has driven out so much industry and jobs the only thing left is low paying service jobs.

[Metlakatla]

I live here. I was born here (Oregon). I'm not retired, and I make a decent living. I like it here. I've lived in many other places, and I came back here to live because I like it here. It probably helps that I'm self-employed and don't have to depend on the lumber industry, but that's where education and ambition come in.

Eugene has a good symphony, a fun Saturday market, a good arts community, decent parks, is very dog friendly, and the cost of living isn't through the roof. It's got fabulous farmers markets and a few indie restaurants.

It's got problems, but it's pretty far away from being Tobacco Road.

You can either sit around whining about how everything is everyone else's fault, stay away, or become a positive force in your community. The choice is yours.

[Billy_J]

I just drove up to the Beaverton / Hillsboro area and they are really developing that area with high tech businesses EVERYWHERE! Reminds me of L.A. in the 1980's. New buildings everywhere.

Anyway there is electronics everything and everywhere.

How about of getting some of that growth in the Corvallis / Eugene area? Albany is heading that direction with that freeze dry plant converting to an energy (battery) business...

EnerG2 opens battery materials plant in Albany | OregonLive.com

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

Los Angeles has all the same problems Melody listed. We import poverty through our sanctuary city laws and we manufacture poverty by forcing our poor to compete with with newly arrived immigrants who are even poorer.
Sadly poverty is just about the only thing left that is manufactured in Los Angeles.
I'd like to move back to Oregon and have read all that sounded of interest to me on the Oregon forum and Oregon is just as bad off as Calif, because of liberal policies, maybe worse.
Our progressive goverment has driven out so much industry and jobs the only thing left is low paying service jobs.

Most of the State is not liberal and this is not LA.

Originally Posted by Billy_J

I just drove up to the Beaverton / Hillsboro area and they are really developing that area with high tech businesses EVERYWHERE! Reminds me of L.A. in the 1980's. New buildings everywhere.

Anyway there is electronics everything and everywhere.

How about of getting some of that growth in the Corvallis / Eugene area? Albany is heading that direction with that freeze dry plant converting to an energy (battery) business...

EnerG2 opens battery materials plant in Albany | OregonLive.com

Corvallis had and still has some of the first and largest electronics manufacturing and design in the State. Ever hear of HP?

Eugene had Spectra Physics, Hinix and a Solar Manufacturer, but the liberal Government (Yes Eugene has a larger percentage of liberals) gave away the farm and then legislated them back to the orient.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I live here. I was born here (Oregon). I'm not retired, and I make a decent living. I like it here. I've lived in many other places, and I came back here to live because I like it here. It probably helps that I'm self-employed and don't have to depend on the lumber industry, but that's where education and ambition come in.

Eugene has a good symphony, a fun Saturday market, a good arts community, decent parks, is very dog friendly, and the cost of living isn't through the roof. It's got fabulous farmers markets and a few indie restaurants.

It's got problems, but it's pretty far away from being Tobacco Road.

You can either sit around whining about how everything is everyone else's fault, stay away, or become a positive force in your community. The choice is yours.

All good points. There is a middle class and an elite class in Eugene. There is also a Good Ol' Boys club or two. But Eugene like many cities also has its share of "Wealth Envy" and you will hear more from them in a forum than the middle or upper class, liberal or conservative.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

[b]

Eugene had Spectra Physics, Hinix and a Solar Manufacturer, but the liberal Government (Yes Eugene has a larger percentage of liberals) gave away the farm and then legislated them back to the orient.

The Hynix closure had little to do with politics (and I did have friends working there). The Eugene plant was geared up to manufacture a specific chip that became obsolete. In an ideal world (for Eugene, anyway) they would have retooled the plant for newer chips, but in the modern corporate era that's rarely how things work. Easier to just rebuild from scratch offshore somewhere else where avg. salary is lower.

On a practical level, Corvallis/Eugene do have slightly cheaper land than the Portland metro, but a production firm would eat higher transport costs since you have reduced access both to shipping and international air, and you'd have to evaluate available labor.

Could Eugene/Spr see a boom in tech? Possible, but I tend to doubt it, nanotech perhaps excepted given that the UO's research center creates some market advantage both for IP and cultivating an employment base.

[Steve Pickering]

The subsidy stopped and Hynix jumped ship. That is politics.