Considering Eugene - want advice please (Portland, Mission: apartments, rentals, home)

[ceaa]

I was originally considering Portland for my move from Houston, TX, and have found that Eugene keeps popping up for what I consider important.
I want someplace relatively multicultural/diverse, with RESOURCES FOR AUTISM AND GOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS, apartments that are pet friendly and available for 800 OR LESS FOR A ONE BEDROOM, ACCESS TO NATURE, job availability within the nonprofit sector, pleasant or at least tolerant people, walkable, access to healthy foods, and I'm sure many other things that will pop into my head as soon as I finalize the post.

Thank you for your consideration. Portland seems lovely, and the progressive cultural environment is exactly what I'd like to be apart of. Besides OR, Seattle seems like a possibility as well.

[bler144]

Eugene isn't particularly 'diverse' by how most people would define the term. But in terms of outdoors and finding a viable 1BR for $800, sure that could work.

Public schools are pretty good but have been squeezed for funds for a long time. So at some point it depends on what you're comparing to.

I doubt you'd find Seattle would work on your budget - Tacoma possibly.

[Merrily Gather]

Relatively multicultural/diverse - check, University of Oregon hosts the largest Arab student exchange program in the United States with over 1,000 students and that's not including the ones from other countries, and Portland is less than 2 hrs away depending on how you drive. Eugene also hosts a large Asian Celebration and has a big Asian community. The past several times they've also hosted the Olympic Trials for track and field where people come from all over.

RESOURCES FOR AUTISM AND GOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS - check, link, I don't know your child's school age but Holt Elementary is good. Also several schools have won awards and some new 4J schools are being built. They voted to increase funding to schools in the last midterm election.

Apartments that are pet friendly and available for 800 OR LESS FOR A ONE BEDROOM - check, you can get a nice two bedroom for that price. One bedrooms are going to run 400 - 600 range.

For apartment and home listing rentals see:
Jennings Group
Bell Realty
Bright Apartments

ACCESS TO NATURE - check, besides that it's in a rain forest there are several parks, trails and open spaces you can hike or bike such as Alton Baker Park and Spencer's Butte. Just be careful of mountain lions. They'll usually post signs if there are sightings in the area which there have been in the last few years. Eugene Parks and Recreation - Also take advantage of the indoor heated swimming pools which are great! They have several locations around town.

job availability within the nonprofit sector - check, I don't know what you do but there are five pages of nonprofit job listings on indeed.com, link

pleasant or at least tolerant people - Portland's motto is keep it weird and Eugene is an even weirder crazy off shoot of that so certainly tolerant and pleasant. See the Slug Queen Pageant. It is so weird! Also see Oregon Country Fair. It's like this big naked folk festival of super creative hippy artists that most of Eugene attends at least once if not annually.

walkable - check, from South Eugene at 29th and Willamette I can walk to downtown Eugene in 30 minutes and did so nightly. You can walk all over. They encourage it. Local restaurants like Cornbread Cafe will give you discounts for walking and biking.

access to healthy foods - check, loads of that there. Saturday Market is downtown every weekend during certain months. They also have farmers market hours during the week on certain days. There's Market of Choice and co-op's and loads of vegan and vegetarian places to eat. Cafe Yumm!, Holy Cow, Laughing Planet, Cornbread Cafe, Viva Vegetarian Grille, Lotus Cafe, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some as the list goes on.

progressive cultural environment - check, check, check! You can live, breath and thrive there and it's on a much more affordable budget as opposed to the larger metropolitan cities such as Portland or Seattle.

[Steve Pickering]

Oregon requires a separate room for children past infancy. If you have children you won't get by with a 1 bedroom unit. They will find out if you try to cheat the system, and you won't like what happens next.

[delta07]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Oregon requires a separate room for children past infancy. If you have children you won't get by with a 1 bedroom unit. They will find out if you try to cheat the system, and you won't like what happens next.

I'm not sure where you are seeing this requirement, but I don't think it exists. In fact, according to the Fair Housing Council of Oregon:

According to HUD, any occupancy standards in housing should not be more restrictive than two indviduals per bedroom, assuming average sized bedrooms.

Also, legally limiting occupancy does not allow housing providers the right to dictate who sleeps where or with whom. Similarly, housing providers may not require that children of different sexes sleep in separate rooms.

Fair Housing Council of Oregon - Mission

[ceaa]

Thank you delta07, I'm VERY aware of these laws, since I'm a single mother with a young child. The way I've lived for some time is giving the bedroom to my son, and sleeping in the "living room". It would be a bit ridiculous to pay for a two bedroom, but it feels right to me to provide him his own space. People will judge and create laws based on their individual preference, perspective, etc. Freedom of speech, but I am free to investigate whether or not something is valid and supported by law.

[Metlakatla]

Hi ceaa,

a lot of the information on this forum is questionable; I don't think the "law" mentioned above exists.

About diversity....some exists because of the university, but if you aren't connected the school or live close enough to be affected by the population, Eugene diversity is basically white dreads driving Subarus.

It sounds like it would be a good fit for you, though. Best of luck. Decent places to live are fairly easy to find.

[Wndy]

Originally Posted by ceaa

Thank you delta07, I'm VERY aware of these laws, since I'm a single mother with a young child. The way I've lived for some time is giving the bedroom to my son, and sleeping in the "living room". It would be a bit ridiculous to pay for a two bedroom, but it feels right to me to provide him his own space. People will judge and create laws based on their individual preference, perspective, etc. Freedom of speech, but I am free to investigate whether or not something is valid and supported by law.

That's very thoughtful of you. My math teacher in high school did the same thing (her daughter went to the high school as well). They shared a one bedroom apartment and her daughter had the bedroom and her mom slept in part of the common area. I thought this was a great solution, especially living in Seattle as a single parent on a teacher's salary. I don't get people's obsession with big spaces and tons of bedrooms. I never had my own bedroom growing up, and I think I turned out just fine. My sister I shared the room with I think turned out even better (she always wanted her own room, so has picked a career enabling her to achieve that in any city).

Anyhow, enough about that. I don't live in Oregon right now, so I cannot comment, but from my initial research Eugene seems more affordable than Portland (locals feel free to correct that impression). From my coworkers in Texas, I understand that Houston had an influx of Katrina refugees, and the rental prices have soared relative to earnings... I know in a lot of Oregon the economy isn't great, but I'd pick Oregon over Houston from everything I have heard :-)

If/when you do move, I'd love for you to post a thread about your initial experiences! I'm in Minneapolis area right now, originally from Seattle, and planning a move to Oregon within the next three years. Better economy in Minneapolis so I'm taking care of debt before the move. Thanks!

[Merrily Gather]

Good luck on your relocation hunting! I second the sentiment about updating CD on your experience if you do move to Eugene. Sending you positive vibes.