Is Eugene really THAT bad? (Aloha, Florence: crime rate, house, high school)

[Hula_Girl]

Aloha all -

Well, my family spent 4 days in Eugene checking things out. They laughed at your "traffic" and couldn't stop commenting on how friendly everyone is. I think Eugene needs to call it self the Aloha City because they have MUCH MORE of it there than we do here on Oahu.

Looks like it would literally be HALF the cost of living for 10 times more land. Said it was like a mini-Portland...same sort of crime/homeless feel in certain areas (like walking from Union Station in Portland to Powell's...pockets of uber nice next to pockets of uber sketch).

As for the political feel of a place...we've got our own corrupt government here and plenty of local hicks. And by local, I mean LOCAL. Racisim is HUGE here - to the point where the police have actually told me to "eh sistah...dat stuff happens....no worry, yah?" and told me not to file charges. And I'll put that down 100% to being haole. They hate the tourists here and they hate the military but they are happy to take their money and them make snide comments about them on Facebook.

So I'm weighing what I get in return in Oregon. Yes, the gun laws there are non-existent compared to Hawaii. Not happy about that. But at least it's not Arizona. And that's my own personal belief. There is a lot of good to me in Oregon. No place is going to be perfect for what we want to settle down to. And A LOT will be better than Hawaii. I'm in a million dollar mobile home with meth junkies on the corner and I'm sick of paying to live this way.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like we may be moving forward with this sooner rather than later!

[bler144]

Good luck!

[Sherwoody]

Originally Posted by Hula_Girl

Aloha all -

Well, my family spent 4 days in Eugene checking things out. They laughed at your "traffic" and couldn't stop commenting on how friendly everyone is. I think Eugene needs to call it self the Aloha City because they have MUCH MORE of it there than we do here on Oahu.

Looks like it would literally be HALF the cost of living for 10 times more land. Said it was like a mini-Portland...same sort of crime/homeless feel in certain areas (like walking from Union Station in Portland to Powell's...pockets of uber nice next to pockets of uber sketch).

As for the political feel of a place...we've got our own corrupt government here and plenty of local hicks. And by local, I mean LOCAL. Racisim is HUGE here - to the point where the police have actually told me to "eh sistah...dat stuff happens....no worry, yah?" and told me not to file charges. And I'll put that down 100% to being haole. They hate the tourists here and they hate the military but they are happy to take their money and them make snide comments about them on Facebook.

So I'm weighing what I get in return in Oregon. Yes, the gun laws there are non-existent compared to Hawaii. Not happy about that. But at least it's not Arizona. And that's my own personal belief. There is a lot of good to me in Oregon. No place is going to be perfect for what we want to settle down to. And A LOT will be better than Hawaii. I'm in a million dollar mobile home with meth junkies on the corner and I'm sick of paying to live this way.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like we may be moving forward with this sooner rather than later!

1. I've never been to Eugene but did live in Hawaii 20 years. In general, traffic is easier to deal with in Oregon because you can usually take alternative routes once you learn them. I suggest you invest in a GPS (Garmin is best in Oregon) so if you need to change routes mid stream, it will always get you where you're going.

2. There is indeed more aloha in Oregon than Hawaii, it was a welcome surprise.

3. Oregon seems cheap when you first move from Hawaii, but after a year or two that wears off.

4. I don't think you will ever see a gun, especially in the city. There may be people with one, but most seem to conceal carry.

5. I think you notice much less of a drug problem here, unless you consider MJ a drug.

Wish you the best....

[haggardhouseelf]

Aloha Hula-Girl...

Personally I think you'd really enjoy Eugene. It may be difficult to find acreage within walking distance to the downtown Eugene area... maybe... it's there but it may not be the price you want to pay or it may have a really crappy older home on it that needs to bebulldozed... We have some friends who bought one of those properties and it had this crappy trailer home on it. They loved the close-in proximity to everything they needed in Eugene (they didn't walk in but they biked in, as in bicycle) and they lived in the crappy trailer while they did what they needed to do to build a home they could stomach living in on their property. Then when that was done they moved into their custom built home and got rid of the nasty trailer. They said they paid $750 for their property. I don't know what it cost them to build their home or remove the trailer. They also had to add things like utilities and a driveway/road and etc. as the trailer home was running off of propane (not connected to city services/utilities) and they had a huge water tank (as big as a large truck) that they had to pay a company to keep coming out to fill for all their water needs. Anyway - it took them about two years but they got it done and now they seem happy, except that now they have to hire people to come take away junk and stuff that random people dump on their property so that they don't have to pay to dispose of their crap the legal way. And they have a harem of feral cats... but they don't seem to mind the cats as much.

Anyway - so good luck and I hope you find a better place to be. We checked-out Hawaii (Oahu) for husbands job. He was offered a position there so we went over and investigated like potential residents, it wasn't a "vacation" or holiday sort of trip. We were shocked by the crime and drug culture there. We also witnessed drug deals and saw two people running across the street holding a gun in their hand. We were not impressed with Hawaii. I think you are wise to try to get out, and I didn't even consider the climate change thing while we were looking into it. It's a shame because I'm sure at one point it really was an amazing place to be. Maybe parts of it still are. Just not Oahu, which is where we would have had to live and work... and of course as you have mentioned the cost of living was ridiculous.

Look to the southern Eugene area... Lorane, Crow... it might be too far of a walk, but people do it on bikes. I love that area especially during warm summer days, the air smells so good... there are fields of lavender in the area and it's intoxicating really. Sometimes I catch mint in the air, too.

Also - as far as Eugene crime... it's sort of the opposite of what Hawaii seems to have. Most of our crime is nonviolent. Not all, but most. Lately we've had some bizarre situations occur... an angry son murdering his parents... an angry ex-boyfriend murdering his ex-girlfriend... but that is domestic stuff. It's not like we have a lot of people getting stabbed or murdered by random strangers. Around the University area, we have had rapes and attempted abductions... so be very careful around that area. I never walk that area at night and during the day I never walk it alone.

Anyway - our crime here, for the most part it's property theft, bike theft, stolen vehicles, stuff stolen out of vehicles, people stealing mail and packages off people's porches, etc. My own personal belief is that if you are smart and secure your stuff, you better your odds. We are not from Eugene, we are from a very large metro area, so it is second nature to us to be vigilant and aware, and we've never had anything happen to us in the almost decade that we've lived here. But we know of people who aren't careful who have had things stolen and had problems. Honestly I feel like a lot of the crime here is due to people not being careful and making it easy for criminals to do their job. So my advice would be just don't make it easy for them, and you should be fine. Oh - and I do recommend getting a PO Box for your mail. there do seem to be a lot of ID thefts, too... we've had our locking mail box tampered with. Seriously - it's one of those big locking mail boxes and I have no idea how they got into it... but ours and our neighbors mail was all vandalized. So we use a PO Box now for all our mail, and we have all our packages sent to my husbands office so that UPS or whatever doesn't leave them on our porch, because they will get ripped-off (and we live in a nice area).

Anyway - good luck and let us know when you get here and how you like it.

[CourtCol88]

Check out Spokane, Washington.

[doo555]

SANTA CLARA SHOPPING DISTRICT-- see "5-Lane highway on River rd."

[northoceanbeach]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

Hula-Girl, I was born in Eugene and I'd say on a per capita basis it's quite possibly the #1 drug city in the USA. VERY prevalent even when I was a kid in the 1960's and 1970's. As to crime, it goes hand in glove with the drugs.


That said, it's a beautiful place to live. Less than an hour away from the ocean or a ski resort. How sweet is that?


If you're looking for better weather and a solid community type area, think about Medford.

The people that think this are the people that are born here. They haven't lived o been to Baltimore or Patterson NJ or Memphis or all kinds of bad places.

I have live in both Oahu and Eugene. I thought both felt pretty safe compared to the entire east coast and a lot of areas of the country. I have heard Oahu has gotten worse since I left, but I didn't know it was that bad. you really must live on a bad street.

Eugene is pretty nice, pretty safe. They have more of the drifters than alot of places but I would take that over having a city like chicago where about half of it is gang infested. I can't think of anywhere in Eugene I wouldn't go.

[northoceanbeach]

Oh and FYI, there is currently an acre plus parcel for sale within walking distance to downtown. It is priced at $170,000 and the house needs fixing, but it is just past 18th and Chambers(she said she walks).

It has a couple bids on it, but that's just one example. There are hidden gems. If she wants something nicer what about up in the hills? My mom bought a couple lots together so they live on the outskirts of town but pretty darn close. What about up back in the hills past 18th St. What is that area called that is mostly new developments?

[Hula_Girl]

Aloha all -

Well, we decided on Eugene and found 9 acres in South Eugene near Blanton Ride Trail Head. We are just on the other side of the city limits - no sewer, but we do have city water! Property has 1 huge home that will go to my brother in law and his family (of 5). Will split up the rest and build two more homes. We are very happy with location!

Thanks for all the feedback! We move over the pond in July! Now we need to find Medical coverage, dentists, etc! I'll post a new thread for all that.

Mahalo!

[Lizzaa]

Originally Posted by Hula_Girl

Aloha all -

Well, we decided on Eugene and found 9 acres in South Eugene near Blanton Ride Trail Head. We are just on the other side of the city limits - no sewer, but we do have city water! Property has 1 huge home that will go to my brother in law and his family (of 5). Will split up the rest and build two more homes. We are very happy with location!

Thanks for all the feedback! We move over the pond in July! Now we need to find Medical coverage, dentists, etc! I'll post a new thread for all that.

Mahalo!

Did you make sure you were zoned to build two more homes? We have ridiculously strict zoning laws. Only in case you didn't know.