My opinion about Eugene

[Nothere1]

Originally Posted by sapphire904

Hello - I've been living in Eugene for about 6 months now so I'll share my opinion about it.
I've lived in MANY states and parts of the US, including Portland, so I have a good grip on other places in order to compare.

PROS- 1. There is a wonderful abundance of outdoor activity here. The beach is only 1 hour away and the mountains are less. There is a lot of hiking, kayaking, bird watching, foraging, etc. Love it!
2. It's illegal for businesses to give you plastic bags when you buy something. It's sooo sustainable and environmentally aware. I've never lived anywhere that respects and appreciates the environment and tries to repair the damage done as much as Eugene. You can find plastic in Springfield.
3. The landscape is beautiful. I love living in the Willamette Valley with the mountains surrounding me.
4. The Saturday Market is huge and there is so much to choose from. Farmers from everywhere come to sell their food and talented people from as far as Ashland and eastern OR come to sell their crafts. There are very artistic and creative people here.


CONS - 1. I'll be honest, when I first drove into town with the moving truck (we didn't visit before we moved and I suggest you do!) the first thing that went through my mind was "TRASHY". Mostly no one, except for some fine neighborhoods in the Southern and SW parts of the city, maintains their lawn. They are overgrown and there's just trash EVERYWHERE! It doesn't help that most houses are rented by college kids who don't give a darn about the property. So, yes, this is a very trashy city in my opinion.
2. The homeless are EVERYWHERE too! All over the city! They make the city look even more trashy. There is one rescue mission, but I think most of the homeless choose to be on the streets and just take people's money for weed. The mayor hasn't done anything to add more shelters but instead want to give them a new apartment complex so they can trash that too. There are A LOT of tent cities in Eugene and it sucks!
3. The people are dirty and there are drugs all over the place. No one cares what they look like and they don't take care of themselves.
4. Lots of drugs!
5. Lots of crime for a city this size - which most of the hippies will deny because they don't watch the news. They like to live in fairy-tale land where everything is perfect.
6. The library sucks. The main one is all homeless and smelly people and the branches are the size of a closet. The services they offer are pretty weak too.
7. The rain - it pours constantly! So if you like to get out and hike, you won't do it the whole winter unless you don't mind getting soaked.
8. People are rude. They may just be miserable because of the rain, but they are pretty rude and i've lived on the east coast...maybe it's because they haven't washed themselves, IDK.


I would go on, but I just want to get out of this city. I miss the sunshine and clean people!!!!!

Very nice, I wanted to move there this summer but decided not to after I went through it two or three times. I was told that it was nice and people minded their own business, which is what I was looking for. Turns out that was a lie. I had two friends from that city that moved back there, I haven't been in contact with them since but I bet they regret it. As I talked to many people in Oregon, they have said the times have changed for them as a state, I felt like it was a quicker process for them than the rest of the county.

Overall I still love Oregon, it is a very beautiful state with great people. I'm just not big on the road that it is headed on. I'm not sure of your preferences but I liked Medford, Corvallis, and Salem. All nice cities/towns with great libraries. I also felt like they where cleaner and not packed full with spoiled college kids.

There was also a reply that someone thought Colorado Springs was in Bible Belt territory. ???, have they ever been outside of Oregon?

[Bees46]

I'm not sure what you mean by people minding their own business. I don't find people in Eugene butt into anyone's private lives here more than anywhere else. And it's been headed on the same road for a long, long time.

I'm guessing whomever called Colorado Springs the Bible belt was speaking more ideologically than geographically. It is a conservative area. That those "focus on the family" folks are HQ'd is a good indication.

[boulder2015]

Originally Posted by Nothere1

Very nice, I wanted to move there this summer but decided not to after I went through it two or three times. I was told that it was nice and people minded their own business, which is what I was looking for. Turns out that was a lie. I had two friends from that city that moved back there, I haven't been in contact with them since but I bet they regret it. As I talked to many people in Oregon, they have said the times have changed for them as a state, I felt like it was a quicker process for them than the rest of the county.

Overall I still love Oregon, it is a very beautiful state with great people. I'm just not big on the road that it is headed on. I'm not sure of your preferences but I liked Medford, Corvallis, and Salem. All nice cities/towns with great libraries. I also felt like they where cleaner and not packed full with spoiled college kids.

There was also a reply that someone thought Colorado Springs was in Bible Belt territory. ???, have they ever been outside of Oregon?

Cos is one of the most conservative and religious cities in the US. Home to focus on the family and other far right groups. That being said, people are not as "up in your grill" about jesus the way they are in say, alabama. Plenty of non religious people live in cos.

[The Lyin' King]

Originally Posted by Willamette City

In checking for high crime cites in the US, Eugene isn't in the top 100 for the 3 years that I checked. No Oregon city is on the list.

I'll just leave this here . . .

[soarswitheagles]

The problem is though that we don't have the police or jail for the crime with do have. Our police are not able to respond to many calls because they are too busy. After a while, when you've called the police and there is no response you start to feel unsafe.