What do you like about Eugene? (Portland, Salem: ski resorts, sales, to buy)

[strudel42]

Greetings, Eugenophiles!

This is a forum for positivity. Tell us what makes your city unique. Why is it a great place to live? What, exactly, do you like about Eugene? Why might I want to move there?

Thanks, and have fun!

[Mr Eugenified]

Oddly enough, I like the weather. It's always changing and interesting and there's plenty of sun for me.

I like the many restaurants, including chains and the many locals. Fun to try something new each week and "discover" some hidden gems. A couple of recent discoveries: Taqueria Mi Tierra and Taqueria El Pato Verde and La Perla Pizzaria (for lunch). (Haven't written reviews for any of these yet..."Coming soon!")

I like the running and biking culture. My favorite path is Fern Ridge Path down the east/west center of the university west area. There are also lots of more "natural scenery" barked jogging paths in the Amazon area and also around Alton Baker Park and up the Willamette River over by Ferry Street Bridge area (near the Valley River Mall). Been practicing for the Eugene 5K recently around Spencer Butte Park.

I like the trees everywhere.

I like the seasons, especially spring and fall with the leaves turning orange, yellow, and red. Winter is not great but it's short and not too cold for me.

I like the wild deer and turkeys.

I like the hills.

I like the university culture.

I like the surrounding areas (small towns, mountains, rivers, the ocean not too far away).

I like having a local airport.

I like the mix of big evil retailers and many medium & small retailers.

I like this thread.

[haggardhouseelf]

I love positive threads! My only issue with this one, is where to start and how to end? I love Eugene. It seems every day when I step outside I find something knew I love about it. I'll try to do a neat and orderly list like Mr.E has done. OK... here goes...

- I love how unpretentious some of the more real parts of town are. Like the older parts where the funky/artsy/free-thinking/down-to-earth people live. Where they drive old paid-for cars held together with moss and liberal bumper stickers.

- I love how strong the entrepreneurial spirit is here, which gives those of us lucky enough to live here access to all these awesome independent shops, sellers, and goods. We have really unique, one of a kind, things. I'm constantly learning more the longer we live here. You need a bike? Don't buy one from China via a big box store or chain bike shop - go to the Center for Appropriate Transport. Need clothes? Check out Sweet Skins. Need food? Check out the Grower's Market. Need art supplies? Go to MECCA. Working on your house? Go to BRING. Need a book? Go to the library or check out one of our many indie bookstores. Need anything else under the sun? Check out the Saturday Market, the holiday Market, go to Etsy and do a search for local artisans, go to local harvest and search for grower's in our area... It is so easy to buy local here... and not just buy local but buy local and get really high-quality goods here. I love this.

- I love how walkable/bikable it is here. The bike lanes are great but the bike paths and trails are even cooler. We just discovered some more that are right across the street from where we live and surrounded by woods. We've lived here a total of 6 years and we never knew those were there! That's what I mean. Every day I learn something new about this place that just amazes me. This town is full of cool mysteries.

- I love being in the Valley where you don't have to deal with very bad weather... but having quick access to mountains for snow or the coast for coastal adventures when you want to go. The coast and the mountains both have episodes of really stormy weather but for the most part the valley stays relatively calm. I love that.

- I love places like Pizza Research Institute and Cafe Yumm! and other places you don't find anywhere else but Eugene.

- I love that so many of the women here look real and are confidant enough to look real and not go all fake-n-bake and try to look like something their not.

- I love the happy yellow signs.

- I love that my kids love their schools (and I LOVE that a town the size of Eugene has the IHS program, which really surprised me! We also have three language immersion schools and several alternative schools - Montessori, Waldorf, etc.)

- I love how affordable it is for being on the West Coast.

- I love the farms in summer - especially the PYO berry farms.

- I've been a honey-lover all my life but thought I'd died and gone to heaven the first time I had Bear Mountain Honey (local honey) so fresh it was still warm in the jar. If heaven has a taste - that's it.

- Love the buttes.

- Love the trees.

- Love the water.

- LOVE our Summers. Our Summers here are the perfect Summers.

- I love the cheerful prayer flags. (Never heard of them until we moved here. Now I can't imagine life without them.)

- I love the summer festivals.

- I love our Slug Queen.

I better stop now...

[crimsonking23]

slug queen?

[strudel42]

Originally Posted by crimsonking23

slug queen?

That's what I thought! Thanks, guys, for your comments. Sounds like an intriguing place.

[Europe24]

I love that Eugene is liberal

I love all the cozy little shops, nice places to eat and shop.

The nature.

I like that is not to far away from Salem and Portland.

The nature and prince pucklers, the best ice cream place in Oregon(maybe even the US)

[Englishman in Eugene]

Views of mountains from anywhere in town

relatively low air pollution, coupled with a general environmental awareness

proximity to mountains with ski resorts

proximity to the coast

local airport, but almost zero overhead airplanes (I used to live under the Heathrow flightpath, a plane overhead every 2 minutes day and night if the wind was in a certain direction)

liberal, intelligent and moderate political views

unlikelihood of natural disasters striking (tsunami, earthquake, volcano, hurricane etc.)

WIDE bike paths that can actually be cycled without collision with walkers and fishermen

pleasant climate with enough variation to make it interesting but not "bury your car for six weeks in snow" or tedious unremitting sunshine

low light pollution so I can see the stars on a clear night

mixture of areas and housing types to suit every pocket

university town so the population is mostly young

everything available in the stores without resorting to a bigger city

hearing train whistles occasionally to remind us how the west was won

lively but compact downtown with unique stores and restaurants

pleasant considerate drivers

light traffic and easy access to anywhere in town in 10-15 minutes drive

easy free parking almost everywhere

good library

happy people who for the most part understand how lucky and blessed they are to live in a land of peace and plenty and not in a mud hut in Africa or a war zone

no sales tax (as a Brit I like to pay the price I see on the shelf)

relatively low prices for life's necessities, including gas

many small parks dotted round the city, tree-lined streets and avenues, general green feeling to the city.

larger national parks and recreation areas a short drive out of town.

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by haggardhouseelf

- I love how strong the entrepreneurial spirit is here, which gives those of us lucky enough to live here access to all these awesome independent shops, sellers, and goods. We have really unique, one of a kind, things. I'm constantly learning more the longer we live here. You need a bike? Don't buy one from China via a big box store or chain bike shop - go to the Center for Appropriate Transport. Need clothes? Check out Sweet Skins. Need food? Check out the Grower's Market. Need art supplies? Go to MECCA. Working on your house? Go to BRING.

I strongly agree with much of what you have to say, Elf, except that every town has independent businesses and entrepreneurs, so one can't sell Eugene in particular on City-Data on this aspect alone. And, unfortunately, the City has not revitalized its downtown. Many blocks in the downtown area are undeveloped, with empty storefronts. You don't see as much of this in downtown Corvallis or Ashland. Perhaps the City of Eugene could waive impact fees for the downtown area, to encourage new business growth?

Originally Posted by Englishman in Eugene

relatively low air pollution, coupled with a general environmental awareness

unlikelihood of natural disasters striking (tsunami, earthquake, volcano, hurricane etc.)

Again I agree w/ what you say, except, Eugene has higher air pollution than similar towns nearby, such as Corvallis and Ashland. And, the risk of earthquakes is actually very high, due to the Pacific subduction zone and faults in the Willamette valley, and fine grained river sediment soils where buildings easily collapse. Again, this just isn't a forum to try to sell the city. The City needs to improve its infrastructure for earthquakes and decrease air pollution from the rail yard: http://www.oregontoxics.org/railyard/rr_ap.html (broken link)

[strudel42]

CCCVDUR,

What do you like about Eugene? There's gotta be something.

This thread was intended to be a refuge from griping. I've read the complaints elsewhere and want to know what people like about their town. Rose-colored glasses are OK sometimes.

I am finding that people like Eugene a lot, for many of the reasons I would move to a town -- laid-back, outdoorsy lifestyle; great parks; that it's an unpretentious town that's not perfect but doesn't pretend to be. As we all know, the "perfect" place is an illusion.

[Fishing Crazy]

Love this thread. I have been on & off this and other related threads and frankly have heard more negative. My sister who lives in Corvallis and loves it also liked Eugene alot and stongly considered it before choosing Corvallis so my guess is that they can't be so night and day. She has picked Eugene for me as we have similar tastes but our differences put us in one of each city.