Eugene in a visit (Corvallis: apartments, find a job, transferring to)

[mmblarg]

if you don't want to read the details my questions are at the bottom, answer one or all, any information is appreciated ^_^

i had a thread about moving to Corvallis and got some great answers that turned me more in the direction of Eugene. i'm hoping to move for college and am thinking about Lane Community College to start and transferring to University of Oregon if things work out well. but i'm scared out of my mind about the whole thing to be honest. my room mate and i want to take a trip out there around February or march-ish to see the area and those colleges at least. my roomie hasn't decided if she is interested in the same colleges yet.

i was hoping to be able to take a look at some of the apartments as well but i don't really know what i'm looking for. i'm affraid of not being able to find a job and the prices of the apartments seem really high for what i'm used to. i work at a sam's club right now at $9.40 and hour and live in a two bedroom apartment for $700 a month, including the fee for our pets and the electric bill, and gas prices are around $3.40/gal. i don't have much experience in anything else but cashiering so my options are horribly limited.

so my questions are:
what is the pay to cost of living ratio in Eugene?
how hard would it be for my room mate and i to find a job that pays well enough to sustain a similar life that we have now?
what areas in Eugene should be avoided on a first impression trip?
anything we shouldn't miss?
any apartment recommendations?
and is there anything you think about Eugene that you can share? the good the bad and the slimy, i want to hear any opinion of the place, the climate, the economy, the people, the buildings, the government, anything

thank you so much for reading