Young couple considering move to Eugene area--advice?? (Portland, Salem: apartment, home)

[alisonelaine]

My boyfriend and I are thinking about moving to Oregon or the surrounding cities (any suggestions would be awesome) after we are done with our undergrad, but we have never been there and might not be able to visit, so we need advice!
1. We are both 22, so we want a place that has a young vibe, cheap downtown where we could live close-enough to the center not to have to take an expensive cab home every weekend night. What kinds of fun things are there to do?
2. Jobs! He works in marketing and executive business so there needs to be some good large companies in that realm... and I am going to go through an alternative certification process to become a middle/high school english language arts teacher, so there has to be a need for those teachers! Also, how is the school system?
3. We are extremely active--love running, so there needs to be lots of trails, 5ks, etc, and like biking to work and going to parks/swimming pools. We also would prefer to live really close to water. And--we need a professional baseball or basketball team that the city gets really into supporting!
4. What is the arts scene like (plays, etc)? Are there farmers markets, wineries, or health foods stores?

So pretty much, do you think that this city is a good fit for a really young, semi-conservative, artsy, active couple AND will we be able to find jobs here?
Thanks!

Here are all the Oregon cities we are looking at if you can give us any advice (positive or negative): Portland, Beaverton, Eugene, Salem, Gresham, Hillsboro, Springfield, Corvallis, Tigard, Albany, Lake Oswego, McMinnville, Woodburn, Wilsonville, Lebanon, Dallas, St. Helens, Newport, and Lincoln City.

[Acuda]

Originally Posted by alisonelaine

My boyfriend and I are thinking about moving to Oregon or the surrounding cities (any suggestions would be awesome) after we are done with our undergrad, but we have never been there and might not be able to visit, so we need advice!
1. We are both 22, so we want a place that has a young vibe, cheap downtown where we could live close-enough to the center not to have to take an expensive cab home every weekend night. What kinds of fun things are there to do?
2. Jobs! He works in marketing and executive business so there needs to be some good large companies in that realm... and I am going to go through an alternative certification process to become a middle/high school english language arts teacher, so there has to be a need for those teachers! Also, how is the school system?
3. We are extremely active--love running, so there needs to be lots of trails, 5ks, etc, and like biking to work and going to parks/swimming pools. We also would prefer to live really close to water. And--we need a professional baseball or basketball team that the city gets really into supporting!
4. What is the arts scene like (plays, etc)? Are there farmers markets, wineries, or health foods stores?

So pretty much, do you think that this city is a good fit for a really young, semi-conservative, artsy, active couple AND will we be able to find jobs here?
Thanks!

Here are all the Oregon cities we are looking at if you can give us any advice (positive or negative): Portland, Beaverton, Eugene, Salem, Gresham, Hillsboro, Springfield, Corvallis, Tigard, Albany, Lake Oswego, McMinnville, Woodburn, Wilsonville, Lebanon, Dallas, St. Helens, Newport, and Lincoln City.

1- Eugene is pretty small (140,000), so unless you live on the outskirts, the cab ride will not be too expensive. Eugene is a college town, so there are great little pubs and bars all around town. Downtown has a Farmer's Market & Saturday Market and small shops. There are some places to eat that are pretty good. Eugene isn't really cheap, cheap, but not super expensive such as Seattle or San Franciso. You'll have to hunt around for the eclectic, cool little places to live.

2- Eugene is very competitive for teachers. There are 3 teaching programs in the city alone, with U of O being one of the best in the nation. Those teachers come out with masters, so good luck.

3- Eugene is "Tracktown USA", so you will have no problem being active. U of O has arguably the most historic track program of all time and recently won 2 National Championships (and finishing 2nd on the outdoor). There are a lot of cyclists and people who enjoy athletics. There are plenty of parks and two rivers that cross through town.

Professional teams- no
The Oregon Ducks- YES! The Ducks fans are known to be very supportive of the teams there and the atmosphere is great. Basketball is supported well, but you should see the football games. If you need a professional team, look at Portland.

4- Eugene's town motto is "World's Greatest City for Arts & Outdoors," so they have plays, concerts, Hult center for bigger venues, etc.

Good Luck

[haggardhouseelf]

Acuda has a great response - took the words right out of my fingers.

[fishnoise7]

I am from Pendleton (eastern oregon) and spent 4 years in Eugene for school, have the bf's fam and lots of friends in Portland, so that's my perspective.

I think the Portland area sounds most like what you're looking for (specifically portland proper, beaverton, lake oswego, or tigard). There are lots of neat communities with active downtowns (lake oswego, portland), but the suburbs are within an easy drive of downtown portland. There is always something going on. The city is just gorgeous too. Hiking is nearby, even some within Portland itself. Farmers markets abound in both Portland and Eugene.

As the previous poster said, Eugene is a college town, lots of cheap activities, great hiking nearby. Excellent restaurants. Large variety of microbrews. All bars in Eugene are non-smoking. Not a lot of jobs though. This year the Oregon school systems have suffered budget cuts, so finding a teaching job may be difficult.

As for the coastal towns you mentioned (newport, lincoln city), I don't think you'd enjoy them if you're looking for a place with exciting nightlife. Also, the coast is less than 2 hours away from most of the towns you're looking at. If you feel like hanging out at the beach, you can make a weekend trip of it.

Gresham: too far away from downtown.
Woodburn: known for the giant outlet mall there.
Springfield: cheaper than Eugene in terms of living expenses, but it doesn't have the same feel. (some people refer to it as "springtucky") There are definitely nice, newer areas, and a good school district, but I'd say this would be for a couple who is looking to start a family.
Corvallis: has a little more of a rural feel than Eugene or Portland. Oregon State University is there, so it has a college feel, but where eugene is more liberal arts oriented, Corvallis tends to be more agriculturally oriented (at least that's the impression I get). It reminds me a lot of eastern oregon, which is rural farmland mostly (with some mountains of course).

Albany is very close to Corvallis and is okay, but I think you'd enjoy the portland area more.
Lebanon and Dallas are near Salem and they're tiny towns set further away from the city. Not conducive to cab ride from downtown activities.

Wilsonville is the suburb furthest south in Portland. It's very nice, very clean. They have a nice mall called Bridgeport Village.

Lake Oswego is really nice too. It seems to be a little more expensive, but very clean, very pretty, nice restaurants and a downtown that's very walkable.



"Here are all the Oregon cities we are looking at if you can give us any advice (positive or negative): Portland, Beaverton, Eugene, Salem, Gresham, Hillsboro, Springfield, Corvallis, Tigard, Albany, Lake Oswego, McMinnville, Woodburn, Wilsonville, Lebanon, Dallas, St. Helens, Newport, and Lincoln City."

[WorkinStiff]

Oregon has the second highest unemployment rate in the US...Unless you have a large cash cushion, I wouldn't move out here without at least one of you having a job lined up.....Portland & Eugene both have excellent mass transit systems......

[Carley23]

Hey there!

I'm pretty much in the exact same situation as you guys. My boyfriend and I are moving to Eugene from Phoenix, hopefully within the next month. We have never been there before so it's kinda hard to judge which are the dodgy areas and which are the nice areas. We both graduated from college within the last couple of years so we also want to be in the young, downtown, artsy area.

Have you had any luck finding an apartment? I have been looking on rent.com, forrent.com and all of those. Is there another site that you might have found that I don't know about? Or have you found a complex we could maybe look into as well?

Thanks for the help! Nice to know someone else is in the same boat as us!

Carley