Eugene, Oregon

PoledraDog
7mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

I grew up in Texas (Austin area), moved to Phoenix after college, and then moved here in 2010. I absolutely love it here! For me it's big enough to have everything I need on a regular basis (with a new exception, which I'll explain below), without all the hassle of traffic and long commutes that come with a larger city. (I have to go back to both the DFW and Austin areas frequently for family, and I HATE driving there! Makes me appreciate Eugene even more!). However I'm one who loves nature, quiet, doesn't do a lot other than an occasional night out to dinner or a concert. I do travel to Phoenix or Seattle a few times a year for events, and that's pretty easy by train. So some find this town boring, but I do not. I think it's beautiful, there are some lovely neighborhoods to walk through, and I can't get enough of the hiking that's available from 1-2 hours from here. Even our local Ridgeline trail system is pretty awesome! The available produce is amazing, and we have some quality butchers and fish markets as well.

SquirrellyGrrly
7mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

I'll have been here one year in July.

Everyone in my household found jobs far better than anything available where we lived in Texas within the first few weeks. We have much better healthcare and benefits. The landscape is incredibly beautiful, and I have loved every season. We got here and it was sunny and warm. We picked wild plums and blackberries and visited farmers markets and hiked. Everything was so much prettier than we'd imagined. Then autumn came and blew us away. The trees turned orange and red and purple and it was just gorgeous. We picked pears and apples and the perfect pumpkin from local farms. The winter days were perfect fireplace weather, when you just cuddle up with a hot tea and a kitty and watch the rain fall outside. All that rain kept the lawns and bushes happy and green. We had a few days of snow, all in the same week, and the whole town shut down for it. Beyond that, it really wasn't too cold. Spring came and everything flowered. The trees bloomed, we walked everywhere on carpets of falling blossoms. It was like a fairytale. Then the cherry blossoms joined in. Just gorgeous. And now it's warm again. We just went and swam and hiked at Silver Falls, which is a reasonable day trip from here. I've never lived anywhere so beautiful.

People here have been kind. I feel safer here than I did in Texas. Gun violence is lower. People walk and bike everywhere. Geese and ducks just hang out in the parks, totally comfortable with people walking around them. Moving here was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

d0ughb0y17
7mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉

As an out of state person Eugene has some interesting things. They have a huge hippie population and it's not uncommon for a local to put trash in their pocket rather than throwing it away. You might see everyone here "avoid" you which might seem rude but people like to mind their own business here. It's a college town so September through June is its busy time with summers being more quiet. The town is left leaning in terms of politics if you care about such things. It rains a lot but the temperature is mild with the occasional spike in temp or drop depending on the time of year. The beach is an hour away to the west, and the Cascades and high desert is east an hour. This is Micro brew and wine country so if knocking back a few is your thing have at it. No one knows how to drive here… But that's everywhere in the country. This state is the first or second largest trans community in the countryside (percapita?). The coolest thing here in my opinion is the amount of outdoors activities you can do such as biking, hiking, and camping.

I like living here I have been all over the country and find this place to be the most beautiful and diverse community I have encountered. I have lived here almost thirty years since I was in middle school and I cannot imagine living anywhere else. Hopefully this helps you out with what you are looking for.

PotatoDonkey1
7mo ago
🦉🦉🦉

I have lived in Eugene since 1996 with the exception of residencies in Kyoto, Budapest, Toronto, Paris and London of anywhere from three months to two years. I have sometimes joked that what Eugene needs is a subway system and somewhere to go on it. But in truth, I find Eugene to be a very livable US city. Mass transit is actually pretty good for a metro of just under a quarter million (Eugene and Springfield together), by US standards. Now, US standards except in New York, Boston, and Chicago include the assumption that only the poor will use mass transit.

Culturally, we have a very nice and very busy performing arts center, a relatively new library, and the usual amenities that come with being a university town.

Like many communities west of the Mississippi, the class structure is flat compared to east coast cities. I haven't lived in Texas as an adult, but I think there's much more wealth consciousness in urban Texas than you'll find here. The flip side is that we are, in aggregate, a comparatively poor state. Without a lot of status-conscious Old Money (or New Money for that matter), we benefit from fewer spectacular gestures of philanthropy. The most visible donor around here is probably Phil Knight. He lives in Seattle, but he has rained support on the university for things like a beautiful basketball stadium and other athletic facilities.

9 Things you MUST Know Before Moving to Eugene!