Eyes on Eugene, Oregon

[pdxharth]

After almost 25 years here, my wife Kate and I are looking at moving out of Portland. It has gotten a lot fancier here, and we don’t have the means, time, or energy to take advantage of what the city has to offer. Looking for a little slower paced, smaller town. I moved here from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and while I know I may not find a town of that caliber, Eugene has similarities we like.

We know it has good natural food stores, nice neighborhoods, hiking trails south of town, two rivers to paddle, and other amenities we like. Plus housing is slightly more affordable than Portland, so we may be able to buy a house much nicer than the one we live in now, at least in a nicer neighborhood. The wooded areas south of town are gorgeous.

So, how is life in Eugene, for those who have experienced it?

I am familiar with Oakridge and Mackenzie River Trail, but how is the mountain biking near town? Are the Whypass trails just jumps and berms or are there XC, singletrack options as well?

How’s the road riding? Gravel?

Maybe most importantly, I need to learn about the high schools because I’ll need a job, I suppose. Any Eugene teachers out there? Anyone know a high school teacher who might be willing to have a conversation about the district?

We are looking at other locations, too, but Eugene is on top of the list right now.

Thanks in advance.

[2LeftCleats]

I’m not the deepest pool of knowledge, having only moved here in 2019 and don’t mountain bike. Retired, so I can’t offer info on schools.

Like living here. Small enough that driving across town isn’t terrible. I live south and the hills are beautiful and challenging. Lots of country riding with surprisingly little traffic. Roads are mostly in decent shape. Son lives in Portland and likes to ride here. He complains that it takes him an hour from his home to get to comparable roads. (He, too, is considering a move for similar reasons). Very good network of hiking trails.

Cost of housing here has jumped in the last year, but still not Portland prices. Seems like maybe the frenzy is easing, but I’m not sure about the inventory.

As best I can tell from my limited experience, we are drier here than Portland, and drought is becoming a concern. Not sure if we get more fire smoke.

[miguel]

Eugene is great if you can work there

There is a rando club: willamette randonneurs

The roads are nice for the most part

[pdxharth]

All good info, so thanks for your perspective.
Wildfire smoke is definitely one of our hesitancies.
Not sure there is any escape in the PNW. I appreciate what your son said about riding. It takes a while to get out of town here, limiting my quick ride options.

Originally Posted by 2LeftCleats

I’m not the deepest pool of knowledge, having only moved here in 2019 and don’t mountain bike. Retired, so I can’t offer info on schools.

Like living here. Small enough that driving across town isn’t terrible. I live south and the hills are beautiful and challenging. Lots of country riding with surprisingly little traffic. Roads are mostly in decent shape. Son lives in Portland and likes to ride here. He complains that it takes him an hour from his home to get to comparable roads. (He, too, is considering a move for similar reasons). Very good network of hiking trails.

Cost of housing here has jumped in the last year, but still not Portland prices. Seems like maybe the frenzy is easing, but I’m not sure about the inventory.

As best I can tell from my limited experience, we are drier here than Portland, and drought is becoming a concern. Not sure if we get more fire smoke.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by miguel

Eugene is great if you can work there

There is a rando club: willamette randonneurs

The roads are nice for the most part

Ain't that the truth. I was there for five years in grad school. Great biking if you don't mind the weather.

It really felt like the economy of the town didn't quite live up to its population. A lot of unemployed people, a lot of underemployed people, and not a lot of opportunity.

If you can get a decent job, it's not a terrible place to live, but it's a tough place to move up the economic ladder, and doesn't have quite the same charm as a New England college town.

[lorenbike]

I lived in Corvallis for about 3 years until somewhat recently. Not sure you would consider Corvallis but the riding is perhaps better and maybe a somewhat less pricey housing market?

I think the out the door riding in Corvallis is among the best I've lived. Gravel roads for miles in the Mac Dunn. Plus some awesome singletrack for MTB. You can pretty much bike there from anywhere in town. I didn't go onany road rides but some really nice paved loops you can ride on any direction including an awesome ride up Mary's Peak. And can't emphasize enough how great Alsea Falls is.

Not sure I'd move back there but certainly not a bad place to live.

[Clean39T]

I've been weighing the pro/con list for Eugene for a while too. It ticks a lot of the boxes for being moderately more affordable than some other places in Oregon for similar houses/neighborhoods, having great access to quality food/farms/coffee, having cultural opportunities due to the college, and having opportunities for riding on more remote roads - and for proximity to the coast and an airport that can connect to larger hubs easily (plus a train that can get you to the same). The detractors are/were the allergy season and the wildfire smoke season, plus the potential boom/bust cycle there given the lack of major employers and the insane run-up in cost-of-living. I think it would be a great place to get a reasonably-priced home maybe a bit outside of the city to have as a homebase for remote working with the option to go somewhere else during Aug/Sep...... The same could be said for Corvallis.

[pdxharth]

Yeah, the job thing is key. I found one connection to a teacher there, but have not yet been able to hook up a conversation about it. The good thing for me is that teaching is not exactly a desirable job right now (ever?), so there may be openings as people leave.

" A lot of unemployed people, a lot of underemployed people, and not a lot of opportunity." That sounds similar to Ann Arbor, especially the underemployed part.

We saw some of the homeless camps there last weekend, and at least they were organized. Looks like they were supported by the city, but that's just a guess. It is far less in your face and chaotic than it is in Portland, but I know it is going to be a fact of life anywhere we go in the NW, maybe anywhere. Kate spent years working with the homeless population in Portland, so it isn't like we are trying to escape that.

I like Corvallis. My wife less so. It may still be an option.

Kate is a speech pathologist, opening her own practice as a brain injury specialist. The sheer size of Eugene over Corvallis provides more opportunity for her there.

Any other group rides in Eugene besides the rando club? I may do some events, but I can't really call myself a randonneur. I mostly ride alone, but it is a good way to meet people.

[pdxharth]

Yes, access to the train on the I5 corridor is key. Agree with everything else you said, but I do wonder about allergies. Is it just more of a problem there because of the lawn seed farming or other farms? Is it worse than Portland?

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I've been weighing the pro/con list for Eugene for a while too. It ticks a lot of the boxes for being moderately more affordable than some other places in Oregon for similar houses/neighborhoods, having great access to quality food/farms/coffee, having cultural opportunities due to the college, and having opportunities for riding on more remote roads - and for proximity to the coast and an airport that can connect to larger hubs easily (plus a train that can get you to the same). The detractors are/were the allergy season and the wildfire smoke season, plus the potential boom/bust cycle there given the lack of major employers and the insane run-up in cost-of-living. I think it would be a great place to get a reasonably-priced home maybe a bit outside of the city to have as a homebase for remote working with the option to go somewhere else during Aug/Sep...... The same could be said for Corvallis.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by Loren090

And I had 2 summers of bad forest fire smoke and had had enough of that. And that was before that near apocalyptic season 1-2 yrs ago?

I don't blame you. Living year-round in the PNW or Mountain West is tough. You either have to give up caring about the long-term health effects of being outdoors (and even indoors to an extent) in crappy AQI for 1-2 months out of the year (during what used to be the best months of the year for cyclists) or you have to make plans to head elsewhere for those months - escaping to the coast, or ?? Or I guess just view the "smoke season" as your off-season and get used to riding through the cold/wet winter to get your yearly fix of miles/hours in.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by pdxharth

Yes, access to the train on the I5 corridor is key. Agree with everything else you said, but I do wonder about allergies. Is it just more of a problem there because of the lawn seed farming or other farms? Is it worse than Portland?

I don't have seasonal allergies but my wife does and for her living in Eugene was really rough (that was many years ago). I've heard the same from others about anywhere in the Willamette Valley proper. She still gets it in Portland too, just not quite as bad as being down around the farms.

[JedB]

I lived in Eugene from 96-98 while I was going to grad school. I'm sure it's changed a lot since I was there.

The biking is great once you get out of town. Getting over Spencer's butte or out to 99North is about a 15 minute deal. Then there's great roads with minimal traffic (compared to PDX). Flats, Rollers, Hills, all depending on what you want to do. I raced for Hutch's and there were regular group rides on the weekends and evenings during the summers.

Swing by the local shops and talk to them about rides/riding and clubs. I'm sure you'll find one that will fit your style.

For your wife, if she's setting up a practice, she should figure out how to link up with Peace Health / Sacred Heart, which is the primary hospital group in the area. I'm sure affiliate/referrals would be very helpful for her.

I don't know a thing about teaching/education there, so sorry, I can't help.

You could also look at Springfield, since Eugene/Springfield have a similar relationship as Portland/Vancouver and getting around would be somewhat less problematic than PDX.

For allergies, you will have a lot more pollen/grass and stuff in the air than you do in Portland. This will happen in spring (pollens/bloom) and again in fall (mildew/molds).

[ORMojo]

I've lived in Eugene for 38+ years, Corvallis for 7+ before that, and mostly grew up in the Portland area. Would not move back to the Portland area at this time, but might consider some suburbs (that likely wouldn't meet the OP's criteria).

Corvallis housing is more expensive than Eugene's, according to pretty much every indicator I've seen, as well as following the markets (I have family in Corvallis). Corvallis is a very nice town, with all the positives mentioned above, but I prefer the Eugene area (to be precise, after ~30 years living in Eugene, I've lived ~5 miles outside of Eugene for the past 8 years). But that may depend on how "small town" you want to go.

Life in Eugene has been very good. Right now there are jobs going unfilled, at many levels, but I'm not certain about the high school teacher job market. I'm involved in the K-8 charter school scene, and at that level I know there are jobs available and we've taken longer to fill positions than in previous years.

Plenty of variety at Whypass, including XC and singletrack. The Ridgeline trail system also provides close-in options, although it is shared use. Elijah Bristow has ~10 miles of very easy XC shared use trails, you can do loops all day, can also combine with North Shore trail. Hardesty Mountain and many other options are up Hwy 58.

I've either acclimated to the allergens after all these years, or, more likely, my daily routine of generic OTC Loratadine (Claritin) during allergy season has made that a non-issue for me.

Having family in Corvallis, Silverton, Hood River, Newport, several Portland suburbs, and our place in Sunriver, I'm happy staying in the Eugene area!

[pdxharth]

I stopped in at Hutch's a couple weeks ago. That's where I learned about the Whypass trails. Looks like a good shop, definitely nice guy I spoke with.

But I do like what I am hearing about the riding! Thanks for that.

The allergy stuff? Not so fond of that. Didn't realize it was so bad. But I'm used to living with it at this point.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by JedB

I lived in Eugene from 96-98 while I was going to grad school. I'm sure it's changed a lot since I was there.

The biking is great once you get out of town. Getting over Spencer's butte or out to 99North is about a 15 minute deal. Then there's great roads with minimal traffic (compared to PDX). Flats, Rollers, Hills, all depending on what you want to do. I raced for Hutch's and there were regular group rides on the weekends and evenings during the summers.

Swing by the local shops and talk to them about rides/riding and clubs. I'm sure you'll find one that will fit your style.

For your wife, if she's setting up a practice, she should figure out how to link up with Peace Health / Sacred Heart, which is the primary hospital group in the area. I'm sure affiliate/referrals would be very helpful for her.

I don't know a thing about teaching/education there, so sorry, I can't help.

You could also look at Springfield, since Eugene/Springfield have a similar relationship as Portland/Vancouver and getting around would be somewhat less problematic than PDX.

For allergies, you will have a lot more pollen/grass and stuff in the air than you do in Portland. This will happen in spring (pollens/bloom) and again in fall (mildew/molds).

[lavi]

As the sign on I5 states, " Linn County is the grass seed capital of the world". That area produces 75% of the WORLD's seed. Allergies are a real thing there.

My wife suffers bad allergies. Eugene would likely drive her insane for that reason alone.

From Willamette Week: Feel Like Your Nose Is on Fire? That's Because the Willamette Valley Has Pollen Counts Nearly Four Times What Is Considered "Very High".