PROS and CONS of Living in EUGENE, Oregon (An Honest Review!) 

Hey Amanda! Thank you for sharing your experience. I have mentioned our homelessness issue in some videos and you are right. Pros and cons are subjective and it may be a huge issue for some, while others may not mind. I do think it is an important aspect of our community though, and I am considering making a video about that alone.

@@MovingtoEugeneOregonwho doesn’t mind druggies lying on the street and stealing from stores and citizens???😂

I love our four true seasons!

This is soooo true!

I find this offensive I shovel rain JK

Happy to help!

@@MovingtoEugeneOregon Food culture! That is very subjective. Eugene has a lot of restaurants most of them are terrible unless you are spending some serious money.

@@MovingtoEugeneOregon I definitely want to move to Eugene for Ballet Fantastique! 🤣

Thank you for sharing your love for Eugene! Both Bend and Eugene have their pros and cons.

Agreed!

Thank you so much for watching and supporting! You are just on a roll with great video ideas, so I have some work to do.

@@MovingtoEugeneOregon I have so many questions! Maybe I should just email you?

You should! hannah@caldwelland.co

I have lived in Eugene since 2017. DO NOT MOVE HERE! You will regret it deeply. I am planning on moving soon. There are only two seasons in Eugene wet/cold and dry/hot. They boast about the natural beauty here and all the outdoor activities you can participate in but fail to mention that until late May you will not want to be outdoors because it rains constantly and the weather is very cold and damp. If you spend too much time outside in the damp and cold weather you will get sick. The spring time is very brief and the summers are long, hot and dry. During summer and fall we regularly have fires that are so large they choke the entire Willamette Valley with smoke. The summertime air quality in Eugene is terrible even without fires, the air is hot and stagnant. Eugene enjoys all the air pollution from Portland pushed to the southern portion of the Willamette Valley by costal weather moving inland from the Pacific Ocean. The cost of living is very high and although we have no state sales tax our other taxes are some of the highest in the country. They are proposing increasing property taxes during the coming November election cycle and you can expect as a renter that cost will be passed on to you. Home owners who are not big corporate developers or property owners that are not eligible for certain tax deductions will see their insurance and tax rates increase again substantially. We have a state legislature that is controlled by a corrupt Democratic Caucus thanks to well crafted Gerrymandering. Our government officials love to virtue signal and talk endlessly about progressive issues and identity politics but when it comes down to brass tacks screw over the little guy with amazing efficiency. They have defunded mental health services and drug rehabilitation as well as shutting down several mental health hospitals and community outreach programs due to "budget shortfalls". There is no social safety net in our state and our public schools are woefully underfunded. Our police department has a reputation for being heavy handed. They are well funded and some would say even in excess, they have Tanks! This is a small city! The most recent police budget increase was funded by a payroll tax for anyone who works within Eugene City limits. We have no affordable housing and one of the largest homeless populations per capita in the country. Our local economy is not doing well and I expect that it will get worse when the coming recession begins. Our state and county officials love to spend but are happy giving big business and corporations tax breaks passing on much of the tax burden to working class and middle class families. We have a lot of crazy liberals here and I don't mean left of center but full blown pink and purple haired septum ring wearing nut jobs. This is the land of woke crazies. Oh and let's not forget the white trash Trump enthusiasts who live right across the river in Springfield coupled with the privileged and clueless college kids from University of Oregon. It's quite the mix for an odd little city in the Pacific Northwest. There is currently a housing shortage and home prices are sky high. When it comes to housing you have only three choices; an old over priced and poorly maintained house that most likely will have MOLD because of our lovely weather; A very small apartment for California prices; or a VERY EXPENSIVE home starting at 3,500 and up, and I mean UP. Our population is aging and most young people here are from the university. People here are generally unfriendly unless you patronize local businesses and have money in your pocket. There is a palpable class dived that you cannot get away from despite the surface image being promoted by business interests. There is a lot of poverty in Lane County and Eugene. There are not enough good paying jobs here unless you work for the University or Local Government so we lose a lot of our talented and skilled youth to other cities. There is no real nightlife or culture and the only people here with money are university kids, tech bros, established business interests and boomer retirees. We are a dying city with a woke facelift. Pretty on the surface but rotten and mouldering at its core. I want to thank my local politicians and the 1% for making Eugene one of the worst place to live in the United States. Great job keep it up! I left California hoping for a better life here in Eugene but now it's turning into Sacramento or maybe Eureka CA.

@@michaeljensen4650 I appreciate your perspective.

Interesting. Yes, I would agree we get about a week of intense smoke now. This is mentioned in another video, but I would still say our summers are significantly more moderate than many places in the US. And that is interesting that is your experience with drivers. I feel like drivers were so much more aggressive in Arizona.

I really enjoy the Beltline highway. The traffic flows well, even with traffic. In California people drive like maniacs and you have to avoid collisions DAILY.

Yes! The first thing I would do is look for private rentals that are not through and property management company, because you can speak directly with owners about your situation. Then I would would call around to different property management companies because they don't all require a credit score. Campus Connections and Von Klein Property Management manage a lot of campus rentals and likely have a solution for foreign students. Best of luck!

@@MovingtoEugeneOregon Thank you so much for your valuable advices!

These are definitely good pros that I missed. And our homeless population was just determined the highest in the US. :(

Yeah… it’s really sad and I wish we could do something to help. But it just really doesn’t feel safe. I watched someone steal a bike at 9am at the doctor with my toddler. We would love to make Oregon a permanent home. But Eugene really just doesn’t feel like the place to raise a family. We just bought a house in Springfield though and hope it’s better there… wish I had connected with you as a realtor! Great videos.

Hi Steve! I agree the UO also has high achieving academics along side the robust athletics program. Great point! I also studied my undergrad there. That is great to hear about your brother. We need people who care deeply about our community.

This was funny, a progressive for everyone...🤣👍🤡

@@canesrock82 Lol! What he meant is we only care about rich college students especially the Chinese (They pay full tuition) but are great at paying lip service to " progressive issues". Wink wink. What a different experience Eugene is for educational tourists American or otherwise.

A university alone does not make a city let alone a community.

@@michaeljensen4650 I'm sure you have an excuse, but you sound like an ignorant racist. BTW, when I was going to the U of O, I paid my way by working Suicide Prevention for Lane County.

Do you have any insight on the differences between the two?

I think that's the point, right? No place is perfect.

I'm not one to disagree! We transformed a school bus and lived/traveled there for 2 years - it was a blast.

Down by the river...👍

It is definitely something people from other parts of the country are not used to.

I just moved from Santa Rosa California, slightly smaller city, 10 times the homelessness. My perspective so far is the problem exists, but its no where near where I came from!

Wow! This is surprising because there was a report that just came out that said Eugene's homeless population is highest per capita in the states, but I am glad that is your experience!

Thank you so much for sharing your opinion! I agree we have a very caring and giving community. It's one of the things I love most about Eugene.

I'm glad you had good memories!

Come visit!

Eugene has some of the worst pizza I have ever had. I hope you're not moving here just for the Pizza.

@@michaeljensen4650 i was joking about a pizza country, not eugene. Though i will take that in mind when i move there.

There are definitely a couple streets where I wonder what city planners were thinking, but yes, once you are familiar you don't really even think about it.

You’re just boring if you don’t have fun in nature

I definitely understand that sentiment. I think it depends on what your interests are.

I just moved from California last week! Renting, happy to be here.

Happy you are here Justen!

I found that Tradewinds cafe has some pretty good gyros and fries:) also at public house in springfield there is a food cart called Salosh and has some really great Mediterranean food like wraps and skewers. So good!

Thank you for sharing these!

Where did you move from?

If you have a house to sell, I would be happy to help. :)

Thanks for watching!

I am not a hunter, so I can't say from experience, but we are located in a great area for access to backcountry so i would guess the answer is yes.

Thank you so much!

Taxes and houselessness are definitely two things to consider, which is why I mention them in several videos!

Wow. Most states beat and kill homeless people for being homeless

Lived there for 3 years and in just that short amount of time the homeless population greatly increased.

Oh wow, freedom for people struggling. How horrible. You seem fun

So what should they do? Have you looked at the poverty levels in the Conservative areas? What an ignorant comment. Something is uniquely American about constant complaining while offering 0 solutions. It's not a liberal or conservative problem, it's mostly a mental health and systemic one.

Appreciate you watching!