What is it like living in Eugene?

[u/themetalship]

My wife might be getting a high paying healthcare job in Eugene, so we are curious what it is like to live there. I have a background in education (direct instruction, academic site management, higher ed). I'm open to other career paths, as the job prospects worry me a bit.

We also want to know how it is to live there. We lived in az for most of our lives. We've been in Texas (DFW) for 3 years. Any insight is appreciated.

[u/themetalship → u/[deleted]]

We are going out for my wife's interview. That way we can get the lay of the land.

Is homelessness that big of a problem?

[u/Quartzsite → u/themetalship]

We moved here sight unseen from Colorado in 2005. It was a rough transition. I hated the rain and wanted to die. That said, we are still here and now are hard pressed to find a better place to live. We also have super stable jobs and a kid in high school, so that’s part of our calculus. Housing is stupid expensive. If we moved here now we wouldn’t be able to afford it, but we are public employees so not in a high paying field. I find town to be pretty walkable, regardless of homeless issues. Maybe it depends on where you live and where you want to walk. I walked myself home three miles from the auto dealership last week and we bike to events at the Cuthbert, the Wow, the McDonald theater and on Campus all the time. We have decent bike infrastructure. There is also decent public transit. Not as good as some places, but you can make it work for sure.

[u/dingboodle → u/Quartzsite]

Tagging onto the bike part. Get a good lock. Get five of them. Electricify your bike somehow. I don’t know but seriously, bike theft here is no joke. I had a friend get his bike stolen while locked to a steel railing. The thieves chiseled the concrete out from under the support post so they could slip the lock around and down off the railing. Whatever you do just make it look harder to get than the next bike. That was my friend’s problem, his was the only one locked up there.

[u/ElectrickMayhem → u/dingboodle]

This right here is why I gave up on owning a bicycle in this town. Despite the wonderful bike paths that get you around town faster than driving. No bike is safe.

[u/Quartzsite → u/ElectrickMayhem]

If you can park a bike in a secure interior bike storage room at work, and lock it in that room you will do okay. Inside of our garage, in our private home, our bikes are secured and also kept out of view. 19 years of daily bike commuting to work, grad school and shows. We haven’t had a bike stolen yet in Eugene.