Louisville -> Portland or Eugene?

[u/pataphor_]

My wife and I (both 30, no plan to have kids) are planning to move to Oregon, and visited Portland for a couple weeks in December as a test run. Loved it even through all the rain.

We didn't get a chance to visit Eugene, but are considering it primarily for:

• Access to natural sights, parks, hiking, etc.
• Relatively cheaper than Portland
• Smaller city, may be an easier adjustment going from KY to OR, having never made a cross-country move before.

Some info about us: - I'm a remote developer, so no need to worry about finding work. - My wife needs to see a healthcare specialist twice a year due to some genetic health issues, and regularly needs to fill some important prescriptions. I saw a comment where this can be a struggle in Eugene, and would be curious about others' experiences. - We plan to stay in an AirBNB for a week or 2 while we find somewhere to rent long-term. Eventually may look for a house, but for now looking to rent. - We love being around nature, and want to be able to garden. - I like to make electronic music (Ableton + Elektron gear). - We are a couple of nerds; we'd be more drawn to libraries/universities than we would bars, if that tells anything.

[u/happilyretired23]

A few things I don't see in other comments. I'm an Evansville transplant, so not so far from Louisville before I moved. Big differences (not an exhaustive list): many more wet/gray days, generally friendlier people, dispensaries on seemingly every corner, cultural prejudice against umbrellas, liberal politics (until you get 30 minutes out of town and there are enough Trump signs that you'll think you're back in Kentucky), black bears & cougars to be aware of when hiking, flocks of turkeys in the streets (depending on where you are in town), random dogs in the grocery stores.

As a remote developer, be sure to check what internet you can get when looking at properties. Some areas have fiber, many don't. There's not a lot of competition in the market.

On the whole, I much prefer Eugene to the midwest.

[u/pataphor_ → u/happilyretired23]

Appreciate your thoughts as someone from Kentuckiana. Our trip out to Portland revealed some some of this; it rained just about every day (we embraced the no-umbrella culture lol). I was surprised to find people were nicer in Portland than Louisville too, quite unexpected.

The cougars are something new to me, thanks for the heads up. Same with the internet - AT&T fiber is surprisingly stellar in Louisville, but I need to dig into the Oregon ISPs...

I'm curious, what led you to choose Eugene vs other cities in OR?

[u/Dank009 → u/pataphor_]

I've lived in Oregon for 40 years and hike and camp tons. I've seen a cougar in the wild once. I've seen black bears in Oregon like a dozen times or so and every single one ran away as fast as they could as soon as they noticed me, including a mother with two cubs that just ran off leaving them behind (the cubs ran off too just slower). Something good to be aware of but will mostly likely never be an issue and not something to be actively afraid of.