Site of the nearby Oregon Country Faire (each July) where each year hippies gather to celebrate their hippiness. Home to the University of Oregon, many co-operatives, communes galore, a real cool Saturday Market, and eco-consciousness.
UPDATE: I wanted to let you know that the Oregon Country Fair WAS a wonderful hippy flavor type hang-out once a year (or often if you know the old owners). Well, the new owners are a little different now. They now let cops in undercover and not, onto private property to gather local revenue of happy-hippy trippers and such. JUST AN FYI….wouldn’t want any wonderful people to go with the impression that the old hippy extraordinaire still owned and operated the scene!!!
Damn freakin’ hippies. I’ve got to get back to Seattle.
I’ve lived in Eugene for 18 years, so let me set the record straight – Eugene is a quiet little backwater pretending to be a city and perfect for those people who don’t have enough ambition to make it in a larger market. Eugene is where people come to try their hand at starting their own business – this leads to a lot of arts and crafters making stuff that is all going to be relegated to someone’s attic in short order. It also leads to the most astounding array of crappy restaurants that has ever been assembled in one town. Eugene used to have the distinction of having more restaurants per capita than any town in America – maybe this is still the case – but this is nothing to be proud of considering what passes for food in most of these establishments. If you like huge burritos or greasy Thai food, you will love Eugene, but if you want to go out and have a meal that is better than you could whip up at home in 15 minutes, your choices are slim indeed.
It never ceases to amaze me how little this town has changed in the 2 decades I have been here, yes there are some new buildings, but our streets are falling apart – it is an embarressment the poor condition our roads are in. This is because the city spends its limited funds on building a never-ending array of “traffic calming devices” to slow traffic down everywhere – speed bumps, center islands, round-abouts, choke points – you name it, the city has built them, to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars. There was no need for all these obstructions, because the roads are now in such shitty condition that you can’t drive fast anyway.
Eugene is a great place to live if you want to coast along and not be challanged by a vibrant economy and ambitious people. Unfortunetly, living here does not prepare you to live anywhere else – I have seen many people move away to SF or LA, only to abandon their dreams and move back in a few years because they couldn’t be successful in the competitive environment of a larger city. There are A LOT of people on government assisstance in this town, some deservedly so, but many just trying to scrape by while doing as little as possible – I know several people like this so I am not making unfounded generalizations. There are a lot of people leading very stagnant lives in this town, scratching out a threadbare existence and proud of it. I’m all for “living simply so others may live”, but there are an awful lot of people living simple not by choice, but by default.
Steve
In defense of Eugene (sorta) Yes, it can be tough to get started here, but, you’re here. Negative comments would be better directed to the one who put a gun to your head and forced you out of where you were happiest. There are temp and seasonal jobs, definitely not “living wage”, but better than begging. Don’t try the “will work for food” sign”. we know that’s a lie. I’m not fond of the “disabled vet” signs either.
(ever here of the “fuck-you” lizard)? I’ve traveled Europe,Asia and the U.S. from east coast to west, from Quebec to Brownsville, and I’ve never been to broke to leave town. Try it, we,ll like you better.
I’ve lived all over the US and in several college towns, from Honolulu to Gainesvile, FL, to Boulder, CO.
1. Eugene is not ethnically diverse. Period. Go to Honolulu, you’ll finally understand the meaning of the words, plus no de facto segregation. Its a true melting pot. In Eugene its an abstract value, not a reality. Nothin you can do about that.
2. Weather is fine with me. Love changing seasons, cold weather, and rain. Summer becomes a release. Just don’t let the winter’s get you down.
3. Eugene has a serious sprawl problem. Growth should have been capped a long time ago and they should repeal the city building height cap. First rule to having a vibrant thriving downtown is population density. why do you think inner cities decline? Build up, not out, and the downtown economy will follow. Don’t like chains/coporations, have the county/city deny their charter locally. Fill the down town with local business. The empty windows and streets can be filled.
4. As for the people, they seem nice, but I haven’t meet many people. Definitely a hippie town, for the most part. New age and knee jerk liberals abound. Little critique and logic. The conservative christians surrounding Eugene are no better. Dogmatic, hypocritical, and self-righteous. No one thinks in terms of policy consequences or really makes an informed vote anymore.
5. As for the economy, the minimum wage is $7.25 and rent is some of the cheapest I have seen. If you want higher pay, get a degree in computer science or the medical profession. Liberal arts is fantastic, but very few technical skills are learned. Growth in the US and in Oregon will be high.
6. Overall, Eugene is a great town. I really enjoy the atmosphere, the food, bars, and there are plenty of activities to occupy your time if you have the desire. It is also a relatively safe town and a good place to raise children. It has a thriving music and art scene, and b/c of UO there are a lot of intellectual activies as well.
Eugene has a lot to offer and I am glad I have ended up here. It has character, is unique, and has potential for getting better.
My only pet peeve is the smoking ban. It sucks and unfortunately is based on second hand smoke data that is, “not satistically significant.” Two inconclusive studies and a few well funded self righteous people and there you go, second hand smoke hysteria is sweeping the nation. It’s happening everywhere I move. There are so many things in this world that we know kill, but are allowed to remain legal, so why second hand smoke? Know how many people die in car accidents?
Another pet peeve: gambling. Allowing gambling, even small parlors in bars, is such a bad idea. Don’t people realize that it only sucks more money out the community. It only works for Vegas and Atlantic city because they have millions of tourists who come there every year to spend money on gambling. Politicians have suckered voters in to giving up more money by extolling the virtues of gambling revenue. If you want more money for education then remind the State that they used to spend 20% of revenue on schools and now spend about 12%.
Enough….Eugene is a great place, but full of political obfuscation and non-logical policies. But, what city isn’t.
Ive been here for 9 months, and I can’t wait to get back to portland. I haven’t seen the diversity everyone is talking about. Eugene is very racist against blacks (espically the police). Someone wrote something to the extent of “no niggers allowed” on the driveway of a black family having recently moved to springfield. The woman elected to promote diversity in the city ended up quitting and moving away.
The location is laughable. Eugene is one giant suburb. The down town area is a joke. There is hardly any culture left, due to the oppening of the valley river mall, causing a lot of focus to move from the streets of down town and closer to the mall. Ive never seen so many wal marts and targets so close to eachother. There are a few good stores left, including those located in the 5th street public market, but a lot of local places are closing because of the idiots who would rather shop at wall mart
This is a hippie town? There are hardly any liberals left, mostly right winged, suv driving jesus freaks. And who said something about great concerts? Yeah, if you consider “bowling for soup” a great concert.
I used to live in Springfield better known as tweakerville. I made a lot of great friends in the Eugene area. But I do notice a lot of upity snotty people who think they are know it alls.
The main reason I lived in tweakerville is because I could not afford the ungodly rent Eugene askes for! Geez get a clue and being stuck with a deadend job I could never afford living in Eugene.
While living in tweakerville the people next door all where tweakers. tweakers suck. They steal all your crap and then think they are innocent and some other joker tweaker stole your stuff.
They always lie to get their next damn fix.
My boss was the nicest boss I ever had though and I did a real good job dispite the situation I was under. Unfortunatly I hade to relocate back to redneck jesusland Lakeview, Oregon because I could not afford even the rent in tweakerville.
tweakers suck!
I am not exactly sure about the town, but I am from a really painfully small town in Kansas (Eudora anyone?) and I am looking for a bit of relaxation for college. A friend recommended Oregon, but I am not having a good time searching for “hip colleges” does anybody know which colleges are relaxed, tolerant of different lifestyles, and have hippies in abundance? Thanks- SkipperMcJoJo@aol.com, i don”t check this much.
I moved to Eugene 9 mths ago to attend UO (NOT by choice!). Obviously I hated Eugene in the beginning. Now I am disliking it less. Good points: nice summer weather; fun to bike around in; good running trails; decent bus system. My advice: find the good in it and focus on it. You bet I will not be here the minute after I graduate, but I am trying to enjoy to casual, small-town lifestyle. Sort of like living in the suburbs, in the sense that you’re basically safe (in the areas near the UO–anywhere else: 100% white trash!!! omg) and the streets are small, little traffic. The shopping here SUCKS! NO fashionable clothes and the mall is TINY. I have never seen so many people who do drugs–very little self respect. All those other comments referring to Eugene as being stuck in the 60s, a place for people who don’t want to work hard, few jobs/sucky economy–they were 100% right. Avoid at all costs unless you need in-state tuition–then try to make the best of it. Or of course if you are white trash, a druggie, a bum, or some sort of other loser. You’ll fit in. But only if you’re white. The irony of such a “PC, diverse” town is that they are only “open” to particular views. It’s a joke.
Totally right, we didn’t see any cops. Now I know why. I did see some guy in a black suite and a wire on his ear, a secret agent? Maybe just some guy pretending to be one. He really stood out.
I’ve lived in Eugene for 25 years now. I am 26 years old. I am probably the only person in the world who has a legitimate reason for suicide. Im surrounded by liberal dirtbags who think they know everything and for god’s sake, if I hear another Grateful Dead song, I’m going over to the “grassy knoll” downtown…
JERRY IS DEAD, GET OVER IT. AND IT ISN’T 1969 NO MATTER HOW BAD YOU WANT IT TO BE. oh and one more thing… KERRY LOST, GET OVER THAT TOO
yeah, the country fair is pretty much a get together of people who are stuck in the 60’s (or wish they were alive in the 60’s). They dig out their dusty hippy clothes that probably lay in a box right below their Gap sweaters and Abercrombie And Fitch shirts hanging in their closet and pretend to be open minded and one with nature. Their idea of being open minded is accepting your point of view as long as they agree with it. The OCF has become such a joke beginning about 12 years ago. It actually used to be cool, but its just plain stupid now.
hi everyone. the only thing that i would like to add is that on june
1997 a 3 year old girl was tortured to death by her mother and mothers boyfriend in springfield oregon. there were numerous people who witnessed the horror of this child and did absolutely nothing. if you are one of those people who witnessed such horrors on a child. then i want you to know that you should feel guilty for the rest of you life for not doing anything. you should also rot in hell with jessee compton and stella kiser. good. now i feel better.
I went to Springfield Middle and High school with Jesse Compton. I remember that, he was a total loser back then. Yeah, they like burned that kid with electrical cords and stuff… horrible. just horrible. Dont worry, he’ll get his in prison.
only been to eugene twice, for two or three days both times. not a lot of hippies, i thought. seemed to be mostly college kids and yuppies with computer jobs. the hippies there were pretty lame, trying to force their chincy bags on us, being like “hey, fat sacks.” the nature around it is nice.
Anyone who is dissing my town needs to look on the brighter side and accept the town for what it is. It’s true that there are alot of bad things about eugene but I think the good outways the bad. Also the counterculture movment in eugene is making giant changes in this world. So if you have never been to eugene or have been here and don’t like it, give it a chance because it will give you one
I find it very amusing reading posts by dipshit 20 year olds who believe they know something of the world. Go out, see a little a of the world, get a standard for comparison, then when your opinion actually means something spill your guts. I have lived in 39 of our 50 states and 9 different countries. Eugene Oregon with all its faults and quirks and annoyances is where I choose to live. I am not a hippy, yuppie, druggy, freak, or white trash. I am a very mild mannered ex – military non commissioned officer. I dont want any trouble with or from anyone and I find that most of this town shares that viewpoint. Eugene does not have the best mall in America this is true, oh god what will we do without a mall? oh! maybe…have a life? People here float the river on the weekends, find a bike trail, go fishing, or play frisbee in the only jesus knows how many miles of parks we have. Climb skinners butte the list goes on boys and girls. If you cant see why people like it here then leave. I beg of you and give the rest of us what we want…a little more space.
Hello, I have lived in Eugene my entire life. I have traveled and moved several times (only for a few months), but I always made it back. I use to hate Eugene, but that was when I was younger and didn’t realize what a great place it really was. It’s not large enough to call it a city and it’s too small to be a town, so I call it a place… A wonderful place where people don’t live in fear on a daily basis.
We have great rivers, beautiful parks, nice trails, fun family based shops, and excellent concerts. I hope that all you not enjoying eugene will open your eyes and realize that there is no other place like this out there.
I am happy that I can say hello and smile and stranger everyday and I know they will smile back, because we live in eugene.
Yeah…Like others have said Eugene is just one big neighboorhod. Everyone knows each other, and if some one wants to call you out they will…It was a lot cooler back in the 90’s when 13th street was still alive, and before the dowtown was renovated. **FYI** dont get caught trippin on LSD in Eugene…LOL…their drops are for real…and you will feel like a fuckin rat in a maze. Peace to Rick, Larry..and the rest of the wrekin crew.
Eugene,
we are all here,
’cause we not all there.
saw it on a t-shirt at last year’s hoilday market. Last years market was pretty cool. A better offering of vendors.
I’ve lived here for just shy of ten years. I just read over this whole tread. If your thinking of coming here, to live think you will find the comments below mine to be a true testement to the peopling of this town.
It’s a nice place to retire or raise up some kids. People seem to forget about North Eugene, and Springfield as center of growth for the community. It’s the only real center of growth in the area. It’s a town just like Springfield, it will only be a city when the two communities, join together. If our tallest buildings are only around twenty stories tall your not really a city.
For a start it would be nice if MLK extend to Mohawk instead of stoping at the only discerable land mark seperating two good communities, I-5 North and South. That’s some b.s. if you ask me. My only problem being a white guy who grew up on the end of D.C. is there are too many damned white people here, this community needs some color. Big up’s to Mos Fade, for giving a brotha a proper fade. There are only two soul food rest. in the whole area. And they both owned by the same man.
That an’t right. 🙂
After reading many of these reviews of Eugene I felt like I should give other people my opinion of Eugene. I was born and raised here and spent the last 7 years living all over the country. Now instead of focusing on the bad here are some great aspects of Eugene. Eugene has the best city bus system that I have ever seen. Where ever you need to be chances are you get get to it by bus within an hour. It has some of the best schools in the country. There is no better place to raise your kids. The most potent pot is smoked here. So if you like that kind of thing you will not be disappointed. Now as for the people here. YES we are WEIRD. You may run into the snobs but it is also likely that you find your best friend here. I have often called the people in here “Eugene’s local wildlife”. But that is what makes it so great. People need to stop complaining about the traffic! We should be thankful that we don’t have traffic like Seattle or Washington DC. And for anybody who is thinking about moving here give it a chance. The majority of Eugene is filled with hard working decent down to earth people.
FUCK YOU ALL NASTY ASS POT SMOKIN’ HIPPY RASTA WANNABEES!
Hi,
I visited my mate in Eugene in 2001 and had a fine time, just about everybody I met were really nice people and I also met some some wicked weed. Hope to get back there someday.
Phil from England (just a little to the right of Ireland)
Ta ta.
I am just about 26, born and raised Eugene Oregon. Love this valley, I have lived in several other states and always find myself back home in Oregon. The greenery is just to sweet and abundant to stay anywhere else. People here are mainly open minded. It may be a culture shock to some. But I fit right in with my native hippy freaks. Peace to all &
One Love
Wow this is all good.
I grew up in Eugene, I did a google search Spencers Butte LSD and lo and behold here I am….
I’m in exile in Central America now (I decided I should have kids in Costa Rica so they nver get drafted or imprisoned for some stupid victimless crime like possession of marijuana or acid or whatever they come up with next)…..but man I miss Eugene, lots of good people, tons…….maybe soon they’ll get wise and legalize life and all the green plants that grow on the earth and what not….well we can always hope that good will prevail over evil I suppose (but I won’t be holding my breath, unless I’m smoking a big bong hit), in the meantime I hope that one day in the not too distant future I will again be able to drop a hit or two of good acid, or some liberty caps, hike the butte, and smoke a sweet bowl on the summit with some good friends, after all that’s waht it’s all about IMHO!!
Cya, liv’n let liv..n’ just B’Kind
Scrodhi Bodhi the terahdron guy Peace, luv, big buds, and microbrews 4ever..oh yeah and go Ducks
I posted before I read the thread…..and so I’m reading it and I notice a lot of people are making some points that I’d like to address…#1 Eugene is not racially diverse, this is true if you want racial diversity you should look elsewhere, what Eugene is is open minded and very CULTURALLY diverse….if you want racial diversity then you will not fins that in Eugene, but it’s an open minded community in that there isn’t the discrimination you see a lot of places either.
Also yes Eugene is surounded by slums on all sides, the largest slum is Springfield the inspiration for the longrunning show the Simpsons….yes there are some people out there I would rather avoid, but where is that not true, and where else are there a lot of really good people in the eye of the storm…Yes Eugene has cops, politically correct professors at the U of O, the whittaeker neighborhood etc etc, but hey there’s a New Frontier market a 6th and Blair (or at least there was several years ago before I was exiled from my homeland)..US out of North America!!!
Oh and hipness aint about the length of your eair or the color of your skin it’s about the kind in your bong, the getdown in yo’ boogie woogie and the friends in your heart……..Peace out, Go Axemen!..Scrodhi says!