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!!!
Bob Fennissy(red haired bob) are you still around?
Okay,here’s my take. Eugene is a small, laid-back & mostly crime-free town. Sure there is some drug problems and break ins, but in comparison to San Jose or Modesto CA for that matter, Eugene resembles a rainy, resort, not a hard-core crime ridden town. Some very nice resturants, some others that are obviously influenced by too much pot smoking. I find that Oregonians in general are rather clannish and stick to their clicks. A lot of long term relationship baggage that you won’t find in big cities. In other words, well you’re new in town-we do business with the guy we’ve known for 20 years. Best things: clean air-low crime-bike paths & laid back downtown. Worst things: sense of isolation, many people here aren’t used to much competition, they work slow and in their terrms. Not the friendliest people, not that they are mean, just not the warmest folks you’ll meet. It’s a strange mix of empty nesters from out of state, intellectuals, old hippies, Oregonians, artsy-fartsy, and college students.
Im looking for a yoga class that fits in with my work schedule
nothing in the middle of the day. People forget theres a working class out there that doesn’t work the 9 to 5 job, but would like to be fit and involve in the community
missyjomj@msn.com
Eugene is great !
I got married to a wonderful man here and I am now tring to open a small bussiness here out of my home.
Any of you like Handdipped iNcense I have the greatest prices and Quality , I soak mine for over a week ,they burn longer and smell great.
I have 86 different smells along with all 12 zodiac signs and your fung shau’s give me call if your interested . A bakers dozon for $1.00 on the 11 in sticks 689-4495
I like Eugene. I’ve never actually LIVED there, but been through, but never settled. I used to go to the park where the Food Not Bombs group would serve the free vege food to all. That’s a great concept. And Eugene is a very green place, and lots of parks and a river, great for nature lovers like myself. And all the great vegetarian places and health food stores. I plan on finding a place there, and hopefully this story will connect me with some people who might want to help with finding a rental. I’m only looking to share any place with any people that are smoke, drug and alcohol free. I want to live there with my soon to be wife, and am a very clean and drug free person as well as my girlfriend also.
Different issue: I am a travelling salesman, and import handmade products from Thailand, and hope to open up a small retail shop there too.
I have for sale right now: thai handmade silver jewelry, handmade silk and cotton batik scarves and shawls, batik sarongs from Indonesia, and a few other embroidered and handmade misc. items from Thailand.
If you would like anything, just email me and let me know: willmhill@hotmail.com and if you’ve got any ideas for starting a retail import biz for these kindz of thingz then let me know——–
Sincerly,
Will Hill
Please wake up, people of Eugene. I was considering moving to town, actually, but after I learned about the environmental situation in Eugene and cancer mortality rate, I’m going to a different state. Eugene has factories that release huge amounts of cancerogens, cardiovascular, immuno-, neuro- and many other toxicants at rates higher than anywhere in Oregon and higher than in most US areas. It is not safe to breathe air in Eugene. You can check the information on SCORECARD website that includes environmental maps, what I was looking at was TRI environmental releases in Lane county (toxic release inventory) monitored by EPA.
I imagine everyone who lives in Eugene sees it from a different angle. It’s a small city, with all the variety of any city of comparable size. There are remnants of the 1960s counterculture here, but I wouldn’t say they dominate. Eugene, or the majority of us, value nature, which is the main reason we live in the Northwest, even though the gloomy winters are hard to put up with. Eugene doesn’t want too much development. It doesn’t want to be a big city, like Portland, and it doesn’t want to be a suburb. It doesn’t like freeways. It wants livability. It doesn’t want to be California.
Don’t come here during a recession, as the job market will be really bad, and that includes the rest of Oregon. Whether you like living in Eugene or not will probably depend on whether you can make a decent living here.
Eugene has long had a reputation for being “laid back.” I’m not sure that is true, except for those of us who prefer to move slow. I think people who come here probably prefer a life that’s somewhat less pressured than what they would find in a big city, like Portland (where I have also lived), and more stimulating culturally than what they would find in a suburb.
Probably a large part of the reason Eugene has culture is that it’s a college town. The University of Oregon is a big deal in Eugene, plus we have a community college. There is a good library, lots of bookstores and art galleries, etc. More events than I have time and energy for.
Eugene is considered a “progressive” town and I think that’s probably true, judging by voting patterns, letters to the editor, etc. At least among the minority of us, as in other places, who give a shit about politics. As far as left-of-center politics goes, my experience is that Eugene is a liberal Democrat town. Since I’m to their left, that makes me feel out of place, but there is no place in America for radicals, and it could be a lot worse.
For years Eugene was run by the business community. Last year we were able to elect a progressive mayor and enough progressive city council members that progressives now run the show. So far that has resulted in the cancellation of a highway that would have cut through the west Eugene wetlands, a project Eugenians have been fighting over for years.
Every community has a history, which includes issues they fight over again and again. Another one of our issues is redeveloping our downtown area, which is rundown and now has two gaping holes in it. The problem started a long time ago, as it did in many other cities, when a mall was built on the edge of town and customers deserted downtown. On the other hand, that has resulted in cheap downtown rents for art galleries, etc.
Controlling the police is also a live local issue, as it is in Portland and, I imagine many other cities.
Eugene has very few black residents. Some brown. There have been indications of local racism.
On the other hand, I once saw a guy on the bus wearing a big black peaked leather hat styled like those witches wear in movies. So yes, we have “diversity,” especially if you ride the bus. That’s where you’ll meet all the poor people, like me, who can’t afford cars.
Eugene is nobody’s idea of paradise, but I’ve lived many other places in my life — I’m 66 — and this is the best I’ve found. I’m going to stay here.
You forgot to mention it’s in a valley so all the pollutant particles stick around a longer time. The indians didn’t call it ‘death valley’ for nothing… there’s definately something chaotic(?) and destructive(?) in the space over there. Or was it just me?
its a good hangout. i met a wonderful girl there that changed my life. there is pollution but everyone looks out for each other and whatever you’re after is readilly avalble
Those who are considering moving to Eugene or to those who already call Eugene thier home should consider selling all thier assests and becoming a nomad. I gaurantee you will experience someting like you have never experienced before.
There’s a group of highly intellegent “people” from another planet dwelling in Eugene, and if your lucky you might get the chance to meet some of them.