I’ve decided to get the heck out of Seattle. My best friend just got laid off from my “last-ditch if I get laid off” former employer today. And rumors abound about layoffs at my current job; I don’t think I’ll survive this round.
Anyway, putting the condo up for sale, packing my bags, moving to Eugene. Why Eugene? Hell, I don’t know except that I’ve already decided that Washington State will be out of the question for the next few years due to the high unemployment rate in technology. My ex also keeps reminding me that that is where we were talking about settling eventually, and that it can’t hurt to investigate it considering the circumstances.
There are jobs up here in WA but employers are really being picky. I don’t expect that OR will be that much better, but the cost of living is certainly lower, and I figure that I can stretch my unemployment dollars over a longer period while I search for work. And I will also be looking in CA again, though there are only two reasons I’d consider going back there, one being money.
So, are there any Doper’s in Eugene? How do you feel about where you live? Are there any medium sized companies out there? Employment potential? I don’t need to be employed immediately (thanks to some preparations I made last year), and I will be considering Salem and Portland, as well as San Diego, LA, and SF. But I’m really done with the larger cities and hope to find a mid-level job somewhere in OR. Or at least I hope to buy a house there, and maybe get a consulting position that allows me to travel.
Thanx for the input Astroboy14, but I’m going to need newer information. It’s going to be major change for me, and I guess I’m trying to figure out what I’m really in for. But from what I’ve heard from a co-worker, it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be bad at all and may just be what the doctor ordered. The last 8 years in Seattle have been successful but busy, and I could use some calm for a little while at least.
Well, I tioo lived in Eugene about 12 years ago. Unfortunately, I don’t remember tons because I was 9 or so at the time we left.
Lived there for a couple of years though. It’s quite a nice town and my family and I liked it a lot while we were there. I’ve got some hazy memories of stuff. It’s a nice place, but at 8 and 9 years old, it’s kinda hard to remember much that far back that didnt involve school or riding around the neighborhood on my bike. Certainly nothing about business opportunities and nightlife.
I lived in Eugene for 2 years, until last fall. My husband had a hard time finding a job–unless you feel like commuting up I-5 a bit to the tech places jobs might be a bit scarce, and certainly not up to your notion of pay scale, but things were also cheaper there (rent, etc). There is some bicycle manufacturing, and the university, among your options. What kind of jobs are you looking for?
It’s an odd town-- a mix of Portland-style upper middle class literate REI types, college professors, loggers, more, um, rural whites, hispanics, and aging hippies and wanna-bes, and the result isn’t entirely comfortable, but it is interesting. It’s an odd town-- more crime than you might think, and I believe there is an up and coming heroin situation, surprisingly enough. I expect that Salem or Olympia are the same, but with some government people tossed in. The hippie scene is generally overestimated-- what is left are some very idealistic old timers doing good things or useless things, and a good number of younger poseurs, but the 60’s are dead there, too.
And for a college town the bar scene is dismal for some reason. Inexplicable. There are a few ok restaurants but nothing to write home about.
And while the winter months are dreary and wet, the summers were great-- sunny all the time and very comfortable temperature.
I guess in general I just felt sort of bleh about it-- I had lived in Portland for a few years and it was nothing like that. It might be similar to Olympia or something that size, but with no government. Pleasant small airport, though, and just about an hour from the coast, and the same from the mountains. Nice sporty scene-- track is big there, U of O sports, hashing, a bush league baseball team. The university isn’t terribly integrated into the community-- there really isn’t a lot of cultural stuff going on-- what there is is generally sort of groovy and home grown and neat-- creative stuff.
Yeah, I don’t remember much about life when I was younger either. Everything was so much easier when the only things we had to worry about were school, friends, and whiling away our time off. Oh, to be a child again and let someone else worry about me.
From what I hear it’s definitely a small community. My co-worker went to college there a number of years ago, so I’m thinking his info is still pretty accurate. I guess the population rises to about 120K during the school year, then drops to 90K during the Summer. There isn’t much night life (not that I ever really took advantage of it while I was up here in Seattle), maybe a dozen restaurants, and there are only a couple theaters. It almost reminds of Issaquah up here in WA. He says it was nice, but he wanted to come to the city. And considering he’s 29 I can understand that. I lived in Tacoma for most of my life, then up and moved to LA for 7.5 years. So when I came back to WA I just couldn’t bring myself to be anywhere but Seattle. Now, I think I need a breather…
If you feel like it, please tell me what you remember.
:lol: My friend here was trying to describe the hippie scene there, but I think you hit it on the head: poseurs.
But the rest of your description pretty much matches up to what I’ve heard so far. The job situation does worry me a little, but my contingency plan is that if I can’t get anything in the immediate area, Salem and Portland are a distinct possibility. I may have to rent a room to stay during the weekdays, and come home on weekends provided I can earn enough money to do that. Or I’ll just have to convince my housemate that we have to move closer to the bigger cities. But for the moment, this is where we’re planning on landing. I’m also considering going back to school part time, but that remains to be seen.
Ferrous, you mean true “hippies”? I have both hippie (sp) friends and poseur friends, and I like both but there is a very clear distinction between the types. My true hippie friends really do espouse the lifestyle. The posuers just dress the part and do the talk, but then they go home and live like everyone else. I don’t mind either since I’m neither. But having them around lends variety to my life, and interesting perspecitives.
Heh heh. No. Sorry for the confusion. I’m not a hippy, but I don’t really have anything against 'em. I was just making a little jab at Eugene, which we in Portland consider Hippietown. ([Seinfeld]Not that there’s anything wrong with that…[/Seinfeld])
Joke:
Q: Why did all the hippies move to Eugene?
A: Because there’s no work there.
Yuk yuk yuk.
But what I was actually trying to say is that there are quite a few Dopers here in Portland.
Speaking for, well, myself, Salem’s a great place to live. Rent and housing prices are pretty cheap, a there’s plenty of good tech jobs in Hillsboro/Wilsonville, etc. It’s only 30-45 minutes north of here, which is a pretty reasonable commute. Add to that the State governemnt jobs, plus almost a dozen colleges within an hour’s drive, and there’s plenty to stay busy.
Little culture to speak of, but that’s what Portland and Eugene are for.
I live in Eugene! I’m only 16 so I couldn’t really recommend you to anything, but I say Eugene, and felt compelled to respond. We all know you are moving out of Washington, cuz you can’t stand the Huskies or the Cougs and love the Ducks
I’m in Santa Barbara now. More school-- you know how it goes.
Ferrous-- that was a fine, fine joke. Best thing I heard all day.
Oh, next Eugene joke-- Seems a lot of North Cal kids that don’t get into Berkeley or S. Cruz end up at U of O-- I’ve heard it called “The University of California at Eugene.”
Kgriffey-- are you a Eugene South student? We lived right over in that area.
Funny, I just moved two months ago from Eugene to Seattle. I was born and raised in the “Emerald City” as they call it, but was glad to leave. There is nothing to do there. Previous posts listing no night life are fairly accurate, but there is actually a pretty good food scene. People in Eugene like to think of themselves as diverse, tolerant and multicultural, but now that there is actually a population of people of color, things can be ugly. Don’t even get me started on the hippie-crits, anarchists, rednecks, and assorted other idiots.
kgriffey79, I didn’t even hear of the Ducks until a couple days ago. Not a big sports fan, sorry…
Jsexton, I’m still leaning towards Salem. My ex/partner wants to go to Eugene, and since I’m going to be unemployed soon I thought I’d give it a try. But I expect that I will have to seek work farther north, and thus expect us to have to move withing 6 months. But we’ll see. We moved up from LA (but I originally cam e from Tacoma) to Seattle, and now I’m going to Eugene to wind down before I start the next phase of my life. So it’s time to regroup, and from the sound of it it might be alright for a time.
Ferrous, sorry, that was my “artful” way of trying to figure out if I offended you or not.
