Initial Impressions of Eugene, Oregon

So, now, I've been in Eugene for more than a month. I'm still not as settled in as I would have hoped. This is evidenced by the still unopened boxes sitting in the other room waiting to be unpacked. However, in the time that I have been here and transitioning, I have been able to make some initial impressions. These fall into three categories: the Good, the Not-so-good, and the Not-sure about-this-yet. Here we go--


Good:
1. Naturally beautiful.  This area is full of greenery, flowers, rivers, parks, hills, etc. The grass IS greener on the other side of California! Jokes aside, folks, all you nature-lovers would love it here. The coast is only about 50 miles away.

2. Historical pride. Eugene was established by a dude named Eugene (go figure) around 1842. At the time, Eugene was a trading post and later became a post office. University of Oregon was built in 1867. The first buildings on campus are registered historical landmarks and are still used as classrooms today. Pretty amazing, I thought. Historical places are maintained well around here. There is even a pioneer cemetery on campus from before the university started. In the 1960s, there was some huge controversy as the university wanted to use that land for classroom space. Blame it on my childhood training in scary movies, but  I'm sure that would have had consequences of poltergeistic proportions. In the end, they decided to keep the cemetery and preserve its historical integrity.

3. Interesting people. Eugene is not as demographically diverse as Houston or Fresno. However, there is certainly a diversity of ideas. One of the mottos around here is "Keep Eugene Weird." And that it is, my friend. You will see a dreadlocked dude in a lungi at the local thrift store but you may also see a local hipster wearing overalls and beating bongos at the Saturday Market. Rockabilly hipsters with lumberjack beards, aging baby boomer hippies sporting tie-dye, polo-shirted yuppies doing doobies by the river, modestly dressed proselytizers in the park, and tattooed biker guys/gals with bicycles on the bus; I've seen them all.

4. Great public transportation. Frequent, efficient, and not scary. Free for university students and employees. The EmX rocks!

5. Rain. I missed rain while living in Fresno. That's all I have to say about that. Also, they tell me here "winter is coming" rather ominously. I think that means we will be getting a whole bunch of rain soon.

6. South Indian Food! Masala dosa and sambar from the Indian restaurant right across the street from campus!

7. More affordable than Fresno. Not that things are exactly inexpensive; there are just a lot of little things in place to help you save your money. For one, the weather here keeps A/c costs down. Also, everything is nearby or a quick bus ride away so you save a lot on gasoline and wear-and-tear on your car. No need for a gym membership as there are so many places to walk, jog,  bike and hike for free. And, the best part: no sales tax on your purchases. Holla!


Not-so-good:

1. Hippies, homeless, or home-free. I can't tell the difference but there are a lot of them equally dispersed all over the city. I see them all the time and they keep to themselves. There are many homeless advocates and it seems like the city wants to work with them instead of  sweeping the issue under the rug like in other places. Several people sympathize with them and don't seem to view them as a public nuisance. One lady said to me, "You know, most of us are only a couple of paychecks away from being in their shoes." Truth.

2. Humidity. Similar to Houston. It's bleh when it gets warm around here and does wonders for my hair. Ugh.

3. Bugs. I don't think a whole lot bugs survive the hellacious heat of Fresno but the little buggers thrive here. Spiders, house ants, moths, random bugs, and weirdo bugs that I've never seen before. Not fun. Also, not a bug but a little green tree frog lives (and might die) somewhere in my apartment. I have seen him once and was not able to catch him. He needs to go because it's just weird to have a little green tree frog sharing your apartment with you. Hit the road already, Kermit!

4. Things I can't get here. A/C (amazingly hard to find), Ethiopian food, Blue Bell Ice cream, a decent bowl of chili, Dicicco's minestrone soup and fresh-baked bread,  Fresno State Farm Market almonds and olive oil. Boo. Sad Face.

Not-sure-about-this-yet:

1. Eating establishments. They have been hit-and-miss for me so far. The Indian place had the worst avial ever created. It was white and slightly sweet. I was, like, whaaaat? But, they had dosa, sambar and goat curry that was on-hit so I can't complain too much. Tried two pho places. First one had good pho but had no doors on their bathroom stalls. Does that matter? Yes, for some people. The other place had pho but they put bok choy and carrots in the pho ga. That may be some Asian fusion twist but I am picky about pho so I refused to like it. The soul food place downtown was great though and served a mean  gumbo that was almost as good as in "N'awlins". Papa's Pizza Parlor, Hole in the Wall BBQ, and Izumi Sushi are pretty good. The sushi around here, in general, has been consistently good and fresh. The two Thai places I tried had good Tom Yum so they were ok in my book.

2. Plethora of supermarkets. Market of Choice is like Whole Foods but bigger. Prices are comparable but you can get a lot of stuff that you can't get anywhere else. I get wheatgrass and apples there. I was also able to get a bag of "murruku" that was produced in Oregon. Yup, that south Indian crispy snack thing. I was, like, whaaaat? Trader Joe's has been my go-to but their produce is not that great in terms of quality. They also have Safeway and Albertson's. Capella's is an organic place downtown that I have not been to yet. Also, there are lots of farmers markets that I have yet to try. The Eugene Saturday Market is a very hippie/New Age/organic venue. It is fabulous but very close to sensory overload. I've only been there a couple of times.


3. Housing. Might be comparable to Fresno. Anything near the university costs twice as much. They are constantly building new student housing. The new design seems to be eateries and business on the ground floor while housing is on the top levels. The downtown area is getting revitalized and slowly building more places like that.

4. Springfield. Springfield is to Eugene as Fresno is to Clovis. Springfield is like Eugene's country cousin. The I-5 marks the border between both. Eugeneans call Springfield "Spring-tucky." People in Springfield think Eugene people are a bunch of hippie snobs (that sounds like an oxymoron). Springfield has most of the EmX route, the more affordable national stores, and does not charge you $0.05 for a bag when you go shopping. A cashier at the Springfield Target told me that with great pride, " We don't charge you for a bag like they do over THERE." Springfield seems more down-to-earth, open to development, affordable, while Eugene seems to see itself as more sophisticated, diverse, green, refined. I'm not sure which I like better yet. According to some people this Springfield is THE Springfield from The Simpsons. I wasn't sure I believed that until I saw Moe's Tavern near the EmX station. Also, there is someone at work that looks like Mr. Burns. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Bonus list: places to shop

Springfield: Gateway Mall with Target, Ross, Cabela's and Lane Bryant. Walmart, Winco, Costco, Shopko (not sure what this is yet), Fred Meyers ( not sure about this one either), Ross, Big 5

Eugene: Oakway Center with Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc., Valley River Center
Mall with Macy's, Costplus World Market, Barnes &Noble, and other typical mall stores like Hot Topic, Claire's, Forever 21, etc. Walmart, REI, lots of local mom-and-pops and new age places.

Thrift stores are huge here. St. Vinnie's is a big one with several locations. Goodwill, and Value Village are the other ones.

Others: Bi-mart is like a mini employee-owned Walmart. It is popular. Dari-mart is like a 7-11.

So, that's it for now partly because I am tired of typing. This was an intense post.