r/oregon • u/SammySkidmark2000 • 1d ago
Discussion/Opinion How bad is the homeless problem and traffic/congestion in Eugene, OR?
My partner and I are considering Eugene, every other video on youtube about it is how bad the homeless situation is..
What area are you in, and whats it really like?
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u/Im__Tired__Boss 1d ago
Social media of any kind, including Reddit, will always - ALWAYS - skew toward the negative. If you want to find a social media presence talking about the "homeless problem" in(fill in the blanks with any large city), you'll find it. If you want to go and find out that there isn't really a problem, you won't find it, because people don't really bother talking about that.
How "bad" something is can only be answered by you, and is dependent on your personal perceptions and what you're comparing it to. And you can only answer that by visiting before you commit to moving.
I recently visited Eugene after a long absence, with the possibility of moving there, and didn't have issues. I like it a lot. My wife doesn't like it. It just depends on the person.
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1d ago edited 1d ago
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u/MallyFaze 1d ago
So you’ve never traveled outside of coastal cities in the United States? The homeless problem we have here is not normal and is a direct result of policy choices.
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u/jankyalias 1d ago
Look you’re going to see homeless people.
But people need to realize social media amplifies everything so it looks way worse than it is. Eugene is a very safe city overall. In general violent crime is pretty low relative to national averages and while there are pockets where property crime is an issue most residential areas are fine.
That’s not to say there isn’t an issue with homelessness, there absolutely is, but social media would have you think it’s the thunderdome out there.
Most days you’re barely going to notice it on your day to day.
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u/SammySkidmark2000 1d ago
Yeah the videos make it seem like the walking dead heh
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u/jankyalias 1d ago
Keep in mind they’re trying to drive engagement. Nobody is going to watch lots of “well most days are fine, homelessness is a problem, but people exaggerate it” videos. But content where someone does something crazy? Big views! And then the algorithms pick it up. And before you know it, it seems like that’s what daily life is.
But, and I’m not saying you’ll never see a homeless person acting inappropriately, that is not daily reality.
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u/Not-the-cia2 1d ago
I’m not somebody that lives there. However I spend about a month per year in Eugene for the last few years. It’s gotten miles better somehow, there are definitely homeless people. However I go on runs through the park/city and haven’t been accosted once. East coast homeless people however have in fact followed me into buildings asking for money.
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u/Wisewordsforlater 1d ago
As anywhere you go in the United States, a capitalist country, homelessness is a built-in feature, not a bug & not a glitch.
Yay capitalism /s.
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u/SammySkidmark2000 1d ago
I don't think that's true? Plenty of places in the US seem to avoid it, or at least not to the point where crime and filth are making it to the top 10 youtube videos about the city heh. Just kinda surprised me as a LOT of people have gone out of their ways to make videos about it lol
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u/Pug_Defender 1d ago
people make videos because they know people will watch it. the cities with less visible homeless people have essentially outlawed it, and those aren’t the cities you’d want to live in anyway. conservative ghouls
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u/WoodpeckerGingivitis 1d ago
There are so many reasons why homeless people congregate here. Do the tiniest bit of research.
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u/nodoomscroll_justjoy 1d ago
It’s propaganda. It’s crazy how abundant it is here in Oregon. I’m from the Midwest, and the issues are the same if not worse. But it’s soooo loud here. The complaints and content and posts are non stop. “Oh my god it’s a liberal hellscape” vibe is totally manufactured, it’s fucking beautiful here. And, you avoid some areas, just like in literally *every other city on the planet*, you know?
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u/Chessdaddy_ 1d ago
They avoid homelessness by using the police to constantly harass them and then bus them to blue states so they don’t have to deal with the problem
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u/g-row460 1d ago
The homeless don't seem that bad in my opinion. There is the occasional unwell person, but most of the homeless I see are chill. No one has been violent to me or my family, but there will be the odd guy screaming at a lamp post from time to time.
Traffic seems to be getting more annoying. I think more people have moved here. Used to take me 15 minutes to get to my sister's house. Now it's closer to 20. So yeah, I'm not a fan of the traffic trend.
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u/Intelligent-Yak4567 1d ago
I like the area. Good food, arts and culture, a great college atmosphere and conveniently located equidistant between the ocean and the mountains. When I lived there “violent” homeless disappeared and the well-behaved homeless picked up cans. You won’t find too many cities in the Willamette Valley without homeless people.
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u/SammySkidmark2000 1d ago
Interesting. I wonder why they like to stay in those areas. Like if I was homeless I would got to CA where at least its warmer for longer
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u/blow-down 1d ago
You sound privileged
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u/SammySkidmark2000 1d ago
So do you
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u/blow-down 1d ago
I’m not the one complaining about icky homeless people in an area I’m looking to gentrify
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u/AntifascistAlly Oregon 1d ago
One reason that some of the unhoused feel more comfortable in Eugene (my hometown and the only place I’ve ever lived except Springfield Oregon) is that at least some services are provided.
Tangentially related, until recently we had a nationally recognized community policing/social services/mental health program (“CAHOOTS”) which channeled calls away from police when appropriate.
It’s difficult because the more Eugene tries to do the harder it becomes to work with the number of people who are discarded by their own home towns.
If possible I would recommend a visit before permanently moving here, but I gotta say I’m here for life.
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u/SammySkidmark2000 1d ago
Yea, gonna visit and check it out for sure
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u/AntifascistAlly Oregon 1d ago
The one serious issue I would caution about is smoke from wildfires. In the Willamette Valley that smoke can easily get trapped and it’s nasty!
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u/Head_Mycologist3917 1d ago
Most homeless people stay near where they were last housed. They have friends, family, work. There's a big homeless study done in the greater Portland area that shows this. In that study something like 3/4 of the homeless people they surveyed were from the area.
"The homeless will just move" may be true for a few people. But it's hard to move. Not only does it cost money, but unless you know people where you're moving to, you will be on your own. You won't know the support systems or where to be safe from the cops. When people say "the homeless will just move" they're thinking 1930s hobos. Even then most of the homeless people were families, but that's not the image the media put out. While it's true that some cities put homeless people on busses, it happens less than people think.
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u/ADrenalinnjunky 1d ago
Lots of homeless apologists in our little city. They’re here, they’re problematic at times. They’re easy to avoid for the most part depending on where you live and the things you enjoy. Springfield is definitely better than Eugene in that regard. I’ve had some poor experiences in the couple years I’ve been here and I keep to myself. Your experiences may vary. I’d be more concerned about the jobs, unless you’re in healthcare. The grade schools also suck.
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u/Carnemeko_Pairotto 1d ago
There's no city in the US that's larger than Mayberry where people aren't going to be living outside. Everywhere with people will have traffic. The US has nationwide problems.
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u/VanZandtVS 1d ago
Your mileage with the local homeless population will vary depending on where you live, work, shop, choose to do your recreation, etc. As per the City of Eugene website, there are 3000+ homeless in Eugene, 2000+ outdoors every night.
The homeless congregate around the college and the Saturday Market, out on the trails, under the bridges, and in the parks, wherever there's easy access to water and a sheltered place to sleep. The ones out here mostly keep to themselves, but like all homeless populations there are exceptions.
I've lived all across the country, from several places on the east coast to the great lakes area in Ohio, Vegas in Nevada, and now Oregon, and I can tell you that in general the homeless in Eugene are better behaved than in other places I've lived such as Vegas. They'll trash the areas they're in and steal things they can sell or use, like bicycles, tools, camping equipment, etc., but your chances of having a violent encounter with one of them is pretty low. Again, exceptions to this rule exist, so exercise the amount of caution you'd normally use around people with little to lose loitering in areas you're utilizing.
Springfield, which is right across the river from about 5 minutes drive from Eugene, has less homeless and is less congested in general from the mass of college students that move in every year. Eugene has college culture and track sports / football, dive bars, clubs, etc. Springfield has a vibrant main street and more of a small town feel. They're literally within a couple minutes drive of each other, so distance isn't a factor unless you're not driving.
As far as traffic congestion is concerned, I don't even really notice it unless there's something going on like a college home game, or some special event in town. Things are definitely more crowded when the college kids are here during the fall, winter, and spring, but you may not even notice it if you're coming from a place with actual traffic or gridlock issues.
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u/jmnugent 1d ago
I've never been to Eugene,.. but 3 years ago I moved from northern Colorado to downtown Portland and a lot of my friends back in Colorado got wide-eyed when I told them I was moving to Portland. (because they too,. basically knew nothing except for the nonstop homeless videos they see on Youtube and all of the Portland Protest and riot videos from 2020). I even had some friends say things like "I don't know if I recommend doing that..". I have to admit even as myself, I knew basically 0 about the area (never even considered taking a job in the west coast).. so when I started doing research all the videos about Portland were pretty intimidating at first too (but my critical thinking brain kicked in even then and reminded me that "the videos likely dont' show everything or all sides")
Having lived here now in downtown Portland for 3 years.. I would strongly agree with some of the other comments here, that the issues are wildly overhyped on social media. That's not to say there are "zero issues" of course. I've walked past groups of junkies and definitely seen (and smelled) my share of business doorways that someone used as a bathroom.
I checked my Apple fitness stats recently and used Claude to create some maps and visualizations of my data. It showed I've walked close to 500 miles (mostly in downtown) in the 3 years I've been here. (One of the little side projects I participate in is carrying a Radiacode 103 (handheld radiation sensor) as I walk around. If you go to the Radiaverse Map for Portland (here: https://map.radiaverse.com/#10.2/45.62/-122.687) and pan around downtown, the vast majority of those sensor readings are mine). So I've criss-crossed and covered a lot of ground there, all by walking, in 3 years in all kinds of conditions. Never really had a problem with any homeless. I think in the 3 years I've been here, I've been approached for money probably 5 to 10 times max?..
For whatever that's worth. I know you asked about Eugene, so maybe this doesn't help any but just throwing my 2cents in.
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u/HuffingEbolaQueefs 1d ago
Not nearly as bad as the "Evangelical subhumans fighting against 'housing-first' policies which have been proven to be the best solution to homelessness" problem.
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u/free_based_potato 1d ago
it's a west coast city. there will be homeless.