Week 4: Eugene, Oregon

It occurred to me that until now I have only been profiling large cities. I realized that some of you might be interested in moving somewhere where the pace is a little bit slower. This week I'll be profiling Eugene, Oregon. I have always considered Eugene to be the "Fort Collins of the West." Eugene's population of just over 137,000 means it has almost exactly the same population as Fort Collins. Additionally, Eugene is home to the University of Oregon meaning the college town vibe is alive and well in this city. As you can see from the map, while not on the coast, Eugene lies fairly close to the Pacific Ocean. As with the rest of the Pacific Northwest, it rains a lot in this town. With an average annual rainfall of 50" Eugene receives over 14" of rain a year more than Portland.



Recreation
Due to a wealth of easily accessible hiking trails, rivers, and mountains, it should come as no surprise that Eugene is a town that is crazy about outdoor activities. Bicycle riding seems to be one of the most popular pastimes in this city. Debbie Williamson, a writer for the Lane County, where Eugene is located, magazine has this to say about Eugene's trails, " Lane County, Oregon is a cycling paradise for both road and mountain biking. Within a half hour’s ride from Eugene, cyclist’s encounter vineyard covered hills reminiscent of France and flat stretches of scenic byways resembling Holland. " With this imagery even the most hardened enemy of bicycle riding would be tempted to give it a try. Besides outdoor activities Eugene is also known for its performing and visual art scene. The Hult Center for the Performing Arts, pictured here, is home to many performances and houses a concert hall, theatre, amphitheatre, and several art galleries. Additionally, there are a large number of live theatre groups that perform here including the Willamette Repertory Theatre and the Actor's Cabaret.


Jobs
Locating a good job is probably the most important consideration of any move to a new city. In Eugene, the largest employers are the University of Oregon and The Sacred Heart Medical Center. Interestingly enough many large multinational corporations got their start in Eugene including Nike and Adobe. Following are links to job boards for the city and the university.

City of Eugene
http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&control=SetCommunity&CommunityID=244&PageID=0

The University of Oregon
http://hr.uoregon.edu/jobs/classified.php
and
http://hr.uoregon.edu/jobs/unclassified.php?subtype=administrative


The abundance of art, outdoor activities and natural beauty make Eugene an appealing place for some. For those who love the small town vibe of Fort Collins but want a change of scenery Eugene should remain a serious consideration. Additionally, Eugene is a college town which means the live music and underground film culture should be alive and well. Check it out.

Week Three: Portland

Portland is an amazing city located in the North West tip of the state of Oregon. With a population almost identical to that of Denver, the city might be a nice transition for those CSU students who feel comfortable with the size of Denver but are nervous about moving to a "big city." Portland is has been nicknamed the city of roses due to the average rainfall of 36" year, making it an ideal climate for growing roses. If
living under gloomy skies and always having to carry your umbrella with you seem intolerable, I would advise a move to a city other than Portland. However, if these conditions sound tolerable or even pleasant, allow me to tell you why Portland has my vote for one of the best places to live in America.


Real Estate
As you are by now familiar, with each city I profile I always like to include information on the cost of living. According to CNN Money Magazine, the median home price in Portland is 225,000. This is just slightly lower than the 212,000 median home price Money Magazine gave Fort Collins. This is roughly 1/3 the cost of the median home price in Los Angeles or Berkeley. So, from a cost of living perspective, Portland is certainly impressive. If your like me, the thought of living in the suburbs seems like a worst nightmare. Instead, perhaps you prefer a vivacious, culturally rich, and coffee house infused urban lifestyle? If so, you should consider living in the Pearl District. In a past life, the Pearl District was a home to various warehouse and light manufacturing industries. But, within the last 10 years the area has been transformed into an eclectic mix of art galleries, coffee houses, "hippie hangouts,"and residences. The abundance of of old warehouses that have just recently been transformed into condos and lofts means there is an abundance of really cool places to live. Like any hot spot, rental rates reflect desirability of the area, so rentals in the Pearl are more expensive than the the rest of the city as a whole. Below is a newly renovated warehouse that has been turned into a two bedroom condo renting for 2,000 month. As you can see from the pictures, the kitchen is top notch and there is an abundance of space, the square footage on this unit is over 1200.




So, if you find a roommate and split rent down the middle, for 1,000 dollars a month you can live in a top-of-the-line loft in the trendiest part of the city. If you don't feel the need to live in a loft or in the Pearl, you can expect to find rental rates comparable to Fort Collins.


Food/Drinks
Portland has a great restaurant scene, which plays host to every type of cuisine imaginable. The Food Network recently awarded Portland with their "Delicious Destination of the Year 2007" award. An excellent resource I found was http://www.portlandfood.org/ which includes an alphabetical index of many restaurants in Portland and then allows users to post comments on their favorites/least favorites. Nothing to go better with all that food than a great beverage. Portland has often been called the home of the microbrewery revolution in the United States. Home to 28 microbreweries, Portland has more microbreweries than any other city in the U.S. The city embraces their beer culture as is made evident by the many annual beer festivals, the biggest being the Oregon Brewers Festival held each summer. According to their website, over 60,5000 attended last years event sampling over 65 different types of microbrews. For more information visit http://www.oregonbrewfest.com/ .







Outdoors
Portland has an abundance of outdoor activities. Again winning accolades, Outside Magazine named the city "One of the Ten Best Places to Live" in 2006. Nearby Mount Hood offers ski and snowboard junkies all they could ever ask for. There is also an abundance of hiking trails in the surrounding areas. A great resource for those interested in local trails is http://portlandhikers.com/ . My favorite aspect of this site is the section called local events, which lists dates and times for hikes led by local outdoor groups that are available to all. I think this is a great way to meet people in your area that share similar interests, which is always important when you are new to an area. Given the fact that Portland is situated at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers, it should come as no surprise that water sports are popular in the city. Every weekend the rivers fill up with kayakers looking to have a good time. So, with an abundance of outdoor activities, great food and drink, and relatively low rental rates Portland is definitely a city worth checking out after graduation.

Week Two: Berkeley

This week I'll be taking you to Berkeley, California. Just across the Bay Bridge from from San Francisco, this city offers the convenience of being near the big city, but still retains its small town vibe. At a population of 102,000 Berkeley is slightly smaller than the 130,000 residents of Fort Collins. I spent some time in Berkeley this summer and absolutely loved it. Strangely enough, this city reminded me in many ways of Fort Collins. Cool college atmosphere, independent record stores and swarms of people wearing tye-dye shirts are all things your going to find in this town.




Berkeley is notorious for its opposition to chain restaurants, which is great because you can try somewhere new every night. If you like Indian food, make sure you check out Naan-N-Curry. With most dinners in the 6-9 dollar range it wont put a dent in your wallet either. My favorite dish is the yellow curry, which goes extremely well with naan bread.


Everyone knows that northern California is an expensive place to live. Unfortunately Berkeley is no exception. An average studio apartment is around 1,000 dollars a month. Again, if you can tolerate living with roommates you can do it for less. The apartment here is a 2 bedroom that rents for 1550 a month. Split evenly that's only 775 a person, which should still leave you with enough money for bills and entertainment.
















College Culture
When your in Berkeley you definitely know your in a college town. According to the UC website, Cal has 33,000 students. Take this into consideration if you consider moving here. While most of us enjoy the college culture in Fort Collins, some of us probably want to leave it behind after graduation. The annual Telegraph Avenue Stree Fair draws hoards of college students and residents and is definately worht checking out.

Week One: Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California. Perpetual sunshine. Beautiful beaches. Occasional celebrity sightings. Mountains a few hours away in nearby Big Sur. What's not to love? Exorbitant rental rates, perpetual traffic, and pushy people. Still, you have to take the good with the bad if you want to live in this city.

Lets start with the basics.

Neighborhoods
Los Angeles is full of rich and diverse neighborhoods, each with its own particular vibe. The most expenisve neighborhoods are certainly those that comprise the West side of Los Angeles, commonly known as West LA or the Westside. Santa Monica, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Westwood are some of the most common neighborhoods associated as being West LA. While it would be nice to live here, most of us living on an entry level salary need to turn our attention to the neighborhoods to the East.

My personal favorite is Silver Lake. Located 21 miles from the beach, Silver Lake has earned the reputation of being a creative enclave, home to musicians and artists. It gets its name from
the Silver Lake Reservoir, which if your lucky
enought to live close to, will surround you in
a microclimate keeping you about 10 degrees
cooler than neighboring areas. Doing some preliminary research on Craigslist, I found several 2 bedroom apartments in the 1,600-2,000/month range. So, if you are willing to live with a roomate, you an expect to pay as little as 800.00 a month to live in one of the most vibrant cities in the world. If you do happen to find yourself in Silver Lake, make sure not to miss the Sunset Junction, a neighborhood within Silver Lake that bosts a weekly Farmers Market and an annual street fair. For more information on Sunset Junction visist http://www.sunsetjunction.org/index.html


No report on Los Angeles would be complete without atleast some mention of the current traffic situation. Simply put, traffic is an integral part of every Los Angeles citizens life. Trips that should seemingly take 10 minutes will take an hour. There is no escaping this. With that in mind, if sitting in traffic seems like cruel punishment, then perhaps Los Angeles is not for you.
There are, however, ways to help ease the pain. A good cd mix, ipod car adapter or even a book on a tape are all helpful. It is also good to know that for the most part peoples attitudes towards punctuality are seemingly relaxed in this city. At my internship at Warner Bros. last summer, as long as employees could come within 30 minutes of there start time, the managers were happy.



Entertainment




If you are living in Los Angeles you will probably be spending a good portion of your free time at the beach. If a large crowd is what you crave, navigate your way to the Santa Monica Pier. Not only will you find a beautiful beach, but the pier has been transformed into a mini-amusement park, boasting a roller coaster, ferris wheel, bumper cars and much more. If a more relaxed and decidedly less touristy beach experience is more your style, try going to to the southern part of the city, where you will find Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo Beach. If you crave a more intelectually stimulating experience, perhaps a trip to one of many Los Angeles' museums is in order. Of course there arethe obvious, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, but my personal favorite is the Getty Center. Just of the 405 freeway in Sanat Monica, the Getty Center is home to numerous art exhibits ranging from photography to modern art. For more information or to see what the current exhibits are, visit their website: http://www.getty.edu/







Well thats it for this week. Hopefully this broad overview of the city was of some help to you. So remember, if you can deal with the traffic and find a way to circumvent the real estate market, LA may be the city for you!

Welcome!

Welcome indeed. I am glad your here. With this being my first post I thought it might be nice if I shared a little about myself. I'm 21, male and an LA native. I am a Communication major at Colorado State University and anticipate my graduation in a little more than a year. With graduation looming in the not-so-distant future, I have been spending considerable time online researching potential cities I would like to move to after graduation. I realize that many of us probably want to get out of Fort Collins after school, but may be hesitant or reluctant because the thought of moving to a new city we know nothing about can be daunting. This is the idea behind my blog. Each week I will be bringing you information on a new city. Nothing too serious, just pertininet information that you can use to decide whether a particucal city is a good match for you.