Hey heads! I’m taking my high school senior to #eugene#oregon in a couple of weeks to check out #universityoforegon. He’s an accepted student! Please hit me with recs on:
Restaurants
Music clubs/scene
Record stores
Other heady stuff
In fact, despite the fine recs in here, and some other very okay places, I think it's fair to say Eugene is still a pretty weak town for food, even for its size. It kinda always has been. For such a creative place there's rarely anything interesting and fresh.
Bottom line is that the best parts of Eugene are the nature, the people, and the vibes. So the list of things to do as a visitor in the winter is a bit limited
@mrcompletely were scheduled for a tour and the game against Arizona (gotta see that court). He also has some interviews in the music department. So I think we’re mostly drudgery looking to “see the town” and try to get a feel. I totally get that the timing for the visit is … not ideal. But thanks so much for all of this!
@thediemustfall anyway I hope y'all like it, I loved living in Eugene, my wife went to Grad school there and loved it, our son is a sophomore there now and is doing fantastic and likes it a lot.
@mrcompletely this is great to hear! I’m excited for him to see it. He’s very interested and I think going somewhere completely different could be a huge life experience for him. But we’ll see. He had some great schools and programs to choose from.
@thediemustfall it actually is ideal IMO. If you visit in the sunny season and it's not covered in wildfire smoke, the Eugene area is close to paradise. It's got stunningly gorgeous nature in every direction, cool events and people, etc. But that's less than half the picture. I strongly recommend everyone interested in the place visit in winter, because the reality is the rainy season is long and very grey. I don't mind it, but it gets to some people, and it's best to know that up front.
@thediemustfall UO itself is incredible these days. They've put a ton of money into it and it shows. It's very compact as a campus, but still very beautiful. The last of the really shit old dorms is coming down now, and the new ones are okay to great.
Springfield is north of the river. A bit of Eugene is too, mostly the stadium and such, but most of Eugene is south of the river. The river is lined on both sides with paths and parks and is imo the city's single best feature. Gorgeous, amazing
@thediemustfall between the two buttes (Skinner and Spencer's) is the heart of the city: campus and downtown near the river, then South Eugene below that in a ring of hills. Wonderful place to live. Student housing is clustered close to campus and over to downtown, which is more lively than it used to be (not saying much). West Eugene extends along the river into suburban living and rarely enters the life of a UO undergrad.
Climbing Spencer's Butte is a classic Eugene initiation (good weather)
McMenamins is an overpriced hippie run chain with nice heady decor and themes but usually bad service and mids food. Avoid as long as possible (residents will eventually end up at one)
@thediemustfall@wobs Somewhat limited hours, but best coffee in the area Equiano Coffee https://maps.app.goo.gl/LMLMLRUfxLakNp1y5?g_st=ic I’ll talk to the kiddo today. They have some food trucks they like that are newer. Recommend the All Season’s E Store for all things electric bikes or scooters. Get the best locks you can find and indoor storage if at all possible
@thediemustfall@wobs No trip to Eugene is complete without a stop at Sundance Foods natural grocery. Other daughter works there. Good vibes. One went to U of O, the other went to Lane Community.
@thediemustfall@wobs Ok, wasn’t sure if you needed a weather report! It is cold and wet in the fall and winter. Proper rain gear and footwear is a must! Summer and early fall can be gorgeous, or very smokey in years with heavy forest fires. She liked her classes and professors. Took trips to Bachelor for winter sports and rivers or springs in the nicer weather. Found a great group of friends there. Overall she would probably say “some good points, some bad points, but it all works out”.
@Stoneycase@wobs sounds good. (Sounds like life! Haha.) yeah, we’re prepared for wet weather when we come. In some ways it’s shame that we’re coming in January, but also probably more realistic?
@thediemustfall@wobs Yeah will be a good taste. Probably mild for east coasters. I live on the Humboldt coast. Coastal Soft. I have a useable band between 45-65 degrees. Eugene gets a little colder and good clip hotter.
@Stoneycase@thediemustfall@wobs the thing about Western Oregon weather isn't really any given day. It's the aggregate of many months of cloudy, rainy weather. People who let it get to them tend to really break down in March, April, May when it's warming up and the plants are growing but it's still cloudy most of the time & raining every other day. It's the grind of it. But if you just get into it and decide being wet sometimes is okay, you can actually do a lot in those months & beat the blahs
@thediemustfall Oh man, I'm 15 years behind on restaurants, but Sam Bond's Garage and the WOW Hall are two great small venues. Looks like House of Records is still open on E. 13th and is a short walk from campus.
I lived in Eugene from 1996-2007 and went to grad school at UO for the latter half of that and miss that town everyday.
@wobs@thediemustfall WOW Hall is my old spot. Eugene is a third tier show booking town so it's tough but the WOW Hall does the best it can. It's a nonprofit, volunteer run venue and very close to my heart.
Sam Bonds is a bar, so underage attendance comes and goes. Great small place though.
Mcdonald theater is the bigger, more normie place. It's fine
Hult is the big fancy venue, symphonies & Wolf Bros etc
Shedd is the small, super kind high end acoustic venue
Add comment