Eugene Beauty, Location and High Quality of Life Attract Residents
Flying high above the Willamette Valley‚ Chris Monnette glances down at Eugene from his Cessna 182 and admires the city he calls home.
After living in large metropolitan areas such as Washington‚ D.C.‚ Atlanta‚ Southern California and Toronto‚ Monnette and his wife chose to settle permanently in Eugene for its quality of life‚ beauty and proximity to the rugged Pacific Coast and breathtaking Cascade Mountains.
“We just fell in love with this community and had no desire to leave. We’ve even started our own coffee roasting business here called Caffe Pacori‚ named after my grandfather‚” says Monnette‚ who moved to Eugene in May 2000 and currently works as the director of reservations for Royal Caribbean‚ which opened a national reservations center in Springfield in early 2006.
Known as the “World’s Greatest City of the Arts and Outdoors‚” Eugene is Oregon’s third-largest city and home to the University of Oregon.
In addition to being a regional health-care center offering cutting-edge care to residents‚ Eugene is also widely recognized for its natural beauty and great variety of outdoor activities.
Rated as one of the top 10 cycling cities in the United States‚ Eugene has more than 80 miles of dedicated bike paths as well as bicycle lanes on the city streets.
According to Paul Nicholson‚ who owns several cycling shops in town‚ roughly 4 percent of Eugene’s citizens commute daily by bicycle‚ a figure that is more than 10 times the national average.
“You can leave work from downtown and go right out on a 30-mile drive and never have to get in your car‚” says Nicholson‚ who founded Bicycle Way of Life more than 22 years ago. “There’s a tremendous biking community here with people from all walks of life who ride routinely for exercise and recreation.”
For Dana Siebert‚ an executive at Chambers Communications‚ a local TV broadcast production company‚ the outdoor activity of choice is golf. Siebert relocated to the area in 1993 from San Francisco for its slower pace and accessibility to recreation and the arts.
“Diversity is an important factor that sets Eugene apart from most cities‚” Siebert says. “It also has a wonderful quality of life and a vibrant arts scene for a community of its size.”
A key destination in town for the visual arts is the newly expanded Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon‚ which features galleries of notable American‚ European‚ Korean‚ Chinese and Japanese art enhanced by series of special exhibitions and educational programs throughout the year.
The University of Oregon campus also serves as a tourist attraction in its own right‚ covering more than 250 scenic acres on the east side of town with historic buildings – some dating back to the 1870s – and shady‚ tree-lined footpaths surrounded by beautiful landscaping.
West of the University is the Hult Center for the Performing Arts‚ home to the Eugene symphony‚ opera and ballet.
Within minutes of the Hult Center are several up-and-coming restaurants‚ including Ambrosia‚ SweetWaters on the River and Café Zenon‚ where international cuisine is paired with local Oregon wines.
The outdoor Saturday Market‚ a mainstay in Eugene since 1970‚ is the oldest weekly open-air crafts fest in the country. Here‚ visitors will find artwork‚ organic produce and all types of interesting food‚ in addition to music.
Speaking of music‚ those who like to listen make the 15-mile drive west of Eugene to Veneta each July for the annual Oregon Country Fair‚ where notable acts perform in outdoor venues at a three-day event that is a combination of music festival and renaissance crafts fair.
According to Kari Westlund‚ president of the Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon‚ tens of thousands of people attend the fair each year.
“The blending of special events‚ such as the Oregon Country Fair‚ with the arts and culture and the proximity to natural resources and the outdoors‚ all work together to make this area a very unique place to visit and live‚” Westlund says.
