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Not really that different than much of Oregon, particularly larger cities. The data skews for small towns.
Oregon overall: over 65, 12.5%
Eugene: over 65, 12%
Salem: over 65, 12%
Medford: over 65, 14%
Bend: over 60, 12%
Corvallis: over 65, 6% - Corvallis is a small enough town that the university skews the numbers. In Fall 2017 there were 22,000 ft students in Corvallis, to the town's 57,000. U of O has 23,000 ft students to a city pop of 166,000.
And yet Corvallis does have a senior center.... the old folks there aren't forgotten, even if they're a small cohort percentage-wise...
Not really that different than much of Oregon, particularly larger cities. The data skews for small towns.
Oregon overall: over 65, 12.5%
Eugene: over 65, 12%
Salem: over 65, 12%
Medford: over 65, 14%
Bend: over 60, 12%.
Florence: over 65, 36%
In Florence seniors outnumber students 3 to 1. In Eugene students out number seniors 6 to 1. Eugene is geared to young people. Florence and the Coast is geared to retirees.
The OP originally posted that they were looking for a place "where she'd have an appropriate built-in social group - in other words, not surrounded by noisy college students or young families w/ kids." Eugene would be the absolute worst place in Oregon to find that. It would be very hard for a senior to find a social group and not be surrounded by college students in a college town where students outnumber seniors 6 to 1. As others have pointed out senior services are limited in Eugene. There is just not enough demand for them in a city with such a small senior population.
In Florence seniors outnumber students 3 to 1. In Eugene students out number seniors 6 to 1. Eugene is geared to young people. Florence and the Coast is geared to retirees.
The OP originally posted that they were looking for a place "where she'd have an appropriate built-in social group - in other words, not surrounded by noisy college students or young families w/ kids." Eugene would be the absolute worst place in Oregon to find that. It would be very hard for a senior to find a social group and not be surrounded by college students in a college town where students outnumber seniors 6 to 1. As others have pointed out senior services are limited in Eugene. There is just not enough demand for them in a city with such a small senior population.
Cloudy, have you lived in Eugene?? I live here. I am just a senior. I have clients that are way senior to me. There are programs through Eugene City Recreation, River Road Recreation, and Springfield's Willamalane. I don't have time to count all of them right now but I could see that just for the spring session there are 256 classes at Willamalane for adults >50. Trips, walking groups, hiking groups, yoga, drawing, many types of painting, etc, etc. Every place that I go shopping and recreate offer some sort of senior discount. My Vet even gives me a 10% Wisdom discount. There is a group at UofO for elders that offer classes for discount or free. Lane Community College offers credit classes with tuition waived.
Also, as someone who lives in Eugene, I don't really notice the college population except for when I go into the downtown core or the campus. I don't see many college students in Gilham.
I didn't want to bash Florence but I have had a number of clients and friends who have moved to Florence and then left. They didn't like the community. It's small and everyone is in your business unless you stay away altogether. If you stay away then there's not much at all to do. One of my 85 yo friends who is very active and still drives said that she felt like she was back in high school. She moved back to Eugene. She lost money on the house that she bought there and I have to hear the story every time that we visit.
From what I can see, and I live here, senior services in Florence are limited to one small senior center. Their calendar doesn't show much of anything interesting. Certainly nothing like Eugene's Parks and Rec options for the 50+ crowd.
Eugene has plenty of 55+ apartment buildings (I'm not talking assisted living, just apartments where you need to be over 55 to live there). That seems like a pretty good start for developing a social network of those in the same age group.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 02-25-2018 at 02:02 PM..
Cloudy, have you lived in Eugene?? I live here. I am just a senior. I have clients that are way senior to me. There are programs through Eugene City Recreation, River Road Recreation, and Springfield's Willamalane. I don't have time to count all of them right now but I could see that just for the spring session there are 256 classes at Willamalane for adults >50. Trips, walking groups, hiking groups, yoga, drawing, many types of painting, etc, etc. Every place that I go shopping and recreate offer some sort of senior discount. My Vet even gives me a 10% Wisdom discount. There is a group at UofO for elders that offer classes for discount or free. Lane Community College offers credit classes with tuition waived.
Also, as someone who lives in Eugene, I don't really notice the college population except for when I go into the downtown core or the campus. I don't see many college students in Gilham.
I didn't want to bash Florence but I have had a number of clients and friends who have moved to Florence and then left. They didn't like the community. It's small and everyone is in your business unless you stay away altogether. If you stay away then there's not much at all to do. One of my 85 yo friends who is very active and still drives said that she felt like she was back in high school. She moved back to Eugene. She lost money on the house that she bought there and I have to hear the story every time that we visit.
Cloudy has never lived in Eugene or Florence.
Like you, I never felt overwhelmed by college kids when I lived there a few years ago.
I don't want to bash Florence either, but I know exactly what you mean, soarswitheagles. I'm not a senior, I travel, and I have a primary home in another state, but Florence only seems like a good retirement destination for those with pretty narrow interests -- golfing, fishing, (can't think of another one) and it's probably okay for people who don't need a lot of activity, but it's definitely not for everyone. And as I said before, it seems far more couples-oriented.
Florence also has a really ugly side, although I'm sure the same can be said for most places. A retired gentleman recently dismantled his AR 15 because he wanted to do one small thing...and he was attacked on social media by a pack of barely-literate locals. By attacked, I mean they were calling the old guy all manner of obscene names (albeit incorrectly spelled in most instances). The angry failed timber town vibe lives, and I think it may be amplified a bit more here than in places like Oakridge because the working class is being priced out.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 02-25-2018 at 02:44 PM..
Cloudy, have you lived in Eugene?? I live here. I am just a senior. I have clients that are way senior to me. There are programs through Eugene City Recreation, River Road Recreation, and Springfield's Willamalane. I don't have time to count all of them right now but I could see that just for the spring session there are 256 classes at Willamalane for adults >50. Trips, walking groups, hiking groups, yoga, drawing, many types of painting, etc, etc. Every place that I go shopping and recreate offer some sort of senior discount. My Vet even gives me a 10% Wisdom discount. There is a group at UofO for elders that offer classes for discount or free. Lane Community College offers credit classes with tuition waived.
Also, as someone who lives in Eugene, I don't really notice the college population except for when I go into the downtown core or the campus. I don't see many college students in Gilham.
I didn't want to bash Florence but I have had a number of clients and friends who have moved to Florence and then left. They didn't like the community. It's small and everyone is in your business unless you stay away altogether. If you stay away then there's not much at all to do. One of my 85 yo friends who is very active and still drives said that she felt like she was back in high school. She moved back to Eugene. She lost money on the house that she bought there and I have to hear the story every time that we visit.
I have not lived in Eugene, but I do spend quite a bit of time in both Eugene and Florence. I like both towns. As I said, in Eugene I feel old. In Florence my age is average. Eugene is a typical college town. Lots of nightlife, loud music, good places to eat, good shopping malls, good public transportation and moderately heavy traffic. If that is what you are looking for, it's a great place.
I don't like to see people move to the wrong place. For a 69 year old lady who is looking for senior social groups and doesn't want to be surrounded by noisy college students and young families with kids, Eugene would not be a good place. I don't think it makes a lot of sense for somebody who doesn't want to be around college students to move to a college town, any college town.
From what I can see, and I live here, senior services in Florence are limited to one small senior center. Their calendar doesn't show much of anything interesting. Certainly nothing like Eugene's Parks and Rec options for the 50+ crowd.
Eugene has plenty of 55+ apartment buildings (I'm not talking assisted living, just apartments where you need to be over 55 to live there). That seems like a pretty good start for developing a social network of those in the same age group.
Well lets see. Florence Senior Centers: 1 Eugene Senior Centers: 0. Looks like Florence wins that one. Anyway in Florence a senior doesn't really have to go to a senior center to socialize. The whole town is geared to seniors. One-third of the population are seniors. 50% are over 57 years old. All a senior has to do in Florence to socialize is step out the door.
I have not lived in Eugene, but I do spend quite a bit of time in both Eugene and Florence. I like both towns. As I said, in Eugene I feel old. In Florence my age is average. Eugene is a typical college town. Lots of nightlife, loud music, good places to eat, good shopping malls, good public transportation and moderately heavy traffic. If that is what you are looking for, it's a great place.
I don't like to see people move to the wrong place. For a 69 year old lady who is looking for senior social groups and doesn't want to be surrounded by noisy college students and young families with kids, Eugene would not be a good place. I don't think it makes a lot of sense for somebody who doesn't want to be around college students to move to a college town, any college town.
This is what the OP said in the first post which is what prompted me to tell my story about my experience living amongst college students. They were very polite and respectful young people for the most part and we got along just fine, but on weekends sometimes there were parties that were loud and lasted a very long time.
If the OP hadn't said his/her mom wanted to avoid these things I don't think anyone would have brought it up as an issue. As an old geezer myself I absolutely love visiting Eugene but I don't think I would want to live there today. I like my peace and quiet.
Of course I have to admit I don't know Eugene well enough to be able to say there might be a neighborhood where the OP's mom could find a quiet neighborhood in which college students aren't to be found but that's something to keep in mind when looking for a place to live.
This is what the OP said in the first post which is what prompted me to tell my story about my experience living amongst college students. They were very polite and respectful young people for the most part and we got along just fine, but on weekends sometimes there were parties that were loud and lasted a very long time.
If the OP hadn't said his/her mom wanted to avoid these things I don't think anyone would have brought it up as an issue. As an old geezer myself I absolutely love visiting Eugene but I don't think I would want to live there today. I like my peace and quiet.
Of course I have to admit I don't know Eugene well enough to be able to say there might be a neighborhood where the OP's mom could find a quiet neighborhood in which college students aren't to be found but that's something to keep in mind when looking for a place to live.
No, Minervah, you don't know Eugene well enough to say that, and neither does Cloudy. There is a huge difference between visiting a town and living there. I lived in a residential neighborhood not that far from the Whiteaker District, and there was no college student presence at all in that area, and I never heard one single loud party. I doubt that loud parties are the norm in the 55+ apartment complexes, either.
Quote:
So basically she'd want to live in an ACTIVE 55+ community, where she'd have an appropriate built-in social group - in other words, not surrounded by noisy college students or young families w/ kids.
As some of us have already pointed out, Eugene has many 55+ apartment communities and an excellent Parks and Recs program with an abundance of activities. Those things wouldn't exist if there wasn't a need for them.
Sure, you can go to the store in Florence and be surrounded pretty much by people with gray hair, but when it comes to actually meeting people and socializing, it's all couples, snowbirds, backyard barbecues, fishing, and golf. I'm not old enough to go in there yet, but I think they have cards at the senior center in Florence a couple of days a week, though. Big whoop.
This is what the OP said in the first post which is what prompted me to tell my story about my experience living amongst college students. They were very polite and respectful young people for the most part and we got along just fine, but on weekends sometimes there were parties that were loud and lasted a very long time.
If the OP hadn't said his/her mom wanted to avoid these things I don't think anyone would have brought it up as an issue. As an old geezer myself I absolutely love visiting Eugene but I don't think I would want to live there today. I like my peace and quiet.
Of course I have to admit I don't know Eugene well enough to be able to say there might be a neighborhood where the OP's mom could find a quiet neighborhood in which college students aren't to be found but that's something to keep in mind when looking for a place to live.
Yeah, that is why I said deal killer as soon as I read that. The OP did then remove that requirement, not to be around college students. But I think they are just looking for the answer, they want to hear.
And I agree, except for the weekend parties, there is nothing particularly bad about living near college students. But, if for some reason you don't want to be surrounded by college students, the answer is simple. Don't move to a college town. Just don't do it.
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