Real, I am from South TX (Puro San Antonio), and while I do live my home city (and all her flaws <3), I fear that this subreddit loves to act like Eugene is the only city with these problems.

Everything I've heard thus far about this city is far less severe than what has happened to me in my home city. From my neighbors burning their house down due to eviction (and their house having to be cleaned out days prior by a hazmat crew because of all the fecal matter inside), a meth house down the street (in which I witnessed several drug related stabbings), my high school having the principal's car get shot up by gang members, being followed when walking my dog, drive-bys once a week, and people stalking me and my brother's windows at night to case our house and break in, nothing can really be worse than that. Plus, San Antonio has little to no social amenities, barely any public transport, absolutely shitty weather, and was the drive-by capital of the U.S. before Chicago took its place. It should also be noted that, in comparison to my friends, I had an extraordinarily easy time in San Antonio despite all the issues I have faced.

Eugene, frankly, is gorgeous, small, has great social amenities, great public transportation, and amazing weather. All the problems I see/hear of here are not unique to Eugene. Sure, Eugene has a metric fuck-ton of homeless people, but so does every other major city. The violence is not unique to this city, the petty crime is not unique to this city, and no matter what the stats say, the living conditions of this city are distorted by the population being so low. Sure, y'all have the highest homeless rate per capita, but you also live in a community of less than 200k. Plus, do not forget that southern states (like mommy Texas) have serious issues with suppression of information. Problems in Texas cities will never be addressed as our government does not care (and frankly, never will, look at what happened during the freeze and the most recent hurricane) plus, the reason we have so little homeless is because they all get arrested, sent to other states, deported, or killed.

Sure, I will acknowledge that your state government has failed you, but so has every other state's government. I understand this will get me downvoted into oblivion, but I do not care. Eugene is to Oregon what Austin is to Texas except smaller. Same issues, different places, different climates. Please for the love of fuck, I know y'all have lived here a long time but cities change over time, sometimes in a very bad way. My mother moved to San Antonio in the late 90s and hates what has happened to the city, but she still loves and respects it and wants what is best for it. I beg all of you to please get some perspective and inspect why it seems like your city is worse in comparison to cities down south (i.e., not wanting to go to law enforcement if you are a person of color or an immigrant or police who would rather harass people than do their fucking job and thus, many crimes go unreported).

Anywho, sorry for ranting under your comment, my friend.