For many incoming students attending the University of Oregon, it will be their first experience with living in an unfamiliar city. It is important for students coming to Eugene to know where the safest places to live, work and commute are.
According to Neighborhood Scout, Eugene is 6% safer than other U.S. cities. Eugene has a higher violent crime rate than the rest of Oregon as a whole. While on average, the state of Oregon sees 3.42 reported violent crimes per 1,000 people, Eugene sees an average reported violent crime rate of 3.80 per 1,000 people.
Eugene also has a higher rate of property crime than the rest of Oregon. Eugene has an average of 33.83 residents per thousand being a victim of property crime annually, as opposed to the statewide average of 29.35 per thousand and the national median of 20 per 1,000.
Despite Eugene’s crime rate, there are some neighborhoods and streets that are safe and welcoming.
According to Lane County homes, the Amazon neighborhood located south of the university has the lowest crime rate in Eugene. From August 28 until September 24, 13 crimes were reported in the Amazon park and surrounding areas.
Downtown Eugene, located immediately adjacent to the university’s west side, contains the city’s highest crime rate.
Along with Amazon, the Coburg and Northeast Eugene neighborhoods also have comparatively low crime rates.
As per CrimeMapping.com, the most common crime in Eugene is disturbance of the peace which includes violating park rules, prohibited camping, and disorderly conduct. Following highest rates is larceny and theft, typically of a bike or from a vehicle.
For those who may be seeking to enjoy the abundance of trails surrounding the Eugene area they should be cautioned, as the Eugene Police Department is actively searching for suspects in two broad-daylight rapes that occurred over the summer along the Wild Iris trail system and Amazon bike trail in West Eugene.
Third-year UO student Quinn Jordan spent his summer in Eugene working in a research lab for the university. He lives in an apartment on Broadway in the downtown area.
“Crime was a lot worse this summer,” Jordan said.
According to Jordan, two of his friends had each had their homes broken into over the summer.
“With less students around, the homeless population was a lot more visible during the summer,” Jordan said. “It was much more evident how much of a problem is not being addressed.”
Eugene has the highest number of homelessness per capita in the nation. For every 100,000 residents, there are 432 homeless residents.
Crime rates on the university campus itself differ from other areas of Eugene. Typically, statistics on Crimemapping.com report the crimes on the UO campus are non violent. The crimes commonly reported are vandalism and theft.
For students or concerned individuals who wish to check the crime rates on campus in particular, they can check the University of Oregon Police Department’s campus crime log.
Along with the UO crime log, UO has installed emergency call buttons located around campus and it offers the UO Duck Rides program, which provides free rides to all students from 6 p.m. until midnight.
