'Sprawl' In Eugene? (Springfield: transplants, 2011, rentals)

[brubaker]

What do you all say?

Is there sprawl out there in Eugene?

Is it getting worse?

I guess you (technically) only have three sides to sprawl out from ...seeing as Springfield takes up the East side of your fair city.

What are your thoughts?

Is 11th street getting 'worse' in this regard?

Is there legislation concerning 'sprawl' and 'smart growth' (As opposed to dumb growth I guess)?

Thanks.

[sarahkate_m]

Yes, it's getting worse, in my humble opinion. The sprawl. 11th street. The baloney that goes on around the U of O (no people with signs asking for handouts around there). The laws preventing grass burning seem to be for the sole gain of the U of O - to protect them from the air pollution during their sport events...

I hate air pollution but you've got to admit it isn't really bad here. The air quality issues are mostly due to pollen, right? So if the grass growers need a low impact way to continue profitting, why can't they do field burning?

I think with the Riverbend medical facility & the new bridge stuff they're doing in Springfield, near Riverbend, it's going to get really wierd. In Los Angeles county, all the big hospitals with huge freeway overpasses nearby are ghetto-ized.

I hope I'm living somewhere else in five years, even though I love it here...

[haggardhouseelf]

I know what you mean. I love Eugene, but things are changing. When those Crescent Village frou-frou boxes went up... I felt like I had lost a favorite pair of old broken-in and faded blue jeans. And the whole Farm at Cal Young thing really threw us for a loop. We had to laugh, because it's already there... crying wouldn't solve anything. They still can't sell that ridiculous property and have lost millions on the project - no buyers in three years or something? Gee, I wonder why?

It's like some big expensive hand has these fancy schmancy shoe designs for this little town that really don't fit. Eugene is a next-generation Birkenstock... or maybe an Earth... a Merrell or Keen... or perhaps a Dansko when you need to cover your toes for work... and somebody is trying to squeeze Eugene's stubby toes into a trendy overpriced Manolo Blahnik or a pointy-toed Chanel pump or something. It's horrible. Horrible. The big hand needs to find a new hobby, or a new direction.

[sarahkate_m]

The freeway overpass thing (big hand?) by & for the Riverbend installation is what scares me. In my life, I've noticed big hospitals with huge freeway overpasses are where the ghettos are. I'd like to be wrong about the direction I sense this area is headed for.

When I came here in '04, the story I was given about Beltline is that is was a tool to prevent "sprawl" ... Is this hypocrisy or do I misunderstand what I think I see? My Eugenian native bf told me about it, among others.

The frou-frou is for the college crowd: that's what I get from reading the forums here... And for the CA transplants looking for short term rentals while they check out the scene here. I was once one of those people but I stayed at BW on Franklin.

The "big hand" serves what "it" perceives to be our economic best interests... Like Whole Foods was SUPPOSED to. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when that plan failed! It would have been "goodbye small town!"

Take the shoe horn away from "big hand"! Elfie, we need to find a way to thwart it... A quiet revolution, of sorts.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by brubaker

Is 11th street getting 'worse' in this regard?

I'm pretty sure 11th st is in Springfield...

11th ave. is in Eugene. I know, I'm being petty... but I was trying to figure out where 11th st was... and couldn't think of it so I found my mapsco...

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by brubaker

Is there legislation concerning 'sprawl' and 'smart growth' (As opposed to dumb growth I guess)?

Thanks.

Hmmm... maybe read this? Eugene Comprehensive Lands Assessment FAQ

This is from 2004...

If you look around the city website you'll probably find more info... there's a search box at the top of the page.