A Growing Greening Eugene

As I drive to and from work everyday I can't help but notice the trend of growth here in Eugene, Oregon. Traffic on West 11th has seen a significant increase during peak daytime hours including lunch hour. I can clearly see structures being built left and right adding to the congestion of West Eugene. Larger corporations are claiming their stake for the high volume traffic that connects West Eugene to downtown including Staples, Applebee's, and soon to be Lowe's Home Improvement.

These places ultimately hope to capitalize on a gap in what the city doesn't already offer. In just the last two years of living in Eugene, I can already see a difference in the amount of increased traffic to the area. Local politicians are already talking about what to do with the increase as well as local activists and organizers that wish to see minimal negative impacts. Talks of adding an EMX line with a dedicated lane have been discussed, as well the use of a trolley or light rail system. All in all, it is unlikely that a light rail or trolley system would be approved due to its high cost, and adding an additional lane to already crammed streets could be difficult.

With Enterprise Rent-A-Car opening a call center in downtown Eugene providing up to 200 jobs, growth does seem to be on its way. Ideas are being hashed out over what to do with the developer that is still willing to work with Eugene on its downtown development. It seems like decisions are hard to come by. Everyone has their own vision of the utopian city they envision for Eugene. All the fighting over how to handle growth has not surprisingly stopped the fact that Eugene recently landed in the top 5 Greenest Cities over 100,000 people on a report published by Popular Science Magazine.

The fact is, changes could occur with unfavorable outcomes eventually due to the city's lack of funding for essential public services. The city wants growth in a sustainable manner and even has plans for a new city hall and police department but can't seem to balance their budget or charge the right amount of taxes to Hynix. Due to the Hynix imbalance alone, the city has to come up with a hefty $7 million dollar refund in which it has to cut funding to schools and other services. How does the city plan on paying for additional projects?

My largest fear for the future of Eugene stems from the recently appointed Jon Ruiz as city manager voted in by city council. His previous experience comes from an assistant city manager position from the city of Fresno, California. As quoted from the City of Eugene's website, Jon Ruiz has experience in:

downtown development and economic development, finance and budget, outcome-focused government, regional transportation planning, and infrastructure funding and construction.

Essentially, this guy with his 2 years of experience in Fresno, CA (the epitome of suburbia) is going to run our city and arguably yields more political clout than the city council and mayor. From the quote provided by the city of Eugene above, it is clear that Mr. Ruiz's experience in those issues, which are clearly similar to issues in Eugene, could prove useful. However, his ability to run the city as manager will unfold after he takes office on April 14th. His only concern should be that this city is not like Fresno by a long shot, and the citizens that reside in this city will closely be watching his every move.