Comment by Eugene, where's your pride?

May 6, 2008 @ 1:22 pm

Don’t jump to conclusions. Eugene has (in the last couple months) finally gotten off the urban blight kick and started to clean up their streets. Not because they want to compete with Springfield, but because the Olympics are coming to town. As much as I love to see the community taking pride in their own backyard, it is sad it took an event like the Olympics to get the city involved in helping out. If you live in SE Eugene you can’t help but notice every park, every street corner, every public space has gotten some much needed attention lately.

Comment by luke

May 6, 2008 @ 8:43 pm

This is good news. I am curious as to whether this is due to civic pride or City government intervention. I’ve noticed that in North Eugene the city is staying on top of the occasional sidewalk and fence-line graffiti. Also, some of the Parks have received some additional attention.

I won’t be surprised to see this attention to detail disappear as soon as the national attention vanishes. I sure hope I am wrong about that!

Comment by Carol

May 8, 2008 @ 8:22 pm

Yes, Luke, you’re correct about the property values in Springfield, and their rising in leaps and bounds. With all the hundreds of new professional hires at the gorgeous new Peace Health, the need for professional offices, the new Justice Center trades that want to get in on the action, plus all the other large companies moving into Springfield, I suggest renaming it “Ja-Jingfield.” The Mayor and City Council certainly have had excellent foresight.

Comment by luke

May 13, 2008 @ 10:50 pm

I agree with you Carol that the Mayor and City Council in Springfield deserve a lot of credit for bringing growth to a city that needed it.

The irony is that Eugene has traditionally offered the most engaged and politically sensitive leadership, often to the detriment of it’s less fortunate citizens; those who benefit more from living wage private-sector jobs than from hyperbole.

Jobs will become far more plentiful in Springfield in the years to come, especially as the county and Eugene city budget planners face tough choices that constrain public sector growth in Eugene.

Kudos to Springfield for keeping the pressure on Eugene. Now it’s time to cleanup those Springfield parks and solve the meth/domestic violence problem that’s sucking a lot of the money out of the county. Only community pressure can put a stop to that stuff.