Folks in Eugene desperately want to revive their moribund downtown. Ain't gonna happen. A proposal on the last ballot to fund redevelopment through an expanded urban renewal district went down to crushing defeat. Conservatives mistrust city government, rightly. Progressives mistrust any proposal under which anyone makes a profit, which is inevitable if you bring in private developers. Disparate groups like the Eugene Chamber of Commerce and leftwing mayor Kitty Piercy supported it, to no avail.
I'm glad I don't live in Eugene (I'm in Florence 65 miles away). It's not a good situation. If the construction was just wood and would rot away in a few years, I'd say let it rot, but the city, county and federal governments are concentrated there, plus some more infrastructure like the convention center (and its dependent Hilton) and the new library.
What's missing is private enterprise and the question has to be asked, why would it ever return? It costs more to build downtown, parking sucks, and the people on the streets there do not represent a good potential market. The measure on the ballot was quite large and many people spoke in favor of smaller, incremental redevelopments. Unfortunately, this overlooks the simple fact that a small change in downtown means it is still repulsive.
Eugene's downtown will continue to decline. The voters of Springfield, however, voted in favor of more urban renewal for their downtow. The relative fortunes of these twin cities will be interesting to watch over the next decade.
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