I’m sitting here staring at the computer generation in the Eugene Weekly of the plan by Tom Connor, Don Woolley and the Opus Group to redevelop downtown, and I am baffled. The ominous buildings look more like prison barracks than anything else. But I guess to some, the idea of a parking garage surrounded by condos and chain stores does sound a lot like prison.
The project Connor, Opus and Woolley, or COW, is planning is actually called a “lifestyle center.” They are affluent, outdoor shopping centers that mix dwellings and businesses, much like an idealized main street. They work well in big cities with a lot of different neighborhoods and creepy little cities like Modesto, Calif., where women disappear on a regular basis. This COW project does not belong in the middle of downtown Eugene.
There are several reasons why. Here are a few that seem so blatantly obvious I am appalled that the Eugene City Council is even considering forcing their hand in the matter.
The redevelopment plan will ruin all that is fun about nightlife downtown. As this paper’s editorial board has already made clear, we don’t want the COW to turn our favorite bars into a Purgo-floored condo atop a Crate and Barrel and a Cheesecake Factory. The plan would demolish Luckey’s, the oldest business in Eugene and now the home of $1 Jack Daniels; The Horsehead, a wonderful, huge space with places to smoke and great local art; John Henry’s, which between Reggae Night, ’80s Night and the Burlesque Show has something for everybody; the swankster Jameson’s; and the brand new Snafu. I haven’t even been to the last one yet. Why does the COW want to take our nightlife away? We spend way more money downtown than we should. Just what money can the COW pull in for Eugene that we can’t?
There is no guarantee the COW will be a cash cow. All of the businesses I mentioned above are currently very successful. Who is to say the mystery COW will be able to deliver? Look at Broadway Place, a similar smaller project that the COW would bump its ugly butt right up against if it comes to town. The apartments are nice, and expensive, and there is plenty of parking. The stores that are there are local, but a lot of the retail space downstairs is empty. Do we really want to turn downtown into a three-block-long row of condos and vacant signs?
We would be paying for it. This is something I have never understood about business and government. According to the Weekly, the city could end up giving the COW up to $40 million of our tax money. So essentially, the city would be paying them to tear up downtown, spend years on construction, replace local charm with a lifestyle center, that could possibly fail altogether. Meanwhile, the successful small businesses of downtown get forcefully bought out of their land and told to take a hike. All this on our dime, and we citizens without a say in the matter. Remember this is the same Council that banned smoking in bars without asking. Now they want to remove the bars themselves without asking.
The COW will tell you there is demand for downtown condos, and point to the Tate as an example. Sure, the Tate project may be very successful. I watch its progress every day from my window. It is a long, slow process. It looks like it will be a beautiful building, even when the giant crane is lifting a porta-pottie eight stories in the air. But the Tate property is just south of 13th Avenue on Olive. It is not directly next to any other building. Imagine creating a similar project (the COW project could be as high as seven stories) along West 10th Avenue and Broadway. The danger factor is much higher, seeing as the street and foot traffic is so much higher there. Traffic would be a mess. Construction would be endless.
The COW would do better elsewhere. Why not build it in West Eugene? It lost its parkway, so why not give them some economic development? I come from Phoenix, where sprawl was invented, and one thing we know is that if you build it, they will come. The COW would fit in perfectly off West 11th Avenue, where there is already a Wal-Mart and a Target. It might also be more successful up past Beltline Road off the Delta Highway. The Delta Oaks area is blowing up. And for the young professionals the COW wants to attract, it is right by the freeway to get downtown or wherever they work.
In downtown, however, the COW would be a mess. It would graze up all the local resources. For years we wouldn’t be able to get the COW out of the road. The COW would want to be the only thing around and work to scare off everyone else. Everyone would resent the COW. And, it would look like every other COW-like beast all over the country.
The COW needs to stay out of downtown. We already have are own lifestyle, thank you.
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