This piece reflects the views of the author, Benjamin Fryer, and not those of Emerald Media Group. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to [email protected].
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As I walked through campus as a wide-eyed eighteen-year-old back in 2019, I took a deep breath, attempting to inhale a futurist vision of what my next four years could look like. Was this small college town in the middle of Oregon the best place for me? I quickly became enchanted by old red brick buildings and spacious green lawns where like-minded peers chillaxed on fashionable blankets. I knew this was the place for me. I will never forget the day I moved into Walton Hall or the first drink at Max’s. The walks to Autzen Stadium, ordering the “hangover special” from Brails, and browsing The NEST cemented me into the Eugene community.
The Eugene that first bewitched me has been in the process of metamorphosis. The massive dirt pit that filled the view as I looked from my dorm window has grown into the world’s finest track stadium, estimated to have cost $270 million. The dorm itself – where I watched all those cranes and backhoes — has subsequently been destroyed and replaced with modern, sleek student housing. These infrastructure improvements are only a fraction of the new construction that Eugene has experienced. The closest 7-11 to campus and Glenwood, a popular breakfast spot, have been recent casualties with towering apartments growing from their graves. Now, as each walk to campus edges me closer and closer to graduation, I travel on a displaced sidewalk surrounded by chain link fences. I watch as Caspians, a former Eugene staple, is torn to the ground.
Our community has undergone remarkable changes while I have been here, all seemingly with the intention to improve our well-being and status. Despite the new freshman dorms and the behemoth housing developments, plenty of students live in the West University Neighborhood. Townhouses, duplexes, and classic homes fill the blocks between 18th and 11th Street. I love this area, one that is a hellscape ruled by slum lord realtors like Campus Connection. Where screams and meltdowns from urban campers are a regular occurrence. I sympathize with those experiencing homelessness and believe they deserve so much more. However, garbage and litter fill our streets. The blight remains after police relocate members of our community, and there is no sign of an actual plan to help.
When I revisit Eugene, as a proud Oregon Duck alumni, what will I see?
At this rate of construction, the college town located in the middle of Oregon will be unrecognizable as small businesses with large personalities are torn down. I believe that these improvements are an illusion. An illusion covering the systemic issues in our community, ones that become much more visible just a block outside of campus. When I revisit the town I fell in love with, seeing homelessness solved and decent places for students to live will be so much more meaningful than modernized buildings and new construction. I hope Eugene maintains its personality and finds impactful solutions for all community members, not just students.
