Parking may be an issue for the proposed downtown development to be located at West 13th Avenue and Olive Street, as LiveMove,@@http://pages.uoregon.edu/livemove/@@ a University group focusing on transportation and livability at the University, has expressed concerns over the construction of a parking garage.
“Transportation is evolving all across America, but particularly with college students,” said Casey Gifford, a member of LiveMove@@http://www.facebook.com/caseygifford1@@. “Millennials are choosing to live in walkable areas where they can get to campus, grocery stores and restaurants by walking, biking or by transit. The proposed development is located particularly in that location to meet that desire.”
The development would be located close to major transportation lines, including the EmX. Gifford said she would like to see the developer look into creative ways to address parking. She hopes the developer can make parking flexible so that if resident need declines, the parking can be utilized by downtown businesses.
“The amount of parking is not required from the city,” said Nan Laurence, senior planning for the City of Eugene. “The lender is the one that requires the parking lot. The developer doesn’t want to provide more parking than is necessary” The garages may be built in phases, meaning the developer could build one and reassess the need for a second, she said.
Cortney Mild,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Cortney+Mild@@ president of LiveMove, is wary of the development but not ready to protest the project as of now.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m surprised about the parking garages. I don’t think I have to get upset yet because it sounds like there are options for working around there,” Mild said. “It’s good the issue is being raised early before they start the development.”
The University has made strides to make the campus more non-car commuter friendly in the past decade. They have installed more bike racks and continue to regulate the parking on campus.
“I think that campus is active about analyzing the bike parking and seeing what the trends are as far as bike parking and putting in more parking where necessary,” Mild said.
A 2009 study of University students’ most well-established commutes found that 28 percent of students walk to campus, 19 percent take the bus and 17 percent bike. The study found that only 11 percent drive to campus alone, which is much lower than the 35 percent average of the other then-Pac-10 schools.
“Development needs to build for what we as a community want in the future,” Gifford said. “If we build a ton of parking, we’re saying as a community that we want cars to be a big part of our lives in the future.”