05/08/1989 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Ms. Schue doubted that there would ever be the kind of community consensus about downtown envisioned by Mr. Boles. She said that rather than doing further long-range studies or plans, the City should consider what specific actions it can take, given its resources and the political environment, to improve downtown Eugene. Mayor Miller said he has heard some talk about letting downtown deteriorate until people are finally convinced that something needs to be done (for example, opening Willamette Street). He said the City should provide more direction and leadership; it should present the public with an option to improve downtown: Mr. Schwartz compared the level of economic activity that is occurring on streets that have been reopened to vehicular traffic in recent years to the level of economic activity on the pedestrian mall. He said the mall has not worked as people originally hoped it would. He also said that downtown malls across the country tend to fail unless that have good vehicular access to them. Ms. Ehrman said the council and commission were still discussing the same old issue; however, the community does not appear to support the opening of Willamette Street to vehicular traffic. Ms. Schue agreed, saying that the City needs to focus its efforts on developing solutions that will receive political support from the public. e Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts said that is one reason why the commission intends to examine the possibility of opening Olive Street to vehicular traffic. This might be acceptable to the community, and if it proves successful, the public might be convinced to support the opening of Wi 1 lamette Street as well. Several commissioners emphasized that downtown's security problems have worsened over the last 12 to 18 months. Mr. Green said he has heard a lot of concerns expressed by downtown business owners about security, but he has yet to hear significant concerns expressed by the general public. He cautioned that if this issue is discussed in an overly negative way--if downtown businesses keep stressing the security problem--the public may well be convinced that downtown is unsafe. He suggested that a more positive approach be taken when trying to address downtown's security problems. Mr. Green also said that in order to succeed, downtown needs to be able to attract people--with a good range of stores and merchandise, with aesthetic attractions, with various events, and so forth. Ms. Morrow said the people who support the current configuration of the mall do not understand what makes an urban area succeed. She stressed the importance of vehicular access to the economic prosperity of downtowns Ms. Morrow also said the proposal to open Willamette Street to vehicular traffic was not marketed effectively; not enough political effort was put behind it. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 8, 1989 Page 3