07/08/1987 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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_so - - -------- downtown retailing is changing. The anchor stores are leaving downtowns, and with them is going comparative shopping. He said that suburban shopping e centers are ideal for quick comparative shopping, and that downtowns cannot compete on this level. He said downtown retail is becoming destination- ori ented and the businesses are becoming more distinctive, more special. Peop 1 e will not shop at these distinctive businesses unless they know the businesses exist; therefore, every type of access to these shops is crucial. Mr. Miller said the City needs to ensure that people with disabilities will have access downtown. He asked whether the streetscape environment recommended by Mr. Miles would present problems to people wi th visual impairments, and what could be done to address these problems. Mr. Miles recommended that the City use the expertise of the Commission on the Rights of Person s wi th Di sabil ities to arri ve at solutions to the type of issue mentioned by Mr. Miller. He said a variety of textural, visual, audible, and physical cues can be used to help people with visual impairments. Ms. Bascom said she was enthusiastic about much of Mr. Mil es work--for example, what has been done along West Broadway. However, she questioned the emphasis being placed on Willamette as Eugene's mainstreet. She said Willamette is hardly a continuous type of mainstreet. She said that using the notion of making Willamette Eugene's mainstreet as a justification for the proposed redesign of Willamette from 8th to 10th seemed to confuse the issue. In response to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Miles reiterated and clarified a point he had made earlier. He said there seems to be a lot of support in the commun ity for improvements to the merchant zone on Wi 11 amette Street (improving seating and lighting, making better use of the sidewalk area, e encouraging the installation of awnings, and so on). He said there also seems to be support for making improvements to the plaza and fountain at the intersection of Broadway and Willamette. However, he said that a lot of discussion has been generated around the issue of what to do with the central activity zone on Willamette--namely, whether to open it to traffic or to redesign it along the lines of th~ improvements made on West Broadway. He said that often, a particular aspect of a program overshadows the entire project. He said the City should try to avoid this. He said the important thing is for the City to begin a downtown improvements program; and part of thi s program wi 11 involve deciding what to do with Willamette's central activity zone. Mr. Miles also mentioned that an incremental approach can be adopted in the improvements made in the downtown core. He said the basic framework (the three zones that he discussed earliar) is flexible enough so that changes can be made over time. Ms. Schue said the Downtown Commission has discussed the possibility of moving the centra 1 plaza. She said her impression was that Mr. Miles thought the central plaza should be at the intersection of Broadway and Willamette. Mr. Mil es said that a town square should be adjacent to a city's important streets, and that Broadway and Willamette are two of Eugene's most important streets. He also said a town square should be located where the people are now. He said a City should not try to locate a town square where there are no people, and try to import people into this new square. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 8, 1987 Page 12