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e Ms. Bascom said the Willamette Street issue is a complicated one. The street, for example, is blocked at 7th Avenue by the Hult Center and it is rather congested to the south. Because of such factors, Willamette Street is not likely to become the significant vehicular access street that the proponents of reopening have envisioned. Mr. Boles agreed with Mr. Bennett's point about the importance of the City Council's leadership in developing solutions for downtown. He also agreed with Ms. Ehrman that vehicular access is no cure-all. He said the community needs to find the appropriate balance between vehicular access and pedestrian activity for its downtown streets. Mr. Schwartz said downtown's problems haye fed upon each other: the lack of vehicular access has decreased activity on the mall; the underutilized public spaces have developed security problems, which further discourages people from coming downtown; the lack of activity has made investors unwilling to develop more stores in the area, which serves to maintain or worsen the problem of not having enough stores to attract people to the area. Mr. Schwartz also mentioned the Lane Transit District (LTD) station and said many businesses do not want the station located near them. He said that if a new off-street station is constructed, and if it is well-designed and well-managed, it might serve as the kind of public sector anchor mentioned by Mr. Boles. Mr. Schwartz also said a public library could have been an effective source of activity for downtown; however, the voters passed up a great deal. e Mr. Holmer challenged the Downtown Commission to be more aggressive in promoting its recommendations for how to improve downtown. He also said the City Council needs to assert more leadership by actively promoting measures to improve downtown rather than becoming bogged down in processes. Mr. Olson said the level of development in downtown Eugene is inadequate. He also said a coordinated approach is needed to market and manage downtown as a complete package. Mr. Green asked why the 5th Street Market is doing better economically than the mall. Mr. Schwartz mentioned three reasons: 1) because the market is a privately owned building rather than a public space, offensive behaviors can be prohibited much more easily and a secure environment can be maintained'; 2) because the shops are all part of one building, rather than being completely independent businesses, the market can be managed and operated in a coordinated fashion (e.g., common hours of operation); and 3) vehicular access to the market is much better than access to the mall. Mr. Boles cautioned against blaming all of downtown's problems on the lack of security. He also supported Mr. Olson's point about the need to develop not only an integrated vision for downtown, but also an integrated plan to manage the area. He said he would be reluctant to support a proposal to open Willamette Street unless it is part of a more comprehensive set of measures to revitalize downtown. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 8, 1989 Page 5