CC Newsletter - 01/12/06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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saying they had used the parks in the past year. Other heavily used services (mentioned by more than half of the respondents) include the library (71%), the airport (58%) and the Hult Center (57%). The building permit (9%) and land use permit processes (4%) were used by very few respondents, calling into question the level of information used to assess the quality of those services. Four out of ten respondents (40%) feel that Eugene’s population is growing too fast, up by one-third from 30% last year after hovering between 30% and 36% since 2001. One-quarter of respondents (26%) feel their economic opportunity in Eugene has gotten worse in the past five years, down from 36% last year and hitting the lowest point since 2000. Nearly half (47%) feel that their economic opportunity has stayed the same. Respondents support the concept of the City taking an active role in helping businesses create more jobs, though some strategies are more popular than others. The two most favored approaches remain broadly supported, though less so than they have been in the past two years. More than three-quarters of respondents (79%) believe the City should take an active role in helping local businesses create jobs, down from 86% last year, and 74% believe that the City should provide problem-solving assistance for siting, permits, and development, down from 83% last year. Support for taking an active role in helping outside companies come to Eugene is more ambivalent and ambiguous: 62% of respondents favor that type of assistance, down from 80% last year but more consistent with 66% in 2003. Respondents opposed to helping outside companies come to Eugene increased to 25% from 16% last year. People continue to feel more comfortable walking at night in their neighborhoods than in business areas. While 87% felt very or somewhat safe walking alone at night in their neighborhoods, two-thirds (66%) felt that way in business areas. Crime was cited by 14% of respondents as the most important problem facing Eugene, followed by education (10%) and City growth, traffic, and homeless issues, which were each mentioned by 8%. The telephone survey, conducted in November and December of 2005 by Advanced Marketing Research, asked a randomly-selected sample of 401 Eugene residents to share their perceptions about the community and the City of Eugene. Survey results are tracked over time to measure significant shifts in those perceptions and to help inform the development of policy and programs. The survey report will be posted to the City’s website (http://www.ci.eugene.or.us) and copies will be available in the Eugene Public Library. For more information, please contact Terrie Monroe at 682-5412 or terrie.e.monroe@ci.eugene.or.us. Public Works Engineering Staff Meets Eugene Hotel Neighbors The Public Works Engineering Design and Construction Office at 244 East Broadway leases space at the Eugene Hotel and shares the historic building with residents of the Eugene Hotel Retirement Center. Not only do both groups have an interest in the Eugene Hotel building, but they also see one another coming and going throughout the day. Approximately 50 hotel residents attended an open house at the Engineering Division in December to learn about construction activities and to tour areas such as the hotel ballroom and the King Cole Room which are now used as offices and a conference room. A few weeks later, City staff dropped in at the retirement center to hear about the services available to their Retirement Center residents tour Engineering office neighbors and tour the “other side” of the building, including the Presidential Suite where Richard Nixon once stayed. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 March 3, 2006