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Dakota Wolff/ Zoe RhettGeography 442/542: Urban Geography3/10/2015Field Exercise #3Livability, Walkability, and Development/ Re-Development Issues in South Eugene???????The focus of this section will be on the current livability, walkability, and development/redevelopment in the South Eugene neighborhood. I will start with what Zoe and I observed during our preliminary field visit to South Eugene, and our initial thoughts on the neighborhood walkability, and economic stability. ?Then I will discuss some of the most important aspects of livability, and walkability as described by Jeff Speck’s book The Walkable City in relation to South Eugene. A lot of the ideas in the book do not apply to my Neighborhood, because it is so residential/suburban, so I will skip the parts that apply more towards the CBD (Central Business District), and downtown areas, and focus more on aspects of livability and walkability as it relates to South Eugene. Finally I will give some professional walkability and livability scores data to show how South Eugene ranks up with other neighborhoods in Eugene.???????On our initial field visit we drove to South Eugene and went straight to Spencer’s Butte. When we passed 30th avenue on Willamette the very first thing we noticed was a switch from businesses, and restaurants, and shopping centers, and gas stations into residential neighborhoods with lots of what appeared to be low income apartment housing, creating a sense that there were clear boundaries to this neighborhood. As we continued down Willamette we noticed the time was 3:30, and that school kids either from the high school, or the middle school should be getting out, and maybe walking home, seeing as it was a Thursday and sunny outside. This was not the case, the only kids we saw outside during our entire drive and walk was at a bus stop, and then some kids at Spencer’s Butte middle school, who were playing on the fields next to the school. This let us know right away how unwalkable this area is. The next thing we noticed as we drove around was that, as we got further up in the hills towards Spencer’s Butte, the nicer the houses seemed to get. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but it was quite clear that the wealthier families lived on the periphery of the town, in the hills, ?and the lower income families lived near 30th down closer to town. At the very top of the hills where the turn for spencer’s butte park is, there was a grouping of very large houses that looked very new, and one house that was under construction, these were the nicest we saw all day, and were a good example of development in the area (picture 2). In fact other than that one house, we only saw one other home under construction. As we continued around the neighborhood we recognized how unwalkable, and unbikable this area was simply due to the slope of the hills, and the nonexistence of sidewalks and bike paths in the vast majority of areas, along with the sheer size, and distance of the neighborhood from grocery stores and other amenities as we went further south. The only paths for running were along amazon where there is a dirt path that parallels the street. These paths were being utilized by at least 15 people that we observed, but the fact that no bike lanes existed was a downfall. Although walkability seems to severely lack, there were an abundance of bus stops, and it was clear that residents could easily walk to them in them 5 minutes or less, from just about anywhere in the neighborhood. We also observed a serious lack of businesses, grocery stores, and restaurants/coffee shops as we went away from 30th avenue further south. We didn’t think much of this, because although these amenities are not a short walk away, they are a short 5 minute drive from anywhere in the neighborhood to places like Albertsons on 30th , and Safeway on 40th. ?Restaurants and coffee shops also exist including Hideaway Bakery/ Mazzi’s, and The old Pad Pub, but these are for obvious economic reasons, closer to town and the university. The general feel of South Eugene was simple, that closer to 30th was a bit depressing with visual evidence of poverty and homelessness, and the further up in the hills we went the nicer the homes got. There were an abundance of parks, schools, and churches, which gave a pleasant welcoming feel to the neighborhood. The existence of grassland and forested areas both with, and without residences made it feel secluded and quiet towards the urban growth boundary. Overall our opinion was that this area is very unwalkable, but nonetheless pleasant. It seemed stable economically, with a few homes for sale, and very few run down or vacant homes. For families who have kids Public schools seem plentiful, and it felt safe everywhere you went. ???????What Zoe and I observed involving a lack of unoccupied homes ended up being exactly right, the amount of unoccupied homes is 10.23% below the national average and makes up only 4.67% of properties, home ownership is 15% below the national average making up 47.47% of properties, and rental properties are, as expected with a suburban area, 28.66% above the national average, making up 47.86% of properties (). This coupled with the fact that South Eugene has a median household income that is 51.5% greater than the Eugene average, and 25.8% greater than the Oregon average, tells us that this area is incredibly stable economically, at least in comparison to other neighborhoods in Eugene, and Oregon in total. (). ???????Jeff Speck talks about the importance of trees, not only to the environment, but also to the housing prices and even our safety. Although very few trees actually line the few sidewalks that exist, the abundance of natural forest that exists really adds to the aesthetics of the neighborhood, as well as being a form of seclusion and peacefulness which Speck say is so important (p. 214/215).???????It is quite apparent that this area was formed under the ideals of urban sprawl and suburban lifestyle. The roads themselves are very wide and open, leading to a feeling of being on a highway. The residential streets are curling and twisting, leading to a lot of dead ends. A good thing I noticed was the absence of a gated community, in the reading by Mike Davis he explains the social forces that cause these gated communities to develop, which includes fear of the urban poor, and the need to separate and protect themselves from people of lower economic status. The absence of such gated spaces in a seemingly wealthy area shows that South Eugene is a better integrated, and a more welcoming community.Public transportation as described in Jeff specks book, as it pertains to bringing people in from the suburbs to the city is done quite well through the use of the LTD (Lane Transit District) bus system, which has four routes going through South Eugene which will take you to places like downtown, the University of Oregon, or Amazon Park.???????Protecting the pedestrian is one of the places where I think South Eugene has failed the most. There is a lack of sidewalks, and trees to line them. The distances that people have to travel for work and for simple amenities if they were to walk, ?is far too far, leading people to need to drive for just about everything. This is putting an earnest on the driver, and not the pedestrian who is at risk when they walk or run on the paths that line amazon road for recreation. Not to mention the danger that driving poses to themselves and other cars.If I were to speculate, I’d say that this area will stay much the same if the economy continues to be stable, or even grow. There is room for further development, and according to the Eugene zoning map there are plans for development towards the far south side of Eugene, with 16 tax lots under “Planned Development”, but this doesn’t mean it will happen any time soon (). Many of the problems with walkability and bikability stem from the slope of the hills, which some of these smaller neighborhoods lie on, but even in places where it is flatter there are few crosswalks, few sidewalks, and few trees which line the roads. Bike paths are few and far between apart from in school zones, not only in South Eugene, but in Eugene as a whole, which seems nonsensical due to the vast amount of bikers and our Eugene bike score of 75, and in some places 100 ().After analyzing this neighborhood, and the important issues brought up in the book, a final issue that is particularly important to look at in the context of our very suburban neighborhood is how urban sprawl affected the downtown area. He discusses the way that “zoning has undermined and continues to undermine our inner cities, and that if cities are to become whole again, they must not only reform their codes, but also labor to reestablish a proper balance of activities downtown” (p.106). With the zoning I’ve seen on the Eugene zoning map, it appears that there hasn’t been a push to let go of residential development in South Eugene, but I think in all Eugene has done a fairly good job of bringing people back to downtown. With the addition of some very popular food venues and nightlife, I think there have been strides made to revitalize downtown, especially if the riverside restoration project actually happens.In order to put the contemporary southeast neighborhood into context, it is important to understand the history of the area. This area of Eugene resides on the outer reaches of the city. It is characterized by its hilly residential areas, and its proximity to Spencers Butte. A timeline of the area’s history compiled by the Planning and Development Department of the City of Eugene gives background information to how the development of the larger city of Eugene influenced the formation of this neighborhood.One of the important aspects of the Southeast neighborhood is Willamette Street, which runs on the western boundary of the neighborhood, with its lower reaches extending to Spencer Butte. Willamette Street was one of the first roads built in Eugene that extended so far south of the city center. It was originally graded and installed with gaslights in 1871 (“Spencer Butte Park History” 2003). ?Because Eugene was a center for agriculture and lumber industries in the 19th century, it became industrialized in the late 1800s. Part of this industrialization was an increase in transportation technologies. In 1891 operation of a horse-drawn “street rail” began down Willamette Street into the Southeast and College Hill neighborhoods. The first automobile showed up in Eugene in 1904, and Willamette Street was paved shortly after. This was important to the development of the Southeast neighborhood because there were settlers who were living near Spencer Butte at the time and the road made access to the city center much easier (“Timeline of Eugene…” 1991).Transportation and infrastructure in the area evolved from the unpaved Willamette Street of the 19th century to a more connected layout that it has today. The Southeast Neighborhood Analysis includes a transportation map, showing all of the major and minor bus routes in south Eugene and their stops. There are quite a few bus stops in the neighborhood, which we observed during our field observations. However, there are fewer bus stops in the southernmost hills where some of the older, bigger houses are located. This doesn’t seem to be an issue that needs to be fixed because I noticed in our observations that many of those residences had cars parked out front, so the people living there probably do not rely on public transportation to get to other parts of Eugene. Additionally, these larger residences located at the edge of the neighborhoods, up on the hills, are characteristic of the section with the highest per capita income, highest median household income, and highest median family income in South Eugene (Flormoe et al. 2011). This probably means that they can afford such luxuries as owning a car and paying for gas. ?Another major contributor to the historical development of Southeast Eugene was credited to the University. The University of Oregon was established in 1876, which increased the population of the city and subsequently created an increase in demand for rental property. Although only 1% of existing homes in the neighborhood were built in 1939 or earlier, the development of the area continued into the 20th century. As of 2011, 33% of homes in Southeast Eugene were built from 1970 to 1979, followed by 26% in 1960 to 1969 (Flormoe et al. 2011). This shows a trend in the neighborhood’s history and its expansion. It can be inferred from this data that there was a period of growth in the 1960s and 1970s.The land use in Southeast Eugene is distributed in a somewhat predictable way. With the University of Oregon, Northwest Christian University, and a handful of public schools established, Eugene quickly became a city with a major focus on education. It is not surprise that we observed so many schools and parks during our initial field observations. According to the 2011 Southeast Neighborhood Analysis, there currently are five schools in the neighborhood boundaries: Ridgeline Montessori Charter School, Educational Options East, Spencer Butte Middle School, Edgewood Elementary School, and Charlemagne French Immersion Elementary School. The report also notes that 8.6% of the residents in Southeast Eugene are enrolled in a college undergraduate program, and 15.6% is the combined percentage of students residing in the area who are enrolled in grades one through twelve (Flormoe et al. 2011). These schools inevitably take up space in the neighborhood, but surprisingly religious buildings take up more space. 2.4% of acres in the neighborhood land use are for educational purposes, as compared to 3.5% for religious infrastructure. A good amount of the land is used for parks (10.9%) and the majority of the space is for single-family residences (41%) (Flormoe et al. 2011). As Dakota noted in summarizing our field observations, the neighborhood overall has very poor walkability. In 1957, a recreational path for foot and bicycle traffic was planned between 33rd Avenue and Hilyard Street. However, in the present-day South Eugene “alleys, walkways, and bike paths” still only make up 0.2% of the acres of land (Flormoe et al. 2011).Southeast Eugene began as a small collection of residences near Spencer Butte and the wooded areas just south of the city. Willamette Street helped connect the area to the center of town, and created an accessible area. Overtime Southeast Eugene has developed and expanded while almost completely retaining its proportion of upscale residences, churches, schools, and park, with vast room for improvement in walking space and walkability. Sources"Property Ownership." Keller Williams . Market Leader Tools From Trulia, 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <;."Southeast, Eugene, OR Livability Score." Area Vibes. Zillow, 7 Jan. Web. 1 Jan. 2015. < , Jeff. The Walkable City. New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2012. Print."Eugene Zoning Map ." 13 May 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <;."Living In South Eugene ." Walk Score. 25 May 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <, Lorna, Sarah Zaleski, Menina Newman, Michael Wisth, and Shawna Adams. Southeast Neighborhood Analysis. Eugene: City of Eugene Neighborhood Services, 2011. PDF.“Spencer Butte Park History.” Spencer Butte. N.p., 12 Sept. 2003. Web. 11 March 2015.“Timeline of Eugene and College Hill History.” Friendly Area Neighbors. N.p., 1991. Web. 11 March 2015. Picture:1Picture:2Picture:3Picture:4picture: 5Picture:6Picture:7Picture one is of a House right before you go over the hill and out of town. It is a fairly typical looking house size wise for this upper area, and of course there are multiple garages. Picture two is of the newer development we found that is directly on the urban growth boundary and has some of the nicest homes we found. It is very secluded and they all obviously owned cars to travel to work or for anything for that matter. Picture three is of a typical house that’s right next to Spencers Butte middle school, which is in the very middle of this neighborhood. And of course there is a car parked in their driveway. Picture four is of Spencers Butte middle school and is a good example of the amount of open space and grassland that is present in this neighborhood which adds to urban sprawl. Picture five is of an a-typical street that has trees which line it on the opposite side of the sidewalk. It also has a bus stop, which of course nobody is using because everyone in this neighborhood owns a car. This picture was taken on the east side in the hills. Picture six is coming from coming down from the hills on the west side, and an example of how some streets look and feel like highways. Picture seven is on amazon street where we saw lots of runners and walkers with their kids and by themselves. This is the only place we saw that was conducive for running safely and with out hills. ................
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