B. Carfree

The local weekly rag, our last locally-owned news source hereabouts, dedicated the annual Outdoors issue to all things cycling. Here's the three main articles:

https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2018/04...o-wheels-good/

https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2018/04...te-of-cycling/

https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2018/04/19/a-path-too-far/

Nightdiver

Good for them. Hopefully Eugene can step up the bike game. Always seemed like the sort of town that would have half the population riding bikes. Wonder if that modal percentage they quoted includes the UofO students or not, or if it would even impact the numbers. Because I'm pretty sure back in Davis' heyday the students made up a big part of the percentage riding bikes.

Are the bike paths still a sketchy proposition? Certainly the feeling of safety and biking without fear of harassment and/or violence/theft would help bolster ridership. Of course the bike theft issue is always a sour note.

B. Carfree

I serve on the board of a neighborhood association in Eugene. Our 'hood borders the river and has most of the homeless services in the city, so the bike path issues are front and center for us. After years of attempting to get something done about the conditions on the bike paths and getting no where under police chief Pete Kerns, who recently retired, we now have an interim chief from east Texas who has been responsive. Two real trouble spots on the south bank path, under the I-105 and under the Ferry St. Bridge, have been cleared out and kept that way. In fact, when I was riding back home with my granddaughters the other night after watching the Agate Hall Swifts return to the chimney, there were two police units dealing with a couple of transients who had set up camp under the I-105. That is definitely a new thing. Our new permanent police chief starts next week. I hope he can keep the momentum up.

As far as modal shares go, I think the US Census ACS includes students, but I'm not sure. Since the locales that tend to lead the pack are cities with substantial university presences, it makes sense that the students are being included.

Nightdiver

That sounds promising! I also really hope they can keep the momentum up and reclaim the public spaces. Are they cleaning up the downtown too, or is that too much to hope for? I saw your other thread about moving out of Eugene. Is the change in policing giving you any hope of being able to stay in Eugene or is it a lost cause?

I almost bought a house there a couple years ago, and am now again considering moving there. My friends in the area are very positive about the town, but they all live in the South Hills so maybe it rose tints their perspective. We love so much about Eugene, but the homeless/transient population and general feeling of disrepair and skeeziness is a big negative, especially to my wife.

B. Carfree

I'm cautiously optimistic. The city is getting ready to pass a construction excise tax on homes that pull permits for over $250k and some commercial buildings that combined will raise $3-4 million for affordable housing/shelters which will likely be leveraged out to over $20 million. I was just in a meeting with someone who has a line on about $35-70 million for a revolving low-income housing fund from a lifelong friend who just pumped over $100 million into a similar fund elsewhere. The state recently mandated that all cities must allow residential properties to add an accessory dwelling unit, which should alleviate a bit of the affordable housing crunch. The police are being given funds to hire people and the new chief is interested in livability issues. We even have a couple of officers riding along the bike paths (only days, but it's a start). Even the county is opening a $10 million wet bed facility.

All of this is new since I started the thread about looking for a new place to live once my adopted daughter finishes her schooling in three years. We still have traffic planners and engineers who design and build stuff that makes cycling worse than it needs to be, but even they may come around with the right pressure. There's a growing community that is determined to apply that pressure and several elected officials who may join the fray. There's reason for hope. Besides, we've got some truly awesome cycling in the coast hills just twenty miles west of town, almost too good to be true.

That said, downtown is likely going to be the last thing cleaned up. It's unpleasant in many ways. However, with the world track and field championships coming in 2021, the city is under a lot of pressure to fix that.

Like I said, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm going to hope for the best and plan for failure.

Nightdiver

Thanks for the reply. Fingers crossed that your optimism is rewarded.