Eugene is what makes for right-ringers. No moderation and social engineering to the 9nth. The Emerald city has more flaws than Bush's economics. Over-taxed and no voice to city leaders, this is the real Eugene and Lane county. With the over-educated liberals in the voting booth, what is to be expected? Haven't they heard...communismm went broke.

I grew up in Eugene in the 70s and graduated from HS in 82. Since then I really haven't been back that much except to visit family and that sort of thing.

Having lived in over a dozen communities throughout the US and abroad since then, what strikes me when I go back to visit Eugene is how seedy, run down, and downright ugly much of it is. There is, of course, the "cool" corridor running from downtown to the UO and south hills. but the rest of it? The North Eugene area where I grew up? The Bethel area? Bleah.

At the same time, there are so many diehards living there who have convinced themselves that Eugene is the most unique, progressive, hip, whatever, city on the planet. That might have been a bit closer to the truth in the 70s when much of the rest of America was still mired in 50s era politics and culture, having missed the 60s entirely. Back then Eugene thought it was so unique because it had things like bikepaths, urban markets, vegetarian restaurants and such. And maybe it was sort of unique, especially compared to places like Salem, Boise, and Spokane.

But today? I'm sorry but I can think of dozens of similarly-sized cities that have long ago left Eugene in the dust when it comes to urban planing, quality of life, transportation, culture and diversity, and all the other values that Eugene holds so dear.

Every single person that I have any contact with or knowledge of from my high school graduating class has long since left Eugene and few of them have looked back. I don't think that is in any way unique.

I don't think liberals have anything to do with it. I think it's the people who are anti-growth who have no idea who is paying for their city services. Run-away growth and sprawl is bad, but so is vehemently no-growth ideology. Eugene is lucky that they have the U of O campus, ie. Oregon taxpayers, to buffer the economic cycle for them.

The people who protests any sort of big businesses wanting to put roots down in their communities should go live in places like Camden, NJ, Gary, IN, and Detroit. You know, put their money where their mouths are, open up local business and support those communities and make a difference.

Marx.

Heaven forbid that people in Eugene would want to get their hands dirty and dabble in capitalism.

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Torrid: There was also a big misunderstanding about the parking lot attached to Whole Foods (outlined in the Eugene Weekly article) that was a major bone of contention. Personally, I like Whole Foods. They're in the same price range as other natural foods stores here, have a great selection, beautiful stores that are a pleasure to shop in, and, if I understand it correctly, give their employees health insurance.

It's a great place to contemplate mango, papaya, mango, papaya...

I believe the argument against Whole Foods was that it was sustainable, but not local. (That's what I recall from reporting a few months ago).

Sheesh, as opposed to Safeway, a $38 Billion Corp. headquartered in Alameda California; Fred Meyer, a division of Kroger Foods, a $60 Billion corporation headquartered in Cincinati; Albertsons, a division of Supervalu, a $50 billion corporation out of Minneapolis; Costco, a $52 Billion corporation out of Issaquah Washington; and Wal-Mart, a $315 Billion company out of Arkansas. Did I miss any major places where Eugenians shop for groceries?

I'm actually living in Texas while my wife finishes her medical residency so I know Whole Foods. They are nice and everything, but I frankly MUCH prefer HEB's Central Market stores here in Texas for my upscale natural grocery experience. They beat the pants off Whole Foods and you have nothing like then anywhere in Oregon:

Having never lived in Eugene, I can just give my outsider's impression. I've visited there often, as a Portlander and also on longer road trips from San Francisco. It's a nice place, but it does need more businesses, both small and large. It does leave a mark on the world around it, with businesses such as Emerald Valley, Kettle Chips (or did they move to Salem?), Yogi Foods, etc... which are all carried and promoted by Whole Foods.

In other parts of America, Whole Foods is not just a good thing, but a great thing. They offer living-wage jobs, their employees tend to be happy and knowledgeable (how do you define happy? they're friendly and helpful when interacted with in the store!), their products tend to be good, if not a bit steeply priced sometimes, thus the moniker "whole paycheck." But in a place like, I dunno, Denver, San Francisco (for those neighborhoods without a more local alternative), Oakland, or (I'm guessing) the entire state of Texas, a Whole Foods is pretty much the best chance that a city will ever get of having a supermarket-sized organic/natural foods store.

What does this mean for places like Portland and Eugene, which already have indigenous natural food stores?

I think the answer is this: How close are those homegrown alternatives to the particular site in question? Because if they're not within walking distance, it's a moot point. In my book, every urban neighborhood should have the opportunity to walk to a natural foods store. And if Whole Foods is the only business willing to step up to the plate and provide that service, that's capitalism. If you don't like it, open up your own alternative, offer those lower prices that they like on comparable natural products, and run 'em out of town. But don't deny them the opportunity to serve that market at all. Just make them adapt to meet your local needs -- add housing above their store, make parking invisible from the street, donate to local causes, improve the streetscape, or whatever your conditions of approval might be.

or (I'm guessing) the entire state of Texas, a Whole Foods is pretty much the best chance that a city will ever get of having a supermarket-sized organic/natural foods store.

Guess again. Here in Texas the real destination grocery is HEB's Central Market.

http://www.centralmarket.com/

We are blessed to have grocery choices that most people only dream about.

I loved both HEB and Whole Foods when I lived in Austin TX.

The Eugene debate is fascinating because it involves a clash of fundamental values and most of the commenters here, including Mary seem to feel that only that which they value should be important.

One the one hand, we have a laughable developer who in the last Eugene Weekly, expresses his outrage that Eugene won't embrace the "vision" of Portland and California which mainly is about making folks who share his values rich. Similarly, we have Mary, who is a (voluntary?) recent transplant who really seems to be unhappy with the fact she can't have it all, arguing that the situation just has to change. And although I'm not particularly a fan of Eugene myself, we have a number of posters who can be accurately described as idiots.

On the other hand, we have the voting majority of Eugene who, in the best example of small-d democracy that most of the imposters here embrace first and foremost as the most important social value, continue to maintain the city pretty much as it is.

It would have been nice for someone to present facts and figures on what the reality is for working folks in Eugene: Are they able to make enough of a living that they are satisfied? I know several Eugenians in that situation, and thus my take is just that I find it hilarious that folks like Woolley can't believe that Eugenians don't feel an obligation to make him rich.

Eugene has been too influenced by the student moguls residing at Duckland. There is a reason why the U of O has sometimes been called 'Cal-Berkeley at Eugene' and it showed it's beer-logged head with Whole Foods. The actual loser in all of this is the city of Springfield who could benefit more with development than Eugene. My question is - why are they trying to develop Eugene when it could be more advantageuos to go to Springfield given the political makeup of the whole Euegene-U of O-Springfield area?

I,like Kent, grew in North Eugene (and graduated a couple of years after him- '84) and eventually left, but I haven't noticed the area going to hell (I visit parents regularly). I have noticed, though, that it looks more and more like the Texas suburbs-- tall trees removed, strip malls added and general sprawl. Yuck.

One point that I think the local folk may have, but it hasn't been discussed here, is that ANY large, out of state company will be pulling money out of of your area when it sets its roots down in your local community. So why invite more of them to show up? It will always be a net loss. That's not Marxian-- its protecting your economic self-interest.

Yo Argon! See you at Country Faire, speaking of Eugene and what's great about it? I love the Weekly, btw. Their letters column is tops. Mainly the thing I love about Eugene is the people. There's a Bioneers satellite conference there. But the people, who've stayed, are some of the bestest, kindest and most interesting I've ever met. So living there, must be pretty interesting, too. Visiting sure has been good to me.

I'm a country boy, but if I had to pick a city in Oregon to live in, it would be Eugene. Bringing in big business ruins cities. It ruined Camden, Gary and Detroit. If you like booming cities, move to Bend. It's turning into a giant Beaverton and smothering what made the area beautiful.

Lots of folks seem to be missing my point. I'm not demanding anything change, I'm just wondering what people think is so right with the status quo. Nobody's been able to answer that in all these responses, so I guess I hit the nail on the head.