Silver Linings: Reasons for Optimism

As 2020 (good riddance!) winds down, our thoughts naturally turn to prognostications for the coming year. COVID-19 will be with us for a while longer but, fingers-crossed, the tide is now turning as effective vaccines increasingly become available. Though construction in the Eugene/Springfield marketplace during the pandemic proved to be remarkably robust, many economists do expect the volume of work will decline during 2021. They cite the tendency of construction spending to lag the overall economy by as much as two years. Nevertheless, there is also hope the far-sightedness of those whose job it is to boldly imagine the future will pay dividends as the dark clouds of 2020 dissipate.

A significant example of prescient thinking may prove to be the City of Eugene’s investment in the transformation of the former EWEB operations property fronting the south bank of the Willamette River. I have not taken the opportunity recently to see the progress in person, so I was pleasantly surprised when I received an update from the City of Eugene about the transformations currently underway. The report (link here) documented a December 10 riverfront tour led by COE project managers Emily Proudfoot and Scott Gillespie for the benefit of Oregon legislative Representative Nancy Nathanson. The photos from the tour depict the significant changes since work started in 2019.

The City anticipates completion of the initial phase of site improvements—including the Riverfront Park elements—will occur sometime next spring or early summer. At the time of this writing, the underground utilities are installed, the riverbank’s steepness has been lessened, removal of non-native invasive plants and replanting with native species is largely complete, concrete work for the river overlooks is in place, and curbs & gutters defining the 5^th Avenue extension, Annie Mims Lane, Wiley Griffon Way, and Nak Nak Avenue are set. Many of these improvements are evident in the photograph above. Looking ahead, the Downtown Riverfront will continue to hum once construction of the proposed mixed-use development begins in earnest.

I previously mentioned my faith in Eugene’s resilience, provident positioning, and its stature as a mid-sized city as reasons for optimism. I also predicted people will value access to parks and open spaces more than ever. I now fully anticipate Eugene’s Downtown Riverfront will become a treasured centerpiece of our urban experience, more than justifying the City of Eugene’s investment in its development. Similarly, I expect the City’s plans for the Eugene Town Square project will provide the community with an enhanced center for public gatherings. I believe these investments will prove themselves critical to the health of our urban core in the wake of the lasting changes to how we work, live, and play wrought by the pandemic.

I am hopeful that from the turmoil, travails, and toxic polarization of the cursed year we have just endured we will emerge chastened. The only tenable course forward is to act with wisdom and in the best interests of our fellow citizens and the planet we all share. 2020’s silver lining may be the catharsis its traumas induced. If we are fortunate, the outcomes will be greater openness to constructive change, a waning of reactionary behavior, reconsideration of what it is we truly value, increased appreciation for our interdependency, and restoration of public respect for science, critical thinking, and logic. 2020 be damned. I’m bullish on Eugene’s long-term future.