Compelling Perspectives on Eugene’s Housing Crisis

The Station House, by the Obie Companies

Like many others in our community, I’ve watched Eugene’s housing crisis unfold over the years with growing concern. Rising rents, dwindling vacancies, and the affordability challenges faced by working families are pressing issues that demand thoughtful action. I recently discovered two articles that address these challenges with impressive clarity and depth. My intent is not to restate their arguments but to endorse their insights and encourage you to dive into them via the links below.
 
The first, Treat Homebuilding as a Civic Good, penned by Joshua Purvis and published on the Lookout Eugene-Springfield website, offers a local perspective that resonates with my experience. Purvis, a writer and member of Eugene’s Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) Review Panel, highlights how obstructionist policies—such as councilors delaying projects over “vibes or views”—stall progress. He cites the Obie Companies Station House project, a 124-unit development in the Market District, which relied on MUPTE to overcome financial hurdles and will eventually generate over $1.1 million annually in taxes. Purvis urges us to view homebuilding—including market-rate development—as a civic duty, a stance I strongly support.
 
Purvis references the second article, Displacement by Design by Tobias Peter and Major Ethan Frizzell of the AEI Housing Center. In it, Peter and Frizzell take a broader view. They unpack how exclusionary zoning, discretionary permitting, and regulatory barriers create artificial housing scarcity, driving up costs and displacing residents. Their Good Neighbors Success Sequence (GNSS) proposes market-based solutions like zoning reform, smaller lot sizes, and rapid rehousing, pointing to Houston’s 30% housing stock growth since 2000 as a model for affordability and reduced homelessness. They frame the housing shortage as a systematic failure akin to a game of musical chairs, where too few "chairs" leave many without a place to sit.
 
These perspectives align with my belief that Eugene must prioritize housing abundance to remain a livable community. I’m an advocate for continuing programs like MUPTE, which make projects like Station House feasible in high-cost areas, delivering both homes and long-term public benefit. We need streamlined permitting, equitable tax policies, and a cultural shift that honors builders as essential to our civic fabric—echoing Purvis’s observation that we’ve become “digital warriors instead of down-to-earth doers.”
 
I’ve been impressed by the quality and breadth of reporting from Lookout Eugene-Springfield since the community-centric news outlet debuted earlier this year. I encourage you to read both articles, linked below, and join me in advocating for policies that treat housing as a public good. Let’s ensure Eugene builds enough “chairs” for all its residents.
 

• Treat Homebuilding as a Civic Good by Joshua Purvis (Lookout Eugene)

• Displacement by Design by Tobias Peter and Major Ethan Frizzell (Displacement by Design: How Bad Policy Made Housing Scarce, and How We Can Fix It | American Enterprise Institute - AEI)