Remote Surveillance Trailer in Oregon City, OR

Eugene, city, seat (1853) of Lane county, western Oregon, U.S., on the Willamette River, adjoining Springfield to the east. The area around what became Eugene was inhabited for several centuries by Kalapuya Indians. Settled by Eugene Skinner in 1846, the city was laid out on Willamette bottomland in 1852. The town site was relocated and named Eugene City in 1853. The arrival of the Oregon and California (now Southern Pacific) Railroad in 1871 stimulated Eugene’s growth as an agricultural and lumber centre. The University of Oregon was founded there in 1872, followed by Northwest Christian College in 1895 and Lane Community College in 1965.

A lumber-plywood economy that relies heavily on the city’s educational institutions prevails and is augmented by food processing and light manufacturing. Eugene is a tourist centre for the MacKenzie River recreational area and Willamette National Forest, headquartered in the city. The Oregon Bach Festival has been held annually in the city since 1970. A bohemian district of bookstores, cafés, and art galleries surrounding the University of Oregon campus attracts many visitors. Tie-dyed clothing and alternative lifestyles are not uncommon in the city. A unique combination of county fair, renaissance fair, outdoor music festival, and environmental school, the annual Oregon Country Fair, established 1969, is held in Veneta, 13 miles (21 km) east of Eugene. Inc. 1862. Pop. (2010) 156,185; Eugene-Springfield Metro Area, 351,715; (2020) 176,564; Eugene-Springfield Metro Area, 382,971.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Portland and other Oregon cities will soon feel the impacts of the legislature’s failure to pass a transportation package this session. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has announced that cuts to its services are forthcoming.

“The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is disappointed that the Oregon Transportation Reinvestment Package did not pass in the legislative session this year, putting critical maintenance and safety services at risk," said PBOT in a statement to KATU News Monday night.

The Bureau stated that it will have 50% less capacity to respond to requests from the public for basic safety improvements. This means PBOT will have a reduced ability to respond, likely due to having fewer staff members with the necessary expertise to handle those requests, according to PBOT.

PBOT added that there will be delays in traffic signal upgrades on busy corridors, and up to 300 streetlights will not be repaired this year.

Major projects underway will face delays because of a reduction in available staffing. This includes maintenance and safety improvement projects.

"I am deeply disappointed the state legislature failed to make the critical investment our transportation system needs," said Portland Mayor Keith Wilson in a statement. "Vital infrastructure jobs are on the line, and our ability to deliver basic safety services like filling potholes and improving traffic conditions is at risk. I urge the legislature to act quickly and deliver a solution that supports all Oregon communities, including Portland."

TriMet also faces steep cuts without new funding. While TriMet stated that its 2026 budget did not assume an increase in funding from the transportation bill, the agency indicated that it will have to reduce up to 25% of its bus service and 10% of its MAX service by 2032.

“This outcome will have devastating repercussions for our region, and it jeopardizes the progress TriMet has made to grow our ridership and improve our service coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said TriMet spokesperson Roberta Altstadt.

Portland roads are already in rough shape. A report from PBOT in February said that 64% of local streets and 56% of busy streets are in poor or very poor condition.

The report also listed the funds required to implement safety improvements to the city's transportation infrastructure. The report states that an annual investment of $250 million for arterial pavement and $210 million for local pavement is required to upgrade road conditions from poor to either fair or good status across Portland.

The report requested a total of $600 million for PBOT to repair transportation infrastructure. The other dollars would go toward bridge maintenance, street light and signal operations, parking operations, and more.

"One thing about infrastructure investments. It's expensive, and if you don't fix them on some schedule, it's only going to get more expensive over time," said Jim McCauley, legislative director with the League of Oregon Cities.

McCauley said he expects cities across the state to begin making cuts without a transportation funding package in place. He added that the best outcome would hopefully be a special session.

"I would anticipate that other cities out there are going to be looking at a similar type of service cuts. I think a number of them were anticipating some kind of an increase here over time, but until a transportation package comes forward with new revenue, they're not going to get any additional funding," said McCauley.

KATU reached out to the Governor's office for an update on if she intends to call a special session or not. Her office stated that there are no further updates at this time.

Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty said the city will also likely have to make cuts to some services, and that roads will soon deteriorate without much-needed funding.

"We're going to have an immediate backlog of services, our roads right now are going to go from about 70% quality and dip under 60%. When they dip under 60, we can no longer put a top coat on them; we have to redo the entire road," said Beaty.

Mayor Beaty said it's important for Oregonians to understand that streets are a municipality's number one capital investment. She added that without a quick fix, there could be even more trouble down the road.

"We know we have about five years until our roads hit a point of no return. That's a very small window for us to operate in, and so the longer it takes for them to figure this out, the harder and more costly it's going to be for us to catch up," said Beaty.

A major Oregon city has been praised as a top domestic destination for those seeking sustainable travel, in a ranking that examined information about ecotourism and other environmentally-oriented attributes.

According to InsureMyTrip, a platform that, as the website says, is “dedicated to making the process of finding travel insurance simple, reliable, and stress-free,“ travelers are increasingly looking for ”more sustainable holidays,“ a trend that comes at a time when many popular destinations are suffering from too many tourists.

In response to that interest, the site compiled a list of “Green Getaways: The World’s Most Eco-Friendly Cities.”

Researchers at InsureMyTrip examined “a range of ecotourism and destination-specific sustainability metrics,” as the introduction says. “This includes walking tours, the prevalence of sustainable hotels, pollution levels, and the walkability of a city.”

Before we get to Oregon’s bragging rights, the list of most sustainable global destinations has eight European cities in the top 10, with Helsinki, Finland, coming in at number one.

Moving to the U.S., the most sustainable city in the ranking is San Jose, California. But Portland is second on the list of domestic “green getaways.”

Here’s what InsureMyTrip says: San Jose has “the least expensive sustainable hotels at $164 a night and the shortest walking time between amenities – 19 minutes."

OK, but what about the Rose City?

“The second-best U.S. city is Portland, Oregon,” according to InsureMyTrip. “This is the smallest city in our top five with a population of just 615k, and the best rated for green spaces at 85%.”

Following Portland is Boston, Massachusetts; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

In conclusion, the report says, “With travelers becoming more conscious of how their vacations can affect the environment, our data highlights the locations leading the way in sustainability. With many European cities offering both sustainable travel options and lower pollution levels.”

“Many U.S. cities are starting to become more sustainable,” the report continues, “with a wide variety of walking tours and sustainable hotels. The cities fall slightly behind in walkability and pollution data points, areas that should be expanded to allow travelers a more sustainable trip.”

Major restaurants are coming to Oregon, part of the new town center, the project’s developer announced Tuesday.

Developer River Rock Group has signed several sit-down restaurants, something residents have long yearned for.

“I can’t tell you, unfortunately, exactly who the tenants are,” said Bill Bostleman, of River Rock. “I can tell you the types of tenants. We have five restaurants already basically committed. They are regional types of users and names you will recognize.”

He made the comments at a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new town center at 2830 Navarre Ave. Tuesday. It was attended by city officials and the River Rock Development Group.

City Councilman Steve Hornyak, chairman of the economic development and planning committee, said the public will be pleased by the new restaurants.

“We do have some sit-down restaurants coming here. We have a variety of different shops and retailers coming into the area. Commitments keep coming. I think residents in the community will be very happy with what’s coming in here when they see the plan unfold,” Mr. Hornyak said.

“It’s always an exciting thing when you get to announce a new project in your town,” said Mayor Mike Seferian. “There’s nothing more exciting than finally getting to say ‘town center.’ ”

The city bought the former Kmart site and sold the property to the developer to find commercial projects for the town center. The pandemic, a poor economy, and the loss of the first developer, Fairmont Properties, left the project adrift until River Rock signed with Oregon.

“River Rock Development group has been with us a little over a year,” City Administrator Joel Mazur said. “Somehow we found our way, got together, they took on the project, and are now seeing it through to fruition.”

The project, which started in 2019, faced several hurdles, Mr. Seferian said.

“We faced a lot of criticism to get to this point,” he said. “When Kmart was coming up for sale, if we were ever going to have some type of development here, other than development along a state route, we would have to own it. If someone else bought it, we would not have access to land behind it. This actual parcel was the only chance the city of Oregon had to develop something in our retail area. We had to take a risk. We took a lot of bruises along the way. But it was well worth it.”

Mr. Hornyak said the city’s patience paid off.

“It’s been a long struggle, a lot of work, a lot of effort put in by a lot of people. We’re just waiting to see some buildings come to life around us,” Mr. Hornyak said. “We’ve taken a few lumps over the years. We had a lot of questions about when it was going to get started. Gladly, today, we get to say, ‘Now.”’

The town center calls for mixed-use residential and commercial development that spans from Navarre Avenue to Pickle Road near I-280 and next to Mercy Health St. Charles Hospital.

The concept and vision of developing a town center was to create a downtown atmosphere in the city, which never had an historic downtown.

The project will be developed in two phases. The first, an upscale retail strip center with four tenants, will be developed on frontage along Navarre Avenue, Mr. Bostleman said. Phase 2 will consist of three buildings in the south part of the parcel where the actual Kmart building was located.

“That is what will truly be the town center. It will include an open public area surrounded by restaurants, retailers, and patios for nice weather. It can be a venue for farmers markets, concerts, and for viewing fireworks. This is something Oregon hasn’t had,” he said.

Completion of Phase 1 is expected within a year.

“We expect Phase 2 to kick off in the next two or so years,” Mr. Bostleman said.

Oregon Economic Development Foundation President Tim Pedro said the project has all the hallmarks to become the newest and most vibrant town center in Northwest Ohio.

He likened the excitement of Kmart’s legendary Blue Light Specials, a marketing ploy that offered instant bargains for in-store shoppers, to the completion of the town center and everything it will offer.

“If you thought Kmart Blue Light Specials were the best, just wait until you hear and see what is being planned for this site. There’s been careful, thoughtful planning to reach today’s celebration,” said Mr. Pedro.