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Eugene, Oregon

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Eugene, Oregon
Official seal of Eugene, Oregon
Seal
Nickname: 
The Emerald City
Country
 State
  County		United States
 Oregon
  Lane
Founded
Incorporated		1846
1862
Government
 • MayorKitty Piercy
Elevation
130 m (430 ft)
Population
 (2003)
 • Total142,185
Time zoneUTC-8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
Websitehttp://www.eugene-or.gov

Eugene is the second largest city [1] and boasts the second largest metropolitan population [2] in the state of Oregon, and is also the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, USA. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie River and the Willamette River, about 60 miles (97 km) east of the Oregon Coast.

Eugene is home to the University of Oregon. The city is also noted for its natural beauty, activist political leanings, alternative lifestyles, recreation opportunities (especially bicycling, rafting, and kayaking), and arts focus. In fact, Eugene's motto is "The World's Greatest City for the Arts and Outdoors" and is also referred to as "The Emerald City" and "The Track Capital of the World." The Nike corporation had its beginnings in Eugene.

History

Eugene is named after its founder, Eugene Franklin Skinner. In 1846, Skinner erected the first cabin in the area. It was used as a trading post and was dubbed as a post office in 1850. Skinner founded Eugene in 1862 and later ran a ferry service across the Willamette River where the Ferry Street Bridge now stands.

Columbia College was founded around the same area as the University of Oregon, a few years earlier, but fell victim to two different major fires over four years, and it was decided not to rebuild it again. Commonly even today, people refer to parts of Eugene's campus area as "College Hill," and this name does not come from the adjacent location of the University of Oregon, but rather the former location of Columbia College.

The town raised the initial funding to start a public University, which later became the University of Oregon, with the hope of turning the small town into a cultural center of learning. In 1872, the Legislative Assembly passed a bill ratifying the University. The nearby town of Albany was Eugene's biggest competitor to provide a home for this institute. In 1873, community member J. H. D. Henderson donated the hilltop land for the campus, overlooking the city. The University first opened in 1876 with regents electing first faculty and naming John Wesley Johnson as president with the first students registering on 16 October, 1876. It would not be until 1877 that the first building would be completed; it would be later known as Deady Hall (for the first Board of Regents President and community leader Judge Matthew P. Deady.) The University of Oregon has been a leader in diversity since its very beginning; its inaugural class included two Japanese students.

Eugene is the home of Oregon's largest publicly owned electric utility, the Eugene Water & Electric Board, which got its start in the first decade of the last century after there was a typhoid epidemic traced to the groundwater supply. Eugene condemned the private utility and began treating river water (first the Willamette, but now the McKenzie) for domestic use. EWEB got into the electric business when power was needed for the water pumps and excess electricity was used for street lighting.

Geography and climate

Geography

Eugene is located at 44°3'28" North, 123°6'37" West (44.057663, -123.110345) (see Geographic references) at an elevation of 426 feet.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 105.0 km² (40.6 mi²)Template:GR. 104.9 km² (40.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi² or 0.10%) of it is water.

To the north of downtown is Skinner Butte park. Forested Hendricks Park is famous for its Rhododendron Garden. Alton Baker Park, along the Willamette river, attracts visitors to jog its running paths, bike its endless bike paths and bike bridges, swim the wild Willamette, canoe the millrace, sit at the duck ponds, and visit the Owens Rose Garden. A climb up Spencer Butte, south of the city, offers a lovely look at Eugene and the headwaters of the Willamette. Mount Pisgah Arboretum, to the east, is another large and special park, and host to the annual mushroom festival.

Eugene has a striking urban forest. The town is packed with trees, and its citizens are very proud and protective of them. The University of Oregon campus is itself a world-class arboretum, with over 500 species of trees, and its own tourbook. The city operates and maintains scenic hiking trails that pass through and across the ridges of a cluster of small mountains in the southern portion of the city, on the fringe of residential neighborhoods. Some trails allow biking and others are for hikers only.

The Willamette and McKenzie rivers run through Eugene and its sister city Springfield.

Climate

Eugene's mean annual temperature is 52.1 °F (11.2 °C) [3]; its annual rainfall is 50.9 inches (1293 mm) [4]. Eugene is actually colder on average than Portland, despite being located more than 160km (approx. 100 miles) south and having only a marginally higher elevation. Eugene's average July low temperature is 10.6 °C (51.1 °F) [5], while Portland's average July low is 13.6 °C (56.5 °F). [6]. Average winter temperatures (and summer high temperatures) are similar for the two cities. This disparity may be largely caused by a "heat island effect" in Portland, where the combination of black pavement and urban energy use can actually raise the temperature. A lesser heat island may also exist in downtown Eugene.

Demographics

Eugene has a significant population of people in pursuit of alternative ideas, and a strong aging hippie population. Eugene's trainyard and welcoming valley climate used to be the center of this. There is also a significant population of outdoor enthusiasts and young retirees from California and elsewhere.

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 137,893 people, 58,110 households, and 31,321 families residing in the city. As of July 1, 2003, the US Census Bureau estimated the population of Eugene to be 142,185. The city's population is expected to further grow to 228,400 within the next 10 years. The population density was 1,313.9/km² (3,403.2/mi²). There were 61,444 housing units at an average density of 585.5/km² (1,516.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.15% White, 3.57% Asian, 1.25% Black or African American, 0.93% Native American, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 2.18% from other races, and 3.72% from two or more races. 4.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 58,110 households, of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.1% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city, the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 17.3% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,850, and the median income for a family was $48,527. Males had a median income of $35,549 versus $26,721 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,315. 17.1% of the population and 8.7% of families were below the poverty line. 14.8% of those under the age of 18 and 7.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Government

In 1944, Eugene adopted a council-manager form of government, replacing the day-to-day management of city affairs by the part-time mayor and volunteer city council with a full-time professional city manager. The subsequent history of Eugene city government has largely been one of the dynamics--often contentious--between the city manager, the mayor and city council.

Nine people have held the city manager position. These include Deane Seeger (1945-49), Oren King (1949-53), Robert Finlayson (1953-59), Hugh McKinley (1959-75), Charles Henry (1975-80), Mike Gleason (1981-96), Vicki Elmer (1996-98), Jim Johnson (1998-2002), and Dennis Taylor (2002-present).

Recent mayors include Gus Keller (1977-84), Brian Obie (1985-88), Jeff Miller (1989-92), Ruth Bascom (1993-96), Jim Torrey (1997-2004), and Kitty Piercy (2005-present).


Eugene City Council:

Mayor: Kitty Piercy

  • Ward 1 - Bonny Bettman
  • Ward 2 - Betty Taylor
  • Ward 3 - David Kelly
  • Ward 4 - George Poling
  • Ward 5 - Gary Papé
  • Ward 6 - Jennifer Solomon
  • Ward 7 - Andrea Ortiz
  • Ward 8 - Chris Pryor

City Manager: Dennis M. Taylor

Sister cities

Eugene's sister cities include:

Economy

Eugene's largest industries are wood products manufacturing and recreational vehicle manufacturing. The largest employers are the University of Oregon, local government, and Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Eugene has one of the highest municipal unemployment rates in the entire nation (6.4% as of July 2004 - 257 out of 331 for all U.S. MSAs.)

Corporate headquarters for the employee-owned Bi-Mart corporation are located in Eugene. Monaco Coach Corporation has its headquarters in nearby Coburg, Oregon. Hynix Semiconductor America has a large semiconductor plant in west Eugene, producing DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) for use in computers. Department store Emporium, which was founded in North Bend, housed headquarters in Eugene, but recently closed all stores.

Organically Grown Company, the largest distributor of organic fruits and vegetables in the northwest, started in Eugene in 1978 as a non-profit co-op for organic farmers. With some 90 employees and $20 million in annual sales, operations continue in Eugene, with new warehouses in Portland and Seattle.

Like most municipalities, Eugene solicits outside business investment, but it is also partial to locally-developed small businesses, some of whom have formed a coalition called Unique Eugene.

Many national businesses were launched in Eugene. Some of the most famous include Nike, Taco Time and Broderbund Software.

Education

Eugene is the home of the University of Oregon, one of Oregon's largest schools. Other institutions of higher learning include Northwest Christian College, Lane Community College, Eugene Bible College [7], and Gutenberg College, Pacific University: Eugene Campus, and Linfield College: Eugene Campus. Eugene has many private and alternative schools, including the Eugene Waldorf School, a nondenominational school serving grades K-8 that is certified by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America.

Magnet schools and alternative education are key elements of the Eugene Public Schools system.

Culture

Eugene is perhaps most noted for its "community inventiveness." This usually leads to community projects; many U.S. trends in community development originated here. The University of Oregon's participatory planning process, known as The Oregon Experiment, was the result of student protests in the early 1970s. The book of the same name is a major document in modern enlightenment thinking in planning and architectural circles, even thought the process is no longer used at the University. The process was created by Christopher Alexander, whose works also directly inspired the creation of the Wiki. Much of the research for the book A Pattern Language, which inspired the Design Patterns movement and Extreme Programming, was done by Alexander in Eugene. Not coincidentally, those engineering movements also had origins here. A Pattern Language is the best-selling book on architecture and planning of all time.

In the 1970s, Eugene was packed with co-operative and community projects. It still has small natural food stores in almost every neighborhood, some of the oldest student cooperatives in the country, and alternative schools have been part of the school district for years. The Eugene Waldorf School was founded in 1980 and serves grades K-8. The old Grower's Market, downtown near the train depot, is the only food co-operative in the U.S. with no employees. It is possible to see Eugene's trend-setting nonprofit tendencies in much newer projects, such as the Tango Center and the Center for Appropriate Transport [8].

Landmarks

Cultural attractions in Eugene include the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, The Shedd Institute [9], resident ballet, theater, opera and symphony, Bach Festival [10], a historic district, walking tours, 23 art galleries such as OPUS6IX and museums, including The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, both at the University of Oregon, and the Science Factory Children's Museum & Planetarium.

The nearest ski resort, Willamette Pass [11], is one hour by car. On the way, along highway 58, is Eugene's reservoir and lake district, the Oakridge mountain bike trails, hot springs, and the spectacular Fall Creek falls. Eugene residents also frequent Hoodoo and Mount Bachelor [12] ski resorts. The Three Sisters Wilderness and the Oregon Dunes are just a short drive away.

The non-profit Saturday Market [13] was the first "Saturday Market" in the United States, starting in 1970, and since re-created in cities around the country. It is still the most radical in the country; only farmers and craftspeople themselves can sell there.

Libraries, museums, and art collections

Eugene has several museums, including the Oregon Air and Space Museum at the airport, Conger Street Clock Museum in West Eugene, the Lane County Historical Museum downtown, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, that houses a large collection of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean art. Galleries also exhibit European, American and Regional art, Russian Icons, and exciting changing exhibitions of contemporary art,(http://jsma.uoregon.edu). Eugene also boost the Maude Kerns Art Museum and Shelton McMurphy Houses, both offer a large quanity of contemporary art in a historic building.

The largest library in Oregon is in Eugene, the Knight Library [14], at the University. The Eugene Public Library [15] recently moved into a new, larger building downtown. It uses state-of-the-art technology such as an automated checking system, which sorts the books using RFID chips.

Over a dozen private art galleries are located in Eugene. The Maude Kerns Art Center [16], with its non-profit summer Art and the Vineyard festival [17], and the Lane Arts Council [18] help foster a thriving arts community. Eugene is also home to The Eugene Glass School [19], an art school featuring workshops with some of the most prestigious glass artists in the world in off-hand, lampworked, and fused glass.

Annual cultural events and fairs

The annual non-profit Oregon Country Fair, which takes place in nearby Veneta, is one of the largest volunteer events in the U.S., and one of the most successful. Its primitive ecotopian atmosphere is stunning. Perhaps the single event in the U.S. that most resembles the World Social Forum is the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference [20], an annual gathering of environmental advocates from around the world. Other local events include: Eugene Celebration, Lane County Fair, Eugene Mayor's Art Show, (http://www.jacobsgallery.org/) and Asian Celebration.

Performing arts

Eugene is home to numerous cultural organizations, including the Eugene Symphony [21] (Giancarlo Guerrero, Conductor), the Eugene Ballet [22] (Toni Pimble, Artistic Director), and the Eugene Opera [23]. Eugene is also home to a number of cultural events, including the world renowned Oregon Bach Festival [24] (Helmuth Rilling, artistic director) and Oregon Festival of American Music [25] ("OFAM"). Eugene has a number of performing arts venues, including the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts [26] ("The Shedd"), Beall Concert Hall on the University of Oregon campus, the McDonald Theater [27], and W.O.W. Hall [28], which is primarily a venue for alternative music.

Because of its status as a college town, Eugene has many music acts, especially of underground punk rock such as alterEGO [29], Cap Gun Suicide [30] and original independent artists such as Nero and the Crash Engine. Recently, the metal scene has also spiked in popularity with acts such as Northwest Royale [31], who are sponsored by Jägermeister [32], as well as Forrestal's Fall [33], Necryptic [34], In The Name of God [35], Jean Grey [36] and Tormentium [37]. Eugene is also the home of the Rock N Roll Soldiers. The city also boasts hip hop musicians Medium Troy, Natural Crew, The Phormula, and Undermind. The Cherry Poppin' Daddies made their start there in the mid-'90s and then went national with their album of swing hits, Zoot Suit Riot. Five Fingers of Funk with Mac Brown are also based in Eugene.

A surprising number of dedicated live theaters, all non-profit or governmental, are busy in Eugene: Willamette Repertory Theatre [38], Lord Leebrick Theatre [39], The Very Little Theatre [40], Actors Caberet [41], LCC Theatre [42], University Theatre [43] etc.

Cinema

The film Animal House was filmed in Eugene and nearby Cottage Grove. John Belushi had the idea for the film The Blues Brothers during filming of Animal House when he happened to meet Curtis Salgado at what was then the Eugene Hotel. The "Chicken Salad on Toast" scene in the Jack Nicholson movie Five Easy Pieces was filmed at the Denny's restaurant at the southern I-5 freeway interchange (Glenwood exit).

In addition, Eugene is home to the Bijou Art Cinemas, an independent movie theater located in a building modeled after Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style by the first dean of the University of Oregon School of Architecture in 1925.

Media

Some of the most familiar names in public radio come from the local NPR affiliate KLCC. The Pacifica radio affiliate (airing Democracy Now! and FreeSpeech Radio News) is the University of Oregon student-run radio station, KWVA. Additionally, the community supports two other radio stations: KWAX (classical) and KRVM (alternative).

The Eugene-Springfield area is served by The Register-Guard [44], a daily newspaper with a circulation of 70,108 Monday through Friday, 77,993 on Saturday, and 74,918 on Sunday. The Register-Guard is published by the Baker family of Eugene. Other newspapers serving the area include the Eugene Weekly [45] and the Oregon Daily Emerald [46], the independent newspaper serving the University of Oregon campus.

Local television stations include KMTR (NBC), KVAL (CBS), and KEZI (ABC).

Sports

Club Sport Founded League Venue Logo Oregon Ducks Football, Basketball, Track and Field, Softball, Volleyball, Golf, Tennis, Wrestling, Lacrosse, Soccer 1876 National Collegiate Athletic Association: Pacific Ten Conference Autzen Stadium, McArthur Court, Hayward Field Oregon Ducks Logo Eugene Emeralds Baseball 1955 Northwest League Civic Stadium Eugene Emeralds Logo Eugene Chargers Basketball 2006 International Basketball League Morse Event Center Eugene Chargers Logo Eugene Generals Hockey 2005 Junior B-League Hockey: NOR-PAC Conference Lane County Ice Eugene Generals Logo


Most of Eugene's interest in sports surrounds the Oregon Ducks, part of the Pacific 10 Conference (Pac 10). American football is especially popular, with intense rivalries between the Oregon State University Beavers and the University of Washington Huskies. With a seating capacity of 59,000, Autzen Stadium is home to Oregon Duck Football. It is often considered one of the toughest places to play in all of college football: “Autzen’s 59,000 strong make the Big House [Michigan] collectively sound like a pathetic whimper. It’s louder than ‘The Swamp’ at Florida, ‘The Shoe’ in Columbus and ‘Death Valley’ at Louisiana State. Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die.” — Michigan Daily, September 2003.

For nearly 40 years, Eugene has been the "Track Capital of the World." Oregon's most famous track alumnus is Steve Prefontaine, who was killed in a car crash in 1975. He has become a legendary figure among Eugene runners for his guts and lack of fear in races. Eugene's excellent jogging trails include Pre's Trail in Alton Baker Park, Rexius Trail, the Adidas Oregon Trail, and the Ridgeline Trail. Jogging was introduced to the US first in Eugene in the sixties by Bill Bowerman, who coached the champion University of Oregon track and cross country teams. In 16 of 24 years at Oregon, his track teams finished in the top ten at the NCAA Championships, with a dual meet record of 114-20. They won four times and finished second twice. Bowerman also invented the waffle running shoe in Eugene, and with U of O alumni Phil Knight founded shoe giant Nike, Inc. The Nike Store in Eugene includes a museum of this slice of track history. Eugene's miles of running trails, through its unusually large park system, are the most extensive in the US. The city has dozens of running clubs. The climate is cool temperate, good both for jogging and record-setting. Eugene is home to the University of Oregon's Hayward Field track, which hosts numerous collegiate and amateur track and field meets throughout the year, most notably the Prefontaine Classic. It was host to the 2004 Junior Olympics, and the 1972, 1976 and 1980 US Olympic Track and Field trials, and as recently announced, will be host to the 2008 trials. Hayward Field will also be home of the 2006 Pacific-10 track and field championships. A few feet from Hayward Field, the earth's oldest pairs of running shoes are on display, at the Museum of Natural History.

In November of 2005, Eugene was chosen by USA Track & Field to host the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, to be held at Hayward Field June 27-July 6, 2008. Finalists of this competition of more than 1,000 athletes will go on to attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The event is expected to be attended by around 350,000 spectators and reported by more than 1,000 members of the media [47].

Eugene is also home to the Eugene Emeralds, a Class A minor-league baseball team that plays home games in Civic Stadium, and the Eugene Generals, a semi-pro hockey team.

Infrastructure

Transportation

LTD's Eugene Station.

Eugene is the headquarters of the Lane Transit District (LTD), a public transportation agency formed in 1970. LTD covers 240 square miles (620 km²) of Lane County, including Creswell, Junction City and Veneta. Operating more than 90 buses at the high activity time, LTD carries riders on 3.7 million trips every year. LTD's Eugene Station, downtown, covers nearly a city block, and is easily the busiest public plaza outside of the University. LTD is currently constructing a Bus Rapid Transit line between Eugene and Springfield, much of which will run in its own lane. The Emerald Express, as it is called, is scheduled to be up and running in fall 2006.

Cycling is big in Eugene. Summertime events and festivals frequently have bike parking "corrals" that many times are filled to capacity by three hundred or more bikes. Many people commute to work by bicycle every month of the year. Numerous bike shops provide the finest rain gear products, running lights and everything a biker needs to ride and stay comfortable in heavy rain. Bike trails take commuting and recreational bikers along the Willamette River past a scenic rose garden, along Amazon Creek, through the downtown, and through the University of Oregon campus.

The Amtrak depot downtown was recently restored; it's the south terminus for two daily runs of the Amtrak Cascades, and a stop along the route for the daily Coast Starlight. Air traffic is served by the Eugene Airport, also known as Mahlon Sweet Field, which is the fifth largest airport in the Northwest.

Highways traveling within and through Eugene include:

  • Interstate 5: Interstate 5 forms much of the eastern city limits, forming a boundary between Eugene and Springfield. To the north, I-5 leads to the Willamette valley and Portland. To the south, I-5 leads to Roseburg and the southwestern portion of the state.
  • Interstate 105/Oregon Highway 126: Oregon Highway 126 is routed along the Eugene-Springfield Highway, a limited access freeway. The Eugene portion of this highway begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 and ends two miles (3 km) west at a freeway terminus. This portion of Oregon Highway 126 is also signed Interstate 105, a spur route of Interstate 5. Oregon Highway 126 continues west, a portion shared with Oregon Highway 99, and continues west to Florence. Eastward, Oregon Highway 126 crosses the Cascades and leads to central Oregon.
  • Belt Line Road: Beltline Road is a limited-access freeway which runs along the northern edge of incorporated Eugene.
  • Delta Highway: The Delta Highway forms a connector of less than 2 miles (3 km) between Interstate 105 and Beltline Road.
  • Oregon Highway 99: Oregon Highway 99 forks off Interstate 5 south of Eugene, and forms a major surface artery in Eugene. It continues north into the Willamette valley, parallel to I-5.

Hospitals

The Eugene/Springfield area is home to two major hospitals, McKenzie-Willamette and Sacred Heart Medical Center (A hospital owned by PeaceHealth that is located in downtown Eugene next to the University of Oregon campus.) Mckenzie/Willamette recently filed a lawsuit angainst PeaceHealth, claiming anti-trust violations on the part of the latter. PeaceHealth, which at the time was based in Eugene, lost the lawsuit. McKenzie-Willamette, which was at the time a small hospital based in Springfield, has gained thousands from the case. Both corporations are in the planning stages of constructing new facilities, with Peacehealth planning one in Springfield ("Riverbend" and Triad (now owner of Mckenzie-Willamette) planning one in north Eugene. Both sites are controversial, as critics prefer more urban locations instead of ones that supposedly encourage urban sprawl.

Notable people from Eugene

Athletes

Citizens

Mentions in film and television

  • Eugene has been the recipient of sly digs on two of Matt Groening's television shows. On The Simpsons episode "Margical History Tour", explorers Lewis and Clark christen the rainiest spot they find Eugene, Oregon. On the Futurama episode "The 30% Iron Chef", Bender the robot confuses his memory of Eugene with a hobo jungle.
  • Eugene, Oregon is mentioned in the 2nd episode of HBO's mini-series Band of Brothers (based on the real-life exploits of the 101st Airborne, 506th parachute infantry regiment, 2nd battalion, Easy company during World War II) as the home of a German-American who left America for Germany to join the German army.

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