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Eugene ( ) is the second largest city in the U.S. State of Oregonmarker and the county seat of Lane Countymarker. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenziemarker and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles (86 km) east of the Oregon Coastmarker. According to the official 2008 population figures Eugene is the second largest city in the state of Oregon, with an estimated population of 154,620, and center of the third largest metropolitan population. Eugene has long been the state's second largest city after Portlandmarker, but was briefly overtaken by Salemmarker in terms of population, between 2005 to 2007. Eugene has since overtaken Salem.

Eugene is home to the University of Oregonmarker. The city is also noted for its natural beauty, activist political leanings, alternative lifestyles, recreational opportunities (especially bicycling, rafting, and kayaking), and focus on the arts. Eugene's motto is "The World's Greatest City of the Arts and Outdoors." It is also referred to as the "Emerald City", and "Track Town, USA." The Nikemarker 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 registered as an official post office on January 8, 1850. At this time the location was known as Skinner's Mudhole. Skinner founded Eugene in 1862 and later ran a ferry service across the Willamette River where the Ferry Street Bridgemarker now stands.

The first major educational institution in the area was Columbia College. It was founded a few years earlier than the University of Oregonmarker. It fell victim to two major fires in four years, and after the second fire the college decided not to rebuild again. The part of south Eugene known as College Hill was the former location of Columbia College. There is no college there today.

The town raised the initial funding to start a public university, which later became the University of Oregonmarker, with the hope of turning the small town into a cultural center of learning. In 1872, the Legislative Assembly passed a bill creating the University of Oregon as a state institution. Eugene bested the nearby town of Albany in the competition for the state university. 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 the regents electing the first faculty, and naming John Wesley Johnson as president. The first students registered on October 16, 1876. The first building was completed in 1877; it was named Deady Hall in honor of the first Board of Regents President and community leader Judge Matthew P. Deady.

Willamette Street circa 1920


Geography and climate

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.54 square miles (105.0 km²). 40.50 square miles (104.9 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km² or 0.10%) of it is water. Eugene is located at an elevation of 426 feet.

To the north of downtown is Skinner Buttemarker. The Coburg Hillsmarker is to the northeast of Eugene. Spencer Buttemarker is a prominent landmark south of the city. Mount Pisgah is southeast of Eugene and includes Mount Pisgah Arboretummarker and Howard Buford Recreation Area, a Lane County Park.

The Willamette and McKenziemarker rivers run through Eugene and neighboring city, Springfieldmarker. Another important stream is Amazon Creekmarker, whose headwaters are near Spencer Butte. The creek discharges into Fern Ridge Reservoirmarker west of the city.

Neighborhoods

Eugene has 21 neighborhood associations:


Climate

Like the rest of the Willamette Valley, Eugene lies in the Marine west coast climate zone, with some characteristics of the Mediterranean climate. Temperatures are mild year round, with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Spring and fall are also moist seasons, with light rain falling for long periods of time. Winter snowfall does occur, but it is sporadic and rarely accumulates in large amounts. Eugene's average annual temperature is 52.1 °F (11.2 °C); its annual rainfall is 50.9 inches (1293 mm). Eugene is actually slightly colder on average than Portland, despite being located about 100 miles (approx. 160 km) south and having only a marginally higher elevation. Eugene's average July low temperature is 52.7 °F (11.5 °C), while Portland's average July low is 56.5 °F (13.6 °C). Average winter temperatures (and summer high temperatures) are similar for the two cities. This disparity may be largely caused by Portland's urban heat island, where the combination of black pavement and urban energy use can actually raise the temperature. A lesser heat island may also exist in the immediate downtown of Eugene.

Grass pollen

The combination of being in the downwind end of the Willamette Valley, the undisputed "grass-seed capital of the world" and the confining shape of the hills has lead to Eugene being the “the area of the highest grass pollen counts in the USA (> 1,500 pollen grains/m 3 of air).” These high pollen counts have lead to difficulties for some of the track athletes who compete in Eugene. In the Olympic trials in 1972, “Jim Ryun won the 1,500 after being flown in by helicopter because he was allergic to Eugene's grass seed pollen.” Further, six-time Olympian Maria Mutola abandoned Eugene as a training area “in part to avoid allergies”

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 137,893 people, 58,110 households, and 31,321 families residing in the city of Eugene. The population density was 3,404.8 people per square mile (1,314.5/km²). There were 61,444 housing units at an average density of 1,516.4/sq mi (585.5/km²). 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. About 8.7% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

As of July 1, 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Eugene's population to be 154,620. The city's population is expected to grow to 228,400 by 2017.

Religion

The Reconstructionist Temple Beth Israelmarker is Eugene's largest Jewish congregation. It was also, for many decades, Eugene's only synagogue, until Orthodox members broke away in 1992 and formed "Congregation Ahavas Torah".Zuckerman , pp. 91-93.

The Bible Standard Conference was founded in Eugene in 1919, and joined with Open Bible Evangelistic Association to create Open Bible Standard Churches in 1932. Eugene Bible Collegemarker was started from this movement by Fred Hornshuh in 1925.

Economy

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

Corporate headquarters for the employee-owned Bi-Mart corporation and family-owned Market of Choice are located in Eugene. The Monaco Coach Corporation and Marathon Coach have their headquarters in nearby Coburg, Oregonmarker.

Emporium Department Stores, which was founded in North Bendmarker, Oregon, had its headquarters in Eugene, but closed all stores in 2002. 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. Several local food processors, many of whom manufacture certified organic products, are nationally successful. These companies include Golden Temple (Yogi Tea), Mountain Rose Herbs, The Merry Hempsters, Surata Tofu, Organichap Lip Balm, Toby's Tofu, Emerald Valley Kitchen, GloryBee Foods, Turtle Mountain Foods (Soy Delicious Ice Cream) and Springfield Creamery (Nancy's Yogurt). The last is owned by family members of Ken Kesey.

Until July, 2008, Hynix Semiconductor America had operated a large semiconductor plant in west Eugene. In late September, 2009, Uni-Chem of South Korea announced its intention to purchase the Hynix site for solar cell manufacturing.

Several locally-developed small businesses have formed a coalition called Unique Eugene, which coordinates advertising and promotion, and shares its pool of customers.

Many multinational businesses were launched in Eugene. Some of the most famous include Nikemarker, Taco Time, Aldus Software (now part of Adobe Systems) and Broderbund Software.

Arts and culture

Eugene has a significant population of people in pursuit of alternative ideas, and a large, though aging, hippie population.

Beginning in the 1960s, the countercultural ideas and viewpoints espoused by Ken Kesey became established as the seminal elements of the vibrant social tapestry that continue to define Eugene. The Merry Prankster, as Kesey was known, has arguably left the most indelible imprint of any cultural icon in his hometown. He is best known as the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and as the male protagonist in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

Community

Eugene is perhaps most noted for its "community inventiveness." Many U.S. trends in community development originated here. The University of Oregonmarker'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. The process, still used by the University in modified form, was created by Christopher Alexander, whose works also directly inspired the creation of the Wiki. Some 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 cooperative and community projects. It still has small natural food stores in many neighborhoods, some of the oldest student cooperatives in the country, and alternative schools have been part of the school district since 1971. The old Grower's Market, downtown near the Amtrak depot, is the only food cooperative in the U.S. with no employees. It is possible to see Eugene's trend-setting non-profit tendencies in much newer projects, such as the Tango Center and the Center for Appropriate Transport. In 2006, an initiative began to create a tenant-run development process for Downtown Eugene.

In the fall of 2003, neighbors noticed that "an unassuming two-acre remnant orchard tucked into the Friendly Area Neighborhood" had been put up for sale by its owner, a resident of New York Citymarker. Learning that a prospective buyer had plans to build several houses on the property, they formed a non-profit organization called Madison Meadow in June 2004 in order to buy the property and "preserve it as undeveloped space in perpetuity." In 2007 their effort was named Third Best Community Effort by the Eugene Weekly, and by the end of 2008 they had raised enough money to purchase the property.

Anarchism

During the late 1990s and early 2000s Eugene contained a community of anarchist situated in the Whiteaker neighborhoodmarker of west Eugene. This community gained international notoriety in 1999, due to its perceived role in the protests at the WTO Conference in Seattle that year. Following those protests, then-mayor Jim Torrey described the city as "the anarchist capital of the United States."

The Eugene anarchist movement grew out of the treesit and forest defense camps of the 1990s and soon began staging demonstrations and riots in Eugene, notably during a Reclaim the Streets event on June 18, 1999, when protesters blocked downtown streets and smashed the windows of three stores. Some rioters threw stones and bottles at police. The anarcho-primitivist author John Zerzan, a prominent anarchist, known for being a confidant of the Unabomber, lives in Eugene.

Some of the anarchist activity could be said to have had its start in a "mud people's" protest. On that day, the participants noticed two blocks of trees, in a parking lot near the downtown area, were slated for removal the following Sunday. The ensuing tree sitting protest on June 1, 1997 was reported widely, as it lasted several hours before the crowd became violent and the police responded with pepper spray. A lawsuit by protesters against police response was settled five years later.

Anarchist activity in Eugene has declined in the public sphere since September 11, 2001, but the ongoing trials of accused eco-terrorists continue to keep Eugene in the same spotlight.

Annual cultural events

  • The annual non-profit Oregon Country Fairmarker, which takes place in nearby Venetamarker, is one of the largest volunteer events in the U.S.


  • The annual Eugene Celebration is a three-day block party that takes place in the downtown area. The SLUG (Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous Gastropod) Queen coronation happens the month prior to the celebration at the coronation contest and ceremony. The SLUG Queen is the reigning monarch of the celebration festivities and the unofficial ambassador of Eugene. The annual coronation process takes place in August and is a little like a formal pageant but with a campy spin. The new SLUG Queen presides over the parade at the Eugene Celebration in September.


  • Art & the Vineyard festival held around the Fourth of July at Alton Baker Park attracts 25,000 annually, and is the principal fundraiser for the Maude Kerns Art Center




  • Eugene's Saturday Market, founded in 1970 and open every Saturday from April through November, was the first "Saturday Market" in the United States. All vendors must create or grow all of their own products.


  • The Oregon Bach Festival is a major international festival. It is hosted by the University of Oregon.






  • The KLCC Microbrew Festival is held annually at the Lane County Fairgrounds. It provides participants with an introduction to a large range of microbrewery and craft beers which play an important role in Pacific Northwest culture and the economy.


Museums

Conger Street Clock museum
Eugene museums include the University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Artmarker and Museum of Natural and Cultural History, the Oregon Air and Space Museum, Conger Street Clock Museum, Lane County Historical Museum, Maude Kerns Art Center, Shelton McMurphey Housemarker, and the Science Factory Children's Museum & Planetarium.
The Eugene Public Library


Libraries

The largest library in Oregon is the University of Oregon's Knight Librarymarker, with collections totaling more than 3 million volumes and over 100,000 audio and video items. The Eugene Public Library moved into a new, larger building downtown in 2002. The four-story library is an increase from to .

Performing arts

Eugene is home to numerous cultural organizations, including the Eugene Symphony, the Eugene Ballet, the Eugene Opera, the Eugene Concert Choir, the Northwest Christian University Community Choir, the Oregon Mozart Players, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Oregon Children's Choir, the Eugene Youth Symphony, Ballet Fantastique and Oregon Festival of American Music. Principal performing arts venues include the Hult Center for the Performing Artsmarker, The John G.marker Shedd Institute for the Artsmarker ("The Shedd"), Beall Concert Hall and the Erb Memorial Union ballroom on the University of Oregon campus, the McDonald Theatremarker, and W.O.W.marker Hallmarker.

A number of live theater groups are based in Eugene, including Free Shakespeare in the Park, Lord Leebrick Theatre, The Very Little Theatre, Actors Cabaret, LCC Theatre, and University Theatre. Each has its own performance venue.

Music

Because of its status as a college town, Eugene has been home to many musicians and bands, ranging from mainstream garage rock, to hip hop, folk and heavy metal. Eugene also has a growing reggae and street-performing bluegrass and jug band scene. Multi-genre act the Cherry Poppin' Daddies became a prominent figure in Eugene's music scene and became the house band at Eugene's W.O.W.marker Hallmarker. In the late 1990s, their contributions to the swing revival movement propelled them to national stardom. Rock band Floater originated in Eugene.

Dick Hyman, noted jazz pianist and musical director for many of Woody Allen's films, designs and hosts the annual Now Hear This! jazz festival at the Oregon Festival of American Music (OFAM). OFAM and the Hult Centermarker routinely draw major jazz talent for concerts.

Eugene is also home to a large Zimbabwean music community. Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center, which is "dedicated to the music and people of Zimbabwemarker," is based in Eugene.

Visual arts

Eugene's visual arts community is supported by over 20 private art galleries and several organizations, including Maude Kerns Art Center, Lane Arts Council, DIVA (the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts), the Hult Center's Jacobs Gallery, and the Eugene Glass School.The Karin Clarke Gallery [1118][1119] has been featuring master painters of Oregon since 2002

Annual visual arts events include the Mayor's Art Show and Art and the Vineyard.

Film

The Eugene area has been used as a filming location for several Hollywood films, most famously for 1978's National Lampoon's Animal House, which was also filmed in nearby Cottage Grovemarker. 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.

Getting Straight, starring Elliott Gould and Candice Bergen, was filmed at Lane Community Collegemarker in 1969. As the campus was still under construction at the time, the "occupation scenes" were easier to shoot.

The "Chicken Salad on Toast" scene in the 1970 Jack Nicholson movie Five Easy Pieces was filmed at the Denny's restaurant at the southern I-5 freeway interchange near Glenwood. Nicholson directed the 1971 film Drive, He Said in Eugene.

How to Beat the High Co$t of Living, starring Jane Curtin, Jessica Lange and Susan St. James, was filmed in Eugene in the fall of 1979. Locations included Valley River Centermarker, Skinner Buttemarker, the Willamette River and River Road Hardware.

Several track and field movies have used Eugene as a setting and/or a filming location. Personal Best, starring Mariel Hemingway, was filmed in Eugene in 1982. The film centered on a group of women who are trying to qualify for the Olympic track and field team. Two track and field movies about the life of Steve Prefontaine, Prefontaine and Without Limits were released within a year of each other in 1997-1998. Kenny Moore, Eugene-trained Olympic runner and co-star in Prefontaine, co-wrote the screenplay for Without Limits. Prefontaine was filmed in Washington because the Without Limits production bought out Hayward Fieldmarker for the summer to prevent its competition from shooting there. Kenny Moore also wrote a biography of Bill Bowerman, played in Without Limits by Donald Sutherland.

Stealing Time, a 2003 independent film, was partially filmed in Eugene. When the film premiered in June 2001 at the Seattle International Film Festival, it was titled Rennie's Landing after a popular bar near the University of Oregon campus. The title was changed for its DVD release. Zerophilia was filmed in Eugene in 2006.

Sports

Oregon DucksNorthwest Christian University BeaconsEugene Bible Collegemarker DeaconsEugene EmeraldsEugene GentlemenEugene ChargersEugene Generals
Club Sport Founded League Venue
Football, Basketball, Track and Field, Softball, Volleyball, Golf, Tennis, Baseball, Ultimate, Lacrosse, Hockey, Soccer 1876 National Collegiate Athletic Association: Pacific Ten Conference Autzen Stadiummarker, McArthur Courtmarker, PK Parkmarker, Hayward Fieldmarker
Basketball, Cross Country, Distance Track, Golf, Soccer, Volleyball 1895 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, Cascade Collegiate Conference Morse Event Center
Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball 1925 Rexius Event Center
Baseball 1955 Northwest League PK Parkmarker
Rugby 1973 Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union
Basketball 2006 International Basketball League Morse Event Center
Ice hockey 2005 Junior A Tier III-League Hockey: Northern Pacific Hockey League Lane County Ice Center


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 Ducks and both the Oregon State Universitymarker Beavers and the University of Washingtonmarker Huskies. Autzen Stadiummarker is home to Duck football, with a seating capacity of 59,000. It is often considered one of the toughest places to play in all of college football: "Autzen's 59,000 strong make the Big Housemarker [Michigan] collectively sound like a pathetic whimper. It's louder than 'The Swamp' at Floridamarker, 'The Shoe' in Columbusmarker and 'Death Valley' at Louisiana Statemarker. Autzen Stadium is where great teams go to die." — Michigan Daily, September 2003.

The basketball arena, Mac Court, is also famed for the close "in your face" seating of fans to the field, and is renowned for its high noise levels, and difficulty for visiting teams. Fans are sometimes termed the "6th player on the court." Mac Court will be replaced by the Matthew Knight Arenamarker upon its completion in 2010.

For nearly 40 years, Eugene has been the "Track Capital of the World." After the Mexico City Olympics, the benefits of high altitude training helped propel Boulder, CO (a very similar city to Eugene) to prominence in the track world. By 2005, however, Eugene was well on its way to reclaiming its former glory. Oregon's most famous track icon is the late world-class distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who was killed in a car crash in 1975. "Pre" 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 U.S. through Eugene, brought from New Zealand by Bill Bowerman, who wrote the best-selling book "Jogging", and coached the champion University of Oregon track and cross country teams. During Bowerman's tenure, his "Men of Oregon" won 24 individual NCAA titles, including titles in 15 out of the 19 events contested. During Bowerman's 24 years at Oregon, his track teams finished in the top ten at the NCAA championships 16 times, including four team titles (1962,'64,'65,'70), and two second-place trophies. His teams also posted a dual meet record of 114-20.

Bowerman also invented the waffle sole for running shoes in Eugene (legend has it that he made the first soles with his wife's waffle iron), and with U of O alumnus Phil Knight founded shoe giant Nike, Inc.marker 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 and temperate, good both for jogging and record-setting. Eugene is home to the University of Oregon's Hayward Fieldmarker track, which hosts numerous collegiate and amateur track and field meets throughout the year, most notably the Prefontaine Classic. Hayward Field was host to the 2004 AAU Junior Olympic Games, the 2006 Pacific 10 track and field championships, and the 1972, 1976, 1980, and 2008 US Olympic track and field trials, and will host the latter again in 2012.

Eugene is also home to the Eugene Emeralds, a short-season Class A minor-league baseball team. The "Ems" play their home games in 71-year-old Civic Stadium, once the home of Eugene high-school football.

The Eugene Generals are a tier III Junior A amateur hockey club, playing its home games at Lane County Ice on the Fairgrounds.

The Nationwide Tour's golfing event Oregon Classic takes place at Shadow Hills Country Club, just north of Eugene. The event has been played every year since 1998, except in 2001 when it was slated to begin the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Oregon Classic alumni have well over 100 wins on the PGA Tour. The $450,000 dollar purse and attendance make it the second largest-sporting event in Eugene behind Duck football. The top 20 players from the Nationwide Tour are promoted to the PGA Tour for the following year.

Another interesting tidbit ties together Eugene's strong "hippie" following and sports. Eugene has often been called the place where the counterculture learned to play sports. Again, Ken Kesey figures prominently in this aspect of the city—he was a wrestling coach nearby for years. Eugene features a large number of frisbee teams, and at least two frisbee golf courses. Women's Roller Derby is also strongly represented.

Parks and recreation

Hendricks Parkmarker, situated upon a knoll to the east of downtown, is known for its rhododendron garden and nearby memorial to Steve Prefontaine, known as Pre's Rock, where the legendary University of Oregon runner was killed in an auto accident. Alton Baker Parkmarker, next to the Willamette River, contains Pre's Trail. Also located next to the Willamette is the Owen Memorial Rose Garden, which is home to more than 4,500 roses of over 400 varieties, and the 150-year-old Black Tartarian Cherry tree, an Oregon Heritage Tree.

The city of Eugene maintains an urban forest. The University of Oregonmarker campus is an arboretum, with over 500 species of trees. The city operates and maintains scenic hiking trails that pass through and across the ridges of a cluster of hills in the southern portion of the city, on the fringe of residential neighborhoods. Some trails allow biking and others are for hikers and runners only.

The nearest ski resort, Willamette Passmarker, is one hour from Eugene by car. On the way, along Oregon Route 58, are several reservoirs and lakes, the Oakridgemarker mountain bike trails, hot springs, and waterfalls within Willamette National Forestmarker. Eugene residents also frequent Hoodoomarker and Mount Bachelormarker ski resorts. The Three Sisters Wildernessmarker, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Areamarker and Smith Rockmarker are just a short drive away.

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.

Ten 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), Dennis Taylor (2002-2007), Angel Jones (2007-2008) and Jon Ruiz (2008-present).

Recent mayors include Edwin Cone (1958-69), Les Anderson (1969-77) 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 - George Brown
  • Ward 2 - Betty Taylor
  • Ward 3 - Alan Zelenka
  • Ward 4 - George Poling
  • Ward 5 - Mike Clark
  • Ward 6 - Jennifer Solomon
  • Ward 7 - Andrea Ortiz
  • Ward 8 - Chris Pryor


City Manager: Jon Ruiz (April 14, 2008)

Education

Johnson Hall, University of Oregon
Eugene is home to the University of Oregonmarker. Other institutions of higher learning include Northwest Christian University, Lane Community Collegemarker, Eugene Bible Collegemarker, Gutenberg College, and Pacific Universitymarker's Eugene Campus.

The Eugene School District include four full-service high schools. Churchillmarker (1966) serves the southwest portion of Eugene, as well as rural areas south and west of the city. North Eugenemarker (1957) serves the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods north of Eugene proper. Sheldon Highmarker (1963) students come from the Coburg Road area north of downtown Eugene, as well as the city of Coburg and the rural area in between. South Eugenemarker (1901), formerly Eugene High, is the district's oldest high school. It serves the city south and east of the downtown area and the University of Oregon.

Magnet schools and alternative education are also key elements of the Eugene School District. The district has many private and alternative schools, including The Little French School, which is a pre-kindergarten through kindergarten program that provides immersion in a second language, the Eugene Waldorf School, an anthroposophical kindergarten through eighth grade school. Within the school district, there are also several elementary schools that immerse the students in a foreign language for half of the day: Buena Vista Spanish immersion, Yujin Gakuen Japanese immersion, and Charlemagne French immersion.

Bethel School District serves children in the Bethel neighborhood on the northwest edge of Eugene. The district's full-service high school is Willamette High Schoolmarker (1949).

Other alternative schools in Eugene include three Montessori schools: Eugene Montessori, Far Horizon Montessori, and Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School.The curriculum of the Network Charter School, in downtown Eugene, is drawn from an alliance of local businesses and non-profits. Wellsprings Friends Schoolmarker, founded by members of the Eugene Friends Meeting, educates 60 students in grades 9-12.

Parochial schools in Eugene include Marist Catholic High Schoolmarker, O'Hara Catholic Elementary School, and St. Paul Parish School.

Media

The largest newspaper serving the area is The Register-Guard, a daily newspaper with a circulation of about 70,000, published independently by the Baker family of Eugene. Other newspapers serving the area include the Eugene Weekly, the Oregon Daily Emerald, the student-run independent newspaper at the University of Oregon;The Torch, the student-run newspaper at Lane Community College, and The Mishpat, the student-run newspaper at Northwest Christian University. Eugene Magazine, Lane County's Lifestyle Quarterly and Eugene Living, Sustainable Home and Garden magazine also serves the area. Local television stations include KMTRmarker (NBC), KVALmarker (CBS), KLSR-TVmarker (Fox), KEVU, KEZImarker (ABC), KEPB (PBS), and KTVC (independent).

The local NPR affiliates are KOPBmarker, and KLCC. Radio station KRVM-AM also carries some NPR programming and is an affiliate of Jefferson Public Radio, based at Southern Oregon University. 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). Eugene has the distinction of having the most radio stations per capita of any other metropolitan area in the country, with 28 FM and AM stations serving approximately 300,000 people.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Lane Transit Districtmarker (LTD), a public transportation agency formed in 1970, covers 240 square miles (620 km²) of Lane County, including Creswellmarker, Cottage Grovemarker, Junction Citymarker and Venetamarker. Operating more than 90 buses during peak hours, LTD carries riders on 3.7 million trips every year. LTD's Eugene Stationmarker, downtown, covers nearly a city block, and is easily the busiest public plaza outside of the University. In January 2007, LTD opened a Bus Rapid Transit line between Eugene and Springfield—Emerald Express —much of which runs in its own lane. The EmX line was another innovation for Eugene, and was the first attempt in the US for a small city to "bridge the gap" between conventional buses and fixed rail transit. Since then, numerous other cities have studied the Eugene system and additional implementations are under way in many of these cities. The EmX line is being extended northward, and a west Eugene line is being planned.

Fox Hollow Road is a popular track for cyclists wanting to leave the city.


Cycling is popular in Eugene and many people commute via bicycle. 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 1908 Amtrak depotmarker downtown was restored in 2004; it is the southern terminus for two daily runs of the Amtrak Cascades, and a stop along the route in each direction for the daily Coast Starlight. Air traffic is served by the Eugene Airportmarker, 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 limit, acting as an effective, though unofficial boundary between Eugene and Springfield. To the north, I-5 leads to the Willamette Valley and Portlandmarker. To the south, I-5 leads to Roseburgmarker, Medfordmarker, and the southwestern portion of the state. In full, Interstate 5 continues north to the Canadian Border at Blaine, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia and extends south to the Mexican border at Tijuana and San Diego.
  • Interstate 105/Oregon Route 126: Oregon Route 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 Route 126 is also signed Interstate 105, a spur route of Interstate 5. Oregon Route 126 continues west, a portion shared with Oregon Route 99, and continues west to Florencemarker. Eastward, Oregon Route 126 crosses the Cascades and leads to central and eastern Oregon.
  • Belt Line Highway: Beltline Road is a limited-access freeway which runs along the northern and western edges of incorporated Eugene.
  • Delta Highway: The Delta Highway forms a connector of less than 2 miles (3 km) between Interstate 105 and Beltline Highway.
  • Oregon Route 99: Oregon Route 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. It is sometimes called the "scenic route" since it has a great view of the Coast Range and also stretches through many scenic farmlands of the Willamette Valley.


Utilities

Eugene is the home of Oregon's largest publicly owned water and power utility, the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB). EWEB got its start in the first decade of the 20th century, after a typhoid epidemic was traced to the groundwater supply. The city of Eugene condemned the private utility and began treating river water (first the Willamette; later the McKenzie) for domestic use. EWEB got into the electric business when power was needed for the water pumps. Excess electricity was used for street lighting.

Natural gas service is mostly provided by NW Naturalmarker.

Healthcare

The Eugene area is home to three hospitals: McKenzie-Willamette Medical Centermarker and Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBendmarker in Springfieldmarker, and Sacred Heart Medical Center University Districtmarker, in Eugene. The two Sacred Heart facilities are owned by PeaceHealth.

Notable people from Eugene

Athletes



Others





Sister cities

Eugene has four sister cities:



References

External links




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