Lane County is paying $750,000 for 1.3 acres of land on Franklin Blvd, for 147 units of low-income housing. Which is great! That’s $5,000 per unit, for the land cost. A total of 1.3 acres is 56,000 square feet of land. So that’s an average of 385 square feet per household.
How about the city of Eugene budgets the first $750,000 of the construction excise tax and buy 1.3 acres somewhere central, on major bus lines, to provide 150 camp sites, each 385 square feet — that’s like 20-by-18 feet. That is freaking huge, epic-size campsites.
Better yet, subdivide the land into 385 square foot plots, and sell them to the homeless for $5,000.
Or better yet, allow the homeless to form land trusts and buy our own subdivisions down to 400 square feet that we can actually afford to buy someday — for $5,000 each.
Do you see what I’m saying? The homeless issue is really about the landless, who are being denied land — not even because it’s too expensive, but because of artificial and unjust land-use zoning.
Todd Boyle
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519