Housing is Eugene’s most critical issue. The city has a drastic shortage of rental apartments, especially for lower-income people. Renters are over half of Eugene residents, and they’re having a hard time finding apartments they can afford.
The city is faced with a state mandate to open up single-family home residential zoning to apartments. Eugene Weekly’s recent [“EW Extra”] blog post “HB 2001: A Eugene Odyssey” (7-24) frames the issue as mainly racial. That isn’t really helpful in understanding what is going on.
While I support getting rid of racial segregation, I don’t think that’s the main problem with residential zoning in Eugene. The main folks being excluded are renters, Black and white. Middle-class homeowners, at least the most vocal, want to keep working-class renters out of their neighborhoods. It’s class segregation, class warfare. Why is everyone avoiding the issue? Are we really at a point where it’s okay to talk about race but not about class?
Lynn Porter
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
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