Don’t Pave Paradise

I recently viewed the proposed plan for the rebuild of Camas Ridge Community School. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the parking lot, which stretched all the way from 29th to 30th avenues and featured prominently along the front of this gem of a neighborhood school.

Thank you, planners, for soliciting community feedback. I wonder: Did you consider our city’s Climate Recovery Ordinance, which calls for reducing the use of fossil fuels by 50 percent by 2030? Did you consult Eugene’s Transportation System Plan, which calls for tripling the percentage of trips made by walking, biking and transit by 2035? Where, in this plan, is the 4J School Board’s Call to Climate Change Action Resolution 2019-14?

And, most important, did you ask the children? I appreciate Camas Ridge’s child-centered and active learning philosophy. Children need precious space to explore and experiment, to wander and run. More and more families and school staff will be walking, biking and riding the bus to school in the future, so let’s build for that future. Can we shrink the parking lot, put it in the corner and give the space to the children? Which scenario do we choose: privately owned automobiles sitting inert in front of the school all day or trees swaying and children learning and playing?

Mary Christensen

Eugene