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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1981)
Commercial ventures buy up rentals By RICHARD WAGONER Of the Emerald Commercial ventures are gobbling up Eugene’s low-cost housing supply, and unless renters and tenants fight back they may find themselves out in the cold, a neighborhood hous ing expert believes. Since October some 40 low income housing units have been lost to commercial development in Eugene — about 25 units in the West University Neighborhood alone, says Rick Goldstein, a staff member of the Neighborhood Housing Resource Center (NHRC). NHRC is a coalition of five downtown-area neighborhood groups — West University, Jef ferson, Whiteaker, Far West and Westside. The center currently is organizing efforts to preserve Eugene's low-cost housing and promote construction of addi tional low-income housing un its. Low-cost housing has been lost in areas where commercial uses are allowed because those units provide the least income to Downtown lures homeowners uwnerj>, ouiubitjm bctyb. “People in these neighbor hoods are losing their most af fordable housing piece by piece," Goldstein says. “We can't afford to lose this kind of housing. The market is not re placing it.” The high cost of replacing low-income housing is seen in the newly completed Abbie Lane housing project, Goldstein says. The project, a joint effort among local, state and federal governments, provided 20 low income housing units at a cost of $196,000 to the city. “Since last fall alone West University has lost that much housing just like that." But commercial development isn’t the only threat to low-cost housing, Goldstein says. Higher gas prices, the new performing arts center and the proposed Emerald Canal are making downtown-area neighborhoods more attractive to higher-in come residents. More affluent people are buy my uiutsr rental names ana nx ing them up, he says. This not only displaces renters, but it also pushes up property values and could raise existing rents, Goldstein says. Goldstein says this loss of housing will make Eugene's tight housing market even worse. Available occupancy rates, or the numbers of houses and apartments for rent in Eugene, now stand at about 2 percent to 5 percent, compared to a national average of 5 per cent to 8 percent. Some 45 per cent of Eugene residents cur rently rent, compared to a na tional average of 35 percent. Goldstein says renters make up 95 percent of West University Neighborhood residents. Goldstein says the city should step in to slow down the loss of low-income housing. Seattle has passed a housing preserva tion ordinance to limit the loss of low-cost housing. Goldstein would like to see a similar or dinance adopted in Eugene. Tuition Continued from Page 1 “If we named a level now, we're stuck with it," Moore says. Moore told the board that a decision would be “premature” because legislative leaders don’t yet know what revenue needs will be until sometime after April 15. Additionally, the OSL charged that the state board had not assessed the possible con sequences that the surcharges would have on tuition income and enrollment. The board delayed its decision until the Feb. 27 meeting in Portland. According to Moore’s calculations on the $123 surcharge, 4,800 of 8,700 students elimin ated would be resident undergraduates at one of the state’s universities or at Oregon Institute of Technology. About 2,000 University students would be lost, he estimates. About 1,300 of the 8,700 would return in the second half of the year, Moore says. With a $144 surcharge, 9,800 students would be eliminated the first year of the biennium, Moore says — 2,500 of them at the University. OSL isn’t ready to suggest funding alternatives, Moore says. But they plan to propose tuition legislation within the next two weeks. 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The city is considering finan cial incentives that would promote construction of new housing near the Downtown Mall to help prop up its sagging economy. But because middle and upper-income housing is more profitable for builders, those projects will be promoted at the expense of low-cost housing, Goldstein says. “So the city is subsidizing (housing) for affluent people,” he says. The Eugene Planning Com mission will hold a public hear ing in March on the downtown housing proposals. A meeting to discuss the loss of low-in come housing in Eugene neighborhoods will be held Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the West University Neighborhood Center, 1458 Ferry St. ATHLETIC 115 W. Broadway On the Downtown Mall 343-1288 ^ M-F 9-5:30 *■' Sat. 9-5:00 adidas ^ Mexico— Soccer Shorts and All-Purpose Shorts Reg. $11.95 Now $7.95 Factory Seconds (Slightly Irregular) mo* Min VVT\ ."Sr1 The Bookstore is a ted States Geologicaf Survey (USGS) map deafer. We stock hundreds of maps of Oregon, United States and the world. Our collection includes maps from: U.S. Forest Service Metsker County Rand McNally American Map Company Nystrom Hubbard 3-D IMJtt BMW* Eugene-Springfield city V> .. OEM* :\v:T \ *»<») // / i — ovv*" Cj*xc«o« ^ Om. Page 3
