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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1995)
Open Willamette to traffic, business Eugene voters will lx> voting in May whether or not to open a two-block stretch of Willamette Street through the downtown malt. The Eugene City Council decided Wednesday to place the measure on the ballot. The area has been dosed to traffic since 1970. The advantages to opening Willamette Street to traffic are numerous The downtown area desperately needs to be revitalized, and the extra traffic that people driving cars would bring to the area may help to spark new busi ness to existing shops, as well as draw new retailers to the area Shopping in downtown Eugene can bn an exercise in futility. 0* there an* no longer major stores downtown. To shop at a department store these davs. one has to vis it Valley River Center or Gateway Mall. The only retail ers downtown are smaller, independent stores that bad ly need more business. When people in Eugene think, about shopping, they rarely consider the downtown area In its current form, downtown doesn’t have much to offer. Over time, and with the opening of Willamette Street, downtown can thrive as a bustling business district. Stores will move back if that is where the traffic and the money are. Neither are c urrently there, nor are the busi nesses It just doesn’t pay. Having Willamette Street closed may make an envi ronmental statement opposing cars and make it easier for pedestrians to move among the stores downtown It may even make the area look a little nicer. However, in a business sense, it just isn’t logical. One can’t expect cus tomers to work harder and walk farther to get to busi nesses Businesses have to make it easier for customers to spend money. As good an idea as it is to open Willamette Street, the City Council shirked its responsibility when it decided to refer the decision to voters. The Council should have taken it upon itself to make a derision on opening Willamette Street, but it instead decided to dump the whole Issue into the laps of the voters. The Council showed a lack of decisiveness when it referred the issue to Eugene voters. They should have dec ided the issue themselves. Opening Willamette Street would not be without flaws. Added traffic to the si root would probably prompt construction of now businesses along the route, thereby reducing access to the area. It will also cost money to open the street again. Despite the cost and possible temporary inconve niences of construction along the route, it makes sense to reopen the street to traffic. Without the traffic that added access to the route would bring, fewer people will visit shops in the area and downtown Eugene will fall into an economic downturn. Open Willamette Street to traffic. Both businesses and customers will benefit from the convenience. Oregon Daily Emerald *0 DOI )1W iuGIM 0P(6O«V?*&3 tn* Oregon Dai*y * •'*<**& <» put#’*/-**} aarty Monday ttvougf' i »*$#> <jur*ng t**» school yea' and Tuesday and Thursday du'<ng ihe summer by »**s Oregon Da* y Cme*ai<j Put*atong Co. Vk . at the Urwersrty o* Oregon. I ^gene, Oegon The# operate* ■nflapsndsnfty o* INt Urvvewvly w*.* ©Pee* at SuA* 300 o4 »■*« I ’1." Memory* i J'wjn and «t a «*n*b©r o’ the Ai*oc.-,.rf«d f**w» The f 'fmeaner « prrvaie property The u!^4.,: -amove or us* of paper* « pr £>»«>,/* ae*« ^wtUV-iri’Cntii Kjsy Suiu Managing IcMtor Ed*tonal Editor New* Art Editor Fm<t»K< Editor Davd Thom Reevtt* J«ff Pui*)' l©n Belbneski Hewi Editor Sports Editor Supplements Editor Hiyhl Editor ftSftHECI Man*! Ov* Mi*/ Trade Nos* itsha E«3NmNf Assoc 1st* Editors ’ • «xW* h von Carp. £;.*%»*# Government 'AdK*h»* M<*E dwarda Cpm/nursty. T f’tarvy Sm4h. f*gh#r f dUCAPort 4ttrwsji*r4tf»0« New* Suit '4ovo Aabury. Amy CdArtnbO. Pd Daly. Amyl DPWtpO't Tasha f CftanftON*. PFontana, fsayt* forma© OvnrtDONn f o« Man uartoo. Gary tv«n Jo* Harwood. •Me Henry Trevor Kearney Shaorxy' Kddbft Adren Kneher Suxarme Marts Mart U Tyre Her MoeftuS. NataM Montgomery A-vy* Moser-Korotskt. CoftMn Pohhg Sherry Rarney KM* Sabtxr •" P*u* Van S**;o Htdafci Tomeoka Ajm Wsts. ©rt*r» Worn*,* General Manager Judy K^»t Advertising Or sc tor Mars A arte* Production Manager M^heie Rose Advertising Ann* Amador Aorta Borgeo*. Marco Chmg. Tony I ». I on H*r*he« N*co*e NartmarA j«w«mv Mason. Sarah Much** Tom Mttocstaedk. Ke*s«y Weausti Classified. Betsy Mr* ih&! Ma-jager Kyie Dev**. Jofc S**en Distribution >3hn long, i «r«rv FUkOOi, R*gna Business * Jtfhy Cartxy'rv <K4XKY*SOr Judy C©«no*y Production Detv»a McCotob Produdon Coont'ota* Shawn* Aba**. Tara Gautnpy Hr ad Joss. Jarwvtar Roland, Clayton Ye* Newsroom ytA SSlt Display Advertising 34A3712 Business Oftlca 346-SST2 Classified Advertising )4A4M] A TWCE-PiPn/s V07“£ i TV TAKES. J 7 a tu^eb-Fifths VOTE TO END A SENATE ElL i BUSTER aow ABOUT a TURiE -P/^rws VOTE 70 REPLACE A SITTING PRESIDENT ? j I it'.* W Better make it SEVENEIGHTHS r ■ OPINION Aggressive panhandlers annoying Jot Hum pop For most students. the path to obtaining that magic piece of paper signifying the successful completion of four or more years of mademit hell is fraught with abstai les and sacrifices. Some work one or more jola* to meet the costs of attending, and others mortgage their future by taking out student loans Many use both avenues to si rape hs All would agree the personal and financial commitment in winning that degree, or license to work and wear a tie as I like to cal! it. is not an assy road to trav el That's why many begin hut only few finish In light of the intense motiva tion required to simply stav in school, much less aad«n ii ally. I always wonder why stu dents choose to support the non working crowd of Iwjggars. thiev and panhandlers ringing hast l lth Avenue and surrounding locations Unbeknownst to the majority of students, the area surrounding the west University neighbor hood is considered a high crime area by police and city officials Certainly, a handful of obnoxious students contribute to this stig ma But a far worse problem lies with the transient lieggar*. who daily accost students for spare change. One need only peruse the dai ly police logs for proof Drunken transient urinates on sidewalk Transient idled for shoplifting at the Bookstore Transient arrest ed twice in the same week for peddling drugs. Transient arrest ed for harassing a student. Tran sient arrested for trespassing The list could go on to fill up the rest of this paper. Probably the worst lot alum for ihi* university « own gaggle of losers is the intersection of i;tth Avenue and Ald**r Street During daylight hours, students regular ly have to plow through the pack of street urchins hanging out on the sidewalk in front of the 7 F.leven store. These folks sport dreds. filthy clothing and the newest fashion craze among the terminally ia/.v and malnour ished dogs One asked me on Monday for "spare change to grab a bite to eat.” Now when I first moved to Eugene, I actually gave my (Juinge to panhandlers — main ly out of pity. That prat lice end ed when I followed one into Safe way and saw him buy a -tti oun<« bottle of Otde English 800 It's hard enough buying Ixier for myself, much less some loser allergic to work. So anyway , I told the guy ask uig for mimin to Ml ins dug if In' was so hungry. The response didn't go over well. In fat t, it was followed by an overt threat of bodily harm, to which I then responded with an equally pro fane threat of my own Such goes life on the street After living around the Uni versity for a short time, most quickly tire of the endless bog ging and stop giving If the Uni versity student population could somehow organize a blanket boy cott of furnishing panhandlers with change for even a week, many would pack up their mobile homes, er. shopping carts and find greener pastures I'm talking about a Yellowstone-type si enarlo where visitors aren't allowed to feed the (tears and those bears eventually quit i>eg ging for food Some say we should exercise compassion ami mercy, helping those less fortunate Fine with me. Donate to legitimate causes like United Way or the Century Coalition. On Wednesday, as I walked down to Smith Family Book Store to buy a book, four differ ent dweebs asked me for spare change. None had dogs, so I couldn't recommend canine casserole again Instead, I utilized a common tm tit : Look right through (lie waste of skin and <.ar bon molecules as if he didn’t exist. It usually works. But Wednesday was different One touched my arm and repeat ed thi' request for cash. Not want ing to get into a shouting match, 1 continued walking. Which brings to mind the final stanza of a haiku an alcoholic friend recently wrote: "Spare some change brother '" I looktid at him while laughing, “Change comes from within." Students complain of the con stant begging, yet police were limited in the remedies they may apply to panhandlers, limited that is, until Thursday when the City Council final found its proverbial brass balls and acted to discourage panhandlers I tu* enactment of Eugene's "aggressive panhandling" ordi uanco will hopefully spell doom for the urban parasites leaching money from those students and community members daring to wall the streets. While the now ordinance doesn't outlaw panhandling altogether, it makes certain behaviors illegal Actions like “offensive physu al i ontact" and preventing people from walking down a sidewalk unimpeded will result in a penalty of up to $l,000 and 10U days in jail but police cannot cite a per son under the new law unless an officer witnesses the offense or the victim signs a complaint, in essence, making a citizen's arrest So at the end of February when F'ugene police start enforc ing the law. remember that there is now a remedy. If a panhandler gets out of hand, call the police and wait around to sign a com plaint And while you are waiting, uffer suggestions on your favorite doggie dish; it might make for some tasty viltles after he gets out of jail. /or Harwood is a columnist for the Emerald. » * rrj * *n 11 f > i «< * Ills hi.. « c • , Hi m .fill
