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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2005)
Anima A Map to the Future? Survey could chart the path for economic development through 2020. BY MELISSA BEARNS South and North Indian Cuisine • Tandoori Specialites CD Release Party Saturday, Nov. 5 • 9-11pm $ 3 cover Bombs Away Cafe 2527 NW Monroe Avenue • Vegetarian “…honest, insightful lyrics. A must listen.” • Chicken — CHRIS WOLFE, KVAL CH 13 F or the next few weeks, Corvallis residents and busi- ness owners will be spending a lot of time thinking about what kind of city they want to live in, asking hard questions about bal- ancing economic growth with quality of life. What makes Corvallis a great place to live? What kind of business and indus- try will fit with the values of the commu- nity? How much do we care about the health of our rivers and forests, and how will we encourage sustainable growth in the city? The survey comes as Corvallis faces some of the most extensive layoffs resi- dents have ever dealt with. “HP is down- sizing and makes no bones about the fact that they’re going to continue to downsize through 2008,” Corwin said. “That’s going to dramatically affect the economy of Corvallis. We lack diversity in our pri- mary wage jobs and that needs to be ad- dressed.” But the real question is, what is that “change” going to look like? Some local business owners are concerned. “Will it end up being a meaningful government • Lamb • Seafood Part of the 2020 Vision project for the city, the survey is the first step in creating a specific action plan for meeting the broad economic goals laid out in that document. Open 7 days a week Lunch Buffet $5.95 Lunch: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm Dinner: 5pm - 9:30 pm (541) 754-7944 136 SW Third • Corvallis, OR (Downtown Corvallis) is proud to announce it’s 47th Season! Vienna Piano Trio Wednesday, November 2, 2005 Mozart Piano Trio in B flat Major, KV 502 Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht, Op.4 Schumann Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63 Pacifica Quartet Tuesday, January 10, Haydn String Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 71, No. 1 Janacek String Quartet No. 2 (“Intimate Letters”) Beethoven String Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 130 w/Grosse Fuge Debussy Quartet Tuesday February 21, 2006 Milhaud String Quartet No. 4, Op. 46 D’Indy String Quartet No. 2 Debussy String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10 R ESTAURANT AND P UB KNOWN FOR OUR GREAT FOOD AND ATMOSPHERE ! O PEN TO MINORS TILL 9 PM mon TRIVIA Tue. DJ JOEY PLAYING SKA/REGGAE WED DJ ROCKABILLY OR BLUES ROTATING WEEKS THU. DJ OR LIVE MUSIC FRI. SAT. SUN. LIVE MUSIC LIVE MUSIC OPEN MIC/KARAOKE www.ajspub.com 137 SW 2nd Corvallis, OR 541-752-7570 4 • WHAT’S HAPPENING Corvallis Szymanowski Quartet Wednesday, March 8, 2006 Haydn String Quartet in C Major, Op. 54, No. 2 Szymanowski String Quartet No. 2, Op. 56 Dvor̂ák String Quartet in A flat Major No. 14, Op. 105 Peabody Trio Wednesday, April 5, 2006 Beethoven Piano Trio in C Major, Opus 1, No. 3 Beethoven Piano Trio in D Major, Opus 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”) Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat Major, Opus 70, No. 2 Indiviual tickets may be purchased at Grass Roots Bookstore in Corvallis and Sid Stevens in Albany, or at the door. $22 per event OSU Students free with OSU ID K-12th Grade Students free For season tickets, call 757-0902 Series of five concerts: $95 Series of six concerts: $110 All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. at the LaSells Stewart Center, located on the OSU campus. WWW . VIOLINS . ORG Those are just a few of the questions the Economic Vitality Partnership (EVP) hopes to answer in a two-part survey re- leased this month. Part of the 2020 Vision project for the city, the survey is the first step in creating a specific action plan for meeting the broad economic goals laid out in that document. “The 2020 plan is a blueprint,” said EVP Chair Mike Corwin. “But it’s not specific, it’s a vision piece. The survey will help us create a business action plan that will detail how we’ll ac- complish that vision.” The EVP will actually be conducting two surveys: one 20-question survey that goes out to the community in general, and a much longer 86-question survey distrib- uted to local businesses. The strategic planning committee of the EVP, which in- cludes representation from 11 of the 14 members, created the questions. Some are multiple choice, some are short essays. “Is Corvallis and Benton County govern- ment friendly to new businesses?” is a typical yes/no question, while “What is your personal vision of Corvallis in the next two decades?” is one of the essay questions. The survey will be out for just a few weeks. Then the real work starts. The city will hire a consultant to crunch the data, they’ll hold town hall meetings for the public to weigh in on the results, and by June of 2006, the EVP hopes to have an action plan for increasing economic vital- ity in Corvallis. “I don’t necessarily see this as a strat- egy for growth,” said City Councilman Rob Gándara who’s also the council’s liaison working on the survey. “I see it as a strategy for change. Certain businesses are leaving the city, jobs are disappearing. We can choose to do nothing, or we can choose to manage the change that’s hap- pening in Corvallis.” document or will it end up gathering dust on a shelf?” asks Bob Baird, owner of the Book Bin and also a member of the EVP’s strategic planning committee. “Is this something that could keep us from going the route that many small cities have, full of McDonald’s and Home Depots? We have a lot of small businesses and a thriv- ing downtown core full of locally owned businesses. I don’t want to see us becom- ing a generic place full of those stores that you can find anywhere. Because then, why would anyone want to come here?” The City Council has allocated $30,000 for the EVP to do this first phase of research. And in the 2020 Vision plan’s section on economic vitality, the first thing you read is “Corvallis recognizes that its livability is a primary source of its economic vitality.” The plan goes on to list a predominance of small, locally owned businesses, family wage jobs, a re- gional transportation system and improv- ing the quality of water and air as top pri- orities. City Manager Jon Nelson said he ex- pects the project will balance the different voices in the community in the same way that the 2020 Vision plan has. “In a com- munity that loves to debate for the sake of debate, this [2020 Vision] plan has been very well accepted. People can see their piece in it, how they fit in.” And while the survey and the action plan that comes out of it may become very important documents that guide Corvallis’ economic growth, ultimately, they’re just a part of the 2020 plan that also includes strengthening the city’s cen- ter, culture, recreation, education, human services, government, civic involvement, the environment and much more. “This survey is a sliver of a much bigger pie,” Nelson said. ■
