"We deserve the same amount of attention as the parks in south Eugene.”

There it is again. Two Eugenes, one for the few city staff who live inside the city limits, South Eugene, and the other for the rest of us. Their Eugene has clean parks and no homeless amenities nearby. When someone sets up an illegal camp in their Eugene, it is removed within hours. 

In our Eugene, the bike paths and parks have been taken over as shanty-towns. Oh sure, there are bike patrols during the day on those parts where there might be some folks from that other Eugene present. But on the whole, our complaints fall on deaf ears.

A few months ago, a wonderful couple I know who operate two businesses left Eugene for good after living here for decades. They got tired of being bike-jacked and feeling threatened in our Eugene. Now, after my family has been menaced, assaulted, bike-jacked and someone tried to kill us, I'm actively looking for a new city to expand my business in.