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Eugene's Downtown Makes Top Ten List

The Barnlight is one of the many new businesses in Eugene's downtown.
Eugene Cascades and Coast Blog
The Barnlight is one of the many new businesses in Eugene's downtown.

Eugene has made Livability-dot-com's top ten list of Best Downtowns for 2014.

The Barnlight is one of the many new businesses in Eugene's downtown.
Credit Eugene Cascades and Coast Blog
The Barnlight is one of the many new businesses in Eugene's downtown.

The website points to the transformation of Eugene's center over the past several years from a place with empty pits and vacant buildings to one with housing, theaters, and lots of restaurants and offices. Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy credits the efforts of city staff, residents and a 200 million dollar investment. Piercy says being on a list with cities such as Alexandria, Virginia and Fort Worth, Texas is a nice recognition.

Piercy: "I feel like we're in really good company and they're appreciating the work we're doing and really seeing not only the possibility of who we are but actually who we are in terms of art and culture and education, outdoor activities and just all the many, many other attributes this community has and not least of all are all the great, friendly people who live here."

The other northwest town on Livability's top ten downtown list is Bellingham, Washington at number 8. Eugene is at number 9.

 

Copyright 2014 KLCC

Rachael McDonald is KLCC's All Things Considered host. She also reports on a variety of topics including local government, education, and breaking news.