Writeup of Downtown Eugene Observation
Walk the walk: On Tuesday, January 31 we will spend our class
time taking a walk to observe downtown Eugene. We will meet at 2:10 p.m. on
the sidewalk in
front of City Hall, 777 Pearl Street (between 7th and 8th Avenue) and walk
for a little over an hour. This should allow you to get back to campus on time
if you have a class during the following period.
Do the assignment: We have done several fundamental readings on the nature
of cities (Mumford, Jacobs, and others); on seeing, understanding, and designing
urban space (Kevin Lynch, William Whyte); and on small cities (J.B. Jackson).
Using these readings as a background, and what you see on the walk as evidence,
I’d like you to write a short paper (two pages) in which you do three
things:
1. describe something about downtown Eugene that works well (and why);
2. describe something about downtown Eugene that works badly (and why);
3. make one thoughtful proposal for improving downtown (and explain to me
why it would help).
Together with your reaction paper, this short paper fulfills requirement number
two on the course syllabus. The grades for the two short papers will be averaged
together to make up 25% of your course grade.
Make the due date: The paper is due two days later, on Thursday, January 27,
in class (at our regular location).
Talk the talk: In class on Thursday we will form groups to exchange responses
and ideas, and then present them to the rest of the class.