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LIVING DOWNTOWN <br />Housing is essential to the vitality and the structures should be sensitive to the character of <br />character of the dozuntozun core. Housing existing historic properties and neighborhoods. <br />transforms downtown from an institutional and Design review for new structures is needed to help <br />employment center to a neighborhood. People who ensure compatibility of scale, setback and of°ienta- <br />live downtown, particularly homeowners and tion, and maintain livability of these areas. <br />long-term renters, become <br />stakeholders for the health <br />of downtown. They en- <br />hance the customer base <br />for shops and restaurants, <br />and provide an after-hours <br />vitality to the area. As <br />patrons for these busi- <br />nesses increase, the down- <br />town becomes more attrac- ~ <br />tive to local and re Tonal , y ~ ~ '~' <br />investors. '~»~ <br />,~ 'j ~ ` ~~~'~ <br /> <br />t <br />D t ~ , <br />own own <br />~"~OUSIng Broadway Place, the result of a public private partnership, is <br />Downtown housing is a successful mixed use project. Restaurants, shops and parking <br />increasingly seen as conve- are on the ground floor, with apartments and gardens on <br />nient and prestigious. upper floors. <br />Demographic projections <br />indicate growing interest in smaller urban dwellings <br />close to work and services downtown. Cultural <br />activities and public transit are attractive to poten- <br />tialurban dwellers, who are beginning to imagine a <br />future without the expense of an automobile. <br />Live/work units are convenient and efficient, add to <br />the liveliness of downtown, and help reduce <br />transportation needs in the city. <br />A variety of housing densities and types exists within <br />and along the edges of downtown. Approximately <br />2,500 residential units are located within two blocks <br />of the downtown plan area, including single family <br />houses, mixed-use structures, and residential high- <br />rises. The Downtown Area Housing map on page <br />48 indicates the location and density of residential <br />units in and around downtown. <br />This plan encourages additional housing units <br />within downtown and on the edge of downtown. <br />Both rental and ownership housing at a variety of <br />densities and prices are desired and should be <br />supported with economic tools available to the City. <br />Design and construction of new residential <br />Market <br />Conditions <br />Market conditions, specifi- <br />cally the higher cost of <br />building housing down- <br />town rather than elsewhere <br />in the city, have been a de- <br />terrent to downtown hous- <br />ing without some level of <br />public sector financial <br />support. Currently there <br />are approximately 1,000 <br />residential units in the <br />downtown plan study area. <br />The majority of these units <br />were built in the past 25 <br />years and relied on public <br />financial subsidies. <br />While housing is desirable and encouraged, there <br />are many obstacles associated with the development <br />of housing downtown. These include higher land <br />costs, higher consn-uction costs associated with taller <br /> <br />St. Vincent de Paul built the Aurora Building, a <br />mix of affordable dwellings and ground floor <br />commercial uses. <br />EUGENE DOWNTOWN PLAN APRIL 2004 23 <br />