New Search
Socioeconomics <br />occupied units.) This represented an increase over the fall 1998 rate of 3.61 percent, but was <br />below the 6.49 percent rate in spring 1998 (Duncan & Brown 1999). The long-term historical <br />vacancy rate for the Eugene/Springfield metropolitan Area is 4 to 6 percent, and recent <br />fluctuations in vacancy rates are within typical historical parameters. The spring 1999 vacancy <br />rate was in the center of that range and indicated a market that was generally in balance in regard <br />to the supply and demand for apartment units (Duncan & Brown 1999). <br />While the market was in balance in the spring of 1999, approximately 760 new units were under <br />construction. The absorption of these new units is likely to take six months to one year if the <br />population growth rate is near the 1998 rate (Duncan & Brown 1999). The overall rental market is <br />expected to remain flat, without an identifiable trend either up or down (Duncan & Brown 1999). <br />In .1990, the median value ofowner-occupied houses was higher in Eugene ($73,200) than for <br />Lane County as a whole ($65,500) (Oregon Economic Development Department 1999). The <br />median value of owner-occupied houses in Springfield was lower ($50,500) than for Lane <br />County (U.S. Census 1990). By 1996, the average price of a house in Lane County had more <br />than doubled to $13 8,100 (Regional County Assessor 1997). In 1998, the Lane Council of <br />Governments prepared a housing availability study for the Eugene/Springfield metropolitan area. <br />The purpose of the study was to update the residential land use and housing element of the <br />Eugene/Sprin~eld Metropolitan Area General Plan (the Metro plan). The study found that <br />"there is sufficient buildable land within the urban growth boundary to build the 40,000 to <br />49,000 new housing units (projected by the year 2015). In fact, the buildable land supply <br />exceeds the demand for high-, medium-, and low-density designated land" (Lane Council of <br />Governments 1998). <br />Commercial Properties <br />The vacancy rate for commercial property in the downtown Eugene area is approximately 8 <br />percent (Duncan & Brown 1999), while the vacancy rate in Springfield is less than 1 percent <br />(Pappas 2000 personal communication). Office space in downtown Eugene is approximately 7 <br />percent vacant (Duncan & Brown 1999), and this rate has increased steadily since 1985. <br />Vacancy rates have "been on aroller-coaster ride" between 1985 and the present (Duncan & <br />Brown 1999). <br />Demographics <br />Alternative 1, Options A and B <br />~ The 1990 U. S. Census places the Riverfront site within Lane County census tract 32. As shown <br />in Table 8, the area around the Riverfront site is in many respects very similar to the city of <br />Springfield as a whole. Per capita income, average age, and rents are nearly identical, while the <br />poverty rate is slightly higher in the area. around the Riverfront site. One difference is that the <br />percentage of residents who own their own homes is lower in the Riverfront area, but the value <br />j '! of owner-occupied homes is greater. The fact that there is a greater incidence of poverty around <br />~ ' the Riverfront site while per capita income is higher than in the city as a whole indicates that <br />there is a greater income disparity within the Riverfront area than for the city as a whole. <br />New Federal Courthouse 107 Final EIS <br />