Final Environmental Impact Statement - New Federal Courthouse

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Socioeconomics Income During the 1980s, Oregon's per capita income declined relative to that in the nation. The state's sharp economic downturn and loss ofhigh-paying forest products jobs in the early 1980s reduced Oregon's per capita income to 90 percent of the national average. Since 1990, rapid growth of high-paying high technology and other manufacturing jobs in the Willamette Valley pushed this region's per capita income from 95 percent of the national average in 1988 to 101 percent in 1997. Outside the valley, per capita income has remained about 80 percent of the national average since 1990. Oregon's statewide per capita income rose to an estimated 95 percent of the national average in 1997. Significant Adverse Impacts Population The proposed courthouse project would have no long-term adverse impact on the population of Eugene, Springfield, or Lane County. Housing No housing units would be displaced by development on either of the alternative sites. Constructing the proposed courthouse could likely result in a temporary increase in the population of the Eugene/Springfield metropolitan area, as construction workers move into the azea for temporary construction jobs associated with the project. As discussed in greater detail below in the employment section, the project would employ an average of 180 construction workers and a peak construction work force of 250. Although the area has a developed construction sector (approximately 2,500 construction workers in a total labor force of 55,000), it is likely that out-of--town workers would be hired temporarily for the specialized construction requirements of a high-rise structure with integrated security measures. The most recent vacancy rate reported for rental units in the greater Eugene area is 4.98 percent, which is at the equilibrium point for rental units. The influx of temporary construction workers associated with the courthouse project would increase demand for rental housing, which would decrease vacancy rates. There aze an estimated 22,800 apartment units in the Eugene/Springfield azea (Duncan & Brown 1999). Assuming that the vacancy rate holds at the current rate of 4.98 percent, Eugene would have more than 1,100 vacant units when construction begins. Therefore, there would be enough vacant units available to house temporary construction workers. Adverse impacts on housing availability would likely be minimized through local hires and by temporary workers sharing rental quarters. Because most temporary construction workers would leave the area after completion of the project and would not settle in the area, construction-phase housing impacts would be temporary. Project construction would result in a temporary increase in the demand for rental housing. Final EIS. 112 New Federal Courthouse