Metal Monday: Springfield Edition
Springfield is unveiling a new tagline. The four-word phrase “Proud History, Bright Future” will soon adorn Springfield banners and assorted paraphernalia. However, city leaders want to emphasize that the phrase is not a motto. It’s a tagline. Don’t ask me what the difference is. A PR firm was hired to conduct focus groups and surveys to gauge resident’s feelings on the venerable town, and that’s what they came up with.
Personally, I would have gone with something more appropriate like “Trashed, Lost and Strungout.” Speaking of which, take it away, Children of Bodom!
Only ignorant Eugene snobs who have no clue about the depth of dysfunction in the Eugene City Government keep saying that Eugene is somehow different and ‘better’ different. Springfield has pulled off several coups lately; Symantec moved to them, PeaceHealth moved to them, they got Glenwood for the future, the new bus lines move through a lot of Springfield, they got PeaceHealth to pay for road improvements as part of the deal to build there…the list will only continue to grow I’m sure.
People also make fun of Gateway Mall, and while it is true that as a mall it is a sad and depraved looking place, it is still a notch or two above downtown Eugene. The mall there at Gateway has never been bustling though, and it sticks around. Downtown Eugene was killed when, not surprisingly, Eugene let Valley River Center be built. Now, VRC is the dominant mall but I still don’t know how Eugene has let Downtown go so far downhill. I mean, if you ever saw Oakway before it was completely re-done, it was an 85% vacant complex of musty and creep-filled buildings that no one would go to except the occasional baseball card mini-convention. Now look at it. How did it work there, but downtown still can’t go anywhere? Yes, downtown Eugene has some nice new condos for sale, but who the hell wants to throw $1200 down (I don’t know how much it is, but they don’t advertise the rate, so I imagine it’s high) to live in a dead area full of rats?
For what it’s worth, Springfield also has the nicer river in the McKenzie. Eugene knows this, and that’s why Eugene water comes from the McKenzie. Springfield is mostly ground-water, but even that water is McKenzie-related.
Eugene has the university and a slowly dying population of yuppified hippies. There’s no real population of young professionals, trust me I know this from trying what is called the ‘dating scene’ here. Large companies who supply jobs for people, as I mentioned earlier, have either moved from Eugene to Springfield or they just build from the start in Springfield.
If Eugene lost the university, Springfield’s advantages would be more apparent I think. The university just perpetuates the illusion that Eugene is somehow ‘together’ or ‘sane’ or ‘logical’ or, well, most other adjectives with positive connotations. Truly, it’s not that bad in Eugene, but the snobbery directed at Springfield is.
Did we miss the one-year anniversary of this?
linkie to old lulz
And I always thought Springfield was the ass-end of the Eugene-Springfield area.
So true. Springfield, at least, is actually DOING something to pull itself out of the status-quo. The city government is pro-active, the people are generally behind what the city is up to, there is some civic spirit and people actually make decisions. Eugene-based individuals seem to thrive in the circa-1975 imagination-land-status-quo. Unfortunately, they don’t realize that it SUCKS.
P.S. As much as Glenwood is a taint, how many places are there that have as much PRIME, river-side real estate that is home to construction companies and pawn shops? Doesn’t make sense.
P.S.S. I remember reading that Springfield agreed to take Glenwood under its wing, so to speak, a while back. If this is true, good for Glenwood. I imagine that things will slowly improve there over time. Falling into Eugene’s hands would have only led to official tainthood.
The sad thing is that “bright future” probably describes Springfield better than Eugene, stuck as this city is in a nightmare world of 1960’s nostalgia and feel-good planning.