1.4 Research
General problem worldwide
Due to the increased use of cars, cities have expanded outward resulting in neighborhoods and housing being further away from essential stores and services as reliance on public transportation, walking, and biking has gone down. This is especially an issue for those who do rely on public transportation or walking, often low-income or marginalized people groups, to get to places they need to go such as work or the grocery store. Aside from proximity to necessities and the time it takes to get places, other problems arise such as air pollution and decrease in socialization.
Problem specific to Eugene
Like many other cities in America, Eugene is heavily dependent on cars as the main method of transportation. This becomes an issue for residents of the city that depend on alternative modes of transportation as many stores, services, and activities are difficult to get to without a car. Similarly to that on a global scale, this problem has the greatest impact on low-income, minority groups, people with disabilities, and college students. While there are a number of bus routes in the city, many of them require an additional walk somewhere between 5-15 minutes in addition to the bus ride, making it challenging to get to your destination in a reasonable amount of time. There are also social and environmental implications to the lack of walking, biking, and public transportation accessibility around the city. In regards to the social aspect, there are less opportunities for interaction with others and the community with the excessive use of cars. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of car dependency include air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Urban Sprawl, Smart Growth, and Deliberative Democracy – PMC
What Are The Benefits of 20-Minute Neighborhoods? | Eugene, OR Website