Levie, Jared -1.1 research

Personally, when I think of one of the largest challenges facing the people of Eugene: Houselessness comes to mind. When I investigated the numbers posted in the “2019 point in time count report” (collaborated by Lane County), there are 2165 total people experiencing homelessness. 426 of those individuals stayed in emergency shelters, 106 individuals were in transitional housing, and 1633 were completely without shelter. Since Eugene has the highest number of homeless people per capita in the entire country (432/100,000 residents), it is safe to say there is a need to gather data and propose real solutions. There are a lot of organizations working on this exact issue but for the sake of this class I believe it would serve best to look into all or some of the Square One Villages. Square one seeks to provide: “An accessible and sustainable housing option for people with very low-incomes—through tiny houses that are safe, livable, and significantly more affordable within a community setting (www.squareonevillages.org).” These tiny house villages work with local builders, architects, and countless other professionals to employ strategies that are successfully lifting people out of poverty and enabling them to rejoin the workforce.

Questions I would like to possibly look into:

-What is the safety in these neighborhoods and surrounding neighborhoods?

– What is the demographic?

– What is the impact on surrounding businesses?